Chapter 9 : It's Just a Crush

*Alice's POV*

"How did Simon save you?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. I couldn't get the idea of Simon, the savior, out of my head.

Alan simply shook his head, but right when I thought he might answer, the phone that was still in his hand began to ring.

I saw Simon's name pop up on the screen.

"This is Alan," he quickly answered once he saw who it was.

I was standing close enough that I could hear everything that Simon said as well.

"The meeting is cancelled for today," his smooth voice came over the phone, making my stomach turn. "I'm sorry, Alan. Next time, I will tell you earlier."

He seemed to be in a very quiet place, surrounded only by the rustle of leaves being blown by the wind. I couldn't hear any other sounds.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Alan asked. "You never cancel a meeting."

I leaned in, wanting to hear what Simon was going to say. But instead of giving answers, he asked his own question.

"Is Alice with you?"

My heart skipped. Alan glanced at me, and I shook my head no, begging him not to tell Simon I was there. I had already used up all of my courage in the previous call, and I wasn't ready to face him again yet.

If he couldn't speak with me, he couldn't reject me as a student. I'd wait in our usual spot for him to come. Only then would he be able to tell me face-to-face.

Before Alan could decide to tell him or not, a quieter voice could be heard on the call.

"Is the girl called Alice?" the female voice asked. I was surprised. I figured that he would be alone, as Alan had suggested.

My mouth opened uncontrollably, and I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. I wasn't jealous by any means. I was more…astonished. Simon, with a female? Not that it mattered, though. As soon as the lady's voice could be heard, I heard the beep signifying that the call was ended.

Simon had hung up.

Unsure of how I was feeling, I left Simon's room and made my way to the lake to wait for him there.

Who had that woman been?

I shook my head and banished the thought from my mind. It's none of my business, I just wanted to leave the palace.

Alan had said I could stay in Simon's room, but I didn't really want to get in any more trouble than I already would be. I knew Simon didn't like me or anybody in his room. Alan seemed to be fine, but he had said they had known each other for a couple of years.

Maybe that's what it took to get Simon to open up or relax. Time. Though Alan had made it seem as if Simon still kept him at an arm's length as well.

I was still very much intrigued by his relationship with this tall, burly Alan, who looked almost like his complete opposite. Was their relationship more professional or personal? I couldn't tell.

And then there was the information that they were researching the rogues. Alan had said something nonchalantly about what he typically reported for Simon. But I was smart, and I could read between the lines. It's one of the reasons that I was still standing.

So, Simon was interested in rogues. Or, more specifically, he seemed to be interested in the mutated rogues. I knew he had some experience with them because that was the whole reason that he was here.

Simon was one of the only shifters to know how to battle the mutated rogues and survive. He had started training for it at the Opal Moon Pack over a year ago, but then he had become super popular, and everyone wanted his training.

I still wonder why he came to the palace. There should be other reasons besides the invitation of the Alpha King.

I sighed as I looked at the beautiful sky.

Except for when I was taken out of the palace by the queen ten years ago, I never had a chance to leave the palace again. I didn't know how Simon planned to deal with mutated rogues. But if he left, I didn't have any way to find him. I couldn't even solve the palace guards. The gates of the palace were open to everyone except me. Without Simon, I would have been stuck forever in this place of hell for me.

So, how could I possibly let Simon go?

Whenever I learned more about Simon, I was always left with more questions than when I started…

Instead of waiting for him in his room, I decided to wait by the lake. I had told him that I was in the normal training spot, so I assumed that's where he would look for me. I headed there and found a nice rock to lay on and soak up the sun.

To just get to sit down and relax was unheard of for me, and I was going to take advantage of it.

I tried, but I failed.

Whenever I tried to empty myself, an anxious thought broke into my mind.

Would Simon even come? I knew I played it off to him and Alan that I was positive he would, but now that I was alone…I wasn't so sure.

I sighed. I did what I could. The rest wasn't up to me. The only thing I knew for sure was that if he didn't come today, I would keep calling him until he accepted me again. At least I got his phone number. I touched the phone in my pocket, and it made me feel things that I had thought I had once lost.

I scribbled on the ground with a branch to kill time. When I realized what I was doing, there was already a "Sim" on the wet dirt. His name was only a few strokes away.

I looked at the word in disbelief. Before I could figure out what the hell possessed me to do this, I immediately stood up, reaching out on my foot to cover it before someone saw.

As the sun began to sink, the familiar pains of my mutation began. I sat up as I could feel my ears burning and elongating. I reached up and felt the fur that was covering them with my fingers before my fingers began to bend and snap and turn into claws.

The pain was familiar to me at this point, but that didn't mean I liked it. It was even worse because I hated the shifter part of me so much. A constant reminder that I would never be fully rid of these despicable creatures.

