HAZEL'S POV;I turned to face her and when she straightened, she trained her eyes on me. She had the head-on expression of a buffalo, ready to get anything out of her way. I looked back at Asher. His arms were folded and he had a look of interest.I charged at her, going for her leg. She was able to get it out of the way before I caught it and she slid to the ground, aiming also for my legs. I immediately flew into the air and landed on my feet behind her with firmness.She stood to her feet again and looked at me. I had a smirk on my face and only Asher recognized it. I wasn't a slow fighter. I loved to get over any fight really quickly and that mindset helped me in combat. I was able to finish off my enemies in no time as I moved to the next one.She charged at me again and she caught my chin this time. I felt a sharp pain shoot up my head but I only squinted a bit before shaking my head and regaining composure. She was so close to me now and she threw another punch at me but I caug
XAVIER'S POV;After Lily had left, I went in search of Iris and got worried when I didn't find her in her room. It wasn't until Felix told me that he had seen her going in the direction of the training perimeter that I knew her whereabouts.When I got there, I had stood for a long time, watching as Iris trained the warriors. I was really impressed— and also quite nervous to meet her.I knew she had gone to the training perimeter to blow off some steam and me interrupting her session would have been disastrous. I stood there for close to forty-five till Asher turned and saw me standing there. He had rushed towards me, asking that I joined them.From where I stood, I watched Asher talk to her and she turned and gave me a brief glance before saying something to Asher.I realized that he was following after her and this irked me. I had wanted to see her privately. I guess I still had to appreciate her seeing me even with Asher walking beside her.As soon as she got to me, she didn't even
HAZEL'S POV:And like I had said, I gave him the much distance he needed. It didn't make me feel good in any way but I had to do it. There were lots of things I had to think about. Ranging from our wonky relationship to Colin on my neck, expecting me to do something drastic.I spent most of my time training Kylie and Green and when I was less busy, I utilized my time doing something else that didn't bring me close to Xavier.One evening, while I was returning to the pack house, I was accosted by Felix who seemed to have something urgent to tell me. I rolled my eyes, knowing that whoever had sent him here was Xavier."What's it this time?" I asked, folding my hands."There's something I want us to talk about," Felix said in a really calm tone.I sighed and nodded. "What's it about?""Remember that next week we'd b going for the Royal Hunting Ceremony?"I remembered. "Of course, I do. And what's it have to do with me?""You know you're one of the important heads in Silver moon and also
HAZEL'S POV;The gate was wide open with one of its hinges broken. Xavier walked towards it and tried to push the gates and it creaked loudly.The sound was so loud that I had to turn to know if whoever had attacked was still around and had somehow heard the sound. But no one came forth so I turned back to face Xavier who was quietly studying the broken hinges.He found a part of the hinge hidden in the grass and when he picked it up, he frowned. "There's blood,"I rushed towards him and peered down on the brass hinges. Indeed, there was blood. It had dried but from its look, the person who had broken the door down had probably injured themselves. I took the hinge from him and brought it to my nose.It had a strange scent. Iron and something else. A stench. Like sulfur."What's that smell?" Xavier asked, contorting his face in disgust.I shook my head. "I have no idea. It's just there and it's disgusting. We should probably go back to the pack house. This must be a distraction,"As we
XAVIER'S POVAfter several minutes of contemplating, I decided to go after Hazel.I couldn't just let her go there alone. I knew what the slavers were capable of and no matter how strong she was, if they got hold of her, it was going to be bloody.It has taken a lot of courage for me to actually stand on my feet and climb over the fallen log of a tree. And I had taken a long look at the village, going back to the times I used to come here with my father and even begged to follow after him.But that was in the past anyway.Even if it was in the past, it wasn't something I could easily forget. It was a memory that brought nothing but pain and because I wanted to lock every memory I had of my father, I just had to detach myself from this place.But looking at it now, it was just me being a coward and watching the place my father had built for these people burn down. It was just me watching memories I had shared with my father burn down with this place too and I didn't think I wanted that
HAZEL'S POV;I had to stop for a moment in combat to look at Xavier. I had never seen him growl that loud and menacing. Even the men had stopped in confusion before they continued. I hadn't shape shifted yet because I was still strong enough to fight off these men. They were mere slavers and it would take nothing for me to defeat them all. My eyes were on their leader as he was the one telling them to charge at us. If I was able to cut through and get to him, I was sure as hell that I was going to kill him before he could escape.I felt the energy surging through me as I tore through fleshes, grabbing one of the men who had tried to hit me with an axe. I twisted his arm and savored his yell of pain as it rented into the air before breaking his bones and snapping his neck with my booted feet. I felt a huge thump on my back and fell on my knees for a moment. Turning immediately, I realized that I had been hit by strong arms. I frowned at the giant that towered above me. I hadn't see
HAZEL'S POV; I woke up with a start— a very strange way to actually wake up after being unconscious for hours. I realized I wasn't in my own room and when I looked around, I realized that I was in Damien's room. I sat up, ignoring the dull pain at the back of my head and the stiffness of my joint. From the looks of it, it was almost dawn. The dark skies were beginning to fade and when I looked at the clock, I realized I was right. It was almost six o'clock in the morning. I touched the dark brown sheets on the bed. He didn't sleep here. So where the hell did he sleep? How could he leave me in his room when my room was there? I tried to ignore the butterflies in my belly but I couldn't and I broke into a smile. He had brought me into his room and I didn't care about his intentions. I loved that I was in the safety of his room. It had been a long time since I actually came into this place. It had changed a bit. Oh, just the sheets. I checked my body for bruises but there were none
CHAPTER 52HAZEL'S POV;As I shut the door behind me, I tried to push the intrusive thoughts to the back of my head. Xavier had somehow used that opportunity to ask me this uncomfortable question.It was like he was waiting for us to get into the position where one of us would have to be vulnerable to the other and luckily for him, it had fallen on his side and he had grabbed onto the opportunity.I laughed to myself as I walked down the hall. He had nearly caught me laughing but I was able to leave before sinking myself into the moment. I had nearly spilled everything to him.I mean, Xavier would understand anything, right? He would understand if I opened up to him and told him the initial reason that brought me here, right? To kill him. I had come here to kill him and somehow the plan had gone sideways and I had to fucking stay and hope somehow, I could save him and also free myself even if the odds were against me.In no time, I was standing in front of my door, glad that I hadn't