ANNA’S POVSometime after Xavier shamefully finished flirting with Kira, sleep slowly started trickling into my system and I was more than grateful for the break from the chaotic thoughts in my head and the pain in my chest.—Plus, the anger I felt at myself for getting affected by all these.I should have known that Xavier was good for nothing charming man who went about breaking young girls’ hearts. As much as I hated to admit, I could openly say I understood how Abigail felt. This was punishment. It was wrong and I shouldn’t let it affect me.Hence, my joy when sleep finally started taking me to a more peaceful land where I didn’t have to worry about any of the things happening around me.But not long into my sleep, I heard the soft chuckles that always irritated me back home —it was Kira, and she was speaking with someone.I heard her door shut and the voices reduced to mumbles.My heart thumped hard in my chest and my ears were alert as I sat up instantly on my bed and tried to a
XAVIER’S POVThe moment I stepped out of that room I knew that I had made a wrong move. Anna’s scent whizzed passed me so strongly, that my wolf jumped within me, and my eyes found her taking the corner.I called and chased after her, but she refused to turn back or even listen to me. She went in the direction of the fields and changed into her wolf.A frown covered my face as I realized that this wasn’t a joke, she was really trying to get away from me but why? I couldn’t answer that.All I did was go into her sister’s room to ask about her location when she had just disappeared on me. Now she was running. What the hell was wrong with this woman?If the situation had happened months after she arrived at my pack, I wouldn’t have cared. I would have let her take the damn run on her own but at this point, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ignore her choice because everything she did affected me.Our connection was tearing at me, and my heart was bleeding. I couldn’t let her go away. I couldn
ANNA’S POVThe hurt in my heart stopped and I felt everything within me freeze. My eyes blinked. It was as if the kiss reset something in my head and when he broke away and looked at my eyes and then said those words, my heart cracked.My soul felt confused. My anger was relenting but my head was still mushy from the kiss and as our eyes met, I did the very first thing my head could think of.I swiped my hand across his cheek and slapped him.“How dare you profess an emotion you know nothing about? How dare you play with that word like this?” I cried, not even caring that the dumbest man in the realm was looking into my eyes and causing all of these emotions deep within me while I cried.“I am not playing Anna. I mean every word I said—” I didn’t let him finish as I slapped him again.My head was becoming clearer and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. The more my wolf rejoiced at the confession, the more irritated I became.“You spend the night with her and then you co
ANNA’S POVPreparations for the ball began in the palace and my mind refused to get settled. There was something fishy about the whole arrangement that just didn’t sit right with me. Why would Lartes want my father here? It wasn’t even news that Lartes didn’t like me, so calling my father for a celebration that was totally uncalled for especially after the attack that happened, didn’t seem like a very smart thing to do…I was pacing around the room, trying to think of a way to get to my father before Lartes did but all means seemed blocked. I couldn’t reach him, and it was—My thoughts came to an abrupt stop as the smell of fresh white roses spread over my nose. My brows knitted and I turned around to find a large bouquet in my face.I followed the hands holding the bouquet and my eyes narrowed as they met with Xavier’s. “What’s the meaning of this?” I gritted as I glared at him.We had a major situation coming and all he could think of was to get me flowers at a time like this.“The
XAVIER’S POVI could see in her eyes that she didn’t believe me. She didn’t trust me, but I was determined to make her see how much I meant the words I said to her.As soon as Anna left the room, I scurried out in the direction of the kitchen and called one of the maids.“Yes, my prince,” she said with a bow.“I need a bunch of jasmine flowers or lavenders; can I get them in our garden?” I asked. I had no idea what the flowers even looked like, if I did, I would have gone to the garden to find them myself.“I am sorry my prince, the king requested that all colored flowers be taken out. I am afraid we only have white lilies and white sunflowers,” she said, and my heart sank.“So, you have no idea where I can get lavenders and Jasmine?”She started shaking her head slowly and then stopped to smile. “Oh yes, the flower shop in town should have some. And I am sure it will be at a discounted price since most of the fresh samples he has come from the palace garden,” she said, and I wanted t
