Ryland Academy Rules: A High School Bully Romance Box Set

by Mya West

  I glance at my family portrait, then quickly away from what feels like my mother’s judgement.

  I kiss Selena again when my father walks back into the room.

  Selena almost jumps up when my father stands behind us.

  “Sorry, where is the lady’s room?” Selena asks politely.

  My father looks at Marta, who walks up to us and asks Selena to follow her. When they leave, I stand up and face my father.

  “So,” I say with a blank face, “what do you think?”

  My father looks at me with a smirk. “You really care for her, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  My father shakes his head. “You wouldn’t bring any floozy to this house, I know that much. She is completely head over heels for you though. She’s easy on the eyes, son.” I thank him for his comment but do not know why. “You know I met your mother when I was in my senior year.” I nod my head. “So, you and Selena, do you see something in the future with her?”

  Hard question. It has only been a few months that I have been seeing her. I know the answer my father wants, so I do not disappoint. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “You would be pretty dumb, son, if you didn’t.” I nod my head again. “I’m proud of you,” he says to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Words I do not think I have ever heard him mutter to me. My father smiles at me, and for a change, I smile back.

  I had my doubts about how tonight would go. What if my father hated Selena? What if he had some grudge against her family that I did not know about? What if he saw her nasty side like I did sometimes?

  All my doubts melted when he said those words.

  I turn my head to the sound of Selena’s heels walking down the hall towards the dining area.

  My father squeezes my shoulder. “I want you to dump her here, tonight, in front of me.” I look at him strangely, thinking I must have misheard. “This is your entry fee. You know who I am and what I am a part of. Generations of Cain’s have been members of The Beasts. Now it’s your turn, son.”

  The so-called secret society, The Beasts, is not very mysterious in my house. I know all about it, and its history. Most of the influential men in town are a member, and all of them groom their sons to be part of it. My father had warned me that someday he would make me take the entry test. It is a request from a ranking member of The Beasts that a potential member would have to follow, no questions asked. You had to show that you could take orders, no matter how much they hurt.

  Selena enters the room again. Her red dress leaves nothing to the imagination on how tight her body is underneath. Her beauty is evident as much as the love she has for me in her eyes.

  I look at my father again. He smiles at me and nods his head. “You will thank me some day, son. You will see.”

  Selena walks up beside me, grabbing my hand in a full embrace. She looks at me with a wide smile. I stare coldly at her in return. Her smile slowly lessens to a look of concern.

  I know what my father wants from me, and I will not disappoint him.

  Chapter 1

  Lance

  “Do you know what I had to do to arrange for her to be on our property?” my father says to me with stern eyes. “Do you think that was easy? Do you know the strings I pulled? Do you know what it took to even get you to be one of the Chosen to run for Alpha?” My usually calm and collected father shows strain in his face for a change. I think I am the only one who can get him to act like this. He puts his arms on the coffee table in front of him and relaxes his face. “Don’t disappoint me, son.”

  Right now, I want to tell him to just fuck right off. He is trying to manipulate me. It won’t work. Not with this. Instead of caving to his demands or bursting into rage, I take a cigarette out of the pack. I put it to my lips, but before I can light it, my father rips it from my mouth and crunches it in his palm. “You don’t smoke inside my home. We talked about this, didn’t we? We talked about a lot of things.”

  “I’m not going to do it,” I say calmly. “I’m going to do what you want me to.”

  I think I am the only person who can tell Arthur Cain no without some type of negative consequence to my health.

  My father, the richest, most powerful man in the state, maybe even the country, usually gets whatever he wants, without much effort. I am putting him through the ringer, and I enjoy watching him this way.

  My father raises a sympathetic hand towards me. “Our family, for generations, have not only been one of the Chosen, but we have always become the Alpha. If you do this, you’re breaking our history.”

  I sigh and look around our extravagant room. Dim light shines through the Egyptian curtains into the large room that is used mostly for having tea or coffee. “We have everything already. What purpose does it serve that I become Alpha like you did?”

