Few minutes into her stay there, Rhea realized that it was her father, Ghost that had locked her up. The thought of it made her sick to the bones. Her own father locking her up in a dungeon just because she let her cousin go free. She wondered if her father had killed the poor Layla already. She had promised Xavier of the girl’s safety knowing fully well that it was not guaranteed and from the look of things, she was not going to be able to fulfil her promise. Rhea heard a sound just outside the cell and she stood up and looked to see who it was. She was surprised to see that it was Mork, the commander of her father’s army and one of her closest confidante and she smiled immediately, thinking that he was there to set her free.“How come it took you so long to get here?” Rhea frowned staring at his face through the aid of the candle light. Mork frowned as he stepped into the cell and he closed the door behind him. “Food for the night, my princess,” he said as he stepped in. He brought
Xavier could not really hide the fact that he was not happy seeing the person he could recognize well as Mork from a distance barely 72 hours after their battle and the first thing that came to his mind was Layla. Something had happened to his little sister. His mind started judging him without even waiting to hear what Mork had to say and he clenched his fists tight in a bid to suppress the anger that was building up slowly in his chest. If Mork dared tell him that something bad had happened to Layla, he was going to kill the bastard before he even knew what was happening. Jimin who was standing just beside him at the moment sensed his anger and he walked up to meet Mork as he approached them.“If you come with bad news I’ll advise you leave immediately,” Jimin whispered to him as he approached. Mork smiled. “There is no good news when a war is looming is there?” He walked past Jimin, stopped right in front of Xavier and stared him in the eyes. Their eyes met for more than a minute
As Mork walked away from their camp, Xavier knew immediately that things were about to go South for all of them. He had no idea who Mork was referring to when he talked about Steve but he knew that it was not a good thing. Mork had an evil plan and that included him betraying his own princess, Rhea Damon. Xavier was torn between risking his life and the lives of his soldiers to help Layla and Rhea or staying behind and risking losing both of them. Not like he cared very much about Rhea. It was Layla he was concerned about and even though she had told him not to bother himself should anything happen to her, he couldn’t stand the thought of it, or the sight. He had failed her the first time Ghost came. He couldn’t afford to fail her again. Xavier however decided that he was not going to force any of his warriors to ride beside him to the battle. He was not going to force them to fight his battles for him. He was going to do what was right and he was going to do it all by himself. He pre
“Calm the fuck down,” Rhea grunted. “Layla isn’t dead. She’s in the cell, she just doesn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment. Quick, get me out of here before the guards get too much.”“Quick, get me out of here before the guards get too much,” Xavier mimicked her. “Would I break open the gate or I’ll bend the bars or something? Where can I find the keys to this place?”Rhea turned around and stared at the counter. “It should be somewhere around there,” she said pointing towards the counter. “That’s where the guard stays all day. Check around.”“Then why isn’t he there now?” Xavier frowned as he made way towards the counter. He searched on top of the tables frantically, in search for the keys and when he didn’t find it, he searched inside the pockets of some clothes that were hung on a wall with nails. Finally, his hand touched something that sounded like a key and he drew it out of his pocket. They were a bunch of keys all joined together, more than forty of them and Rhea shouted
They finally got out of the dungeons without being spotted by anyone and Rhea quickly disengaged her from his. Xavier frowned at the urgency in which she used to disconnect from him but he didn’t make a comment about it. He was going to allow her do what she wanted.“What is it you wanted to tell me?” Rhea asked, her eyes fixed on him. “Don’t lie to me, Xavier.”“I won’t,” Xavier replied. “I promise.” Rhea nodded and waited for him to speak again and he heaved a deep sigh like what he wanted to say was so heavy in his chest that he couldn’t believe he was going to say it out.“Mork has abandoned you in this battle,” Xavier said finally. He looked into her eyes as he said it and he expected the surprised look on her face. He knew that it was going to be so difficult for her to accept it but that didn’t change the fact that it was the truth and the earlier she realized it, the better it was for her.“What do you mean by that?” Rhea said quietly. Xavier noticed that she was no longer rai
“What in heaven’s name are you thinking about Rhea!”The sound of her name jolted her out of her reverie and Rhea spun around to see Xavier smiling at her. He looked so handsome in the dark leather jacket and as much as she tried not to, she could imagine his smile crease into a frown the moment he found out the truth about her. She smiled back at him, noticing that he was already beginning to look worried and she was relieved to see the look of relief on his own face. For one thing she knew, Xavier Damon was just too caring.“I’m fine,” Rhea grunted. “I’ve just had a little too much to think about lately. I’ve never had a cause to leave my father’s side before and now that I want to, it’s a little bit scary.”“Trust me, I know how you feel,” Xavier said, resting his hands on her shoulders. “But it is the right thing to do and I promise you that you would not regret it.”“I hope we don’t,” Rhea said, a far away look in her eyes. She got ahead of Xavier and led him straight to the gate
