Chapter 158 Chapter 158

Chapter 158 Chapter 158
Amber

I forced my chin up and met the dark eyes on the screen. My throat felt tight.
“What is your name and ranking?”
“Amber,” I managed, voice steadier than I felt. “I don’t have an official ranking yet. I’m still working towards it”
“Unranked,” Alpha Kane interrupted with a derisive sound. “He chose an unranked girl as his sole hunter. Explain why he would do something so foolish.”
I opened my mouth and closed it once, trying to think of an answer that would satisfy them. 
Meanwhile, the wind cut across my back again and I had to lock my knees to keep from shifting.
“I… don’t know his full reasoning,” I said carefully. “He hasn’t explained everything to me.”
“Convenient,” Thorne murmured, swirling his glass. “And what training have you completed? What victories can you claim? What makes you worth the risk of standing alone?”
The questions came faster after that, turning the stage into something that felt less like an introduction and more like a public trial. They asked about my background, my combat experience, whether I had ever killed, whether I understood the mortality rate of the Hunt, and whether I expected Damian to protect me or whether I intended to be dead weight. 
Each question felt like a tight slap. 
My answers grew shorter because my brain wasn’t working and my hands had gone numb from how tightly I was clenching them. Sweat had begun to gather at the base of my spine despite the cold.
I could feel the students’ stares like physical weight. 
I chanced a glance to the side but the principal wasn’t even looking in my direction anymore. The four heirs watched from their positions with unreadable expressions—Ryker coldly assessing, Soren faintly amused, Kade frowning, Caspian entirely still.
The argument among the Alphas flared again, and their voices rose.
“This is unacceptable. He undermines the entire structure” alpha Kane growled.
“A single weak link is destined to doom the rest” Alpha Voss agreed.
“The Mad King’s blood shows itself again in this kind of reckless behavior” alpha Thorne shook his head.
I looked up at the screens, at the four powerful men who had never met me and already decided I was a weakling. Something stubborn and furious rose through the fear at that realization.
“Respected Alphas,” I said, forcing the words out through a throat that felt too tight. “I’m sure Damian didn’t do any of it to disrespect you or the traditions. He…”
But alpha Kane cut in.
“Speak only when you are spoken to”
“But alpha, I was just…”
“Where the hell is the heir you are so hellbent on defending?”
A familiar voice answered that question, sounding not afraid or nervous.
“Right here.”
My heart lurched so hard I felt it in my throat and the tips of my fingers.
I turned.
The crowd parted as if someone had drawn an invisible blade straight through the center of it. Students stepped aside quickly, creating a clear path from the very back of the gathering all the way to the stage steps. Whispers surged and then died into stunned silence.
Damian walked forward and the sight of him made relief crash into me so hard my legs swayed a little.
He wore a black suit that looked as though it had been tailored to every hard line of his body. The perfectly fitted jacket emphasized the breadth of his shoulders, and he had left the crisp black shirt open at the throat just enough to show the line of his collarbones. 
The fabric moved with him like it belonged there. 
I immediately scanned his face before my gaze dropped to his hands but there was no trace of the fight club on him. 
There was no blood, no visible split knuckles and no exhaustion in the set of his face either. 
His dark hair was slightly damp, as though he had recently showered, and his silver eyes caught the floating lights as he moved, turning them almost luminous in the dark.
He looked composed and perfectly in control. 
The contrast between him and the rest of the students was glaring. While the rest huddled together like sheep, he prowled like a predator with confident strides.
Despite four alphas glaring down at him, his posture stayed upright but his gaze decidedly not on any of them.
He was looking at me. And then I saw a slow smile, barely there appear on his lips.
For a moment, my brain shut out everything else happening around me, and I drank in the sight of him.
I had never seen him in anything except his usual clothes and boy did he look mouthwateringly handsome in that suit.
I was being put on a public trial by the four alphas but just Damian’s presence was enough to make me maddeningly fixate on him like everytime my eyes fell on him, my entire being had to admire him like he was a cold yet beautiful disaster.
The cold night air seemed to move differently around him, as though even the wind recognized something in his bloodline that it preferred not to challenge.
“You don’t have to apologize for me. I can do that very well myself.” He said as he reached the base of the stage and began climbing the stairs.
The relief that crashed through me was so strong my knees nearly buckled. At the same time a dizzy, helpless fascination settled deep in my chest. 
Even the Alphas on the screens went silent for a long moment as Damian came to stand beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him cutting through the chill.
He finished climbing the stairs, crossed the distance between us and came to stand beside me.
He still hadn’t looked away from me or any of the heirs, or the four alphas staring at us from the giant screens.
His gaze was stubbornly on me and my heart began to race for an entirely different reason.
“Hey, Red,” he said softly, just for me, the corner of his mouth still curved. “Missed me?”