Chapter 22: Forged in Blood: Chapter 20

Malachi pulls on his T-shirt, and the wet material sticks to every inch of damp, muddy skin. The silver in his tattoos shimmers in the moonlight, and I drink in the sight. By the time we were finished dealing with Ophelia and Ronan, Malachi was already shirtless and fighting a junior from Onyx. Every single fucking year, some hotheaded asshole challenges my boy at Fight Fest, and every single year, they have their asses handed to them. Malachi is undefeated. Strong as a demon five times his size and smarter than every other person on this campus, with the exception of Alexandros.

However, as much as I love watching him fight, what happened with Ophelia and that prick, Ronan, still has me all kinds of tense. Fucking Kai’s ass might be the only thing to relieve that pressure. I stretch out my neck until it cracks.

“Ophelia was out here? In the woods with Ronan?” he asks, his eyebrows pinched together.

“Not with Ronan by choice,” I say, and the possessive growl that follows takes me by surprise.

He runs a hand over his shaved head. “Fucking prick.”

“We’ll deal with him,” Axl says, tossing Malachi his sweatshirt before directing his attention to me. “But what the fuck was Ophelia doing here? I thought you warned her?”

I shrug. “I did. I guess she didn’t fucking listen.”

Malachi shakes his head. “Doesn’t surprise me. She’s the most curious and fearless human I know. And that’s a dangerous combo.”

“She’s a pain in my ass,” Axl grumbles. “She’s going to get herself or one of us killed.”

“It would be so much easier if we could just bite her.” I release a frustrated sigh. “Make her forget what she saw here. Because I can guarantee this isn’t the last time she’ll get herself into trouble trying to find answers to all her questions.”

“We should let the professor know and see how he wants us to deal with Ronan,” Malachi says.

I groan inwardly. He’ll be pissed that Ophelia saw what she did. But if he won’t let us bite her, maybe it will be enough to convince him we need to keep her chained in our basement. My dick jumps in my pants at the thought of keeping her prisoner. Using her for whatever pleasures I want, whenever I want them. Breaking her beautiful body and her strong spirit. My fangs throb in time with my cock.

We head through the woods toward the house, walking at a steady pace rather than running. None of us are in any hurry to face Alexandros’s wrath.

Malachi breaks the heavy silence. “How did you say she found out about tonight?”

“That Penelope bitch. Ophelia overheard her and her friend talking about it. And she was with some of the Onyx pledges tonight.” It’s not unusual for a few humans to find out about the Trials and sneak their way in. Onyx recruits are the usual suspects. The asshole jock types they attract like to brag to their girls about what they’re doing. At this stage of the Trials, it looks like run-of-the-mill secret hazing shit and nothing more sinister, so we let it slide. It’s only once a pledge has earned their way to the final trial that they have to start keeping secrets.

“So Ronan tried to bite her after you saw him with Penelope the other day.” Malachi frowns. “Seems too much of a coincidence that this wasn’t some kind of trap.”

“Seems like.”

He scowls at me like this whole mess is my fault. “I think we need to warn Ophelia that Ronan and Penelope are up to something.”

“We’re not her fucking besties, Kai,” Axl grumbles.

Malachi sighs. “I never fucking said we were. But we’re supposed to be keeping an eye on her, right? It wouldn’t hurt to clue her in so she can protect herself.”

Axl smirks at me and rubs Malachi’s shaved head. “Aw, I think our boy has it bad for the pyro.”

Malachi shoves him back with a snarl. “Fuck you! Just because I don’t act like a complete jerkwad to her like you two assholes doesn’t mean I have it bad. So she’s smart and funny, even when she doesn’t mean to be. And yeah, I like her, but stop busting my fucking balls about it. And stop being assholes to her.”

“But fucking with her is so much fun.” Recalling the tears running down her face earlier and the mud streaking her pale thighs, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and groan. How badly I wanted to pin her down in the dirt and get mud all over her. Right there in front of Ronan too. How dare he touch what’s mine.

“Ronan is going to fucking pay for messing with our toy,” Axl growls, reading my mind without needing to hear my thoughts.

Alexandros is staring out the window in the den when we arrive back at the house. My gut twists in a knot. I hate to disappoint him, even though I seem to be pretty fucking good at it. Axl is the first he turned of our unit and therefore the golden child. And Malachi is the one he chose because he saw something in him that he wanted. He chose both of them, but he only turned me because Axl begged him for a brother. I will never be as good as they are—at least not in his eyes.

He doesn’t turn around when we walk into the room. He could climb into our heads and read our thoughts if he chose to, but he doesn’t ever do that. As callous as he can be, trust is a big thing for him. However, our emotions and our intentions are things he feels whether he wants to or not. He can dampen them, but he can’t not feel them, and I’m sure he sensed the surge of anger Axl and I felt earlier, not to mention my crushing guilt over the whole situation with Ophelia and Ronan. What if I hadn’t gotten to her when I did? I let Alexandros down. I should have made sure she didn’t show up there. I should have done more.

“What the hell happened?” Alexandros barks.

“We won,” Axl says. “Fourteen wins. Onyx only got nine and⁠—”

“Not with the Trials, with the girl.” He spins around to face us, anger radiating from him in waves.

Axl rolls his shoulders back. “Ronan got to her. She was on her own in the woods, and he⁠—”

“What the hell was she doing in the woods tonight? Did I not ask you all to ensure she stayed out of trouble?”

“We didn’t know she’d be there, sir,” Malachi offers. “We had no idea.”

“I did,” I admit with a sigh. Malachi shoots me a look of concern, but he knows as well as I do that there’s no hiding anything from the professor. “She asked me about the Trials, and I told her to stay away, but I should have made sure.”

His nostrils flare, and his dark eyes bore into mine with such ferocity it makes me wince. “Yes, you should have.”

“I doubt it would have stopped her, sir,” Malachi says, risking our sire’s wrath by defending me. “She doesn’t exactly stay out of trouble.”

“No, she finds it like a goddamn heat-seeking missile,” Axl adds.

Alexandros is still scowling at me, and I glare back, daring him to say the words that I know must be in his heart. How he wishes he’d never turned me. How I’m a constant disappointment to him. Instead, he directs his attention to Axl. “Where is the girl now?”

Axl answers. “Back at her dorm. We went by there before we came back here to check, and she was sitting in her window.”

“And Ronan?”

“I warned him to stay away from her. He ran off with his tail between his legs,” I say.

Alexandros hums. Thinking.

I was so goddamn stupid for believing she’d do as she was told. She’s the most infuriating human I’ve ever met. I should have chained her in our fucking basement. We should chain her in our basement. It’s the only way to keep her from getting herself killed. I recall Ronan’s filthy hands on her. The jealous, possessive vortex of rage that swelled in my chest and threatened to swallow me whole. Ophelia Hart is mine.

The professor takes a few steps closer, his eyes searching mine. “Did he question your warning? Give any indication that he wouldn’t heed it?”

“I think he got the message, but it’s worth repeating.” Plus, I want to know exactly what’s going on between him and Penelope.

Axl grunts his agreement, and Alexandros gives a single nod of his head, effectively dismissing us while giving his approval.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, but he spins on his heel and walks away, not bothering to acknowledge my apology.