ANNA’S POVMy heart was swelling with the sweet scent of the flowers and all I wanted to do in that moment was hug him and the flowers together, but I knew I had to stay in control. My father might need me, but I had to focus and take emotions out of my thoughts.“Thanks,” I mentioned, taking the flowers from him. I got up from the vanity chair and moved to the bedside table where he had placed the white roses and I fixed the jasmines in them. “But we should get going now…”Xavier came to stand by me and offered me his arm, “Sure, after you my lady,” he teased, and a small smile played on my lips.For the first time, I found his humor cute and not annoying even after all the tension I was put in. As our hands came into contact, a warmth filled me and for a few seconds, I forgot all about my problems and just took in the comfort his arms brought.When we got down to the hall, the music was already playing, and the place was packed with people from all over the kingdom. My heart was in
XAVIER'S POVThe whole idea of the party my uncle had organized was to cause either pain or humiliation to Anna and it was breaking my heart that she was letting it get to her.The moment we got to the hall, worry clouded her beautiful eyes as she searched for her father —which I was starting to believe Uncle Lartes had not even invited in the first place or he had something even more sinister planned.I tried my best to make her comfortable and forget about the issue at hand or even try not to show it so that my uncle wouldn't get the satisfaction he craved.Maybe it was working but the moment my uncle took the microphone and requested that I dance with Kira, I knew he was planning something crazy —and Anna was not going to handle it.If it was left to me, I wouldn't even have attended the party to begin with and when he requested that I dance with Kira, I would have declined but Anna made me do it.And now as I held the very clingy Kira on the dancefloor, I couldn't help but feel ir
XAVIER’S POVHer response echoed in my head about a million times before my brain finally registered what it meant. I cocked my head to the side and forced a smile to appear on my face.This had to be a joke.Our relationship wasn’t very stable, but Anna wasn’t dumb. She would know I claimed her in front of everyone not just because I meant it but because I was also trying to defend her honor and dignity in front of my uncle and everyone…“What do you mean?” I whispered but my voice echoed in the hall and that was when I remembered that the damned microphone, I snatched from the men was still in my hands.Murmuring erupted amongst the people, and I could feel their eyes on me as they watched and stared at me with huge eyes. Some even started snickering but I still felt nothing. This had to be a mistake.Anna looked pale. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and she was already on her feet. From my position —despite the distance— I could feel her breathing coming out rough and p
XAVIER’S POVAs the vessels landed on the shores of the island, a war cry was let out and everyone took position.At first, everything seemed perfect. The people in the town were packed away from the scenes. They were led to a safe location. Our aim wasn’t to kill them but to liberate them from the monster who was growing under their noses.As the people got cleared, we proceeded straight to the palace entrance with full attack, but it wasn’t met with force as the few guards present in the town were not even expecting what awaited them nor were they prepared for war.They were easily whisked away, leaving the gates bare. But as soon as we got to this point, that was when I realized that Kelvin knew we were coming. This wasn’t a surprise attack; it was a well-precedented attack.His men appeared from all sides of town as if they had been waiting for us to finish clearing the people away so that they would attack. They were more than we had anticipated and to top that up, their arrival
XAVIER’S POVLeaving Anna behind made me stronger. The further I got from the room, the more determined I became to end this war and curse once and for all.“Xavier, the men are ready,” Edna said as she joined me on the corridor as we headed out of the palace through the warehouse, which led us straight to the vessels.“The men are yet to be addressed and they are all waiting at the beach,” Charles said, and I nodded at him.“But there is one problem,” Nico’s voice filled the space and all three of us stopped to stare at him.There was a frown on his face as he joined us. “What is the problem?” I asked as he got closer.“We will have to do your coronation before you leave. It needs to be official before the realm’s flag can be raised.” Nico explained and I could already feel Edna’s hesitation beside me, but I had the perfect solution to this.“Call the elders, they shall be going with us,” I said and started walking away but Nico ran after me, stopping right in front of me.“But Xavi
