The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

He also knew she was dying inside.

A lot.

Every single day.

Pretending her life was fine.

There was a real passion beneath the surface. The way she was with him, she wasn’t like that with anyone else.

Tapping his thumb against the steering wheel, he pulled into the high school.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked. “You’re, like, really quiet.”

He chuckled. “Just something my father said is all. Nothing new there.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I really, really don’t.”

She nodded. “Do you know when my father will come back home?”

“He’ll be back in a couple of weeks, probably.” Draven had hoped Ian and Hannah would stay away. With his father already showing his displeasure at his interest in Harper, it was clear, he was going to meddle. Harper wasn’t part of their world, never had been, and it clearly bothered his father for him to bring her into it.

He sat back in the car, thinking about how best to deal with his father.

Loyalty was something that was built through trust and time. She hadn’t run off to tell the cops when she caught them in the woods. There were a lot of things she could have screamed at them about.

When Axel pulled in beside them, he climbed out. Harper was already out before he got around to her side of the car. Draven took hold of her hand, and they all headed into the school.

He noticed the stares and points.

When would Harper’s curiosity peak and finally ask that question? She would belong to all four of them. Part of him was tempted to stake his claim now, to make her his.

But he’d liked seeing her kiss all three of his friends. This was what they had all agreed on, and he couldn’t go getting greedy now.

Axel, Buck, and Jett had each talked about their kiss as well, and he knew they were looking forward to her finally belonging to all four of them.

To some, having a gangbang like theirs at eighteen was a little extreme.

No one had grown up like them. They hadn’t seen the darkness within the world, the evil. All four of them knew what they wanted.

The only way for all of them to succeed, to remain faithful and loyal, was to have one woman, one woman they could devote their lives to. Having multiple women, their own personal wives, came with consequences. He’d seen it tear the friendship apart of his father and Axel’s father. They worked together, and they’d once been firm friends.

They weren’t anymore. That was now plagued by anger, rage, resentment, and above all, jealousy.

Entering the school, he noticed a path cleared wherever they went. That wasn’t what surprised him. He was used to people getting out of his way. They were not the nicest of guys when someone stepped in their way.

As they came to a stop at his locker, he saw it. Harper’s locker.

Red ink painted the surface with so many words.

Whore.

Slut.

Gangbanger.

Cunt.

Idiot.

Cum dump.

Fatty.

Ugly.

He stepped over to the locker, pushing Harper behind him. Axel grabbed her.

“Hey, stop it. Let me see.” She pushed away from Axel and was suddenly moving him out of the way. “Oh,” she said.

He looked behind him to glare at Axel, but he was cupping his junk.

“Who the fuck did this?” Draven asked. He slammed his hand against the metal.

Silence met his question.

“We’ll find out,” Buck said.

Again, no one answered. Finally, Axel got over having his balls hit.

“It’ll be easy for you now.”

Harper brushed past him, and he saw how red her cheeks were. “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.”

“Come on, Harper, don’t do this now,” he said.

“I need to go to the janitor’s closest. I have to wash it off.” She pulled out of his hold, and he let her go.

Looking at every single person in the corridor, he stood guard over her locker.

“Out of my way,” Mr. Arnold said, the slowest middle-aged teacher in the history of all Stonewall.

Draven had a feeling the married teacher was having an affair with the principal, seeing as he always appeared coming from that direction and looking ruffled. Clearly sucking principal dick was more appealing to Mr. Arnold than eating his wife’s pussy.

“What is the meaning of this?” Mr. Arnold asked.

“We’re dealing with it,” Axel said.

“I want it cleaned up, right this instant.”

Buck grabbed the teacher’s shirt and slammed him up against the locker. “He said we’re dealing with it. You need to remember who you’re talking to.”

Draven didn’t look back. It was loud and clear for everyone. They ruled this school. Harper belonged to them. Someone had ruined her property, and now they were all pissed off.

He was pissed off, fucking livid that she had to see those words. He would find out who it was, and when he was done with them, they were going to wish they’d never even seen her locker.