SERAPHINA'S POV
My consciousness slowly seeps back into my body, but with my memory still foggy. When I finally my pry my eyes open, its suddenly met with the bright lights from the fluorescent hanging above my head.
The sounds of arguing from wherever aids in the pain of my already throbbing head, making me realize that it's the noise that woke me up - but I have no memory of ever falling asleep.
Speaking of no memory, my surroundings are equally foreign.
"How can you not let me see my roommate!"
That sounds like Olivia yelling out to whoever she's speaking to, furious for some reason.
"This place has strict access to only a certain group of wolves." Another voice that closely resembles Artemis responds more calmly.
"But she's my roommate, not one of yours - you're the reason she's like that in the first place."
"Get lost, omega." He bites back, reluctant to give her what she wants.
I wonder what's going on again - why Olivia and Artemis are arguing over me, why I am in here, and what he means by strict access.
All this thinking takes a toll on me, and my head immediately begins throbbing.
I groan from the pain, rolling to my side on the sofa I'm splayed out on, and the arguing suddenly seizes.
The door separating me from them suddenly pushes open and Olivia rushes in, looking down at me with red swollen eyes which lets me know she's been crying.
The moment she realizes my eyes are open, she cries out very dramatically.
"Sera!"
She almost jumps on me, squeezing me in from a tight hug, which is when I realize just how tired and aching my muscles feel. I groan from the initial ambush, swallowing other sounds of anguish that follow just to save her from feeling guilty.
Along the line, I try my best to embrace her as well until the flood gates open and she begins bawling heavily on my shoulders.
While all this goes on, Artemis stands there watching silently. I look at him, noting the very indifferent look on his face - however, his eyes give it all away. The subtle concern that flickers like a dim light.
Finally, Olivia's sobbing slowly drops and she pulls away, sniffling and rubbing at her sore eyes.
"What happened?" I finally ask the question that's plagued my mind since my eyes opened.
She doesn't respond, seeming reluctant to speak to me and biting on her own lips. She looks at Artemis now, sharing a look with him before prying her eyes away.
I look between the two of them. They clearly don't want to say anything, or maybe he's threatened her not to speak.
I grab both her hands, forcing her to look at me now.
"Tell me, Olivia, what's going on?"
She looks into my eyes with a hint of fear before sighing. Her lips move to speak, and she's rudely interrupted.
"Tell your friend to excuse us. I want to speak with you."
Despite the fear in her eyes, she turns to Artemis with an angry glare, her body shielding me from him even when she's visibly trembling in his presence.
I'm touched by her desire to protect me from someone like him, but I know it would be better if I faced him myself for her own safety.
"It's okay, I'll be fine." I whisper into her eyes, and her tensed muscle relaxes.
Soon, she eventually leaves the room and a chilling silence fills it the moment the door is shut.
His eyes meet mine for a moment without words being exchanged, before he looks away, moving over to what looks like a mini bar to pour himself a drink.
"Where am I?" I speak first, breaking the silence.
"You're in a private lounge only I and the people I allow in have access to, located in the boy's dormitory."
I'm surprised by how fast he answers my question without teasing or mind games. It's not like him at all.
"Why did you bring me here?" I ask now, trying to fill the holes in my memory.
It all ends with me riding the boat before it all goes dark.
"Seriously?" He faces me now with a more peeved expression while he closes the distance between us, dropping on the chair next to the sofa I'm lying on.
"Have you taken a moment to look at the state of your body since you chose to chase after a win you knew wasn't possible?"
"I don't understand what you-"
He rips the sleeve off my top in the next sentence, revealing the various cuts and bruises not fully healed on my arm. They start from my wrist, running up my arm and they don't just end there.
My once flawless skin looks like a beaten-down punching bag, but he made it this way, didn't he?
"Don't you care about your own life? Or is this just another thing you don't mind tossing away just to win a stupid game?"
"Why do you care so much? It's your fault. You're the reason why I have to depend on winning stupid games just to matter in this school." I yell back at him just as furious.
