Page 35 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire
And that, Alessandro told himself harshly,was how it should be. He would not –could not– allow himself to follow in his brother’s footsteps, not when the honor and safety of his pack were at stake.
Chapter Two
“What was that about?” Ellie demanded in a low whisper the moment Kassia reached her side. Out of curiosity and concern, she had joined the throng of fans outside the dojo, watching the fight inside through the viewing wall.
Everyone around Ellie was obviously in love with the professor, with the way they screamed at every little thing he did. When the professor spoke, the girls had swooned as the sound of his voice came through the hall’s speakers. When the professor crossed his arms over his chest in observation, all the girls had gone mad, flooding each other’s Instagram newsfeeds with the professor’s photos. And when the professor had moved with lightning speed – well, everyone had just about died.
Privately, Ellie thought the professor had beeninhumanlyfast but then, what did she know about martial arts? For all she knew, that kind of speed was normal for ass-kicking, heart-breaking ookami-kata instructors.
What she did know, however, was that she hadn’t liked having so many girls crushing on the professor. She had felt mad on her best friend’s behalf and had wanted to shout at all of them. The professor wasKassia’sfirst!
As she and Kassia headed towards the building’s exit doors, Ellie repeated her question.
Kassia was visibly confused. “What do you mean?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “He went to you, hello? He went to youfirstand he had a very jealous look in his eyes. You can’t tell me you didn’t see that.”
At Ellie’s words, Kassia said shortly, “You were imagining things.” Just as she had imagined things before she caught herself in time.
“I know what I saw,” Ellie insisted.
“And I know the kind of man the professor is.” Someone so cruel, he had allowed her to fall deeper and deeper for him before breaking her heart. She could see Ellie wanted to argue, but Kassia forestalled her friend with a shake of her head. “Drop it, please, Ellie. I mean it.” She didn’t want to be the naïve girl again. As far as Kassia was concerned, the professor was dead to her.
SWEAT TRICKLED DOWNthe side of Alessandro’s face as he fought to counter every thrust and swipe of his opponent, who always seemed to be one second faster than he was. A fraction of time for humans, but for their kind, it was long enough to kill.
The sound of steel clashing was the only thing that destroyed the silence inside the fighting hall, which occupied the entire basement in the Moretti complex’s main building. Spectators circled the fighters, all of them holding their breath as they waited to see who would emerge as the winner.
Alessandro’s opponent retreated a step, and he saw his chance to attack. But before he could move, a flash of red in the crowd caught his attention, a shade that reminded him of Kassia’s strawberry blonde hair, and he stilled.
Could it be her?
Had she come here to talk about what happened earlier in class? Did she want to explain about the boy? Did she still want him?
Alessandro’s concentration wavered, and before he could stop himself, his head had already whipped towards its direction, his incredulous gaze searching, his body stiffening in the event that it was really Kassia—-
It wasn’t.
Instead, it was one of the servants, whose dyed hair under the light had appeared a lot like Kassia’s.
Behind him, he heard someone curse, and Alessandro realized too late he had actually forgotten that he was in the middle of fencing practice.
He turned around, already positioned to block the blow coming his way, but it was pointless, and everyone in the fighting hall knew it. His opponent realized the same thing and tried to diminish the force of the blow, but it was too late.
Alessandro flew across the room at point of impact, his back hitting the wall before he fell to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Fuck.”
Footsteps thundered towards him.
When Alessandro opened his eyes, several pairs were staring back at him in concern. He shook his head and groaned at the pain that resulted. “Fuck,” he said again.
His twin laughed. “Fuck is right. After winning five – no, I heard, your worst fight wasten– against one in public brawls at Lyccan Hall, younowget knocked out by our ancient lovesick brother?”
Said ancient lovesick brother casually but subtly gave Alejandro a shove, which was also strong enough to have his twin flying to the opposite wall with a grunt.
Above Alessandro, Domenico pulled off his mask and offered him a hand, asking formally, “You are all right?”
Alessandro wasn’t able to answer immediately.
