Relever (Ironside Academy, #4)

by Jane Washington

They still thought Ironside had some good in it—that it was a shining beacon of hope for people in the settlements. They didn’t know it was a rotten seed sprouting corrupt roots that dug deep and poisoned the very foundation of their society, sucking the nutrients from the soil, turning it into a husk of dust to feed the visage of vibrant leaves and gilded fruit that flourished on the surface. They didn’t know that all the glittering little stars on camera were just glittering little lambs being herded right into a factory to be sliced, diced, and packaged up real nice.

It made Cian want to pull out the Beta’s intestines and use them to spell out Look at her and die in the dirt.

Kilian’s grip on her face softened, his forehead lowering to hers, their skin touching in the briefest press before he was drawing her tightly into his arms, pulling her feet from the ground. “Hey,” he mumbled against her neck. “I’m so fucking relieved you’re finally here.”

Have you gotten bigger?” He grinned at her, his teeth a flash of brilliant white. “Probably. Have you gotten smaller?” “Probably,” she grumbled, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

They were on a one-way track to either stardom or complete disaster, and even though their plan was insane and impossible, she had chosen it because failing with her friends seemed preferable to winning alone.

He landed before her and swept her into a tight hug, his nose pressing to her neck, a small, almost imperceptible sound grating from his throat. His arms wrapped so far around her that his fingers dug into her stomach. He made her feel tiny.

“It’s giving sibling energy,” Moses said dryly, his expression deadpan as he descended the stairs, his stormy eyes dark with scepticism as he eyed Cian and Isobel.

His chest rumbled, his head lowering again to hover his mouth over hers. “Desperate girls beg.” Lust was making her stupid, convincing her that the darkness in him was everything she needed. “Good Alphas make me.” The words were almost a whine, her hands tangling in his shirt. She knew what she was asking for, but she didn’t really know. She just wanted to push him, to get as much from him as she could. There was some incredibly fucked-up part of her that recognised the man between her thighs as an Alpha and sensed, on an instinctual level, that only his Alpha aggression would temper the need bubbling in her blood.

“I swore to them I could do this without tearing into you.”

Amongst the Alphas, there always seemed to be someone she could trust, someone who would support her, someone who would protect her, someone who was thinking about her best interests, and someone who was challenging her to do better and to be a better version of herself. They formed a safety net around her that allowed her to explore herself and the world around her in a way she never had before.

She was going to die a virgin or die in the process of losing it.

“We’re supposed to be treating you like a little dorm sister that we protect and love in a platonic way,”

It was the prettiest of gilded cages. But it was a cage, and they could only float so far before colliding headfirst with the solid gold bars.

“But as the baby of the group, you’ll have to answer to all of us.”

“You can’t skip me, not after you did Kalen. Now everybody is on the table.”

Moses beckoned to her—definitely still teasing her. “Just pretend I’m my brother.”

“Goddamn,” he groaned, inhaling deeply. “Have you always smelled this good?” “Have you always spoken your intrusive thoughts out loud?” Theodore demanded. “Pretty much, yeah,” Moses drawled, squeezing Isobel.

But these Alphas, they were her people, now. They were her people forever. Whatever that meant.

“Yes,” she forced out, attitude leaking into her tone. “W-what of it?” Kalen and Mikel both smiled like sharks, like her sassiness was adorable.

Don’t tell me what to do, little girl. The Dom in him roared to the surface, and he shoved it down with a wince. Don’t make her beg for it. This is her right.

Elijah wasn’t about to admit it, but he stared at her like every flutter of her long, dark brown lashes was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen—which was a dangerous thing for her, but she didn’t seem to realise it. Gabriel looked at her like she was one of his precious notebooks and he was barely controlling the urge to stack her onto his desk where she belonged, erecting a ten-foot wall around her so that nobody else could contaminate her.

Because the urge to ask her if she was also off limits was too strong.

“We need to address the obvious,” Elijah sighed out. “What if Isobel wants to develop sexual relationships with several of us at the same time?” Okay, maybe it wasn’t so insane. “To appease the bond?” she asked, just to be clear. Elijah cut her a flat look. “No.” “No?” She froze, the word almost getting stuck in her throat. “Because you want to be fucked, Isobel.” Those words delivered in Elijah’s calm, almost cutting tone, were doing strange and confusing things to her insides. “That’s why you would fuck someone.”

“Nobody is trying to force you into marriage so they can turn you into your moth—” Moses cut himself off, but it was too late. “I wouldn’t marry you anyway,” she snarled at him. “But you’d fuck me,” he snapped right back, rising from his chair. “Just as long as it doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“It would mean that touching you lights me on fire,” Moses growled, advancing on her, his eyes flashing black. “It would mean I would crawl out of my own skin to get inside you. Hypothetically,”

can be doted on, can you, rich girl?” Moses drawled.

