SERAPHINA

    Chapter 130 Weak

    Why did none of them question me? Where had I disappeared? What happened?

    The more I thought about it, the more a strange heaviness began to coil deep in my chest, tangled with the odd way they’d all been treating me the past few days.

    “Cat got your tongue, Seth Darven? Or can’t youe up with an excuse when you’re suddenly called out?” Cassius sneered, yanking me from my thoughts.

    “He just can’t admit in front of Grace that he’s nothing but a pussy,” Reed drawled.

    The clearing burst intoughter. I stared at the fool spewing nonsense, desperate to be a hero in front of the others.

    Before I could speak, a growl ripped through the air, deep and sharp enough to silence the clearing. Even I jolted.

    “Speaking ill can get you killed sometimes, you know,” Finn’s cold voice cut through the noise like a de. His eyes locked on Reed, and for a brief moment, even Reed’s smirk faltered. “Seth Darven was with us, risking his life, going into the underground brothel as a dollboy just to find Grace. He yed the most dangerous game by putting himself in that pit. If you don’t know a damn thing, keep your garbage mouth shut…before I make you wish you couldn’t open it for the rest of your life.”

    The weight in his voice smothered the air. It was the first time I’d seen Finn like this, ‘cold, aggressive, and brimming with lethal promise.

    Reed blinked at him, then snapped, tossing his te with a furious ng. “What did you just say, you bastard?!” He shot to his feet, body trembling with the urge to shift.

    “HEY! HEY–HEY!” Several Alphas jumped in, holding him back before a fight could break out.

    Cassius mped a hand on Reed’s shoulder. “Don’t fight, Reed! The party will be ruined, and you’ll end up in trouble!”

    But iReed /iwas snorting like a crazed bull, nostrils ring, eyes bloodshot. Finn leaned backzily, one leg draped over the other, swirling his wine with an almost bored air. The contrast only seemed to drive Reed closer to losing his mind.

    “So ihe /iyed the dollboy, huh?” Reed spat, shoving past the hands holding him, “Then where the hell was he after the fight broke out?!b” /b

    “In Sinspire, iof /icourse,i” /iAsher replied coolly, but the death re he aimed at Reed could have carved stone.

    “Ah, so…in a brothel?” Reed’s grin spread slow and sharp as he turned to me, “What were you doing there, Seth Darven? Sucking cock? iOr /ispreading your asshole like the other whores in that ce?”

    Another round ofughter erupted.

    bFinn’s /bjaw tightened. Asher’s eyes turned nearly ck. Both nced at me, waiting, but I only shook my head once. The two Alphas beside me simmered with a deadly aura that prickled against my skin.

    iAnd /ime? I had my wolf eyes fixed on Reed, unblinking, predatory.

    He caught the look and sneered/“What’s wrong? Hurt that I exposed you?” He chuckled with Cassius at bhis /b

    side.

    “Does your ass hurt, Seth? Are your little balls still workingb?/bb” /bCassius mocked.

    Theughter swelled again, loud and ugly, but I could feel Ronan’s wolf barely leashed, bpacing /blike ba /bbstorm /babout to break.

    Chapter 136 Viesk

    “He has balls?” Reed’s lip curled in disgust, “Look at his bitchy, whorish face, he must have a pussy between his legs, not a dick.”

    Just as I felt Ryker stand and sensed Ronan’s wolf pushing ito /ithe surface, I rose from my seat, slow, deliberate, a smile tugging at my mouth.

    “You seem to have a problem with a pussy, Alpha Reed,” I said lightly.

    Theughter swelled again, ugly and loud, but I kept my eyes locked on him as I took steady steps cutting through the clearing.

    “Could it be,” I continued, voice carrying above the noise, “that you have such a massive dick and such heavy balls you’ve started taking for granted the very ce you were born from?”

    Theughter thinned into awkward chuckles. The sneers faltered. By the time I stopped directly in front of him, the clearing was quiet enough to hear the crackle of the bonfire.

