The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 203

My scream only intensifies, combining with my moan of pain as I grab my leg and fall to the forest floor. I’m panting with agony as I lay in the dirt and the leaves, my eyes pressed shut for a moment before I glance down at my leg, my hands quickly coating in my own blood as they go directly to the wound –

Trying to do something, to end the pain, to apply pressure, something –

But there’s nothing – god, I think the bolt hit bone, I think it cracked it –

I’m still moaning horribly when a shadow falls over me, and I look frantically up to see Wright standing above me, drawing back the crossbow’s string, that ugly sneer still on his face, though mixed with victory now.

“You deserve this,” he snarls, glaring down at me. “Every inch of pain – laying in the dirt, finally recognizing your failure – you’re nothing but a dirty cheat –“

“Please,” I beg, gasping for breath as he loads another bolt and raises the crossbow towards me. “Please, don’t –“

“Save it,” he snaps, pointing the crossbow directly at me, and then without another word he pulls the trigger again, sending a bolt directly into my gut.

The pain is…blinding this time.

I scream again, but I must pass out from it –

Honestly, did I die? I might have died, a little bit –

But when I open my eyes again, the forest is fuzzy above me, and there’s a dark form looming over me, shouting my name.

I flinch away, screaming again, and a hand goes fast over my mouth before a hand slips under my head, cradling it.

“Who did this to you!?”

I blink, trying to clear my head as I recognize Jackson’s voice, but then I moan and let my head fall back – because the clearer my mind gets, the more I feel the pain.

“Ari!” Jackson shouts, and suddenly he’s on the ground next to me, pulling me into his lap. “Ari, who did this!?”

I almost scream again as the movement jostles my stomach, and my hand moves to the bolt of wood that’s protruding from my gut, that aches with every movement.

“I’m sorry,” Jackson murmurs, and I blink again, trying to focus, trying to look up into his face. His voice – it’s so tight, so full of pain. Did he – did he get shot too? But as my eyes focus on his face I see that his pain is all desperate agony for me. “Ari,” he murmurs, his hand shaking as he cups my cheek. “Who did it?”

“Wright,” I murmur, shaking my head.