Claimed By The King(s) Of Kings

Aina

Aina struck a dramatic, sarcastic pose, puffing out her chest. ”In the flesh! I’m a total legend around here!”

Ally laughed out loud, a bright, beautiful sound that broke through her tired demeanor. ”You are a legend, indeed! God, I wish I could have slapped those royal princes the exact same way you slapped them! They gave me absolute hell last year. It was insane! But I couldn’t do anything back because I was so terrified that I would disappoint my parents after being given such a huge opportunity here. But... thank you for slapping them. I feel like you slapped them on my behalf!”

Aina grinned, winking playfully. ”No problem at all! I could do it again any day, girl!”

Both of them burst into fits of giggles, the lingering tension from Aina’s horrific morning melting away in the bright sunlight.

”You are honestly the absolute coolest person I’ve met since I came to this academy,” Aina declared, her voice filled with genuine warmth. ”You’re just cool! You literally just made my whole day better... even though it’s about to get ten times worse since I’m about to get beat down by a group of insecure little brats.” Ally blinked, her smile fading slightly into a somber expression.

”You don’t have to get beat down, you know,” Aina added gently, stepping closer. ”You could just avoid them! Hide out in the library or something!”

Ally shook her head, looking down at her scuffed boots. ”There’s no point in avoiding them. They’ll just corner me and be twice as angry the next time. It’s honestly best to just take your beating now and get it over with.”

”You know, this is absolutely crazy,” Aina insisted firmly, her brows furrowing behind her glasses. ”Just because you’re a rogue doesn’t mean that you deserve to be beat down on!”

Ally looked up, her dark eyes heavy with a profound, painful guilt. ”No... I kind of do. Rogues have killed thousands of innocent people over the centuries. Rogues go into villages, raid houses, and kill families in their sleep. Us rogues have a very, very bad reputation. So... I guess I do deserve it. I’m sure the people of this school feel like I’m just a giant waste of energy and that in the future, I’ll just end up becoming a bloodthirsty monster like all the other rogues.”

Aina gasped, her jaw dropping. ”That is crazy! You aren’t them!” Ally offered a small, sad smile, nudging her shoulder against Aina’s. ”You know... it’s actually really good to hear that someone else is suffering in this school too. No matter how selfish that sounds.”

Aina let out a quiet chuckle, nodding in complete agreement. ”Yeah... it actually is good to feel like someone else other than me is suffering in this terrible school. I know that sounds awful and selfish, but... yeah.”

They reached the crossroads near the edge of the Colosseum field, both pausing as the afternoon bell chimed in the distance.

”Well... I need to go,” Aina said, rubbing the back of her neck as her previous panic came rushing back. ”I need to sort out that whole major matter that had me kicking the grass in the first place.”

”Yeah, I also need to go,” Ally agreed with a resigned nod, turning toward the shadows of the side bleachers. ”I need to go get beat down.”

”Well... bye, Ally!” Aina called out with a soft, encouraging wave. ”Bye, Travis,” Ally called back, vanishing into the courtyard.

As soon as Ally was out of sight, Aina’s boyish posture completely collapsed. She spun around, pacing rapidly down the polished stone corridors of the main building, her mind racing at a million miles an hour.

I need to get out of this stupid rugby sport! she panicked internally, chewing on her thumbnail. I can’t play! They’re going to break my bones! I have asthma! The second a two-hundred-pound Lycan tackles me into the dirt, my respiratory system is going to collapse!

She walked down hallway after hallway, her brain firing off frantic ideas before rejecting every single one. I can’t just skip, Coach Vane said I’ll get kicked out of Moonside!ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

And then, like a lightning bolt cutting through a stormy sky, a brilliant realization struck her.

The Headmaster!

Aina snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up behind her sleek glasses. Without wasting another second, Aina broke into a full sprint, her boots slapping against the marble floors as she rushed up the grand spiral staircase leading all the way to the top floor of the administrative tower.

She slammed her feet to a halt outside the grand double doors of the Headmaster’s office, gasping for air as her poor lungs burned. Sitting at a neat wooden desk right outside his doors was a sweet, elderly lady with fluffy silver hair and a knitted cardigan.

Mrs. Gable looked up from her documents, offering a warm, motherly smile as she adjusted her reading spectacles. ”Hi dear! How can I help you today?”

Aina leaned against the desk, clutching her chest as she tried to catch her breath. ”Oh—hi! I sort of need to see the Headmaster immediately, please!”

Mrs. Gable’s sweet smile turned into a look of deep, sorrowful sympathy. She clasped her hands together over her desk. ”Oh, I’m so very sorry, sweetheart. You just missed him! He just left for the capital.”

Aina’s brain went completely blank. What?! her mind shrieked in absolute horror. ”What?!” Aina blurted out loud, her voice cracking in pure, unadulterated desperation.

No! No, no, no! she screamed internally, clutching her hair as her mind spiraled into absolute chaos. You have got to be kidding me! Cursing my luck! Cursing my entire life! How is this even happening right now?! ”When will he be back?!” Aina pleaded desperately, leaning closer across the desk. ”Will he be back by this afternoon?!”

Mrs. Gable shook her head gently, her soft eyes filled with pity. ”No, dear. He might take a very long time to be back. It seemed extremely urgent, but I can’t be entirely sure. He may be back tomorrow... or he may be back next week. But I think it will be quite a long trip.”

Aina stood frozen in front of the desk, every single muscle in her body locking up tight. She felt an overwhelming, volcanic urge to grab the brass paperweight on Mrs. Gable’s desk and throw it directly through the glass window. Instead, she forced her twitching lips into the absolute most painfully fake smile known to mankind.

”Thank you, Mrs. Gable,” Aina squeaked out, her voice dangerously tight.

She turned on her heel and slowly walked away down the silent hallway. The moment she rounded the corner and was out of Mrs. Gable’s sight, Aina grabbed her blonde wig with both hands, screaming silently into the ceiling as pure panic seized her soul.

I have practice at four o’clock this afternoon! her mind screamed in sheer, unbridled terror. That gives me less than two hours to figure out a plan before I am forced to run onto a rugby field with a bunch of territorial, bone-crushing shifters! I am so dead!