The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 107: Chapter 107
You are reading The Alpha's Gamble, Chapter 107: Chapter 107. Read more chapters of The Alpha's Gamble.
MADELINE
After the most delicious meal I’d had in my life, we carried the mountain of things up the stairs, stumbling on each step and fumbling around the corner when neither of us fit. The guards opened the door and stared warily at all the things we carried. The bouquet blocked Logan’s face, and I accidentally slammed the guards with my bags as I passed them. When I was about to step inside, Logan walked with me, and we got stuck in the doorframe.
“Seriously?” I asked.
He tried to move back, our shoulders fought for space, and eventually, I tripped over the threshold and fell into the room, landing on top of the bags, which luckily softened the blow.
“Geez,” I huffed a breath and wiped my face. That was a training session in itself.
I put the bags by the closet, and Logan placed the flowers at my bedside. His eyes glanced over something lying on the cover, and he picked up an envelope.
He skimmed the front, and a frown forced itself onto his face.
“What is it?” I asked while gathering my hair and putting it up in a clip, letting the air fan my neck, and wiping my hands on my pants.
“It’s, uh,” he chewed on his lip and staggered over to me.
“It’s addressed to you.” I took the letter, and a rush of dread came over me when I saw the A/Ac symbol in the top left corner. A deep orange leaf with the letters pressed in the middle, the official school crest.
The only sound going off in my head was: fuck, fuck, fuck. Like a car alarm with no pause, no off button. This couldn’t be good, could it?
I hadn’t sent an application, so they couldn’t turn me down, could they?
Maybe it’d say: We have been informed that you, Madeline Torrance, are under consideration to come here to the Auburn Academy. Due to recent events, and the shitstorm you’ve caused, we kindly ask you to refrain.
“Open it!” Logan shrieked, making my heart stop for a beat. I forgot he was there.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Have you sent the application?” I shook my head.
“Then it can’t be bad news.”
Something told me it could.
The paper, folded in three, was giving me anxiety just touching it, unfolding it, seeing the ink through the paper.
Madeline Torrance,
Thank you for applying to the Auburn Academy class of 2026. After careful consideration of your early application, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission at this time (upcoming year and on). We pride ourselves on integrity, morals, and ethics…
The ink blurred under a drop, magnifying the letters and staining the paper.
Early application? I never sent an early application. There was nothing for them to be unable to accept, because I never sent it. But there it was, written out letter by letter, carrying a crushing power I wasn’t sure they were aware of. Signed by the admissions office.
They knew about everything, somehow they knew.
They weren’t just denying me admission for next year, it was every year after that, too.
I felt the weight on my shoulders, pressing me down into the floor, and I was sure that the floorboards would open up and swallow me.
My biggest fear came true, in the form of a letter. Words on paper. It wasn’t a knife or fangs, it was words, and yet they hurt more than any physical pain I’d ever been subjected to.
“Maddie?”
Logan took the letter and walked to the corner of the room, he relaxed his fingers, and the piece of paper that had told me my future fluttered down and disappeared.
“They’re stupid,” he whispered. His soft touch on my shoulder felt like fire against ice.
“No, they’re not. They’re smart. They’re a brand, they have a rumor to uphold, a prestige, and I don’t fit into it.” I wiped the back of my hand over my cheek.
I had prepared for that letter for when I actually sent the application, and yet it felt like it never crossed my mind that they might deny me.
I felt his hands lock around my back, and my face was smushed against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said against my hair, rubbing circles on my back.
The pressure with which he held me forced the air stuck in my throat when my chest couldn’t expand, but it was fine. It was good. It was safe.
The heat from his body embraced me in a cold sweat, and I found myself melting against it. Something cold pressed against my cheeks, and I realized I was still crying. Harder now that he was holding me.
How could I be so stupid to think that I ever stood a chance?
Getting into the Auburn Academy was hard enough, but I should’ve known my chances were dead the second that sex tape was leaked. Maybe even before that. I wondered how much they knew, and what exactly it was that tipped the scale.
Or if I ever stood a chance at all.
Everything it could’ve been that derailed my path—that had been so clear in my vision for years—played like a movie in front of me, and the crying increased. I sobbed against Logan’s chest, and he tightened his hold to where it was almost painful, but I silently begged him to squeeze harder.
Harder until my ribs cracked.
Until I collapsed.
But instead of hugging me harder, he let go abruptly and fiercely like I was hurting him, and then he disappeared from my vision, and a vicious snarl set my shuddering teeth on edge.
“You don’t touch her.”
Noah drew to his fullest size and glared at his brother, who lay in the corner of the room, one foot in the trashcan and half folded next to my nightstand.
“Ouch, man,” he rubbed the back of his head and pushed himself up.