“Good.” Kalen stepped up to the door, pushing it wide, his eyes landing on her. “Best of luck, Carter.” Don’t smile. Don’t smile. Don’t smile. A small giggle burst out of her lips, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Why was she enjoying this so much? There was something wrong with her. “We are definitely rubbing off on you,” Moses muttered low.

“And?” Moses challenged, raising a brow. “I swear to god, Theo, if you start with the ‘I saw her first’ bullshit again I am going to lose it.” “But I did,” he said, just to be an asshole. He knew he was being unreasonable, but nothing was more unreasonable than sharing the girl he was falling in love with.

“No.” Moses sighed, some of the fight draining out of him. “Elijah did. He noticed her before any of us. He’s just smart enough not to mention it. And Oscar saved her first. And I kissed her first. And Kilian was her gay best friend first. You made her come first but Cian’s cock was in her mouth first. And Niko has taught her to stand up for herself, to fight back, and to carve out a safe space for herself between all of us before any of us could even think about the need for it. You really want me to go on? Because I can. You never had her, you never owned her. You never will.”

while the rest of his body wanted to turn and chase … because he knew where his mate was … and she was far away from the others. Tempting him. But no, he had to be the responsible one.

Even though he wasn’t going to win this race, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction that they had given her this chance to play, to give in to her nature and to let out her mischievous, teasing side. It meant that she felt safe with them, that she trusted them. Knowing that they were making her feel this way settled something inside him. Some of his rage quietened, becoming less tempestuous.

She disobeyed their rules, and that made his hand itch and his stomach burn with the need to see pretty tears in her eyes and even prettier words on her lips like I’m sorry and Sir.

“Don’t mistake me,” Kalen snarled, his tone dripping with ice. “You aren’t looking at a gentleman. If you attack one of my Alphas or my Sigma, I will strike back. I’ll crush you like a fucking bug, wipe the blood off on my resignation letter, and walk away without a single fucking regret, are we clear?”

Still, he knew those two better than anyone else did—though not quite as well as they knew each other.

There was just them, a storm, and the longest day of her life turning dark and deep with night.

It was Niko. Niko was safe.

Her composure broke, and she burst into tears. He spun her around, his eyes tracing her face, her tears, her heaving breaths, reading her like a book and filing away the relief etched into her features. “You’re glad it’s me,” he said, his hand settling on her hip. His hair hung over his eyes, rainwater trembling from one of the strands. “It’s because you don’t have feelings for me. I’m uncomplicated.” There was a small, understanding smile tight on his lips. “It’s okay.”

“Isobel.” He caught her hands, pulling them away from her face, and then he cupped her cheeks, gently brushing at the droplets that wobbled and spilled from the line of her lower lashes. “They let me win for a reason. It’s okay.”

“Can I have a hug?” she asked stupidly, raising her arms. He was already pulling her into his body. “Yeah, babe.”

She had been this close to him before—mostly when he was handing her ass to her on the mat—but this was different. He was … letting go of something. Accepting something. It was there in his deep, unsteady breaths, in the indulgent lining to his tone, like suddenly he would give her anything and all she had to do was ask for it.

He shifted her closer to a tree, angling his body so that the rain washed against his back instead of hers.

“Could you ever want more from me?” he asked.

“I want more.” He spoke calmly. “I want you.”

“If you don’t feel this”—he captured her hand, pressing it over the erratic beat of his heart, the only part of him betraying his calm exterior—“I’m taking you back to Dorm A and giving this opportunity to someone else. I don’t know what’s going to happen when we bond, but some people say they feel each other’s feelings and hear each other’s thoughts and if I have to feel that your heart doesn’t speed up for me the way mine does for you, I don’t think I’ll handle it well.”

“You like me.” He sounded shocked—astounded almost. “How could I not?” she whispered close to his ear, scared to say the words out loud, losing her nerve before she could utter the rest. You’re every girl’s dream.

We know each other and we know what’s going on. I’m not saying we’re happy about the situation, but we’re not going to sit around complaining about it either. We’ll make it work. We’ll make sure there’s happiness and space for ourselves because that’s what Gifted people do, right? Give us coal and we’ll give your economy diamonds.”

He reached out immediately, touching the soft spot behind her ear, his eyes darkening. “Here. When we’re fighting, I love it when you tie up your hair and I can see your neck. Your smell is so strong right here.” His thumb brushed back and forth over her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

This was a different Niko. She almost didn’t know what to do with him. He had always been focussed, but he rarely turned that focus on her with such unrelenting intensity. He never stared deep into her eyes, and he definitely didn’t allow his touches to linger.

His grip slid down her neck, his body looming closer, his thumb tilting up her chin. “I can be very very—” His lips brushed hers, both of them inhaling deeply. “—very stubborn, Illy.”

Heat flooded her stomach at the fantasy of ten pairs of hands holding her neck and etching dark little hearts into her flushed skin.