Savages: A Reverse Harem (Vengeance Book 1) Read online

  “Gray!” A voice called out as we moved down the hall that parted for us.

  “What’s kickin’ Mr. Jackson,” I asked our Dean of Students.

  Other than the president, he was the only one I needed to worry about. I made him a deal last year he couldn’t refuse. Mr. Jackson, a young fae himself, was in love with Jason. I had caught the fae and the shifter in a fairly compromising position. That position was the basis for our deal. My deal. The deal stated that I could wear whatever I wanted in exchange for my silence. It was a very small price for their massive secret.

  I was perfectly happy to let them live their lives. Plus, I hated the uniforms for the academy and much preferred to wear an outfit like I had on today. My leather heels were classic stilettos with red bottoms and paired with light wash retro Calvin Klein jeans. A white half top fit under my leather jacket. It was a solid outfit, like most of the clothing I wore. I had a thing for clothes. I found them therapeutic.

  I’m sure there is an issue somewhere in that concept, but… oh well.

  “Could you provide a tour to the new students this next period?” he pleaded.

  His eyes were a bright green under those glasses. I nearly snickered at how young he looked. He was a hardass though. Esme had even put distance between us. She didn’t want a lecture on how she had altered her uniform skirt.

  I nodded once. “Sure, but will it get me out of theoretical?”

  He groaned softly, “You know you still need to be in attendance, even if you have an A.”

  I patted his shoulder, “Let me worry about that. Where are they now? At the office?”

  He nodded and I waved goodbye to Esme. I followed Mr. Jackson to see our new students. Truth be told, spending the afternoon with the hot guys wasn’t a problem. No, it was being completely alone with them that was the problem. I did my best to avoid that type of situation.

  Mr. Jackson opened the office door and I was immediately met with five different gazes. I smirked and caught Mr. Jackson rolling his eyes. It seemed my amusement wasn’t received well by at least half of the men present.

  “Ms. Gray will be showing you around today,” he explained his voice sharp. “She is our top student here, so I would suggest showing her the respect she deserves.”

  Mr. In Charge, as I dubbed him, although his name was Rhodes, snapped his gaze up at me from where he sat. I saw a million questions in those pale green eyes that made my grin grow in size. I really was an asshole. I supposed my ego and cockiness had to make up for the obvious physical size difference between us.

  It was very clear these men were warriors, which only cemented my belief that they were from the fae lands. Humans just weren’t built to contain that much power and grace.

  “Lets go, boys,” I motioned to the hallway with a wave of the hand, making them all walk past me.

  Rhodes was first and I didn’t hide my analysis of each of them. Why bother? Big guy over there had done the same.

  Rhodes passed me, staring down at me with a peculiar, pensive look in those pale green eyes that reminded me of mint leaves. They were framed by the same golden lashes as his silky blonde hair. The blonde hair that was tied up in a man bun provided contrast to his dark blue suit, but matched his golden earring in his left ear. If he wasn’t someone from school, I wouldn’t have hesitated to take him home and climb up that impressive muscular body like a fucking monkey.

  He offered a hand once again, “Rhodes.”

  I took his hand this time and instantly let go, without offering a greeting back. This made him smile. I should have punched him right then, just to reinforce my point. Although, to be fair, I really only did that to Bobby. It was a special relationship.

  “Adyen,” The next guy offered as I looked up at the man I had dubbed big guy. I know I am a literary genius. A nickname master. The CEO of nicknames. The point? I am fucking awesome.

  At least, that was my humble opinion.

  While Rhodes was lean and around 6’2, this man was massively muscular and nearly 6’7. It was why I had chosen to focus on him first in the gardens. He was the most physically intimidating and not just because of that look in his eyes. That look was dangerous. Actually, he was dangerous. As always, I liked to tackle the scariest threat or problem first.

  I took his hand and met his honey colored gaze. He put pressure on our grip and a smile snuck onto those perfect lips. Yep, I needed to punch him. These men had way too much confidence.

  “You can let go now,” I commanded with a raised brow before forcing him to step away.