    “I doubt you have that kind of dick,” I said, my smile fading into a de’s edge, “because I could easily snap it, break it…or rip it clean off. Right?”

    My gaze hardened to steel. “So why the fuck are you so eager to insult women, just because you’ve got a problem with me?”

    For a moment, something flickered in his eyes, hesitation. He held his breath, unable to speak or even blink. A few Alphas smirked behind their hands.

    “Did he just get intimidated by that tiny Alpha?” someone muttered.

    “So fucking hrious!” another snorted.

    The mockery snapped Reed out of it. His nostrils red as he growled, “I’m calling you a pussy because you’re weak, like a woman!”

    My mind went nk. Until suddenly, it wasn’t Reed standing in front of me,it was my father.

    “Look at yourself. When we were fighting, they gave you the role of a dollboy. The role of a whore. A weak, pathetic whore. Just like a woman,” Reed sneered.

    The voice wed through my skull. My fists curled, nails biting my palms.

    “Care to repeat that, Alpha Reed?”

    The Words didn’te from me. They cracked like thunder across the clearing. Alpha Jude had arrived.

    Every smirk vanished. Cigarettes were flicked into the dirt. A few Alphas shifted uneasily, hiding bottles behind their chairsb. /b

    “Who the hell called the Alpha Instructor here?” someone whispered.

    “I did,” Grace’s voice rang out as she walked forward, smiling sweetly.

    “Since there are men here with such big balls and suchrge dicks,” she said, “I thought I, a weak woman, should call my mate for protection.b” /b

    Several Alphas looked away in share. Others shifted ufortably, the weight of her words pressing bheavy /b

    in the air.

    “Let me take a good look.”

    Alpha Jude stepped between Reed and I, before anyone could process his bintent/bb, /bbhis /bbhand /bbshot /bbout /bbgrabbing /b

    bReed’s /bmanhood.

    Chapter 136 WAK

    The clearing went dead silent. Even I froze.

    Reed stiffened, clearly ufortable, but he straightened his spine because what the hell could he do against Alpha Jude?

    “You really do have a big dick and balls,” Alpha Jude said tly, releasing him.

    Relief flickered across Reed’s face. A proud little smirk tugged at his lips, as if he’d just won something.

    Then Alpha Jude turned to me.

    My heart nearly stopped. I instinctively took a step back as he stalked toward me.

    “Don’t tell me he’s also going to touch,” Phina’s voice in my head sounded as horrified as I felt.

    If he checked me down there, he’d find nothing and my disguise would be blown to pieces.

    From the corner of my eye, I saw Ronan push up from his chair, tension radiating off him. Only he knew.

    But Ryker was getting up too. Why?

    “Hmmm.”

    Jude’s hand shot up, not down, and gripped my chin. My breath caught, eyes going wide as his perfectly carved face leaned close.

    “You’ve got a pretty face for a man,” he murmured.

    My stomach plummeted. If he got curious enough to “confirm” further…

    Until he let my chin go.

    “Following the little argument just now,” Jude said, turning to address the crowd, “I’d say both sides have a point. One’s a man with a big dick and balls. The other? A man with the beauty of a woman and supposedly the weakness of one. So why not…test it?”

    The murmurs instantly rippled through the clearing.

    “Is there igoing /iito /ibe a fight between them to see who’s stronger, Alpha Jude?” one Alpha called, eager.

    see

    Reed’s grin spread islowly /iand ugly as he pointed straight at me.

    “Of course, seeing as there’s ino /ice for weakness in this Academy, this is the perfect time to weed it out.”

    The air shifted. The easy tension of the gathering sharpened into a de.

    “Weed out?” someone echoed warily.

    Alpha Jude’s smile turned lethal as his eyes locked on us both.

    “The weak one who lost the tasks…” he said, voice smooth and merciless, “will be eliminated bfrom /bbthe /bAcademy. Immediately.”