Their Hidden Princess

#Chapter 5: The Hunt

 Leave it to Victoria to find the absolute worst men possible. Though it did align with how she treated me my entire life.

Exactly, she never loved you, the voice in my head said.

Get f****d, I threw back at her.

Then I felt a force wrapped around my bicep. I snapped out of my internal monologue and Kairos’s hand was wrapped around me with a bruising force. I whimpered slightly.

“Listen to me,” he snapped. “You seem to not know much about wolf culture. Probably because no one cared about you enough to teach you—” His lips curled up in a sadistic grin. “—but you’re in the presence of the future king. We demand respect. Perhaps if you showed us it, we’d let you off with a warning.”

I jerked back against him but didn’t move an inch. I raised an eyebrow. “And how would you like me to do that?”

“Kneel,” he spat.

I looked around me. Everyone was watching. The whole school would know how much of a compliant b***h I was if I didn’t stand up to this i***t. I’d be walked all over for the rest of my time here. I had to set me foot down now and assert my dominance.

“No,” I spat back.

His eyes were also a gold, but these were darker, angrier than Maximus’s. “Who do you think you are? A princess?”

Well, apparently, yes, my head said.

Not helping…

“I don’t put up with bullies,” I sneered at him. “Which, clearly, you are. So let me go, and back off.”

Kairos glared at me for a moment, nostrils flaring. His entire face shook with rage. It was a shame, if he wasn’t so angry he might be handsome. Finally, he let go of my arm and shoved me away.

I “oofed” as I landed in the middle of Loren’s chest. Kairos was still glaring at me before he turned and addressed the crowd. His sick smile was back.

“We have our first hunt!” he announced. The crowd whooped and hollered and I felt a panic run through my chest so deep it shook my bones. “First one to make her submit, wins,” he continued. Then he looked back at me. “Bonus points if you take her down in the process.”

My eyes widened at him then glanced back at the crowd in the cafeteria. Everyone had gotten to their feet and was slowly inching towards me. Some were snarling and others were sniffing the air trying to get my scent.

“Zora,” Loren whispered from behind me. “You need to run.”

“It’s no use,” I threw back. “They’re faster than me as humans and even more as wolves.”

“Just try, dammit!” Loren shoved me towards the door of the cafeteria. I stumbled a bit and heard Kairos laugh at me. I kept backing towards the door slowly, eyes on the people in front of me. They kept edging closer and closer. My hand hit the metal of the door handle and I ripped it open and took off in a sprint.

My legs were utterly exhausted still from the morning run. I felt every muscle in them protest as I took off full speed. I had no idea where I was going and kept running as I heard howls behind me. I couldn’t pause to look and see how close they were and risk slowing down.

I pushed and pushed, my lungs and thighs burning, until something large cut in front of me and made me stutter to a stop. A massive wolf, with glowing purple eyes and grey fur, stopped in front of me. It snapped it’s jaws and I pivoted in a different direction.

I kept running until another wolf cut me off, this one an auburn with gold eyes. I pivoted again and ran towards a building. A third wolf cut me off at the entrance and I swerved to run in the back alley. My heart was pounding out of my chest.

Finally, I turned a corner and expected an escape but was met with a dead end, a fence as high as two of me stacked end to end.

“f**k!” I screamed. The howls and grows were closer. I turned around and found four wolves in front of me, hackles up and teeth bared. There was a giant blonde wolf in front, pacing back and forth.

“Submit!” she barked. “Apologize!” It sounded like she was in my head. Her words bounced off the sides of my skull. I was shocked. The wolves could speak?

“Or what? You’ll eat me?” I said. I tried to show as little fear as possible, despite the fact I was quaking to my core. “If Kairos wants to play this little game, it’ll end when I decide.”

The blonde wolf’s snout curved into a grin. “Good luck.”

Then they charged. I immediately started throwing kicks and punches to ward them off. My fingers dug into the sides of the fence and I lifted myself away from their snouts. They chomped below my feet and then started to get up on their hind legs. I took that as my chance and swung my feet onto the top of the grey wolf’s head.

She whimpered with the force of my full weight on her head. I pushed off and launched myself into the sky. I flailed a bit before grabbing the top of the fence and swinging myself over. I dropped to the ground on the other side as the wolves were still snarling.

My ass felt bruised and I hobbled back up to my feet. I tried to break into a full sprint again but it came out as a limpy run.

“f**k YOU, BITCHES!” I yelled over my shoulder.

I ran out of the alley way and heard more wolves howling. f**k, could the communicate with each other that I had escaped? I didn’t let myself think about it for too long. I was focused on finding a place to hide. I kept running when I felt a force collide with me.

My world spun on it’s side and I finally realized, this may be my end.

I blinked a few times to get the blurry spots out of my vision. My head felt like it was run over by a bus. I staggered to my feet. A hand wrapped around my wrist. I tried to shake it free when I looked at the person attached to it.

Of course, it was Maximus.

“Let me go,” I hissed.

“Come on, little human,” he teased. “Just give up. Submit and recognize you’re nothing at this school.”