Tempted By my Evil Lycan Stepbrother novel Chapter 13

apter 13 Hunting Season

Chapter 13 Hunting Season

Riley’s POV

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“What happened?!”

Ms. Bright came rushing down from the podium, screaming. Everyone in the class jumped up in shock and turned to look at me.

“Oh my god, I think I’m gonna faint! There must be glass in my hair!” Camilla shrieked.

“You’re fine,” I rolled my eyes, still holding up my bleeding hand.

The test tube didn’t catch fire or hurt anyone else nearby–it just sliced my hand wide open.

“What the hell did you do?!” Ms. Bright snapped at me.

“I followed the instructions exactly. It must’ve been something wrong with one of the ingredients,” I said with a frown.

“You arrogant girl!” she shouted. “You know nothing about making this serum, and after almost blowing up iny classroom you still think it’s not your fault?! I never should’ve let you stay in my class!”

I tried to reason with her. “Please, Ms. Bright just hold on a second-

But she cut me off harshly. “Get out. Right now. I’m not letting some reckless idiot stay in here and put the rest of my students in danger!”

I bit my lip.

Walking out would’ve been easy. I already knew all the material she’s teaching. But Healing was a required course–if I didn’t get credit for it, I couldn’t graduate. And that meant my mom would blow up about it again. I’d rather die than deal with that.

So, instead of leaving, I picked up the ingredients on the desk and started checking each one.

“What are you doing, you evil child? Did you not hear me tell you to get out?” she yelled.

“Alcohol,” I said.

“What?”

“She said Alcohol, ma’am,” Camilla said with grin from the front row. “Probably the only thing that stuck in her drunk little

brain.”

The class burst into laughter.

I shot her a cold look and held up the bottle. “No. I mean someone replaced the laurel extract with Alcohol. That’s what caused the explosion.”

“That’s not possible,” Ms. Bright said almost immediately. “All ingredients are carefully stored by me. I would never leave something as dangerous as Alcohol in a student’s workspace!”

I sniffed the bottle and shrugged. “Smells like Alcohol to me. Roy?”

Roy took the bottle, sniffed it, then mumbled, “It… it does smell like Alcohol, Ms. Bright.”

She shot both of us a deadly glare, then snatched the bottle and smelled it herself. Her face changed instantly.

“So I wasn’t lying, was I?” I said. “My operation was perfectly fine. The problem was with whoever stored the ingredients–or someone trying to screw me over.”

I glanced over at my lovely roommates. They were all standing together in a row with their arms crossed, watching me coldly.

Honestly, they probably wished that little explosion had killed me on spot.

Chapter 13 Hunting Season

+25 BONUS

The classroom was silent now The students were shifting uncomfortably in their seats, and Ms. Bright looked like she couldn’t decide whether to admit fault or not.

“So, are you still planning to kick nfe out?” I asked.

She glared at me. “Don’t get cocky, young lady. You’re still responsible because you didn’t notice anything wrong with your ingredient earlier and just went along with it anyway. If the explosion had been any worse, I’d have dragged you to the headmaster myself.”

I sighed internally, “Got it, ma’am. May I go to the infirmary now? My hand’s still bleeding.”

“Wait. I need to make an announcement.”

She marched back up to the podium and gave the class a stern look.

“Hunting Season is just around the corner. It’s a tradition that’s been part of Royal Academy for centuries. Even if some of you are a first year, you still must attend. Now, who can tell me what Hunting Season is?”

Layla raised her hand. “It’s a school–wide combat tournament to test our knowledge and skills. All students are split into hundreds of teams and fight for top rankings. The highest–scoring teams get the chance to join the army directly after graduation.”

Ms. Bright nodded. “Exactly. It’s the most important event of the year, and I expect all of you to take it seriously. Each team must include at least one Healer and several warriors. You’ll be forming teams on your own. Teaming up is also a test of your social skills. If you haven’t formed a team by next Wednesday, I’ll be having a serious talk with you myself.”

The class erupted into chatter. And Roy muttered a “Oh shit” next to me.

I got his frustration. For nobodies like us, “free team selection” was always a nightmare.

“Can we team up with the senior?” Camilla asked eagerly.

“You can,” Ms. Bright said. “But they might prefer to team up with students from their own year. After all they’ve got more

advanced skills.”

She paused and added, “Wednesday. Don’t forget.”

Then she waved everyone back to work. I stuffed my things into my backpack. No point staying here with a bleeding hand.

“Do you think we could team up?” Roy whispered nervously.

“We’re both Healers. Remember?”

He looked so disappointed. “Two Healers can’t be on the same team?”

“We’d probably die horrifically without a single warrior.” I slung my bag over my shoulder. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”

I slipped out of class and headed to the infirmary. I could’ve patched myself up, but wandering around during class hours might get me into even more trouble. Better to lay low for a while.

The school nurse freaked when she saw all the blood and insisted I get an IV. I thought that was a little much, but she was clearly

shaken.

She set me up in a single room at the back of the infirmary. I brought a book with me to kill some time. An old guide on ancient healing rituals and potions. I was hoping to find something to help remove the mark.

That’s when I heard two girls come in. They said to the nurse that they got heatstroke from outdoor training and needed to rest.

Then I heard them start whispering.

“Did your professor talk to you about Hunting Season too?”

Chapter 13 Hunting Season

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“yeah, I’m so excited! It’s the only time we get to hang out with the seniors. Do you think there’s any chance I could join Ezra’s team?”

I rolled my eyes and flipped the page.

To these girls, Hunting Season wasn’t a combat test

it was more like a debutante ball.

“Don’t know about that. But do you know who definitely won’t get picked?”

“Obviously,” one of them said in a mocking tone, “the King’s precious stepdaughter.”

They both giggled.

“Did you hear the whole school’s agreed not to let her join a team? Anyone who does let her in gets the same treatment. There’s even a petition. Did you sign it?” *

“Of course. Ugh, who’d want that filthy mutt on their team?”

“The day she can’t find her team is the day she gets kicked out. I can’t wait for that to happen! Just thinking about her in the same school makes me want to vomit. She’s just like a walking plague-”

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