Dirty Wicked Prince (Court Legacy 1)

I snorted like a bull. “Bruno Sloane could have died, you asshole!”

“D, stop it!” Wolf growled, grabbing my wrists, and we both tumbled to the floor. Gaining the upper hand this time, Wolf got me to my back. He held my arms above me while the other guys continued to chant and yell.

Mostly for us to stop.

Fights weren’t respected amongst us. They were trivial, ridiculous. When they did start, it was usually Wolf or myself breaking it up. The Court was a brother and sisterhood of respect. We didn’t turn against each other.

Which was why I was currently fighting my best friend.

He’d gone too far tonight, too fucking far, and I kicked at him on top of me. Wolf had me pinned, and I roared, bucking beneath him. I was acting out of character.

Even for me.

I knew that but didn’t care. I still tried to fight my best friend.

“Stop, D. Stop!” Wolf roared, but I couldn’t. I continued to growl and rage at him. I was acting like a complete maniac, but he’d set me off and I wasn’t stopping.

My buddy had my hands real good. In fact, he had them so good I didn’t know why I was still fighting. I was blinded, enraged.

Wolf obviously saw that. His expression changed. The next thing I knew, he was shouting at the other guys to leave us. They appeared hesitant before dispersing, but they did.

“And close the fucking door,” Wolf yelled after them, but he’d made a mistake in that distraction.

He gave me an opening.

I took it. I shoved him so hard off me that he went flying. He backed into a chess set, and the pieces flew everywhere.

Getting up, I steamrolled him, and he grappled me around the chest like we were on the field. “Dorian!”

I tossed him off me, then shot my shoulder into him so hard he hit one of the bookcases. Books fell off the top shelves, landing at our feet. Wolf gauged his time between dodging both them and me.

“You’ve gone too far!” I was barely able to even hear myself and all I was saying. It was like I was a fly on the wall watching all this shit happen. I was punching at my best friend’s arms, Sloane’s voice playing in my head.

The way she looked at me tonight…

She’d called me toxic, me and mine and everything I was associated with. She’d basically called me a monster.

You are one.

The rage inside blinded me, but this time, Wolf was ready. He blocked every punch, his hands ensnaring my wrist. “Dorian, stop this!”

“Is this about me?” I asked, ignoring him. “Did you find out what I did? Is this revenge for that?”

Why else would he do such a thing? I knew my friend. I knew Ares. He’d never pull the shit he’d done tonight unless provoked.

He wasn’t a monster.

This had to be because of me, all of this. I sneered. “Did you pull that haze because of me?”

“What?”

“Bruno!” I shoved until he stumbled off me, space finally between us. “Ryder and Josh said you called a haze to get him into the Court when you know we don’t fucking do that.”

We didn’t. That shit was explicitly banned. It’d been a haze that led to my aunt Paige being killed years ago, and he knew that. She’d been doing one to get into the Court the night she died, then was murdered by his great-uncle who was still in prison for the crime. She’d been in the wrong place, given the guy an opportunity. She’d been tied down to railroad tracks when his great-uncle had gotten to her.

The man had taken it from there.

The Court didn’t do that shit anymore after my aunt Paige. It was dumb shit, and it shouldn’t be done.