The sun fell into the lake, dyeing the blue water of the lake a vivid red. My blood fell on the surface of the lake, rippling with layers and layers while the shift kept on going, destroying my skin and making it bleed.

My half-human, half-wolf shadow was reflected on the surface of a messy lake, like a painter destroying a terrible painting.

I angrily grabbed a claw, preparing to rip it out as usual, when all of a sudden, my elongated ears picked up a noise.

I looked around me at the familiar sound and felt my stomach drop as I saw Olivia strolling angrily up to me. How had she found me out here? Had she been looking for me all day?

Of course, she was. I stood up to brace myself as she got closer. The rage in her eyes was familiar at this point in my life. Only she would still be searching for me. It almost made me smile to think of her wasting an entire day looking for me.

Nobody said she was clever.

Olivia had been crushing on William forever, and I could already tell, before she even opened her mouth, that she was going to let me have it. As much as I hated to admit it, there was one thing that the two of us had in common; our foul mouths.

"Look who I finally found," she sneered out as she got close enough for me to hear her. "The ugly b*tch."

"How may I help you, Princess Olivia?" I couldn't help but greet her in my normal snarky tone.

But instead of answering, she shoved me hard, making me stumble backward. It wasn't the first time she had used physical force on me, but for some reason, this was different. Her shove was vicious and vindictive, like William's confession had brought her true nature out more. And I couldn't help but feel it was going to only going to get more violent.

"Don't f*cking talk to me, you piece of garbage. I just needed to find you and remind you how completely worthless you are. I mean, look at you."

And I knew she was referring to the mutations that I hadn't been able to get rid of yet. I put my claws together self-consciously, even though I knew I shouldn't let her get to me. She was just jealous.

She forcefully grabbed my arm and squeezed it so hard that I swore I'd lose blood circulation. I winced in pain, which only made her smile and press even harder.

"What? Am I hurting you, you useless freak? Come on, show me your claws. I'd love to see how f*cked up you are when you turn."

She spit in my face as she spoke and then slapped me. The burn from the impact was painful, and I winced at it.

Her grin was sadistic, and her laughter was somehow even darker. I tried to control myself. I wouldn't allow the pain to force a change. I wouldn't. I took a step back each time she advanced me.

I glanced around at my surroundings, taking in anything that could be used for my benefit. The question wasn't if she would attack me, but when I noticed a decent-sized mudhole near the lake's edge and directed my body toward it.

"You don't even have a wolf. You just have these filthy mutations that are honestly just disturbing. You're a freak. William doesn't really want you, he just pities you. Everybody pities you because you are pathetic." She kept advancing, getting directly in my face each time. "You are defective, and even if William really did believe you were his mate, there is no way you could complete the match. There is no wolf in you to accept the mate bond."

I didn't contradict her. The fact was that she was right. Though I didn't want William anyway, I would never be a complete mate for anyone. Nor would I want to be a mate of these disgusting creatures. I still had dreams of being human. Or at least pretending to be.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson in humility," she growled out, getting ready for another brutal attack.

I quickly put my acting hat on.

"I agree with you," I said in my most down-trodden voice, causing her to pause, though only momentarily. "I don't deserve William. He deserves a shifter as a mate, and that's not me. Plus, I might not have a mate, but I do like someone, just not William."

I kept leading her, walking to the side as I talked, closer and closer to the eroded hole. With the lake shore so close by, the water had seeped in, creating a mud hole of sorts. One she'd easily fall into.

Olivia stumbled into another smaller hole while advancing me but continued toward me regardless. She might've been both physically and mentally abusive, but one thing I was thankful for was that she wasn't clever in the slightest.

"You like someone?" she asked, more shocked than angry now. Her hand dropped. "Who is it? Who do you like?"

I knew she only cared so she could make fun of me further and ruin my life more than it already was. So, I thought of the only person that could possibly scare Olivia away from me. The only person that had tossed her, and all of the other princes and princesses, around like rag dolls. The only person that I think any of them were truly afraid of.

"I have a crush on Simon." And I watched in satisfaction as Olivia looked at me, stunned, and she even forgot to pay attention to her feet.

"What do you sayyy?" she screamed and subconsciously stepped forward.

Almost instantly, her feet caught in the mud hole, and she fell face first upon losing her balance.

I stopped cowering and stood up straight to admire my handiwork, but it was interrupted by laughter behind the woods. My mutated ears had allowed me to hear it, and I shot my eyes up, trying to find the source.

Simon stood just at the edge of the tree line. His eyebrows were raised as he stared at me, and he was still laughing. I don't think I had heard him laugh yet, and it didn't sound very natural to him either.

I noticed little dimples on each of his cheeks as he laughed. Even in the moonlight, his slicked-back hair and the full-piece suit looked impressive. He started to walk closer, and I noticed that even though he was laughing, his smile was cool.

"You have a crush on me?"

Shit. My heart was beating violently.

And as Simon headed toward me, my entire body froze.