HAZEL's POV:I was in my room when I heard the noise outside. I had been thinking about how to cover up the painting Leon had stolen and recover it from him before it could be found.I had even tried to talk to him telepathically but he wasn't even responding. The Leon I knew would respond quickly but he wasn't even saying anything. And that was when I knew that he had really stolen it.Standing to my feet, I walked slowly to the door with ears perked up in curiosity. I could feel my heart beating hard against my chest as I knew that whatever was happening might be connected to Leon.I sighed heavily and slowly opened the door. Two guards rushed past the corridor and I turned to see that no one was there.I shut the door behind me and stepped out of my room. The noise was coming from the drawing room. My heart skipped and I knew I had some answering to do.Slowly, I walked towards the room and began to rehearse what I was going to say. I knew I had to lie because Xavier would want to
HAZEL'S POV:I hadn't come up with a decision yet. I knew I was going to attend the dinner party tomorrow but honestly, I wasn't mentally prepared.Everyone would have their eyes on me and thinking about it alone made me nervous already.I was in my room all day, thinking about a lot of things ranging from my newfound identity to the stolen painting and how Xavier had looked at me with rage in his eyes.The clock struck two and I knew it was time for lunch. Lazily, I stood to my feet and went to change into something more feminine. This morning, I had woken up to see a few gowns arranged in my wardrobe and I didn't know if I was to be offended or grateful.I scanned through the dresses and my eyes caught one. A dull brown gown that had thin straps for hands. I knew this dress was going to cause a lot of eyes to be on me but it was better I let them look now and digest the fact that I was a woman than for it to happen for a long time. It was going to make me really uncomfortable.I too
HAZEL'S POV:As I walked through the bush path, I felt the blades of grass sweep through my skin and I regretted putting on a dress when I should have just worn my pants.What was I trying to prove? That I could be a beautiful woman?I sighed and was about to turn back but I had gone more than halfway. It was best that I finished the journey and when I got to the lake, I pulled off the slipper from my feet and sighed in relief when my feet hit the cold floors of the sandy banks.I knew Leon was going to appear any time soon and I tried to look as nonchalant as I could. The moon was almost full and the stars glittered against the night skies like a couple of glitters thrown over a satin dress. This scene would have been beautiful if I was sharing it with someone else but here I was, waiting for Leon and hoping he'd come along with the painting he had stolen from the pack house.Thirty minutes had passed and Leon was nowhere to be found, not even in my head. I closed my eyes and sighed.
XAVER'S POV:Once again, Hazel was nowhere to be found. I suppressed the urge to call her by the name I had just discovered her as. Iris.I had gone to knock on the door of her room but no reply came. Thinking she must be asleep, I decided to go back to my room but curiosity had me going to one of the men to ask for her whereabouts but none of the men had seen her.There was a possibility of her sleeping in her room but my guts told me otherwise and I just had to go after her.I walked to the other side of the pack house that led through a bush path, straight to the gates that had been unlocked before.There was no sign of the locks being picked and that was what confused me the most. I stood there for a long time, thinking of the possibilities of her not being in her room and I was about to turn and walk back to the pack house, my eyes caught a red string on the carpet of grass.I walked slowly towards it and picked it up. I felt the material under the pad of my thumb before bringing
CHAPTER 34HAZEL'S POV;I was so happy when I saw the dress that Xavier got for me. It was a really beautiful dress, an ivory colored gown that had a mesh arm and a plunging neckline.I smiled. What ideas were in Xavier's head when he picked this dress for me?That night, I had been in a bad mood but once I opened the parcel and saw a dress and shows sitting beautifully in the box, I felt so elated. It was late at night so I couldn't go out of my room to thank him for the dress.I slept late that night. I decided to test the dress on me and when I stood in front of the mirror, my eyes danced with joy. I don't remember the last time I was ever gifted a dress as beautiful as this.Remembering how Colin had thrown a black dress at me the first time I saw my period, I felt myself boil with hatred for him. He had given me a black dress like I was mourning seeing my period. Then he had assigned a woman who stuck her hands into me and brought out every amount of blood she could take out. Tho
XAVIER'S POV;I awoke from my sleep when I heard a loud cry. I quickly sat up on my bed and looked around.The scream came again and this time, I flung my duvet to the side and climbed out of bed. Rushing towards my dresser, I grabbed my robe and quickly left the room.The hallway was dark and quiet as it was midnight already. I had dismissed my guards for no reason. Why did things like this happen when no one was here to help?The robe wasn't tied around my waist and I totally didn't care as I was concerned about where the sound was coming from. I stood in the middle of the hallway, confused as I waited to hear any distressed sound again.And I did.A muffled cry and feet thrashing against the wooden floor with painful thuds. It was coming from Hazel's room.I immediately broke into a sprint down the hall and when I got to the door, I wrapped my hand around the door knob and twisted, my body filled with panic and the speed to save her from whatever was happening to her.The door was
HAZEL'S POV:I woke up feeling tired. My eyes cracked open and I was greeted by the saturated sunlight that poured into the room through my open windows.I felt a bit tired which was unusual. But I knew I had a good sleep last night. I was about to sit up when I realized that I was being held down by something or someone rather and when I turned my head to see who it was, I was shocked to see Xavier sleeping peacefully beside me with his arm around my waist.How the hell had he gotten here?I lay back on the bed as quietly as I could. I didn't want him to wake up and I also wanted to remember how last night had gone. I lifted the duvet to see if I was naked but I wasn't. I also didn't feel like I did anything last night so how did he get here?Just then, memories from last night came rushing back and I remembered what had happened. I slowly began to remember the very strange dream I had last night and how it had felt so real.So Xavier had heard? I remembered every detail of the dream
CHAPTER 37XAVIER'S POV:I wondered what guest had arrived at this time. I was sure it wasn't Tracy because the last time she was here, she talked about going over the coast to find a new life.I walked behind my guard, keen on seeing who the first guest was because I wasn't even expecting anyone this early.Actually, I had used this opportunity to walk away from the quite awkward conversation I and Iris were soon going to engage in as I was not even ready for it.I remember waking up and not finding her on the bed. I knew she was shocked to see me and had probably freaked out so I did what was best for her by leaving.On getting to the living room, I found Lily seated on one of the chairs with one leg crossed over to the other. I was taken by surprise because I hadn't expected to see her here.I didn't even send her an invitation!I kept my cool and walked towards her as I dismissed my guard. She hadn't changed one bit. Her hair, a dirty blond shade and her characteristic brown eyes