Their Hidden Princess Chapter 103

Zora

I spent my first week back on campus blissfully normal.

Well, as normal as one could be as a hidden wolf Princess with five fated mates, who’d been kidnapped and – oh. I was also supposed to save the world from the vampires.

Totally, normal.

The one thing that surely didn’t change after my kidnapping was people still were talking about me. The murmurs when I walked by crowds on campus were ever present. It was if people had suddenly realized that maybe I was someone special. For the vampires to kidnap me, I wasn’t just a wolfless nobody. I was someone.

The thought terrified me.

I still didn’t want anyone to know I was the Princess. The knowledge that vampires had returned for “unknown” reasons was not mine to share. Didn’t mean I wanted it shared. In fact, I sat in the auditorium where Valentin announced it and felt the color drain from my face.

The entire crowd gasped and cried in shock. Loren sat next to me, gnawing on her fingers like she was about to let it slip as to what they’d done. Then Valentin just announced it to the world who had been kidnapped. Loren made a squeaking noise so violent that everyone whipped their heads to look at us.

Then they started to talk.

On Wednesday, Basics started up again. Loren and I made our way across the campus, murmurless and ready to tackle the day. Bubba trailed behind us as hidden as he could possibly be at his size. We marched into the gym late, as everyone seemed to be set up before us. As expected, Kairos, Maximus and Thorne were still the TAs in Basics. They stood up front and pierced Loren and I with their gazes.

Unexpectantly, Coach picked me to demonstrate instead of them.

“What?” I said, blankly.

“You heard me Smith,” Coach barked out. He gestured to the sparring mat in the front of the crowd. “I’ve seen your kicks. You’re the best in the class, besides Wolfham. So, get up there.”

I paused for a second. Everyone’s eyes were on me but the ones I felt the most were the ones next to coach. Maximus’s honey gold and Kairos’s deep gold were pinned on me. I slowly walked up to the sparring mat and I felt their gazes burning me.

I dropped into my stance and threw the jumping spin kick that Maximus had taught me at the end of the last semester. I landed and my feet hit the mat. A sound echoed off the walls of the silent gym. When I turned back to look at Coach. He’s nodding. I quickly glance at Maximus and Kairos. They’re both staring at me with blown out pupils. Kairos’s jaw is clenched.

“Good,” Coach mumbles. “Very good. Alright now, pair up. Smith, you’re with Wolfham.”

I jerked my head to glance at Maximus. His eyes were still pinned on me with this voracious intensity. I nodded to him once and waited until the rest of the class paired up and went off to their own mats. Loren squeezed my shoulder before she went off with some female Alpha.

I met Maximus’s eyes once again and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut.

I hadn’t spoken to him since he’d left me with my mother in the infirmary after my attack. Something about that seemed like a problem. Especially since the last person he saw me with was someone he didn’t want me hanging out with; Valentin.

As we walked to our mat there was a thick tension floating through the air. Maximus said nothing as we stood on our mat. He quietly dropped into his sparring stance. I huffed out a breath before I spoke.

“How was your break?” my voice creaked and cracked awkwardly.

Maximus blinked at me before he took the time to show who really was the best at kicks. He spun his heel so close to my face that I felt a gust of air ghost over my nose as I dodged it. I grunted and thew my body back.

“That good, huh?” I mumbled before I retaliated.

I threw my fist in his direction. He dodged it easily then threw another one back at me. I jerked to avoid it then threw my palm up to block him. Despite being stronger than I used to be, I still didn’t absorb Maximus’s punch well. I grunted as I staggered back. He didn’t seem to care as he threw another kick at me.

“Fucking hell, Max,” I snapped. “Give me a break.”

He then threw another punch which I swatted away. In turn, I threw a punch back at him, nailing him in the underside of the jaw and sending him tripping over his feet.

“Shit, sorry!” I said, rushing forwards to try and apologize. But it seemed Maximus had no intentions of accepting as he swiped my feet out from under me. I landed on my back.

He was immediately on top of me, pressing my wrists into the mat with his big hands. I struggled slightly before giving up. He had me pinned. Instead, I fixed him with a malicious glare.

“The fuck is your problem?” I hissed.

“You!” Max spat back, quiet enough that only the two of us could hear but with a violent intensity. “You are my fucking problem, Zora. You nearly get kidnapped by vampires, barely say a word to me in the infirmary then disappear for the two weeks of break. Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I don’t have a phone—”

“I don’t give a shit,” Max seethed. He pressed my wrists further into the mat. “I do give a shit about the fact that when I went to find a way to contact you, Lunerly had scrubbed your record clean. What does he know that I don’t?”

“Nothing!” I tried but I watched Maximus’s eyes narrow at me. He leaned down close enough that his breath tickled the shell of my ear. I couldn’t help myself as I arched up into his chest, feeling the electricity that usually showed up when we touched, surging through my skin. Maximus clearly felt it too, his pupils blowing wide.

“I want to wait for you to decide,” he whispered. “But the secrets that I don’t know and Lunerly does is making it hard for me to believe that you haven’t already made choice.”

I shook my head fervently. “I haven’t,” I breathed. “Maximus, please. I feel something for you. I need you.”

Maximus brought his face even closer to my ear. A whimper escaped my lips as I pressed further into him. I could feel his smile against the shell of my ear. It immediately dropped before he spoke.

“Then, show me.”

At once, all of his weight was off of me, and he was back on his feet. I laid on the ground, heart slamming into my ribcage as I tried to regain composure from the position he’d put me in. A snicker came from the corner of the mat. I jerked my head up to see Kairos and one of his cronies looking down at me.

The other alpha snorted at me. “Looks like you’ve got the third challenge in bag, huh?”

Kairos didn’t say anything. He just stared down at me, eyes wide as possessive. I watched his fist clench and unclench, along with his jaw. He licked the front of his teeth before he jerked to look at his friend.

“Guess I do,” he bit out. He gave me another glance then looked at Maximus. “Try not to fuck her in the middle of class, Wolfham.”

Max let out a low growl and then immediately was yanking me up to my feet. I stumbled into his chest. We both tracked Kairos as he and the other Alpha walked away from us. The tension between Kairos and Maximus was almost as strong as the electricity between Maximus and I.

As soon as Kairos removed his gaze, Maximus dropped me and was back to his harsh demeanor. I frowned at him but he ignored it.

“Again,” he barked before launching a bunch of hits at me.

Back to normal.

I guess.