Defy The Alpha(s) 2: Rebel Beast

Chapter 69: Never Belong In Ophidian

"It is a strange thing to survive monsters, only to be devoured by your own."

~ Rebel Beast

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"What in the name..." Venus exclaimed the moment he stepped into the residence.

The girls were so consumed by the fight that none of them noticed the newcomers standing in the doorway, which should have been locked.

Fearing the prince might find the scene beneath him, Venus instinctively stepped forward, intending to separate them.

"Leave them."

Venus paused.

Caelis watched the spectacle with intrigue, his hands clasped neatly behind his back.

"Don’t interrupt the entertainment."

Venus abandoned the idea and returned to Caelis’ side. "If you insist, Your Highness."

The two then watched in silence as the common room descended further into madness.

Meredith and Liv wrestled each other across the floor, screaming as each clung stubbornly to the other’s hair.

Indigo and Fatima were engaged in an equally undignified struggle, neither willing to surrender as they shoved and pulled at one another with flushed faces.

Nearby, Zainab tried to pry Olivia’s fingers from her curls while Olivia retaliated by pinching her arm hard enough to earn a sharp yelp.

Caelis’ silver eyes drifted from one fight to another without the slightest trace of concern.

"That must be Karen Donovan," he remarked at last, his thick serpentine accent curling around each word as he watched the blonde girl losing rather spectacularly.

"What a letdown."

Karen lay flat on her back while Charlotte straddled her waist, both girls gripping fistfuls of the other’s hair with enough force to bring tears to their eyes. Charlotte suddenly ripped her own dark hair free from Karen’s grasp, ignoring the strands she’d sacrificed in the process.

Then her palm came down hard across Karen’s face.

Smack!

"You."

Another slap.

Smack!

"Bitch!"

Another.

Smack!

"Who do you think you are?" Charlotte’s voice cracked with years of bottled resentment.

"If it wasn’t for your parents, you’d have absolutely nothing!"

Karen could barely answer. Her cheeks had turned an angry shade of red beneath the relentless assault.

Charlotte seized another handful of Karen’s blonde hair and yanked hard enough to force a cry from her.

"Look at me!" she screamed. "Where’s your father now? Isn’t he supposed to be so powerful?"

Karen swiped wildly at her face, but Charlotte leaned away each time with surprising agility. She’d dreamed about this moment too many times to waste it.

"Liv!" Karen shrieked desperately. "Help me!"

Liv shoved Meredith aside with both hands, sending the girl sprawling onto the floor before charging across the room.

She crashed into Charlotte with enough force to throw both girls apart.

Charlotte slammed shoulder-first into the wall with a painful grunt before sliding to one knee.

"Karen!" Liv hurried toward her. "Are you alright?"

Karen ignored the question, humiliation burning hotter than the throbbing pain in her face. She climbed unsteadily to her feet, glaring at Charlotte with naked fury.

"You piece of shit!"

She stormed over and drove her foot into Charlotte’s stomach. The girl doubled over with a cry, one arm instinctively wrapping around her abdomen.

"How dare you put your filthy hands on me!"

Karen landed another kick.

Charlotte gasped, curling tighter against the floor as the air fled her lungs.

Around them, the room gradually fell silent. One by one, the girls noticed the two figures standing at the entrance, and the color drained from their faces.

They recognized him. He was the Basilisk Prince. No one dared move.

Karen, however, was too consumed by rage to notice. She continued beating Charlotte as though nothing else in the room mattered.

"Get up!" she shouted, drawing back her foot. "Stand up and face me!"

"Karen..." Liv reached for her arm. "The fight’s over."

Karen shrugged her off without looking. This couldn’t be the end. She was only getting started.

"Karen!" There was genuine terror in Liv’s voice now.

"What?!" Karen snapped, spinning around in irritation.

The words died the instant she found herself staring directly into a pair of gleaming silver eyes.

Prince Caelis Cobryn stood only a few feet away, his expression unreadable as he regarded the destruction before him.

The color drained from Karen’s face. She instinctively stumbled backward, her heel catching against the leg of an overturned chair. With an undignified yelp, she landed hard on the floor.

The room fell so silent that the only sound left was Karen’s uneven breathing.

She knew who stood before her now.

Prince Caelis Cobryn.

Caelis remained silent as he lowered himself into a crouch until they were eye level. His silver eyes drifted to Charlotte, curled on the floor clutching her stomach as she struggled to catch her breath, before returning to Karen.

"You fight like a coward."

Karen’s eyes widened.

Had those words come from anyone else, she would’ve fired back without a second thought.

But this was the Basilisk Prince.

One wrong word, and she feared she would be turned to stone before she even managed to finish her sentence.

Caelis regarded her with detached curiosity.

"Dragons pride themselves on honorable combat," he said. "Serpents, on the other hand, were never meant to fight that way. We are cunning, patient, and strike only when the moment favors us." The final words rolled off his tongue with the faintest hiss.

Karen could only stare at him. She couldn’t tell whether he was praising her or condemning her. His expression revealed nothing.

"However..." Caelis continued, his gaze briefly settling on Charlotte once more. "Even serpents know better than to derive pleasure from the suffering of their own."

His eyes returned to Karen.

"You don’t belong in House Ophidian. You never will. You will always remain an outsider."

He let those words settle before adding,

"But my father’s orders leave me with very little choice."

Realization struck Karen like a bolt of lightning. Her mouth slowly fell open.

"It... it’s you?" she breathed. "You’re the one Father said would protect me?"

A laugh escaped her, an awkward mixture of relief and disbelief.

Caelis rose smoothly to his feet.

"Follow me."

He simply turned and walked toward the door.

Karen hurried after him before suddenly stopping.

"Wait." She frowned. "Where are you taking me?"

Caelis didn’t bother looking over his shoulder.

"Where do you think?"

Karen’s eyes lit up.

House Ophidian? Of course! Everything suddenly made perfect sense.

First, Maverick had taken Aria Aspen and her pathetic little clique into House Therion. Now Prince Caelis himself had come for her.

A slow smile spread across Karen’s face.

She couldn’t wait to see the expression on Aria’s face when she discovered she hadn’t been abandoned after all. Fate wasn’t finished favoring her yet.

"Karen?"

Someone called, and she turned.

Liv stood a few steps away, uncertainty written plainly across her face.

Karen had promised they would be protected too.