  “We will always be rich, but power…power is fleeting, son. Can’t you understand?”

  I shake my head. “You just don’t want Aldridge’s son to win. You would pay several million just to see an Aldridge lose at being Alpha.”

  Arthur Cain slams the coffee table, spilling his drink on the floor. “I led The Beasts as Alpha in my youth, and so will you!” My father stands up, about to leave the room.

  “Sit back down! I’m the one leaving.” I take out another cigarette from my pack and put it to my lips, lighting it quickly. I blow the smoke towards my father, who is now clenching his fists. I turn and walk towards a patio door that leads to our back deck. Before I leave, I turn back to him. “I still can’t believe you think I would have done it. I can’t believe you did it to become Alpha.”

  “Lower your voice, now!”

  “You actually thought I would kill her? Kill Elle? For what? So, I could be like you?”

  My father looks around the empty room, and back at me coldly. He quickly softens his face in one last attempt to sell me. “Don’t be short-sighted, son. I know it’s different, but we have our reasons why the Ritual needs to be done. I thought you did not even like Noelle anyways. So what does it matter? You can still win this. You can still live up to the Cain name, son.”

  “Fuck the name, fuck the Ritual, and fuck The Beasts.” I take a quick drag and blow out more smoke. “Fuck you too.” I turn and leave, slamming the patio door behind me.

  I look out at our massive property from the deck. I finish my cigarette and flick the bud into the sky, watching it fall to the ground below.

  The Beasts have been a part of my family for generations, and from what I understand of its past, a Cain has always overseen them. It is the reason my family is so powerful. It is the reason why my father is obsessed with me becoming Alpha. Being an Alpha puts you in a position where the world’s most powerful can trust you, can depend on you.

  The only downside is you must kill to be one. Something that was not exactly explained to us when Chase, Jaxson, and I were the three Chosen. Only one of us can be Alpha, but all three of us have a chance to complete the Ritual.

  That is where Elle Maven comes into the picture.

  There have been many Elle Mavens in the history of The Beasts.

  I feel a sickness in my stomach thinking about what my father did to become Alpha. Somewhere in the Beast’s archives, I could find the footage of what he did. To think he wants me to have footage of my own stored beside his makes me sick.

  I look out towards the guest house. I wonder what Elle is doing.

  I sigh. This would be a lot easier had my father not chosen Elle Maven to be the Sacrifice.

  She is beautiful, smart, and fucking stubborn as all hell.

  How much more can I make her life hell here in Ryland, and she does not care?

  As soon as she came to the town of Ryland, she wanted to be one of us.

  My father dangled the carrot of free education at the country’s wealthiest secondary school in front of her, and she willingly jumped into a bear trap.

  I thought publishing her diary and giving it to the whole student body would have crushed her to the point whe
re she would leave the party and Ryland that night. She barely blinked. It may have made her even more determined to stay.

  What can you do with a girl like that?

  I had even tried to flat out tell her about The Beasts while we were alone at my family’s cemetery.

  A fleeting thought of her lips stirs my emotions. I kissed her that day so that lousy security guard, Bart, would not catch on to what I was trying to do. Ever since, I cannot stop thinking about that moment. The kiss was only for a few seconds, but I wish it could have gone on longer. She seemed pretty open to that in the moment as well.

  I had made her life hell in Ryland, and when I embraced her, she was willing. Her mouth was warm and welcoming. I felt electricity run through my whole body when our lips touched.

  I have never felt that way with a woman, ever.

  I smile to myself.

  I am not sure what made me content in this moment more. Was it the thought of Elle and I embracing, or that she was safe in the guest house?

  Jaxson and Chase know better than to try anything on our property. Completing the Ritual on a Beast’s property without their consent is against the rules, after all.

  I guess the rules are not all bad.

