[Xavier’s POV]My eyes opened to a new day, and for a while, I laid on the cold hard ground not moving or doing anything; just quietly observing my environment.I remembered everything that happened yesterday like the back of my hand, and the way my body ached all over served as a reminder for me to get back at Alpha Raven. I tried to sit up, but that task proved difficult as hell.“You’re awake,” I heard Kyle’s familiar voice say as he raced over from the other side of the prison cell to where I was.He helped me sit up, with my back resting against the wall. I became more conscious of the pain emanating from every joint, vein and muscle in my body.“How do you feel, your highness?” Kyle asked, looking truly concerned.“How do you think I feel?” I retorted.He sat beside me, without saying a word, then began to crack his knuckles as a pregnant silence fell upon us.My toes were pink and itchy which made me realise that rats must have gnawed on them while I was asleep. I hadn’t even f
[Layla’s POV]The doors were opened and I stepped into the throne room reluctantly with two guards and Samantha behind me. I had forcefully been dragged there, and I was afraid of what they were going to do to me.Alpha Raven was seated on the throne, and was fanned by a maid while he maintained a scowl on his face. It didn’t take me much thinking to understand that he was still pissed off from what happened last night. I should actually be the one who was angry, not him; after all, he wasn’t the one whose head had crashed into a wardrobe.“Greetings, Alpha Raven,” I said, bowing politely to him as I got rid of all the negative thoughts I had concerning him, and just focused my energy on keeping my forced smile on.“Sit,” he ordered, motioning towards the seat beside him.The maids around giggled and spoke about how lucky I was to be invited to sit beside the Alpha, but I sneered when I was sure no one was looking. The more attention he gave to me, the more angry I became. I just want
[Xavier’s POV]He was bigger, taller and more experienced than I was, but he wasn’t an Alpha, and that alone surpassed every advantage he could possibly have over me.Someone needed to get my people out of here, and that someone was me. I wasn’t going to die now and put all their lives at stake, and prevent them from ever seeing their loved ones again. They had proved their loyalty, it was time I showed them that wasn’t in vain.As he lunged forward at me, I ducked and he swung his axe into thin air.“You’re doing good, Alpha Xavier,” Kyle yelled out, which earned him a blow on his mouth, courtesy of one of the guards.The frown on the giant's face deepened and he swung at me again with the axe, and this time around, the wooden part crashed into my left shoulder, making me let out a painful growl.“Way to go, Tanto,” the crowd yelled as they began to clap and cheer for him.He snickered, as I staggered backwards, then kicked me in the stomach, causing me to fall flat with my face to t
[Layla’s POV]Even though I felt relieved that Xavier was able to survive the fight and was doing pretty good, I was restless. The Alpha had walked out angrily from the throne room, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him since yesterday when the incident had taken place.There was no way he wasn’t mad at me after I had openly supported his enemy in a fight. I didn’t care if he was mad at me or not, I was only concerned because of what the consequences of his “madness" could be.It was morning, and I had barely touched the breakfast I had been served. I just sat in my room biting my fingernails and thinking hard, unable to control my nervousness and anxiety. To make matters worse, Samantha also hadn’t shown up since the previous day.“Screw this!” I said, having had enough of the uneasiness I felt.I stood up, and slipped into one of the most beautiful dresses I had been given, thanks to Alpha Raven. It was an off-shoulder blue chiffon dress, which was flare. While the front part stopped
[Xavier’s POV]I hadn’t been sure at first, but now, I knew for a fact that it had been a blessing in disguise for me to stay close to Layla. The feelings were still there, just that she lacked trust in me which was the most essential ingredient in a relationship, and she hadn’t forgiven me yet.It was a gradual process though, and I wasn’t going to pressure her into forgiving me when she wasn’t ready. I hadn’t even forgiven myself, so it was safe to say that I hadn’t earned any forgiveness yet.As long as I could see her everyday and have little conversations with her like the one we had just had, I was going to be okay. For a moment, I forgot I was in the lion's den and couldn’t stop myself from smiling sheepishly, especially after she had told me that she had nothing to do with Alpha Raven. I just needed to work on not jumping into conclusions as that was only going to get in my way.My stomach rumbled from hunger. I couldn’t even remember when last I had had anything to eat, and I
[Layla’s POV]Dressed in a tank top, black leather trousers and boots, I headed outside to the stable where the Alpha had said he would be waiting for me. It was afternoon and we were going to have a picnic, and for the first time in weeks, I was actually excited about something and couldn’t stop beaming.“You look beautiful,” Samantha said, accompanying me.“This is like the billionth time you’ve said that. Again, thank you. Sure you don’t want to come?” I inquired.She shook her head in the negative. “No, not at all. I can’t go anywhere unless the Alpha orders me to,” she replied.“Okay, then. I’ll save you some snacks,” I said.She gave me a toothy grin. “I’ll be expecting it. Thank you, Layla,” she said.I looked from side to side, and heaved a sigh as I stepped outside and headed towards the stable where I saw the Alpha standing and speaking to one of his servants, with a magnificent white horse standing next to him.“Greetings, Alpha Raven,” I said.He stopped speaking for a whi
[Xavier’s POV]She was shivering terribly, but I didn’t let go of her. The surface of the water was terribly frozen, but since I could feel my legs swinging below the water, it was clear that although the water was cold, if we stayed under, we would be able to swim back to the shore.I swam below as well, still holding her in my arms and as we both held our breaths, I was able to swim back to the shore and I lifted her out of the water and onto the sandy soil. I helped her sit up, and she began to cough out all the water that had gotten into her system as I patted her back.The horses which we had heard stampeding turned out to be ridden by some guards I recognised were from the Dark Moon Pack, and they looked like they had a message for the Alpha as their leader approached him while the rest stood at a notable distance.“You scared me,” I said, when she was done with coughing out the water.Instead of meeting my eyes, she turned away and glared at the Alpha who just stood there watch
[Layla’s POV]“Ouch!” I yelped, as the razor blade I was using to carve my brows slightly brushed against my skin, and very little blood popped out.“Are you okay?” Xavier asked, opening the door immediately.“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. You don’t have to always barge in at every sound you hear,” I chided.“Maybe you should stop reacting too seriously to every little thing, so you don’t get me worried,” he said.“Why should you be unnecessarily worried? We’re just friends,” I retorted, partly because I knew he hated it when I said that.“Thanks for reminding me, but friends actually do worry about each other. It’s not a big deal,” he said, and with a shake of his head, proceeded to walk out of my bedroom.“Aren’t you going to put on your shirt?” I inquired as he turned his back to leave.“Samantha offered to add it to your laundry, so I have to be shirtless for a while,” he explained.“Just say that you love the attention you get from the maids whenever you’re not wearing a sh