by Eden Beck
She swats at him and grumbles, but she does as she’s asked and allows one of the attendants to lead her back inside towards the chatter of the other attendees. Only then can I draw in a breath.
It’s the first of many such meetings, I’m sure. Between the four of us—me, Jasper, Heath, and Beck—there are soon to be a lot of introductions underway. Introductions that I can’t be sure will go so smoothly as that one did, either.
In light of the most recent events between the two schools, Bleakwood agreed to host the girl’s commencement ceremony as well—something that Headmistress Robin didn’t seem all too pleased about, but also didn’t seem to have any choice in the matter.
With the two schools coming under the Bleakwood banner next year, it was the least she could do.
Especially now that her official title is Headmistress Robin, with Dean Withers presiding over both academies now. Officially.
It’s not the outcome either of them wanted, but in a way, it’s the outcome that both of them deserved. Certainly more than Headmistress Robin deserved once I’d reported how she’d been harassing me as bad as The Brotherhood for the last two years.
For me, this merging just means that on top of watching out for my boyfriends’ families, I have to look out for someone else too. And it isn’t long after Beck’s grandmother sidles off to take her place inside that I spot her.
“Quick, hide me!” I hiss, darting behind Heath’s exceptionally wide frame and ducking down.
His head swivels around, looking for the cause of my sudden shyness, only to laugh when he sees her.
It’s Olive, of course.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of her, you know,” he says, stepping out to the side and putting one hand on each of my shoulders and steering me forward to stand in front of him.
“Betrayer,” I snap through gritted teeth masked behind a smile so no one can guess the true thoughts running through my head. Or streaming out from behind those same clenched teeth in the form of hissed expletives.
Olive, of course, notices me at once. She’s accompanied by who I can only assume are her parents, since the woman looks just like Olive—just with a bit more Botox—and the man looks like he’s never once smiled. Though, truth be told, that could also be from Botox.
I nod to Olive once when our eyes inevitably meet, but she doesn’t acknowledge my existence—just does a sharp roundabout, hair swishing out in an arc behind her. Fine by me, really. She doesn’t have to like me.
It’s not like I’ll ever see her again.
“What are you thinking?” Heath asks, his breath hot on the back of my neck.
“I was just thinking,” I stammer, hardly able to keep my voice in check, “about how all the drama with Olive is finally over.”
Heath cocks his head to the side. “I never did understand what Jasper saw in her, you know.”
I, in turn, shrug and watch as she walks off with a gaggle of friends quick to swarm her and her parents. In another life, I would’ve been jealous of her. I’ve thought often about what would have happened if I went to Harrows instead of Bleakwood. Who I would have become. What I would have wanted.
“Don’t get too excited,” Beck drawls, his own breath now mingling with Heath’s. “You’ll have plenty of opportunities to have bad run-ins with her in the future. People like us … in our world … we always seem to be running into each other.”
Our world.
All the hairs on my skin stand on end, a tingling sensation racing from the base of my skull down my spine.
“Stop it,” I hiss at him. “You shouldn’t be standing so close.”
“And what about me?” A familiar voice says from behind me. “Am I allowed to stand closer since I’m not technically a student?”
I whirl around and shove both Heath and Beck to the side. “Jasper!”
For one second, Jasper stands awkwardly in front of us, hands shoved in his pockets, and an uncertain look on his face.
I don’t allow it to last long.
I immediately throw myself into his arms—or more accurately, on top of them—and wrap my legs around his torso to hold him tight. He barks out a laugh and struggles for the next couple seconds to extricate his pinned arms so he can better wrap them around me as well.
I press my face into his neck and he, in turn, does the same. His hands bury into my hair, pulling me even closer to him as he takes in a deep lungful of my scent.
“Oh,” he whispers, his lips grazing the tender spot beneath my ear, “how I’ve missed you, Alex.”
“You have no idea,” I whisper back. “Without you here these last couple weeks, Heath and Beck could barely keep up.”
Both boys shuffle on their feet.
“She’s right you know,” Heath says, scratching the back of his neck.
Beck barks out a snarling laugh of his own. “Speak for yourself.” The way he looks at me then, it makes my face flush like my whole body’s been set alight. To make matters worse, he leans in even closer and whispers so only Jasper and I can hear, “If I had my way, I take you here. Now. Audience be damned.”
“Careful now, you’ll make the girl blow a blood vessel,” Jasper says, still holding me around his waist. He looks up at me now in rapture, his eyes looking over me as if he’s only seeing me for the first time.
I can’t stand it. Can’t stand waiting a moment longer. So, I lean down and kiss him, really kiss him.
