Page 76 of Monster. Me.

Bam, bam, bam!

Rupert tries to block, but I break through his guard from the left and right. His nose is bleeding, and his lips are crushed.

"If you think you can use my body as your fucking cum bucket, you're dead wrong! Go fuck Caspian or give your ass to Juan, but don't you ever dare come near me again, you piece of shit!" I scream, panting from rage and effort.

Finally, my hands are covered in blood. I slide off his stomach and step back a few paces to look at my handiwork.

I realize Rupert is unconscious…

"Rupert?"

Silence. A thin line of blood runs from his nose, and he looks bad. I bite my lip as a wave of unease rises in me. Shit. What if I’m in serious trouble?

I rush over to him and shake him. "Hey, you piece of shit, stop pretending; open your eyes!"

His body stays limp. He’s completely unconscious. "Fuck… fuck, damn it," I growl, pulling up my pants and bolting out of the room.

The staff office is on the other side of the promenade, so I sprint there. On the way, I spot Caspian walking along the wall. He sees my bloodied hands. "What happened?" he starts, but I pass him without a word. I turn into the staff room. One of the nurses who handles blood draws for the program participants is there. Groban.

"Hey, something happened. It all went wrong between me and Rupert. You need to help him, he’s unconscious." Groban blinks as if something got into his eye, then presses a button, snaps back into focus, and quickly leaps to his feet. He follows me back to my room.

Caspian is already there, bent over Rupert, tears running down his face. I can’t bring myself to feel sympathy for either of them. Go figure. Groban steps in, checks Rupert’s pulse, and lifts his eyelids.

"He’s alive," he says. "But we need to take him to the medical wing. Probably a concussion."

I stand by the wall, feeling like shit. Not because of Rupert, but because of what this might mean. Caspian looks at me with accusation in his eyes.

I can’t take it.

"Seriously, you have the nerve to look at me like that, slut? You were fucking with him. And with Juan too. They should kick you off the staff."

Caspian goes pale. Groban glances at him, raising a brow, but says nothing. A moment later, two alphas enter the room. One is Wilhelm; the other I don’t know. They’re carrying a stretcher and don’t ask questions. They carefully transfer Rupert onto it and take him away.

Everyone leaves; Caspian follows the nurses. He doesn’t say a word or look at me. His eyes are red.

But I’m not left alone for long. Another alpha appears in the doorway.

"You’re coming with me."

Dammit. I clench my jaw, unease rising in my chest.

People are already gathering on the promenade, watching. Something is clearly wrong. My bloodied hands draw attention. In the crowd, I spot Juan staring at me with wide eyes.

I’m led through winding corridors into a place I've only visited once, and only briefly, when I signed the paperwork: Dr. Lomax’s office.

The alpha tells me to wait outside and goes in alone. I pace, biting my lip. After a moment, he comes back out and gestures for me to enter.

I exhale. Fine, I’ll deal with it. Dr. Lomax sits behind a heavy, old-fashioned desk, the kind school principals used to have. His thin wire-frame glasses seem like the dominant feature of his narrow, rat-like face.

"There is zero tolerance for violence on this facility’s premises," he says coldly. "You signed the agreement. Any such act may result in expulsion from the program. And this is already your second incident. You assaulted Wilhelm before."

I stare at him blankly for a moment, the pieces not clicking together.

Only now do the possible scenarios fully unfold in my head. No one is going to care what actually happened. That much is clear. Rupert and I will probably both get kicked out. Which means…

…I’ll be cut off from Fenn.

And I am not ready for that. We are not done.