  He offered me a perfect white smile and ran a hand through his short neat black hair.

  I looked to the next person. Instantly, I felt my expression soften which was stupid, of course. Yet, I knew pain. This kid had a lot of it. He was the one that had grunted at my scar. Side note- who actually grunts? It’s nearly as bad as growling. I had a feeling one or two of these men did that regularly, if my memory of shifters served correct.

  Looking at him, I instantly thought of Esme. His skin tone was a deep mocha like hers. It was smooth like coffee. He didn’t have the slightly older face of the first two. Rather, his sharp jaw line seemed to be fixed in a perfect, angelic shape. Yet, I noticed a hardened pain that the first two men didn’t have. I found myself fascinated by this man within this first few seconds of knowing him.

  “Neo,” he put out a large hand.

  I noticed, examining him further, that his dark, impeccable face was shiny in the afternoon light. He peered at me with large, dark eyes sparkling like onyx stones. I gave him an awkward smile and handshake. This caused big guy Adyen to chuckle.

  Yeah. I would punch him.

  “My name is Athens,” the next guy announced, pushing Neo out of the way.

  I felt my eyes widen. This guy was much louder than Neo, but he was a near physical replica. He had been the one to ask for my name, even though I had been doing my best to intimidate them. Honestly, who the hell was I kidding? These men were huge. Oh fucking well. Fake it until you fucking make it.

  “Hi,” I nodded and shook his hand.

  He grinned a brilliant smile and swung an arm around Neo easily. I looked up to the next guy.

  Oh, wow. I couldn’t tell if I hated him or loved him. Maybe... both?

  “Taylor,” he stated with amusement and darkness which lurked behind a pair of beautiful, emerald eyes.

  I narrowed my eyes, not because he didn’t offer me a hand, but because he seemed supremely confident. Those eyes. Lord, help me. Those eyes were lit with a fire that I loved and hated. He was sexy and that made me hate him. Honestly, it was probably why I hated all of them.

  Wow. You know, even to me, that felt like a lot of hate.

  “Isn’t Taylor a girl’s name?” I asked with amusement.

  He narrowed his eyes. They cooled considerably which I considered a victory on its own. I ignored the laughs from the other four as we stared one another down.

  “Isn’t ‘gray’ a color?”

  I smirked. Okay, okay. Good response. I rolled my eyes before clapping enthusiastically.

  “Come on, carrot top. Time to show you around.”

  Okay, so his hair was more of a crimson and he was probably the sexiest out of all of them but… like, whatever. Unlike Adyen and the twins who were bulky and nearly a full foot taller than me, he was lean like Rhodes. Both men still clocked in over six feet.

  “Gray, you can bring them back here after the tour.” Mr. Jackson said looking at his watch,

  I smirked with amusement, “...or I will let you know where the bodies are.”

  Mr. Jackson rolled his eyes, but Neo watched me with caution. I grinned stupidly.

  “Alright, so welcome to Mera Academy named after said Mera Luna--” I motioned around the long hallway to a huge portrait. The woman was as boring as her name was interesting. It wasn’t confirmed, but I was nearly positive that she had been a pixie. Or maybe a brownie? I just assumed because she was so damn tiny with frail white fair and m
assive white eyes.

  Then again, no one ever confirmed ‘what’ they were here. Unless you knew someone well or caught them in the act, you just knew they were different. Hell. The only reason I knew Mr. Jackson was fae and Jason a shifters was because I had caught them in such an intimate moment.

  “Why don’t you wear a uniform?” Adyen gruffed out. I narrowed my eyes at the disruption. I had been giving them a very fascinating, interesting… yeah, the academy history was fairly lackluster. I could feel them behind me, but Rhodes continued trying to walk next to me. Gods, I bet it bugged him to not be leading the group. I purposefully sped up. Shifters that had alpha tendencies were fun to fuck with, especially since I was a far more dangerous predator than them.

  “As I was saying,” I continued. “This is the academy and it consists of three buildings. The current building is called alpha because of obvious reasons.”

