REED
I watched from the shadows as Asher's little ally group dispersed from their secret meeting.
Of course I knew about it. I knew everything that happened at Stone Claw Academy, nothing never seems to escape my watchful eyes, especially when I have someone like Callum beside me.
Callum had informed me within an hour of the first meeting being scheduled, and I'd been tracking Asher's movements ever since.
Part of me was furious. Asher was organizing against me. Building a network of Alphas who would challenge my authority, but another part, a darker, more twisted part was impressed.
Asher Graham was smart, strategic, and he knew he couldn't fight me alone, so he was building an army.
It was exactly what I would have done, if I was a pathetic weakling like him.
"What do you want to do about it?" Callum asked, appearing beside me in the shadows, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Nothing," I said, "I'd rather sit back and watch the loser keep trying a failed group."
Callum looked at me in surprise. "Nothing? Reed, he's organizing a resistance—"
"I know what he's doing." I watched as Asher walked back towards the dorms, his shoulders straight despite everything I'd put him through today. "And I'm going to let him."
"Why?" Callum asked, totally confused because the real me would sprang out in anger and destroy everything immediately.
"Because crushing his little group would break him, and I don't want him broken." I turned to Callum. "I want him to be strong, I want him to fight back, and I definitely want him to be worthy of—" I stopped mid sentence, not wanting to finish that thought.
"Worthy of being your alibi, or something close to that, right?," Callum finished for me.
I didn't confirm or deny it.
"You're playing a dangerous game," Callum said. "If Asher's group grows strong enough, they could actually challenge your authority."
"Let them try." I told him, before walking back to the dorms. "It'll make things more interesting."
"And if they succeed?" He asked.
I smiled coldly. "They won't, because no matter how many Alphas Asher gathers, none of them are stronger than me, and when push comes to shove, power is all that matters at Stone Claw. I have all the power, Callum, and destroying them would be pretty easy." I informed him but even as I said it, I knew it wasn't entirely true.
Asher had something I didn't, something that made Alphas want to follow him despite his lack of power or connections.
He had integrity, courage, and the kind of strength that came from principle rather than dominance, and it was the most attractive thing I'd ever seen.
Which was why I needed to break him of it. I needed to show him that in the real world, principles didn't matter. Only power did, and I was going to enjoy every minute of teaching him that lesson, even if it meant breaking all my rules to do so.