Dynasty [Eric Coulter]

0.8

Ana saw Christina approach her out of the corner of her eye and turned to greet her. Christina looked from her to Tris, a heavy sigh leaving her lips as she crossed her arms. "I'm nervous for her."

"Me too." Ana answered, slowly beginning to chew on her bottom lip. Tris was in the last fight of the day - Christina had fought Molly earlier and lost, but recovered quickly with only a busted lip.

The two moved closer to the ring. Ana watched Tris, hoping she remembered what she told her the other day. Tris's eyes flickered between his shoulder and his feet, causing Ana to smile. She did remember.

Tris needed to win this fight. It had been almost two weeks since they were in Dauntless and the first stage of training wouldn't last much longer. Tris had moved to just over the red line, but if she lost, she'd be under it again.

Ana had checked the leaderboard that morning, curious as to where she sat. She hadn't checked it since the day Eric had shown it to them, too nervous to see where she was. She was relieved to see she was in seventh.

Peter was obviously taunting Tris - based on the ugly smirk on his face and her nervous eyes. He moved first but Tris was prepared. She propelled her fist forward, striking him right in the throat. Ana's mouth dropped in shock - Four must've gave her useful advice. She wished she'd have throat punched him as well.

She dodged his next punch as well, sending him tumbling towards the edge of the ring. He quickly recovered, but was caught off guard by Tris's next attack. Ana watched a muscle in his jaw tick, realizing he was getting annoyed.

When Tris swung forward again, Peter was prepared. He blocked her punch, bringing his elbow up to her face harshly. Tris stumbled back, allowing Peter time to land another punch to her face. Ana sucked in a deep breath, quickly realizing how this fight was going to end.

She snuck a glance over to Eric, who was watching the fight with lowered, dangerous eyes. He was enjoying this. Ana narrowed her eyes at the man. She wished that Tris could recover and kick Peter's ass, but she knew it wasn't going to happen.

When she looked back at the mat, Tris was falling towards the ground. She stood, glaring darkly at Peter.

"Come on, stop playing with each other." Eric sounded bored with the fight now. Ana glared at him sharply, wanting to punch his smug face once again.

Peter struck again, his punch sending the small girl to the floor. Ana watched Tris look up from the mat and she followed her gaze. Tris was watching Four leave the room, which had distracted her from Peter's final move.

Peter brought his leg up and down in a sharp movement, knocking Tris unconscious. Ana winced when her friend's head hit the floor. Peter let out a proud cheer, throwing his arms up dramatically. Ana rolled her eyes at him, stepping towards the mat.

As she stepped on it, she harshly knocked her shoulder into Peter's. Her brows were lowered into a frown as she walked past him and knelt down to help Tris. She felt a presence beside her, shooting Christina a smile when she saw her.

The two of her picked Tris up from the floor, swinging an arm over each of their shoulders. The two hauled her off the mat and began to head in the direction of the nurse's room.

"Training isn't over initiates!" She heard Eric call after the two of them.

She only raised her middle finger in response.

---

"Everyone!" Ana's head spun to face Eric, who was now standing in the center of the room. After Ann and Christina dropped her off with a nurse, they went back to the training room. The two were done fighting for the day, so they chose to practice their techniques on each other. "Gather around."

Once everyone had formed a circle around Eric, he crossed his hands in front of him. "Tonight, Four and I will be taking you on a field trip. The other group of Dauntless-born transfers will be joining us. I expect everyone to meet in the Pit by eight o'clock tonight."

"If you're not there." He continued, locking eyes with everyone in the room before stopping on Ana. "You're out."

Murmurs broke out among the group. They whispered about the upcoming trip, wondering where the trainers could possibly be taking them.

"Before you leave." Eric spoke again, instantly stopping the chatter in the room. "The leaderboard has been updated again. Make sure you check it before you leave to see where you stand."

Ana followed Christina to the board to check where she was. A smile tugged on her lips when she found her name - she had moved up another spot, now sitting in sixth place. Christina was in eighth, Will in fourth.

She rolled her eyes when she saw Peter's, who sat in second place just below Edward. She was happy to see that Al had moved just above the line. However, she didn't see Tris's name on the board.

Ana turned, eyes scanning the room to find Eric. She found him standing over a table, looking at some sort of paperwork. She clenched her fists as she walked over to him. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, sighing deeply. "What?"

"Why isn't Tris's name on the board?" She demanded to know. Eric turned his body away from the table, facing her fully. She straightened her back, trying to make herself appear bigger to the man. It was hard - he easily towered over her by a few inches at least.

"She's out." He said simply, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

Ana's brows pulled together into a frown. "Out?"

"Out. As in she's no longer a part of Dauntless." He turned back to the table, acting as if Ana wasn't even there.

"What for?!" She exclaimed. "She lost one fight. She should be under the line, not completely cut from initiation."

"Last time I checked it wasn't up to you." Eric's tone was venomous as he spoke to Ana, causing her own anger to flare up. "If we say she's out, then she's out."

"That's bullshit." Ana spat.

"Keep it up and you'll be out, too." Ana let out a harsh breath as she turned on her heel. She stormed out of the training room, eager to get away from the bipolar leader. "Be sure to let her know when she wakes up."

Ana clenched her fists again, not flinching as her nails buried themselves into her palm. She didn't understand him. One minute, he was somewhat nice to her, offering help with stuff she was struggling with. The next, he was speaking to her as if she was nothing more than scum on his shoe.

Her anger was quickly replaced with pity for Tris. She wasn't being given a fair chance to get through Dauntless initiation. Eric seemed all too eager to get her out of the faction. It wasn't fair at all.

She sure as hell wasn't looking forward to telling her friend that Eric had kicked her out.

***

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