Carrington walked through the hallway briskly, turning back at regular intervals and from the look on his face, they could tell that he was scared to death. Xavier turned to face Rhea and tapped her across the shoulders and she turned to look at him.“What would your father do to him if he is caught?” Xavier asked “Exactly the same thing he plans to do to you,” Rhea smiled.Xavier frowned and looked away. His life was in as much danger as Carrington’s but at least, Rhea was with him. She could make the whole process slower if it came to that. She could plead to her father to have mercy on him and even if he eventually refused, at least he would have had the time to fight back. Carrington’s case however was entirely different. His life was in danger and there was no one that could save him. Xavier hoped that they were able to get to the journal before Ghost caught them.Carrington stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned left. He looked back again quickly to make sure they were
Rhea did not realize what had happened until it was too late. Her head was spinning and her eyes were as Xavier’s lips locked with hers. Was he really kissing her right in front of her father or it was a dream? It had to be a dream. She opened her eyes to make sure she was not dreaming and almost immediately, Xavier opened his too and pulled away from her. “I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you how I felt about you,” Xavier said holding Rhea by her cheek. “But we cannot keep it as a secret from your father anymore. He has to know.”Rhea stared at him in shock wondering what he was up to and Xavier walked out of the room immediately. Ghost stared at her in shock. He wasn’t even moving a limb and Rhea didn’t know what to do as she stared back at her father. “Uhmm..” she stammered. “I’ll be back.”She ran out of the room closing the door behind her and as soon as she closed the door, she was surprised to see that Xavier was standing right beside her. He turned the key in the mout
“Rhea? Helping? After all I told you about her?”The disgust on Jimin’s face was pretty much obvious and Xavier knew that it was going to take more than mere words to convince his Beta that the Lycan kings daughter was actually on their side.“She’s helping out with Calistè,” Xavier frowned staring at Jimin. “She saved my life and i really think we should give her a chance.”“Well I don’t think we should,” Jimin sighed. “After all that she’s done, but if that’s what you want, who am into argue with you?”Jimin turned around immediately and stormed out and Xavier watched as he left. He turned to face Jaime and Layla who had been quiet all the while and he stared at them.“What’s with the look?” Layla frowned. “Come on let’s go help your Luna. I want to be an aunty very soon.”Xavier smiled and blushed and bolted towards the sound of the clanking swords. He was happy that his sister had gotten over her hatred for Rhea and he knew that with her on his side now they were going to defeat C
"Hunny! Did you miss me?" Calistè gave a smug smile while Xavier stared in shock."You…yo " he tried to speak but what befell his eyes was greater than what his mouth could speak out loud."Yeah. I understand" she made a mocking face." Now! Are we going to fight or what?" She grinned big time and whistled to her beasts.He beasts all came after the others that stood in the room, Layla immediately changed to a wolf, her teeth snarling and her roar as clear as crystal.Calistè raced towards Xavier, her sword in hand as she raised her arms and swung at Xavier.Xavier missed it by a beat and she smirked hard ."Oh, much I've waited for this!" She screamed and charged at Xavier again, her heels hotter than the very earth as she kept off.Meanwhile kycans began to climb the walls and started to hit the windows."Jimin! The windows" Jamie screamed while trying to fend off a beast who looked at him as though he was nothing more than food.Before jimin could think of anything else, the shatte
Jimin watched as Layla rallied the group together in the small study, the space getting filled up immediately with eager faces ready to fight for their Alpha, for their kingdom. Jimin turned away from the group, striding into the main study and shutting it close behind him. When he turned around, Xavier was staring up at her, his hands frozen untop a map that he'd probably been gazing at before Jamie entered."You know you can join your sister and help with the planning. Instead of being all by yourself, worrying, like always." Jimin was satisfied with Xavier's severe frown, his forehead wrinkling. Xavier ignored him and went back to his perusal of the map. Jimin drew closer, his head tilting down to take in the almost real picture of their kingdom. Xavier had placed pins around the boarder, and was currently swirling one in his hand while staring at the map in concentration.He stuck the pin at a place that didn't make sense and let out a grunt of frustration. Jimin was confused and
