Savage Royals (Boys of Oak Park Prep 1)

She huffed a laugh, a cruel smirk tilting her lips. “Oh, honey. It’s not me I’m worried about. I can take care of myself. But you better believe I’ll defend what’s mine.”

Then kicked at my notes one more time, flipped her long, straight hair over her shoulder and stalked away, leaving me staring after her.

What the hell? I knew I shouldn’t have pushed her back, but she’d pissed me off. What had I done wrong? Walk to my dorm? God, she’s the fucking worst.

I quickly retreated to my room and dumped my things before I flopped onto my bed, doing my best to smooth out the crumpled, torn pages Adena had stepped on. They were salvageable, but barely.

When I had everything straightened out, I yanked my phone out of my back

pack and tapped Leah’s contact.

“He-ey!” she sang. “What are you doing, loser?”

“Dying,” I muttered. “What are you doing?”

“Studying. I’m seriously buried in fucking poli sci notes. There was a party on Friday, and I was so hung over I hardly got anything done yesterday.”

“Wanna meet up and study? We can use the Wastelands common room.”

“Sure,” she chirped. “Be over in ten.”

I gathered up my stuff and headed down to the common room. Maggie hung out here a lot during the week, but she went home every weekend and didn’t usually get back till late on Sunday. She had a family that actually loved her and wanted her around—a concept that was so foreign to me, I never knew what to say when she talked about them.

Thirty minutes later, because Leah was never on time for anything, the two of us were sprawled out on the large couches, notes and books spread around us.

“So, how was your grandparent’s house?” she asked as she flipped through a massive political science textbook.

“Weird,” I answered honestly. “My grandma apparently knows the Princes’ parents, but I can’t tell how much she likes them. Plus, she and my grandpa act like they’re practically strangers, and I really don’t think he wanted me there at all. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad to be back at Oak Park.”

“Damn!” She laughed. “Must’ve been pretty bad then. Unless you’re actually starting to like this place?”

“Not likely.” I rolled my eyes. “The Princes still fucking hate me, and Adena’s out for my blood. As soon as I got back, the first thing she did was threaten me and talk shit. What the hell is her problem?”

“Oooh, I think I might know. At the party on Friday, I saw her and Mason get into a huge fight.” Leah sat up, abandoning her book.

“What? Why? What was it about?”

She arched a brow at me. “Calm down, overeager. I have no idea. They were yelling at each other out by the pool. A bunch of us were inside watching them, but I wasn’t about to step out there and risk getting fried by her laser beam eyes. Forget that.”

I sighed. “Good call. The last thing you want is to be in Adena’s crosshairs. She seems to seriously have it out for me.”

“Yeah, just like all the Royals. I don’t know what you did, but God, girl. Stop it.”

I laughed. “We both know I’m innocent.”

Although after my conversation with Jacqueline, I’d started to wonder if their grudge against me was less about something I’d done and more about who I was. A Hildebrand. Did they resent that I’d come from nothing and was now poised to inherit an empire that rivaled theirs in wealth and power? I hadn’t grown up in this world, but I was Charlotte Hildebrand’s daughter, and my name still bore the weight of my family’s legacy.

“Honestly, you have to remember that Adena is here for one reason,” Leah said, flipping her book open again. “She wants to snag a husband.”

That caught my attention.

My head whipped up, and I stared at her before I burst out laughing. “What? We’re in high school. Who the hell thinks about a husband at our age?”

“The Royals,” she shrugged, not laughing with me. “They take it really seriously.”

“So, what? The thousands of dollars in tuition is considered a matchmaking fee? The actual education part isn’t important?” I scoffed.

“It is, just not as important as meeting someone and securing a good connection. These rich families don’t wait until college to start matchmaking. Honestly? A marriage tie could be worth billions and the families don’t mess around making sure the best fit for their family name is found.”