Oh, how I’ve missed Jasper.
We don’t break apart until Rafael and Neville pass by, dressed head-to-toe in today’s ridiculous regalia. Neville blushes at me when we make eye contact, and quickly turns away, rubbing his knuckles absentmindedly. Rumor has it he broke them when he punched Jasper, but was much too embarrassed to actually let anyone treat his hand.
“What are you thinking?” Jasper asks me as he finally, reluctantly, sets me back down on the ground.
“I was just thinking,” I say, “At least Neville seems to have gotten his comeuppance.”
Jasper laughs. “As have the rest of us.”
We sober for a moment; me, Jasper, Heath, and Beck.
It’s been a strange last few weeks without Jasper here. After he dissolved The Brotherhood and left Bleakwood, he left the three of us adrift. If we didn’t have each other, we would have been lost, I’m sure of it.
But that’s over now. We’re together again.
And that’s all that matters now … even if we find ourselves having to ignore the ugly glances our way. Not looking at us, of course, but at Jasper.
Jasper lets out a bit of a sigh and adjusts the angles of his shoulders to turn away from the front doors. “So, this is how it feels to suddenly be shoved to the very bottom of society,” he says. He only flinches slightly when we catch the tail end of conversation, something I can’t fully make out … aside from a single word.
“Traitor.”
I slip up beside Jasper and take his hand. I tilt my head up and lean into his shoulder until he’s forced to meet my gaze.
“Don’t pay any attention to them,” I say, softly. “I don’t care about any family secret. I just care about you.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d just let me tell—”
“No!” I cut him off, shaking my head so that all around me is a blur. “I told you. I don’t want to know. I won’t hear it.”
Jasper finally makes the smallest smile at that.
“If you’re decided …”
And just like that, it is decided. Our plans will go forward just as planned.
If I can bring myself to forgive Jasper, then Jasper’s so-called society can learn to forgive him. If they won’t, well then, they’re just being bullies.
And I’ve had enough of bullies.
I take one more step back, my head tilting even further back to look up at the old school building that has come to feel like a second home these last two years.
So here we are. The very end.
From here, there is no telling where we go.
We have our plans, but who knows where the next few years will really take us.
Jasper is supposed to do home studies from Beck’s family flat—where we’ll be staying at Oxford—until he can officially join us as a student next year. I’m still on the waitlist, of course, since Jasper’s sweet, but ill-thought-out gesture did little to weed out the hundreds of applicants ahead of me. But Beck seems quite convinced that a spot will be found for me by the beginning of term.
Just as he’s sure my tuition is going to be covered…one way or another.
And I’ve come to trust Beck’s word. Just as I’ve come to trust all of them, now that I’ve forgiven them.
Now that I’ve forgiven myself for loving them.
After all, it’s the least I could do.
Rafael turns once to wink at me before he and Neville head inside, arm in arm. And it seems I’m not the only one who’s come to terms with things now that the school year is over.
I take a step back and take in one last look at my three boys.
Jasper.
Heath.
Beck.
This is the way it was always meant to be, from the very moment I stepped into these halls and became unavoidably, inseparably, inexplicably entangled with them. For so long I was focused on their dark side, their faults, their follies. But I was just as to blame as them. I did things that should have been unforgivable. Here, in the halls of Bleakwood, I learned that I too am twisted.
And I like it that way.
Because that way, we belong together.
We head inside, ready to face the end of some things, but the start of many more. I know this isn’t the end of our trials. There will be many more we face.
I don’t expect to fit right into their world.
I know this world won’t just accept me, just as it might not accept the three of us.
But I know we can do it.
I, and the boys that once called themselves The Brotherhood, can do it together.
A Note From The Author
Thank you for reading Wretched, the third (and final) book in my new Wicked Brotherhood series!
If you’re a fan of bully romances like this, keep an eye out in February for my next release. (Hint hint)
If you enjoyed Wretched, please consider leaving a review on Amazon!
One important note—this series is meant to be a work of fiction and is not meant to glorify abuse or bullying. If you or someone you know is a victim of this kind of behavior, please consider reaching out for help:
https://www.stompoutbullying.org
https://www.stopbullying.gov
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
Xoxo,
Eden
Also by Eden Beck
Untitled Bully Romance Series
Her Shame (coming February 2021)
Her Wrath (March 2021)
Her Spite (April 2021)
Wicked Brotherhood
Bitter
Hateful
Wretched
Wolfish
Wolf Bonded
Wolf Broken
Wolf Bargain
Hawthorne Holy Trinity
Dirty Liars
Dirty Fraud
Dirty Revenge