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I spit to the side and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Is that all you’ve got?” I whispered, straightening myself. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, but the cockiness on his face lit a deep fire of hatred within me. “I thought you trained for this your entire life, Ryder. Isn’t that what I heard about males like you?”

He swung again, aiming for my face, but I ducked and kicked my foot into his shin. He hissed in pain and whirled around, sending an elbow into my back.

I tried to stay standing, but Ryder came at me again, tackling me from behind and sending us both sprawling on the ground. His hands splayed around me, his full bodyweight pinning me down on my stomach.

He was too heavy to push off, especially from this position.

His hand found the back of my head, pressing my face into the grass from the side. “Give up,” Ryder hissed in my ear.

No,I wanted to yell.Over my dead fucking body, you prick.

“Relax, Ryder,” Lanson called from the crowd. “The fight’s over.”

Oh good.My knight in shining armor.I wanted to vomit.

Ryder pressed my face into the ground even harder, grinding me against the dirt, before finally climbing off me.

I scrambled to my feet and retreated into the crowd, too embarrassed to look the commander in the eye. He wasn’t Lord, but losing a fight embarrassed me all the same.

Even if it was part of the plan.

“Are you okay?” Ashlani asked, shoving herself over to me. “That asshole went way too hard on you.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered. Shame flushed my cheeks. I couldn’t look anyone in the eye, not Ashlani, not Ryder.

I knew I could have taken him, but even losing the fight on purpose made me feel fucking pathetic.

“Alright,” the commander said, finally breaking the tension. “Huntyr, learn to throw a solid punch. You won’t survive without it. Let’s move on. More fighting and less playing, please.”

The crowd got busy watching the next two males fight, everyone all but forgetting about me and the brutal embarrassment they just witnessed.

I finally brought myself to lift my gaze, only to find Wolf staring back at me. His electric gaze changed, though. Something simmered there. I swore I saw something move in his deep blue irises.

But he blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. Perhaps I’d imagined the entire thing.

He lingered in the very back of the crowd, arms crossed over his chest and wings slightly expanded.

It was the type of gaze that made me feel exposed, naked. I didn’t look away, though. Wolf seemed pissed off, and would probably look that way to most people, but I saw something else there, too.

Something enlightened. Something playful.

I forced myself to rip my eyes away as the next opponents began landing blows. So far, I had achieved what I needed to. I’d managed to blend in. People might remember my horrific failure of a fight, but at least they wouldn’t be seeing me as a threat.

Although, my attention kept drifting off to Wolf, kept finding him standing there, staring back at me with fierce eyes.

He saw right through me. I knew he did. He had seen me fight before. Surely, he would know why I had to lose these fights.

Surely, he would keep my secret.

It’s not like he was making friends here, anyway. The other students avoided him as if he were poison.

The feeling of unease washed over me every time we made eye contact, though. I tried to focus on the throbbing of my body instead, tried to think of the pain I felt every time I caught myself looking for his tall figure across the courtyard.

I can do this,I reminded myself.I have no other choice.

Chapter