"I gave you a choice. If you had just begged me..."
"If I had begged you? As if I'd bow to a coward prince like you." I say with as much venom as I could muster, showing him just how deep my hatred stems.
His anger overflows for a moment and he growls at me ferociously, flashing those golden animalistic eyes that scare me shitless and causes me to flinch away from him.
He turns away suddenly, slamming his fist into the wall and immediately making a fist-shaped hole in it before his hard breathing finally calms down just a bit.
He takes a moment, turning away from me, taking a long swing at his drink before dropping it back down and running his fingers through his dark hair. Once he seems calmer, he reaches for a drawer, pulling something out and coming closer.
I shift away from him the moment he sits right next to me, cautious for my own safety, not sure if he's still himself or a beast, until he looks up at me with this worn out and tired look in his eyes.
"Enough arguing." He says, stretching out his hand to me.
I look at them and back at him, not sure what he means until he sighs again.
"Let me treat your wounds." His eyes are honest, clear as day.
It takes a while before I let myself trust his words and place my arm in his hands but when I do, he handles it more gently than I had thought, stretching it out so he can see every place where the skin has been disfigured.
And then, he meticulously rubs a bit of the cooling balm on each of them.
Just like that, another wave of silence takes over, more awkward than chilling like before.
I look away from him while he works on my arm, trying to focus on other things to make it less awkward. Like the décor of the place; the fine leather seat splayed around and the football table at the side.
The juice bar and everything else.
I wonder just what other kind of privileges comes with being the Alpha Prince.
With more silence and gradual thinking, the memory I've been looking for finally hits me, and I immediately recall everything else.
The moment before I blacked out; the leaking boat and me falling over and drowning. The lady in the white dress I had imagined. I can dimly remember her whispering some words to me, but I can't tell what exactly it was she was saying.
"I remember drowning. Who saved me?" I turn to him again.
He remains silent, doing what he does without looking up at me once.
"Was it you?" I ask now.
For a brief moment, he freezes before continuing again, still not responding but his silence is enough answer for me to put it all together.
There's no point asking why or trying to figure out just why he would go so far to save my life. Like Jasper had said before, figuring out what goes on in his mind is a waste of time.
"Thank you." I mutter under my breath.
He might be an enemy I don't trust, but he still saved my life this time. I hate to be indebted to someone like him, but I have no choice.
"If there was possibly a way I could repay you for helping me, I would prefer it."
"You sure about that?" He finally speaks, looking up at me from what he's doing.
His once tired and annoyed gaze eases into a slight grin.
"Yes, you saved my life and it's only right I repay you. I don't like being indebted to anyone. I want us even." I say more firmly, frowning at the look on his face.
He chuckles a bit, opening my palm to place the rest of the tube of ointment right in it before standing up and putting more space between us.
"Well, if you're so keen on repaying your debt, then it won't be so hard for you to do what is required of you."
The way his blue eyes look at me with that mischievous grin suddenly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Something about this seems all wrong.
"If you're going to ask me to do some freaky shit for you, forget it. I'm not going to strip or serve your perverted mind in the name of repaying a debt to you Artemis." I remind him just who he's dealing with.
"Oh, but it's already too late, Seraphina"
While I wonder what he means, he pulls out a tournament rule book from only goddess knows where, tossing it on the center table not too far from me.
"The rules suggest that the winner of the tournament gets to make an ultimate demand on anyone, and that demand must not be refuted otherwise they are liable to be punished by any means, including expulsion."
"You have got to be kidding me." I say, grabbing at it and flipping through it to see where the fuck such a ridiculous rule could be.
"I bet you wish I was, darling."
He draws closer now, slamming it shut in my hands and looking at me.
Our faces are way too close for comfort and even while I lean back, he follows me.
"So, are you ready to hear my request?" He asks.
I gulp, knowing that there's no way this is going to end well for me no matter how hopeful I am.
"Fine, spill it. What do you want from me?"
His smile widens like the devil's, knowing he has me exactly where he wants me, before the dreaded words leave his lips.
"You. For an entire month."