Wild Boys

Chapter Three

"This? This is the one taking my place?"

A dark-haired boy stood glaring down at her. His lips curled back, showing canines slightly sharper than normal that gave him a feral look. That was not even it—his eyes alone seemed animalistic. They were bright and sharp, the green hue of it alarmingly surreal. A fitting animal rose in Iris' mind. A wolf, though what she's done to piss this one off she had no idea.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Caleb bristling, and she didn't want that. She didn't need anyone's help. She stayed seated and calmly asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Fight me," He challenged, a look of defiance on his face. "You only beat Grease Hair because he was busy leering down your tits!"

Everyone had gotten quiet to hear the commotion, and so they all heard the comment. Iris thought she heard a few snicker. It's so early in the morning and already her patience was being tested. She could ignore him, but she didn't join Visco's World just to be made small through her gender. Iris had long ago come to a resolution to get things like this over with as soon as possible. The faster she could knock that idiotic mentality out of his head, the better it was for everyone.

"Lowell, my boy, you know I don't tolerate any fights in my kitchen," A voice suddenly boomed before she could speak, and Iris glanced to see Chief leaning out of his counter. His face had lost its sunny smile, and he was giving the green-eyed boy a hard look. "Especially in my kitchen. If you want to settle scores, that's what the black mat is for."

Lowell's anger didn't die down, but he had stopped invading Iris' personal space. He said, "I'll be waiting, then."

He stalked off, and Chief called out after him, "Expect her after two hours! She ate two plates, yhear?"

And despite what happened, Iris had to smile at the Chief. He looked at her, "Two hours." Then he went back to his work, back to the Santa Claus he reminded her of.

"Well, this is gonna be exciting," Steven said, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Who knew there's gonna be first blood among the new members this quick."

"It's not going to be my blood," Iris said, turning her attention back to the remaining food on her plate.

Exactly after two hours, Iris stood in the black mat of the gym room with the feral boy. Everyone had come along as well in excitement, except for Chief. Steven had said the Chief had never watched any single match, for his one and only job was to take care of every member. Seemed like a contradiction if he'd watch them beat each other to pulps.

Members stood around the circle mat, just like when they did that at the initiation. All had their arms crossed and faces serious. There were special benches around so that non-members could watch the fight, where the brat and his butler were sitting at, along with a few of the dorm staff.

Iris stood watching her opponent. He was naked from the waist up, showing lean, hard muscles. He was watching her, too, bright green eyes never leaving her. A predator honed on its prey's scent.

I'm no prey though. Dom finally began counting down, "Ready... fight!"

They circled each other, feeling each other out, waiting for the first strike. Lowell did. He threw quick punches that Iris dodged. He's light on his feet, fast with his arms. Males were automatically stronger, coming from a biological standpoint. They were bigger, stronger, faster. Even before when there had been no civilizations—men hunted for food, and women bore children. That's just the way things were. Males had always been in an advantage when it came to physical capabilities.

But that's what Iris grew up with. All her life she'd been sparring and grappling with men of all sizes. Bruised and battered, she might as well have been a walking eggplant in those days. But she had gotten better. Slowly but steadily, she did. Her father had made sure of that. Now this was no different. It was just another day, another match, another win ready for the taking.