\[Elise’s POV\]
I watch in annoyance as the two disrupting rogues look around the room. When their gazes come to rest on Serenity, they are moving, confirming once again that she is definitely their target.
Not wasting any time, I begin to move, rushing toward both and grabbing them with my arms. Letting out a growl, I push forward, keeping them away from the one that they’re after.
“Don’t just stand there.” I snap when no one moves. “Fucking help me!”
In a flash, William is moving forward so fast that I almost don’t see him, and before I even know it, he is pressing his body against mine and helping me tackle the rogues to the ground.
Together, we hold them down while they fight mindlessly to get free and get to Serenity.
“Oi!” I yell, turning my gaze to Maverick. “Get your princess out of here!”
Since Serenity was the rogues target, it was obvious that keeping her safe was the main priority. Even if it meant letting her out of my sight while something so serious was happening, I didn’t care.
“NOW!” I add, just as one of the rogues turns its head and manages to bite me on the forearm. “Fuck!” I growl, repositioning my body so I can pull my arm free. “You…”
Lifting the arm that has been bitten, I bring my elbow down on the rogue's temple, knocking it out cleanly. Once it stops moving, I focus entirely on the one that remains until William slams his head against its head, knocking it out as well. And when neither of the rogues are moving, he slowly rises, leaving me with a sudden sense of emptiness.
“Well,” he announces, looking around at the scene. “That was…”
“William!” Lidia gasps before he can finish speaking. “Are you okay?”
As she speaks, she rushes forward and drops down beside William so she can begin to examine him while ignoring me, the one who was fucking bitten, entirely.
“Get off of me!” William growls, shoving her aside. “Can’t you see that she’s hurt and not me?”
For a moment, I feel a sense of satisfaction over his acknowledging me, but it doesn’t last long as I remember; it is simply because I’m his student.
“Go fetch the first-aid kit for me.”
Growing quiet, he waits as Lidia gives me a look of loathing before getting up and doing as instructed.
“Now,” he says, once she is out of sight. “It goes without saying that nothing of what happened here this evening will be mentioned to the other students.”
“Obviously.” Maverick huffs. “If we were to do that, it would cause a witch hunt.”
“And what exactly do you plan on doing to keep us quiet?” Forrest challenges, doing what deliquents do best, and going against authority. “You gonna buy our silence?”
“I don’t need to do that.” William counters, giving a sexy smirk. “I’m in charge of whether or not you graduate.” He continues. “Now, what on earth would happen if you didn’t graduate from The Academy? I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t be able to take your rightful places in your respective packs, no?”
At his words, a laugh escapes me due to just how offended Forrest and the rest of his buddies look.
“Are you threatening me?” He growls. “You…”
“I do believe you threatened your principal first.” William counters.
Damn… Back when I was a teenager, I never felt attracted to authoritarian figures, but William was giving me a hard on right here and now. He sure was fit to be a leader, but I guess that was to go without saying since he was born an alpha heir.
“Quit drooling.” Forrest growls, turning his anger toward me. “It isn’t attractive.”
“Jealous?” I ask, waggling my brows. “You wish that the women looked at you the same way they did William.”
“Principal Torres.” William counters, catching me by surprise.
Eyes widening, I realize too late that I referred to him as I would in the past, and that wasn’t something Eleanor should be doing.
As I open my mouth to correct myself, Lidia comes rushing back with a first-aid kit in hand, and when she drops between William and me, I know that it was an intentional move.
“Allow me.” She says, turning her large eyes on me. “Does it hurt?” She continues, grabbing my arm and intentionally being rough, so I have to fight the urge to hit her. “Ooops.”
Ooops, my ass. I knew she was doing this to try to instigate something with me, which was ridiculous given the fact that she was an adult and I was a teen.
‘What a petty bitch.’ Anna huffs.
‘Yeah.’
Although I knew that she was most likely doing what she was due to jealousy over another woman, even looking at her man, something about her was beginning to feel off to me. Who was she, and how did she manage to weasel her way beside William? And why was he allowing her to be there when it was clear that he didn’t really care for her at all?
As these thoughts begin to swirl around in my mind, Lidia presses an antiseptic wipe rather harshly against my injury, causing me to lash out before I can even stop myself.
“Ah!” She gasps, taking the opportunity to make it more dramatic than it was, and crashes into William.
“What the hell?” He growls, looking from Lidia to me. “What is this?”
“I was just cleaning her wound, and she...”
Before she can finish her words, a bark of laughter escapes Forrest, whose eyes are fixed on us.
"Man, that was golden.” He manages between chuckles. “That’s some acting, lady.”
“Acting?” She repeats, her eyes growing wide. “I don’t quite...”
“Lidia,” William growls, causing her to cower. “What have I told you?”
“I...” she stammers, continuing with her innocent act. “I really was just...”
“It was all me.” I announce, not wanting to watch this ridiculous back and forth. “Reflex.”
I didn’t care how she made me out to be since, in this life, there was no chance that I could stand beside William. We were too far apart in age, and I wasn’t the woman that he wanted; nothing would change that. I was no longer Elise, and it was best I remembered that.
“I’m sorry.” I continue. “Please, continue.”
Ignoring the pang of pain that shoots through me.
Stop it, heart. I growl inwardly. No matter how much you bitch, you won’t get what you want.
Sighing, I let the goddess’ words flash in my mind.
Tell anyone who you really are, and you’ll die again.
Right. I couldn’t do this. If I wanted to stay alive and save Serenity from whatever these fucking rogues were, I had to stay alive, and that meant nobody could ever know I was Elise.
I wait quietly as Lidia examines me, and it is clear from the annoyance in her gaze that she was expecting me to make myself look worse.
You’re ten years too early to fuck with me. I think inwardly, knowing that she was definitely younger than I would be if I were still in my original body.
“Are you not going to continue?” William asks, ending our stare off. “If not, let me.”
“No.” Lidia says quickly, turning her attention back to me. “I’ll do it. You just handle everything else.”