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"Get her!!!" The furious screams echoed all around as Violet reached the finish line once again, marking her eighth lap. Just two more laps, she reminded herself, panting heavily.

"Oh, God." Violet barely had time to take in a sharp breath before torrents of freezing water struck her from multiple directions. The attack was like standing beneath a waterfall and getting beaten down by the furious pressure.

Just as she had feared, Elsie Lancaster had it out for her after that little stunt. And of course, Elsie didn’t wage her war alone.

The pureblooded she-wolf had rounded up her loyal supporters, who all turned their hoses on Violet, unleashing blasts of freezing water on her and completely ignoring the other runners.

Violet knew at that moment that the rest of the students must be thanking their gods right now for not being in her position. She was boring the brunt of it all.

Where in the world did they even get that many hoses? Yet that was the least of Violet’s worries at the moment as the streams of water hit her from every angle, leaving her disoriented.

She could barely see as her vision blurred by constant sprays of cold water, and her breath was ragged, interrupted by the choking sensation of water forcing its way into her nose.

Her ears filled with a dull, oppressive pressure, muffling all surrounding sounds.

The entire world was narrowed to just that icy, blinding flood.

But Violet fought through it. She pushed through the cold onslaught, her body burning with exhaustion but refusing to yield. She wasn’t going to let herself be defeated here, not like this and give Elsie the satisfaction.

Violet knew she was in for something much worse if she fell now. Elsie and her lackeys would probably drown her if given half the chance.

Finally, Violet managed to outrun them, stopping just long enough to catch her breath. She very much looked like a drowned rat with her hair stuck to her head in tangled, wet strands.

Her training gear clung to her like a second skin, dripping with water, the fabric outlining every curve. She shivered slightly, grateful at least for the bra she wore.

If she hadn’t, her nipples—which had pebbled from the cold—would be visibly outlined beneath the fabric. It would have been another humiliating disaster to add to this mess.

As if to confirm her fears, Violet heard an appreciative whistle coming from the elite sidelines. One of the werewolves had his eyes fixed on her, his gaze running shamelessly over her soaked figure. Violet’s stomach twisted in revulsion, and her jaw clenched.

Except that attention lasted for only mere seconds.

A blur shot forward, and before Violet could blink, Asher barreled straight into the whistling werewolf, his fist connecting with the guy’s face in a brutal punch.

The sound of the punch, a dull, sickening thud reverberated through the field and silenced everyone.

Some of the other werewolves who had been eager to follow in the unlucky guy’s footsteps quickly abandoned the thought, stepping back as Asher’s punch landed a second time.

It seemed the psycho Asher had his eyes on the new meat named Violet, considering this was the second time he’d fought her battle in one day.

What the...? Violet was dumbfounded at the sight. What the hell was Asher doing? He couldn’t just go around beating up every boy who looked at her the wrong way.

This was exactly the kind of attention she was trying to avoid. Now everyone was going to think they were together or something. So great!

"What do you think you’re staring at, asshole? Want me to pluck out those eyes and feed them to you?" Asher snarled, his voice brimming with fury.

"No, Alpha Asher!" the unlucky werewolf whimpered, his heart pounding in his chest.

"But you do have to admit, she’s quite a sight," a voice said with a chuckle, and Violet found herself locking eyes with Roman Draven.

Just like the unfortunate werewolf, Roman also gave her body an appreciative once-over, but instead of Asher launching a flurry of punches at him, he merely growled a warning.

Roman laughed in response, completely unfazed by Asher’s threat.

So it seemed Lila had been right. Roman was the only Cardinal Alpha that Asher could tolerate.

Almost immediately, Violet’s eyes connected with Asher’s, and even with the glasses hiding them, she could sense the brewing storm behind them.

There was something so intense and overwhelming about the way he looked at her, it made her stomach twist with a mix of fear and thrill.

He excited and scared her if that even made any sense.

"What are you still waiting for, little purple?" Asher taunted, his tone dark and laced with something almost sinister. "Why aren’t you running yet? Or do you need me to chase you to motivate you?" The way he said it made shivers run down her spine.

Hell no!

Violet didn’t need to be told twice. Without another second’s hesitation, she turned and took off, sprinting away as if her life depended on it. She could hear Asher’s laughter behind her, mocking and amused, but she had no intention of looking back.

She wasn’t about to give him a reason to chase her, not now, not ever. She was going to finish this damn race, no matter what it took.

Violet was focused on reaching the finish line when she ran past Ivy Sinclair, her roommate.

The once-perfect looking blueblood now looked the exact opposite with her sweaty and disheveled appearance.

It seemed just like her, Ivy had fallen victim to the water spray.

Though she wasn’t as thoroughly soaked as Violet, she still looked a mess.

And from the way she was staggering in the name of running, it seemed she might collapse at any moment.

It was none of her business, Violet told herself. The girl was too proud for her own good and hated her guts, so why should she care?

Yet, as Violet caught sight of Ivy stumbling and falling from the corner of her eye, she let out an annoyed groan and turned back toward the girl.

This kind heart of hers was going to get her into trouble one day, she just knew it.