After the most delicious meal I’d had in my life, we carried the mountain of things up the stairs, stumbling on each step and fumbling around the corner when neither of us fit. The guards opened the door and stared warily at all the things we carried. The bouquet blocked Logan’s face, and I accidentally slammed the guards with my bags as I passed them. When I was about to step inside, Logan walked with me, and we got stuck in the doorframe.
“Seriously?” I asked.
He tried to move back, our shoulders fought for space, and eventually, I tripped over the threshold and fell into the room, landing on top of the bags, which luckily softened the blow.
“Geez,” I huffed a breath and wiped my face. That was a training session in itself.
I put the bags by the closet, and Logan placed the flowers at my bedside. His eyes glanced over something lying on the cover, and he picked up an envelope.
He skimmed the front, and a frown forced itself onto his face.
“What is it?” I asked while gathering my hair and putting it up in a clip, letting the air fan my neck, and wiping my hands on my pants.
“It’s, uh,” he chewed on his lip and staggered over to me.
“It’s addressed to you.” I took the letter, and a rush of dread came over me when I saw the A/Ac symbol in the top left corner. A deep orange leaf with the letters pressed in the middle, the official school crest.
The only sound going off in my head was: fuck, fuck, fuck. Like a car alarm with no pause, no off button. This couldn’t be good, could it?
I hadn’t sent an application, so they couldn’t turn me down, could they?
Maybe it’d say: We have been informed that you, Madeline Torrance, are under consideration to come here to the Auburn Academy. Due to recent events, and the shitstorm you’ve caused, we kindly ask you to refrain.
“Open it!” Logan shrieked, making my heart stop for a beat. I forgot he was there.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Have you sent the application?” I shook my head.
“Then it can’t be bad news.”
Something told me it could.
The paper, folded in three, was giving me anxiety just touching it, unfolding it, seeing the ink through the paper.
Madeline Torrance,
Thank you for applying to the Auburn Academy class of 2026. After careful consideration of your early application, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission at this time (upcoming year and on). We pride ourselves on integrity, morals, and ethics…
The ink blurred under a drop, magnifying the letters and staining the paper.
Early application? I never sent an early application. There was nothing for them to be unable to accept, because I never sent it. But there it was, written out letter by letter, carrying a crushing power I wasn’t sure they were aware of. Signed by the admissions office.
They knew about everything, somehow they knew.
They weren’t just denying me admission for next year, it was every year after that, too.
I felt the weight on my shoulders, pressing me down into the floor, and I was sure that the floorboards would open up and swallow me.
My biggest fear came true, in the form of a letter. Words on paper. It wasn’t a knife or fangs, it was words, and yet they hurt more than any physical pain I’d ever been subjected to.
“Maddie?”
Logan took the letter and walked to the corner of the room, he relaxed his fingers, and the piece of paper that had told me my future fluttered down and disappeared.
“They’re stupid,” he whispered. His soft touch on my shoulder felt like fire against ice.
“No, they’re not. They’re smart. They’re a brand, they have a rumor to uphold, a prestige, and I don’t fit into it.” I wiped the back of my hand over my cheek.
I had prepared for that letter for when I actually sent the application, and yet it felt like it never crossed my mind that they might deny me.
I felt his hands lock around my back, and my face was smushed against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said against my hair, rubbing circles on my back.
The pressure with which he held me forced the air stuck in my throat when my chest couldn’t expand, but it was fine. It was good. It was safe.
The heat from his body embraced me in a cold sweat, and I found myself melting against it. Something cold pressed against my cheeks, and I realized I was still crying. Harder now that he was holding me.
How could I be so stupid to think that I ever stood a chance?
Getting into the Auburn Academy was hard enough, but I should’ve known my chances were dead the second that sex tape was leaked. Maybe even before that. I wondered how much they knew, and what exactly it was that tipped the scale.
Or if I ever stood a chance at all.
Everything it could’ve been that derailed my path—that had been so clear in my vision for years—played like a movie in front of me, and the crying increased. I sobbed against Logan’s chest, and he tightened his hold to where it was almost painful, but I silently begged him to squeeze harder.
Harder until my ribs cracked.
Until I collapsed.
But instead of hugging me harder, he let go abruptly and fiercely like I was hurting him, and then he disappeared from my vision, and a vicious snarl set my shuddering teeth on edge.
“You don’t touch her.”
Noah drew to his fullest size and glared at his brother, who lay in the corner of the room, one foot in the trashcan and half folded next to my nightstand.
“Ouch, man,” he rubbed the back of his head and pushed himself up.
End of The Alpha's Gamble Chapter 107. Continue reading Chapter 108 or return to The Alpha's Gamble book page.