"You can't believe you can ever defeat me, right?" Calistè said with vigor and a growing grin coming up on her face."Just wait till I smack that stupid grin off your face" Rhea said, her brows nearly touching from anger."Make me?" She challenged.Rhea rushed at her, her hands holding two daggers now, her feet swift on the ground and her stance defensive even though she was the attacker now.Flames went up in different directions and Rhea glanced quickly to see that Layla had her hands on Xavier as he steadied his breath to catch his breathing and stop the bleeding that was now obvious.Rhea got even more angry as she dodged the attack on time, her face nearly been dissected by calistè's sharp sword."You know how I got this sword? Huh!" Calistè boasted and struck again, missing Rhea immediately from her swift and tricky movements."I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway, so do" Rhea said and took another stance.With two of her fingers she gestured for calistè to meet her a
Xavier looked from jimin to Layla with so much surprise."How did you know that?" Jamie asked the man in question but he didn't reply.He gestured to his fellow elders and they all went to take their various seats at their high tables."So tell us, Xavier. Why have you come back?" The eldest elder asked again.Xavier who was still managing to recover from how they knew about Rhea snapped out of his head and stepped forward in the council."I have lead this kingdom for a while and everybody can see my works" Xavier began and some of the elders nodded their heads to what he said but not Marcus."I have been away for quite some time" he looked intently at everyone" And I bring you news from the snowy mountains and others... Calistè is alive and well" the elders gasped in shock." And what's even more? — he paused Ashe examined each and everyone one of them including Marcus — she has beasts of her own"Gasps rang out from every corner and Xavier liked the fear it impacted on them, it was
The fight took a lesser time to finish as they had gotten that source of information, blood and splatters of beast remains stained them and the very earth that they walked on. Layla couldn't help but feel very dirty about the whole scenario that played out in front of her."We've got to help the women and the children Xavier" she said while Xavier turned back into his human form.Xavier didn't utter a single word as he walked past her and back to where a horse had galloped to."Xavier!" She called for him, her feelings out on a platterXavier stopped walking but didn't turn to look at her."I'm talking to you. We should help them out Xavier" she said, her voice sharp and firm and this got Xavier turning to look at her square in the face and Layla was able to see just how much anger resided in his little orbs of crystal clear darkness."No" he said, a Huff if air coming out of his nostrils with his finality."What?" Layla asked, baffled by what the heck he could mean."You heard me rig
"Calistè?" Jamie asked, astonished.layla didn't know what to say or how to respond, the whole world felt like it went silent and collapsed."She gathered up every last woman and child and took them with her alongside some beasts" a man spoke up." You've got to help us sire. You're our only hope now" the first man said. Xavier came out in front of jimin, his hands still placed on the scratch he had obtained."We journey to my Homeland, the black wolves" people began to murmur." We plan on taking back our Homeland and we plan on defeating calistè once and for all" Xavier said with an air of finality.The crowd stopped murmeeing and cheered a bit." Can we come with you?""Oh... Let us come with you!" Another said." Let him rest folks, wherever he goes, we go. We pledge our loyalty to you sure" the first man said again. Xavier didn't know what to make of all of these information and all of these kinds of response. He just gave a Curt nod and that was it. The men dispersed out of the h
"What did you find?" Layla said with all seriousness. Jamie had so much excitement in his eyes as he jumped up and down." I found a shelter and jimin found food, we could make a camp fire later tonight" Jamie replied. Xavier nodded his head in agreement."Lead the way" Jamie was more than happy to do so.They walked together under Jamie's direction and lead, he would lead them to a path that had a sheltering , like a makeshift house but with tents. Jimin was bent over a hurdle of stacked sticks and on closer inspection, he was currently striking two stones together in order to produce fire."Jimin, let me help you with that" Layla said and walked ahead of the men to help jimin, in seconds she had done that which jimin had struggled with.With food on the raging fire, each of the flame licking a bit of the left over meat, night had quickly fallen on them."I have a question Xavier" Layla suddenly said, everybody's attention focused on her , the illumination the fire casted around the
There was an obvious change in the air the next day, Xavier was calmer and for the first time, so was Layla. They had both had time to think, mostly Layla.Jamie had appeared out of nowhere, map in hand as he suddenly cleared their breakfast off of the table that had seen more of the good life than the ugly.He spread the map evenly and Xavier glanced at Layla just in the nick of time to see that same excitement he couldn't deny made him feel a spark." Xavier, lead the way" Jamie said as he stepped away from the map. Xavier who had been seated stood up and so did the rest. With their necks outstretched, they gathered around him like a flock of flightless birds in need of direction."We go through the Rocky mountain which should take a day but now that we have no means of flight or how to get there asides from our obvious walking, we'd have to take nearly two days to get there," he said, pointing at some steep and yet pointy figures that made its way to the map."What about going arou