Chapter 47 Chapter 47
Amber
Why the hell did he reserve all his hatred for me specifically?
I lifted my chin stubbornly. "You're out past curfew too. So don’t you dare lecture me about discipline.”
His eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward, his gaze narrowing a little.
I took a step back but he kept advancing until my back hit a tree trunk, and then he was right there, close enough that I felt his arm brush mine.
He raised his hand and I tensed, but all he did was place his palm against the tree beside my head, leaning in until his face was inches from mine.
"Didn't want you barging into my room again when I was making out with," he paused deliberately, "what did you call Amy? My girlfriend, right?"
The confirmation hit harder than I wanted to admit. So it had been him with Amy outside the club earlier tonight.
"Asshole," I muttered, even as my traitorous hands itched to reach up and touch his face, to smooth away those tired lines around his eyes.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and I could feel him force it to be back to my eyes.
Electricity crackled between us as silence fell around us again.
Out here beyond the academy walls, it was just the two of us, no sounds except my erratic breathing and the glow of the moonlight spilling on the trees.
I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, the silver flecks in his eyes that seemed to glow in the moonlight and the faint scar cutting through his left eyebrow that I'd never noticed before.
My own breathing had gone shallow, and heat was pooling low in my stomach despite my anger, despite everything. All I could focus on was the way his body blocked out everything else until he was all I could see.
We stood there, frozen in that moment, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me again, wondered if I wanted him to.
Then he stepped back abruptly, crushing that thought and I could breathe again.
I gulped in air like I'd been underwater, my heart racing for entirely different reasons now.
My gaze fell on the men still lying motionless on the ground.
"Next time," Damian said, his voice back to that cold, detached tone, "I'll let them catch you."
He turned and was already walking away.
"Wait," I called out before I could stop myself.
He paused but didn't turn around.
"Teach me to fight."
Now he did turn, surprise flickering across his features. "What?"
"Teach me how to fight," I repeated, the words tumbling out in a rush. "The Annual Hunt is in two weeks, and I need to learn how to defend myself.The alpha heirs are going to hunt us and I don't belong to any faction."
"Then get in one" He said automatically but I kept pushing.
"No, I want to be a fighter" I said the same words I'd told my father, the same words I hadn't said out loud.
"Why?" He asked.
"I want to prove it...to someone." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. He observed me keenly, noticing the change in my expression.
"I joined this academy to be a fighter." I stepped away from the tree, moving closer to him again. "You didn’t see me punch Alice or take on her friends. I know I am far from lethal but I'm not completely hopeless."
"No." He said with an air of finality.
"Why not?"
"Because fragile little girls like you don't belong on a battlefield. On top of that, you are reckless" he said, and the condescension in his tone made my blood boil.
Before I could think better of it, I grabbed his collar with both hands and yanked him down to my eye level.
"I am not fragile," I said through gritted teeth. "And I am not reckless. Give me one chance to prove it before you dismiss me."
He looked from my fists clenching his shirt to my eyes, and something like amusement flickered across his face.
"You know you could only do that because I let you, right?"
That infuriated me even more.
“You hate me so much that the mere sight of me makes your blood boil, right? Why not see me struggle and squirm like you did five minutes ago daily? Maybe you will finally get a chance to kill me and blame it on my clumsiness, stupidity or whatever else you think about me.”
That smirk disappeared from his face.
Fuck! Why the hell did I have to show him how much he affected me, of how bothered I was by what he thought of me?
I released his collar and stepped back, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
"I'll wait by the punching bag tomorrow morning," I said. "Seven AM."
"Five AM," he corrected.
My eyes widened. It was already past two in the morning. "That's in three hours!"
"Then I suggest you hurry back and get whatever sleep you can." His expression was utterly unbothered. "Training starts at five sharp. If you're late, I'm leaving."
"Fine," I bit out.
"Fine," he echoed.
We stood there glaring at each other for another moment, and I tried very hard not to think about whether his lips looked swollen because he'd actually been making out with Amy earlier, if he'd left bite marks on her neck or why that thought made me want to punch something.
"Goodnight, Red," he said finally, turning away.
I watched him disappear into the shadows between the trees, my emotions a tangled mess of anger and attraction and frustration.
I was going to be exhausted with just three hours of sleep.
But as I started making my way back to the dorms, limping slightly because apparently I'd twisted something during all that running, I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips.
Damian was going to train me, which meant I'd be seeing him every morning.
And maybe, just maybe, I'd get some answers about Amy and Clarke and all the secrets he was clearly keeping. Maybe, I'd also be able to solve the mystery of the attack on my pack back home.
I just had to survive the training first.
How hard could it be?