  Part of the deal struck with Elle staying here was that I could not complete the Ritual on my property at all. Jaxson and Chase agreed to the terms.

  I wondered how Jaxson could be willingly going along with this. I had always thought he was a decent guy. Now he is willing to kill to be Alpha. That fuck Nathanial Price is rooting for him the most. Nat thought it should have been him that was chosen, but when it was his teammate, Jaxson, instead.

  Chase Aldridge, on the other hand, is completely different. He would kill a dozen girls if it meant becoming Alpha.

  The shit he pulled in the woods, shooting at Elle, was something else. We searched for hours for her. When I was alone with Chase in the woods looking for Elle, it took all my strength not to strangle him and leave him in the woods.

  One thing is for sure, Elle can no longer be alone with Chase or Jaxson.

  I think about going to the guest house and knocking on the door. How would Elle respond? If my father saw it, he would be happy. He would think I have finally come around and follow through with his expectations.

  I could go to her right now, talk her into a ride with me, and tell her everything.

  I thought about jumping on my father’s yacht and sailing away from this fucking place. Maybe having someone with me would not be such a bad idea.

  I had already broken a lot of rules The Beasts had. Maybe it was time to leave this place before my father finds out what I have done.

  I look at my watch and realize Elle has her friend’s band function tonight. She will need a ride there. It could be a good time to tell her everything. It would be easy for me to get a ticket to go with her, even though a medley of noisy instruments is not my scene, but I could be beside her. Keep her safe.

  I walk down the stairs from the top of the deck and make my way towards the guest house.

  I wonder if she thought of our kiss. I wonder if she has thought of me since. When I walk up to her door, I remind myself that none of that matters. The only thing that does is keeping her safe.

  The sound of laughing behind me almost startles me. When I turn, I see Bart giggling like a schoolgirl, his hands wrapped around his heavy belly.

  “Too late, lover boy,” he says with a smile.

  “What are you talking about?” I say confused.

  “She left already with Jaxson Davis. No offense, but that man will someday be in the NFL. How can you compete with that? Don’t get too upset with yourself.”

  “Elle went out with Jaxson?”

  “Yeah, like ten minutes ago or so. Listen, Lance, you’re a good-looking young man. Plenty of woman in the sea. Don’t worry about one getting away.”

  “Where did they go?” I ask sternly.

  Bart scoffs. “I’m not paid to ask questions.”

  “Fucking idiot!” I say, losing it. I take out my cell and run towards my car.

  ∞∞∞

  I try calling Elle first, but she does not respond. While managing the steering wheel with one hand and driving fast down the highway, I use my other to open the tracking app on my phone.

  The app shows Elle’s phone is still on, thank god, but it is in the complete opposite way. I hit my breaks hard and turn my wheel, until my car is facing the other way, and step all the way down on the pedal.

  It may have been a dick move to break Elle’s phone, but it served a good purpose. I had a tracking device installed on the new phone I replaced it with.

  The tracking app on my phone shows that I’m getting closer. I’m in an older part of town that I have not been to in years. The app brings me to an empty parking lot of an old hiker’s trail and campground. The trail has been unkept for years. Nobody in town really comes to it anymore. The parking lot is completely empty, except for Jaxson’s Jeep and a black Dodge Charger near it.

  I had seen the Charger a few days ago near Ryland Academy. It looked like it was following Elle and her friends. I assumed it was someone that Chase Aldridge had hired to keep tabs on Elle but was doing a real shit job. I stopped him at the school and told him I did not know how much Chase was paying him, but I would double it if he fucked off. The older man did not seem to like that and drove away. Now he is here with Jaxson.

  I park my car in the empty lot and almost jump out of my car before turning off the ignition. I make my way through the trail as fast as I can, while looking at my cell to find their location.

  I make sure to put my cell on silent as I get closer. When I get close enough to where I can see an opening from the trail, I run off the rocky path, and whip through bushes and trees. A large branch strikes me in the shoulder when I run through two trees. I shrug off the pain and continue, until I can hear them.