  “What obvious reasons?” Rhodes asked.

  “What was the first thing you saw when you arrived?” I sighed in resignation.

  Athens voice sounded like a smile, “You.”

  I gave him a deadpan look and began walking backwards, “Anyway, this is alpha, beta is the dinning and rec area, and gamma is the living space - unless you live off the estate grounds.”

  “We do, love,” Rhodes offered calmly.

  Yep, such a Mr. In Charge. Wait, hold up. Was that an accent? Oh, sweet baby Jesus, help me. I’ve always been a sucker for accents, especially since earth realm had so many interesting ones.

  “First, not your ‘love.’ Second, good for you,” I responded trying to fight the urge to ask where,

  “Moving on, the medical unit is to your left--”

  “Gray,” a voice called as my smirk returned.

  Bobby walked down the hallway toward me. His shirt was blood stained and his eyes were frustrated. Those large brown eyes were at odds with his hulking muscular form. I suppose a lot of people saw him as scary, but he really reminded me of a golden retriever. I just couldn’t get that analogy out of my head.

  Not that I had ever owned a dog. Or any pet. I didn’t really do well with keeping things alive.

  “Hey Bobby,” I spoke as he came to the head of our group.

  His eyes immediately looked at the men behind me and his face changed from frustration to concern. Those eyes focused back on me with clarity.

  “Who are they?”

  I offered him a look, “New guys and I’m giving them a tour. Why? What’s up?”

  He looked behind me again with narrowed eyes, “Nothing, I just wanted to talk about--”

  I placed a hand on his chest, “Your nose is barely healed. Let’s not go there.”

  He chuckled while looking down at me, “Yeah, you’re right. I wanted to apologize though. Dinner tonight?”

  My eyebrow raised, “Bobby...”

  Bobby placed a hand on my shoulder and I rolled them back to detach.

  “Just think about it.”

  I barely heard him over the growl someone made behind me. Now, that was a beautiful sound. So unrestrained and primal.

  “Go to class Bobby,” I stated simply.

  His eyes narrowed behind me before he squeezed my shoulder again. I shook my head as he retreated. I tried not to think about his hand on my shoulder. I really didn’t do well with touch.

  “You are not going to dinner with him, are you?” Taylor, I think, asked as I turned around.

  I rose my brows at the myriad of expressions. Neo and Athens were watching Bobby walk away. Taylor looked absolutely incensed. Rhodes’s jaw was tight and had a hand on Adyen. I sighed before tucking my hands in my jeans and leaning back in my heels.

  “Who I go to dinner with, Taylor,” I responded quietly, looking at the retreating figure, “is none of your damn business. Is that understood?”

  His eyes were on fire and his nostrils flared.

  “But, come on. That guy--”

  I put a manicured hand up, “Stop.”

  I continued in a calm tone, “I don’t need this. I don’t need you to worry, or even think about me, honestly. We don’t know one another and I plan to keep it that way. Drop it now.”

  Rhodes went to open his mouth and I turned to cut him off with an indifferent tone, “I don’t care what you are about to say. Understood? I don’t give a fuck.”

  “Are you always such a bitch?”

  I smirked at Taylor, “This is me on my good behavior baby.”

  The tour was over. I turned on my heel and began to walk down the hallway. I ignored Athens’s call to me. Instead, I went to get some fresh air. Who the hell did they think they were?

  Unfortunately, I think I knew the answer to that question.

  Chapter 4

  Athens

  “I like her,” I chimed in as the five of us walked around the campus mapping out our classes. Our pointless classes. Neo smiled while walking next to me, but I could tell my twin was nervous around her. In fairness, the woman was unpredictable. That was something Neo would find frustrating, no doubt.

  My eyes tracked all of the tiny humans outside of the academy gates. Had humans always been this damn small? I laughed softly in amusement. They sure as shit built them larger in the Horde.

  “Plus, she shut Rhodes up,” Taylor snickered from nearby.

  Rhodes let out a growl that sounded a lot like his animal and made me grin.

