Chapter 14: ESCALATION

ASHER

The harassment got worse… much worse.

Reed wasn’t content with just humiliating me in public anymore. Now he was actively sabotaging my life at Stone Claw.

My textbooks disappeared from my locker, and I’d find them later in the trash, pages torn out.

My training equipment went missing. When I finally found my gear, it had been slashed to ribbons.

Someone, definitely one of Reed’s cronies poured ink all over my class notes the night before a major exam. I had to stay up until 3 AM rewriting everything from memory, and through it all, Reed watched with that cold, satisfied smirk, but the worst part wasn’t the sabotage.

It was the watching.

Reed was everywhere. Always watching, and always present in every place that I was in. It was like he was glued to me or something.

I’d look up during combat training to find his eyes on me, tracking my every movement with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

In the cafeteria, I’d catch him staring at me from across the room, his gaze hungry and possessive.

In the hallways, I’d feel his presence before I saw him, that overwhelming Alpha dominance that announced Reed Jackson was near.

It was suffocating, and at the same time terrifying, I didn’t know what to do with the new found obsession of his.

“He’s obsessed with you,” Jasmine said during one of our group meetings. “Everyone can see it.”

“I know,” I muttered, rubbing my temples.

“Maybe we should confront him,” Marcus suggested. “Tell him to back off.”

“That’ll just make it worse,” Scott said. “Reed doesn’t respond well to being challenged.”

“Then what do we do?” Liam asked.

“We stick to the plan,” I said firmly. “We support each other. We don’t give Reed reasons or something to use against us, and we wait for an opportunity to—”

The classroom door slammed open, and Reed Jackson stood in the doorway, flanked by four of his inner circle members.

My blood ran cold.

“Well, well, well,” Reed said, his voice dripping with false pleasantness. “Look what we have here. A secret meeting. How… interesting.”

I could feel everyone in the room was tense due to the dominant pheromones Reed was releasing.

“This is a private meeting, Reed,” I said, standing up. “You’re not welcome.”

“Private?” Reed walked into the room, his cronies blocking the exit. “Nothing at Stone Claw is private from me, Graham. You should know that by now.”

He circled the room slowly, looking at each member of my coalition.

“Marcus Hayes. Jasmine Torres. Liam Chen, and Scott Hanson.” Reed smiled coldly. “All my favorite punching bags in one convenient location. How thoughtful.”

“Leave them alone,” I said. “Whatever problem you have, it’s with me.”

“Oh, I know.” Reed’s eyes locked on mine. “But here’s the thing, Graham. When you organize against me, when you try to build a little resistance movement, you make everyone associated with you a target.” He stopped in front of Scott. “Especially those who should know better.”

Before I could react, Reed grabbed Scott by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

“No!” I lunged forward, but two of Reed’s cronies grabbed me, holding me back.

“You were mine, Scott,” Reed said, his voice deadly quiet. “My property, my toy, and you betrayed me for this nobody?”

“Reed, please—” Scott gasped.

“Let him go!” I struggled against the hands holding me. “This is between you and me!”

Reed glanced at me, his eyes cold. “You’re right. It is.”

He released Scott, who collapsed to the floor, coughing, and Reed walked towards me slowly, deliberately.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Reed said. “You’re going to disband this pathetic little group. You’re going to stop trying to organize against me, and you’re going to accept your place at the bottom of the Stone Claw hierarchy. Where you belong.”

“And if I don’t?”

Reed’s smile was vicious. “Then I make every single person in this room suffer. I’ll destroy their futures, ruin their reputations, and make their lives so miserable they’ll wish they’d never met you.” He leaned in close, his breath hot against my ear. “And it’ll all be your fault, Asher Graham. Every tear, every broken bone, and every shattered dream. All because you were too proud to submit.”

I wanted to fight him, I wanted to refuse, but I couldn’t. Not when it would cost everyone else.

“Fine,” I said, the word tasting like ash. “The group is disbanded.”

“Good boy.” Reed patted my cheek condescendingly. “See how easy that was?”

He turned to leave, then paused.

“Oh, and Asher? Next time you want to plot against me, make sure your meetings are actually secret.” He smiled. “I have eyes everywhere.”

Then he was gone, his cronies following, and the room was silent.

Marcus was the first to speak. “We’re not actually disbanding, are we?”

I looked around at the group. They all looked shaken but determined.

“No,” I said quietly. “We’re not disbanding, but we are going underground. No more meetings here. We communicate only through encrypted channels, and we don’t meet in person unless absolutely necessary.”

“Reed will find out,” Liam said.

“Probably, but we’ll make it harder for him.” I looked at each of them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you all targets.”

“We chose this,” Jasmine said firmly. “We knew the risks.”

“Still—”

“No ’still,’” Marcus interrupted. “We’re in this together. Reed Jackson can threaten us all he wants, but he can’t watch everyone all the time.”

Scott nodded, rubbing his throat. “We just have to be smarter than him.”

I wished I shared their confidence but as I walked back to my dorm that night, all I could think about was Reed’s words. I have eyes everywhere.

How was I supposed to fight someone who controlled everything? How do I win against a monster who is ready to devour everyone at any chance he gets? What can I use as a weapon to hurt him.

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