“Get out of here. You can take a punch or two. You’re a big boy, Prince.”
Sideburns seethed so much I could feel his hot breath blowing the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. I doubted any of his subjects dared to taunt him this way. Well, he was getting some new experiences. It was all about the journey. Got to live a little, dude.
Luckily, we arrived at the Academy before Sideburns’ illogical anger combusted me like the fabled dragon fire.
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Shifters Academy was situated in a broad area of sagebrush and rocks, surrounded by a shock of colorful, rolling hills in the distance. It was a military compound with high walls. Behind the steel gate, two watch towers, one on either side of the campus, stretched into the sky.
I squinted at three heavily armed shifter guards on top of the closest tower.
“Is this an actual school or a prison?” I asked. “I can’t tell the difference.”
“Show some respect, Pip!” Sideburns said through his clenched teeth. He enjoyed finding every chance to scold me. “Our airtight security is for the protection of the students and the safety of the school. Also, the security team won’t hesitate to take actions against any deserters.”
Wow, that threat was definitely for my ears only.
Would the guards really shoot me if I tried to leave the Academy grounds? The school no longer sounded so peachy. The guards would pose an obstacle if I decided not to stay.
“To the undisciplined, a military school might sound like a prison.” Sideburns wouldn’t let it go. I had a feeling that he didn’t know how to handle me, and he didn’t like it one bit. He was the Alpha Heir. Even the toughest shifters submitted to him. I was a nobody. I didn’t look tough, but I didn’t have a submissive bone in my body.
“It’s the finest Academy that has produced tens of thousands of elite warriors,” he continued. “You’re lucky I permitted you to be enrolled.”
Yeah, yeah. I refrained from telling him that I’d never asked to be enrolled into anything and that I certainly didn’t ask to be trained as a soldier to fight the shifters’ future war. It wouldn’t do me any good to stay on his bad side.
The sentinels on the high tower saluted, and I mimicked them and saluted back, only to realize they weren’t saluting me but their princes.
The gate slid to one side. The guards inside the checkpoint booth saluted Sideburns as well.
Our jeep cruised through the open gate and stopped on the central road in the middle of a grand courtyard. Two escort jeeps and a black van parked outside the gate, waiting to escort their Alpha Heir away from the school.
Shade exited from the driver’s side. I followed suit and got out.
Two guards stood beside the jeep on either side of the Alpha Heir, eager to serve.
I wheeled around, surveying the well-trimmed lawns around the courtyard and the maroon brick buildings beyond. The campus looked nice. I only hoped the students here were nice too.