CHAPTER 59: THE UNIVERSE HATES THEO

"What the hell? Roman is on my team?!"

Dread covered her face as she and Liam walked out of class. She could still not believe what Sylas had just announced before he had dismissed them for the day. How could she be so unlucky?

"I guess Luck isn’t on either of our sides for this match now, is it?" Liam groaned too, "I got the Quill kid as my partner. From what I know, he’s one of the guys who are below average in class,"

"At least he’s not a cocky, arrogant bully like mine," She let out a small, tormented laugh, "I’ve never gotten along with Roman. If we can’t do something that simple, how are we supposed to take down a second year as allies?"

Liam whistled low, "Yeah, that’s rough,"

She dragged her hand down her face, "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Liam put a comforting hand around her shoulders, "Maybe you guys can still make it work. Look, I know he’s a jerk that deserves the worst, but I’m sure he also wants to take down a second year and look good in front of an Alpha...,"

And right on cue - probably because the universe has a frustrating sense of humour, Roman’s annoying voice drifted towards them.

"Damn right, I do,"

They both stopped and turned to him. Liam’s finger curled into fists, and his relaxed expression hardened.

"Would you like another punch?"

Roman clicked his tongue and raised a hand in a not-so convincing surrender, "I’m not here to look for trouble, Sinclair," He said and turned to Theo, "And I’m definitely not happy about this improvement, and the school’s never gonna change their mind about the pairings, so we gotta make this work,"

For the first time, he actually sounded like someone who was using his brains and not his ass.

"We need to begin training effectively tonight. How does 6pm sound?" He asked.

Liam and Theo glanced at each other warily, then back at him, "I’ll see you at the sparring grounds, then,"

He walked away, leaving them speechless.

"That was unexpected," Liam broke the silence first.

"No arrogance, no cronies, Nothing. If only he could be like that every day," Theo added, as they moved forward, heading toward the boneyard.

The moment they walked into the boneyard, the air shifted.

The weight of eyes - Dozens of them, fell on her and Liam. It wasn’t the usual stares that she was used to because she had punched Zeke or played truth or dare with the Top Alphas, but one that carried that lazy, predatory stare, dragging over both of them.

The second-year students.

They glared openly, and the whole room buzzed with low voices and beneath it, she could feel the undercurrent of judgment and challenge.

Her pulse thudded. She was excited and nervous at the same time.

They filled their plate and found empty seats close to the wall. Theo was facing the wall, while Liam’s eyes also dragged along the students, a threatening glare in his eyes as he stared daggers right back at every one of them.

"Your eyes are gonna hurt if you glare any harder than that," She warned playfully, munching on a berry.

"Zeke glares at everyone twenty-four seven and his eyes don’t hurt,"

That name had her heart thumping. After he had said those words to her last night, she could barely get any sleep. She could still hear his voice in her head:

’If you don’t shut up and close your eyes this second, I swear to God, I’m gonna turn gay and you’re not gonna wake up a virgin tomorrow morning!’

Theo felt like she was about to run out of her mind. She never thought she would ever hear those words from Zeke himself, and there was a way he had looked at her that night, too.

As though he was flustered.

She was probably just imagining it.

Zeke can’t be attracted to her. She had already tried during the truth or dare and got no reaction from him.

"I just hope no one interrupts my meal," Theo said and continued to eat.

Each stare was like a sharp needle to her back, a dominance test meant to ascertain how much of the glares she could take, the auras she could handle before her wolf breaks in half and she runs out of the hall.

But she seemed completely unbothered and unfazed.

"Good," She said once her plate was empty, "I got to eat without any interruptions,"

"All thanks to me," Liam grinned, looking up from his last bite.

"All thanks to you? Why is that?"

"Because you have my protection, and no one is allowed to approach you without my permission. If not, these second years would have trampled all over you by now,"

She leaned forward with a cocky grin, "Trampled over me?" She scoffed, "You underestimate me, Liam,"

"I know you’re not gonna let them. I just meant without me, you wouldn’t have gotten a single bite of that food. Probably would have had it rolling down your face by now,"

"Yeah? And the person responsible for that would not be able to recognise themselves in the mirror for the next few days, I promise,"

Liam burst into laughter, drawing more attention toward them. As people stared at them, they were coming to realise the two guys didn’t give a shit about the tension in the air.

"But tell me something," Liam began after he had had his fill of laughter, "How were you able to run that fast? Or should I just make up my mind to kidnap you and run some tests?"

She ignored his last statement, "It’s the results of consistent training and always pushing yourself beyond your limit. I’ve always had to train on my own while my brothers were trained by either our dad, or the Beta. I was already at a disadvantage, so I worked extra hard and fuck, it wasn’t easy - but I had a clear goal, and kept working toward it," She finished and looked up at Liam.

He looked invested in what she was saying, and that was when it dawned on her that she had said more than she should have. She had run her mouth a little too much.

"What was your goal?" Liam inquired.

"Uhmmm...," She quickly thought of a perfect lie, "I wanted to be strong enough to get accepted into Gravemont Academy. That was the goal,"

"I guess you’re leaving the dream now, huh?"

"Yeah," She said quietly, not looking as excited as he expected her to be, "This is the dream,"

More like her escape. An escape she was scared would collapse on her soon with Cain’s influence spreading even more every passing second.

.

.

.

For the next two days, she spent most of her time training with Roman. Every second, a part of her expected him to change back to that annoying, proud idiot he was, but he was shockingly cooperative.

They had practised several moves, actions and reactions to every possible attack a second year could throw their way. They had also tried to link their movements, so as not to get into each other’s way during the fight.

Training with Roman was like being forced to join hands with the enemy. One had to focus on the mission, but also had to be wary of their partner.

But so far, so good.

Hopefully, it would stay that way.

But everyone knows, in Gravemont where brutality is a sport and blood is entertainment, a partner like Roman is just another game piece waiting for the perfect moment to turn on you.

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