  “I fucking have to do everything!” I hear young man’s voice say.

  I slow my pace and turn off my cell. I peer around a large tree and see Nathanial Price in a Beast hood hunched over top of Elle. She appears to be not moving. Jaxson is standing beside Nat, with a solemn look on his face.

  I am too late.

  The Ritual has been completed.

  I clench my teeth together in rage. I stop myself from confronting them both. Two large football players against one unarmed man seems like terrible odds.

  I should have brought a weapon.

  I was already too late to save Elle, but at least I could have dealt with them both now.

  Now I am going to make sure they pay. I had plans to leave Ryland for good, but not before I take care of Nathanial Price and Jaxson Davis.

  I look at the lifeless body of Elle Maven.

  Even in death, she is beautiful. I wipe a tear from my eye.

  I am sorry I failed you, Elle. I could have done better, much better.

  Nathanial Price stands up, and hits Jaxson in the shoulder. “Stop being a big bitch.” Nat takes a needle in his hand and whips it into a nearby lake. “I just knocked her out.” Nat bends down and picks up a camera off the ground and points it at Jaxson. “Now I made this extremely easy. Finish it.”

  Jaxson looks at Nat unimpressed. “Man, this isn’t what I thought. I can’t—”

  “Can! You can!” Nat yells back. “Why the fuck they chose you to be one of the potential Alphas, I have no clue, but you’re just a pussy! I would have killed her three times over by now!”

  I breathe deeply, assured that she is still alive, but now find myself in the same situation I was before. One person versus two large football players. All my time in boxing, I never practiced how to take on two opponents at the same time.

  Nat lowers the camera and takes out a large blade from inside his grey cloak. Holding the knife side downwards and gripping it from its black heel, he pushes it into Jaxson’s chest. “Take it. Now! We still have a chance at winning this.”

  “We?” Jaxson says back with intensity i
n his voice. “I’m going to be the Alpha, not you.”

  “Whatever, we can help each other out. We won’t do shit if you don’t finish this.”

  Jaxson sighs. “You don’t think I hear the rumors from the other members. They tell me shit. They say that the only reason you’re helping me with this is not because we are part of a team and all that bullshit like you told me. They say you think I am too dumb to realize you’re playing me. They tell me that you think you can be the real Alpha while making me do whatever you want!”

  “Jax!”

  Jaxson shoves Nat back. He trips over a rock and lands closer to me, dropping the knife. I move my head back behind the tree and hope I am not noticed.

  “Do you want me to kill her?” Nat says, still on the ground. “I can do it, man. I will just turn on he camera after and do it. You have some of her blood on your hands when I turn the camera back on, and who will question it? You can still be Alpha, without doing the dirty work. Did you hear what I said, you can be the Alpha, not me.”

  “Pick up the knife, and get up,” Jaxson yells back.

  Without thinking I jump out from behind the tree, while Nat is standing back up. The blade is firmly in Nat’s hand. Nat’s eyes widen when he notices me running at him. I lunge towards him, and he whips the blade through the air towards me. I manage to duck under it, and tackle him to the ground, landing powerful punches to his face. Nat stops moving, and I look out at Jaxson, but he is already beside me and shoves me hard off Nat.

  I stand up, and our eyes meet.

  Nat is groaning on the ground and curling into a ball, the blade beside his body. Jaxson spots me looking at the knife that is closer to him than me. Our eyes meet again.

  “Your call Jax,” I say to him playfully. “You and your broken friend can just leave, or…”

  Jaxson narrows his gaze at me. His eyes are intense and full of rage. He has no intentions of backing down I realize immediately.

  I look behind him at the motionless Elle, still laid out on the ground. She almost looks like how I imagine Sleeping Beauty would.

  I quickly look back at Jaxson and meet his eyes with the same intensity. “Fuck it, let’s do this!”