  “She didn’t shut me up,” Rhodes offered as his english accent became more apparent with all of us being alone. “I just don’t bother explaining myself to kittens.”

  I let out a loud laugh, “I get it, because you’re a bigger cat than a kitten? That was the joke right?”

  Everyone groaned as Neo rolled his eyes. Shifter jokes were the best, hands down.

  “Do you think she will go to dinner with Bobby?” Taylor asked as his eyes darkened.

  “I don’t know,” Rhodes sighed. “Adyen nearly bit his head off, so knowing her… probably.”

  “Wasn’t me,” Adyen’s eyes shone with mirth as his creature shone through.

  Taylor shook his head, “That guy’s head was all fucked up. I didn’t like it.”

  Adyen growled in a low threatening tone, “How so?”

  Taylor groaned, “Very twisted and dark like elaborate vines. Maybe too many hits to the head?”

  I smiled with amusement, “From her possibly?”

  “Hopefully,” Taylor barked out a laugh.

  “Neo, she seemed to like you,” I encouraged nudging his shoulder. “You should go talk to her.”

  Neo made a sound in the back of his throat and shook his head, “Probably not a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  He sighed, “Because she literally saw right through me. Like I was transparent. I fear going to talk to her would be a tad intense. Neither of us are ready for that.”

  I could feel my twin was hiding something. I hated that, but I understood how closed up he was. I knew he would tell me when he was ready.

  “Plus, he would tell her everything,” Rhodes offered knowingly.

  I nodded my agreement. She would need to be told soon though. The woman was sharp and she would see through all of us with given time. I didn’t mind that as much as I presumed.

  Chapter 5

  Gray

  When I woke up in our dorm the next morning, I knew something was different. Esme was sitting in our kitchen with a big fucking grin. We had a beautiful two bedroom, one bath suite with a window wall overlooking the estate. The fall sunlight shone through with hazy rays that were expected in the morning. I could smell coffee, which was always a good sign.

  The entire room was a gunmetal grey and white, softened by large rugs and crystal lighting. I moved toward the kitchen table. I was dressed in a blue night shirt and slippers. My eyes landing on the starbucks coffee cup and a fucking bouquet of roses. What in the ever loving christ?!

  “Who the fuck are these from?” I demanded while pointing to the offensive objects.

  Esm
e burst out laughing, “Not me unfortunately. Bobby dropped the coffee and roses off. Look at him being such a good boy.”

  “You’re shitting me,” I murmured and took a sip of the coffee. What was he thinking? Not to be difficult but this wasn’t even how I took my coffee. So what was he up to? I examined the roses for hidden knives, but found nothing. I suppose it was truly a nice gesture. One that I am positive he meant for anyone visiting my apartment to see.

  “I think it’s sweet! You punch him and he buys you flowers, especially for your birthday…” she cooed. “It’s like some fucked up sitcom. Join us this Sunday for the Bobby and Gray show!”

  I snarled and tossed a pillow at her mocking television tv host voice. I walked over to the fridge. I poured extra creamer in the coffee before even attempting to face the day. Esme was already dressed because despite both of our classes starting in the afternoon, she preferred to be productive each morning. I was a late sleeper. Sue me.

  “I think he’s an idiot,” I finally growled. “Too many fucking punches to the head.”

  “Maybe he’s into that,” she smiled coyly. “Maybe it's some weird kink.”

  I choked out a laugh, “No, that would be abuse.” Before she could respond though, a knock sounded on the door and caused me to frown. Now, who in the hell would that be?

  “That better be one of your girls,” I stated evenly. I moved to the door and flung it open.

  Taylor. Of course, it would be Taylor.

  I was happy to say that he looked far more normal dressed in the standard uniform compared to the dark green suit that he wore yesterday. Still handsome though. Still completely sexy.

  “What?” I snarled taking another sip of my coffee.

  Those emerald eyes sparkled taking in my outfit, or lack thereof, before he began speaking, “I wanted to walk you to class to apologize for yesterday.”

  “Apologize?” I rose a brow as Esme snuck up behind me.