ANNA’S POVAs I got to Xavier’s chambers, I went straight to the bed, hoping I could get some rest but as I lay on it, there was nothing relaxing about it.Every scenario and circumstance kept playing into my head. My father’s kidnapping. The change of the details of the curse. The probability of Edna being Xavier’s half-sister and then Xena wanting to place her life on the edge of danger…How could I rest?Xavier’s plan was a full-on attack but what if… that one question held the key to the outcome of so many lives. It was true that with a perfectly planned attack with everyone’s support, we could win it, but would Nico change his mind?Unable to calm my head as the thoughts came moving in and out of me, I got up and walked to the window. Watching as the men outside, sat gathered in groups.It was Nico’s men and Xavier’s men too. They were sitting together in groups as if they had not just been enemies a few hours ago.A small smile danced on my lips. It was a good development and ma
XAVIER’S POVThe room fell into perfect silence as they stared at me with shock in their eyes. My eyes narrowed especially on Nico who was trying to play me here like I was a fool.“So, according to you, it isn’t a crime for me to mate with my half-sister and also, it is perfectly fine if we go against what the elders said?” I said shaking my head and watching their reactions.While Nico had a defiant frown and I could guess that he was already scheming for the next words he was going to say to frame me up into his selfish wishes, Edna could no longer look at me in the eye.It was funny because the idea of her being my half-sister was still very strange to my head but nevertheless, as I said it and they were reacting like this, then it could only be true. The problem now was how they birth to her.“Xavier, listen to me,” Nico started up and I raised my brows ready to listen to his trash for a second time. “I know all this information is a little overwhelming but none of these stories
XAVIER’S POV“What?” We all echoed out in the room in shock.Our voice was of different intensity. Where Charles had the gentlest of them, I couldn’t control mine.“This is unbelievable. How can it be possible?” I cried out. I couldn’t believe this. “Edna can’t be an Octavian, from who? We all know that Uncle Lartes was never even into women to begin with! The man preferred men!”My eyes were narrowed, and my temples were squeezed into a tight knot as I tried to unravel the truth or even basic idea about the information that Xena had given me.“She is not from Uncle Lartes,” she whispered and the cloud of confusion in my head got even thicker.“How then?” I growled. “If she isn’t from Uncle Lartes, who then birthed her?”My father had just one brother and that was Lartes. If he didn’t have then whose child was Edna— as soon as the thoughts crossed my mind, I froze. This meant one thing, if she was an Octavian, then she was…“She is our half-sister?” I whispered, unable to say the word
XAVIER’S POVHer question left a ringing in my ears and the way she collapsed to the ground, caused a panic to start within me. I knew what her argument was based on was the right thing but why did loving her also feel right? Why did fighting for us, feel right?Haven’t we been through enough already?I left my position and went to her with a troubled mind of my own, but I was certain we could figure it out together. I reached out my hands to her and as they came into contact the flame spreading between us was the assurance I needed. This couldn’t be wrong.“Anna…” I whispered with a blank head but at least it was a starting point.She raised her sad tears filled eyes to me and I was about to start cooking up the first plan that came into my head when the door opened and Charles, the vessel captain, stepped in.He bowed before us and held the position. “My king, I have news from your sister, the queen of the island,” he said, and my brows rose instantly to my hairlines.“What about my
ANNA’S POVThe hours on the journey back were ridiculously cold and silent. Every man was to himself, and I couldn’t help but begin to wonder if there was something I missed while we were all there.As the water danced around its waves, I seemed to be the only one rational enough to notice. It got to a point that I became worried for the men as they could fall or worse could happen to them.But the goddess stayed with us. We got to the shores of Black Moon safely without any casualties. Yet the mysteries surrounding the men didn’t stop. Rather it seemed to spread even to the others as we got down.Even the men in Black Moon all seemed to carry around them a strange dark aura that felt wrong.“Let’s go see the King,” Charles said and we picked a representative from the two teams of soldiers we carried along with us.We were going to the head to the throne room but we were redirected to the conference room where we found Xavier, Edna and Nico all seated with long faces.My wolf was itch
ANNA’S POVI tried to think of an explanation to what I heard, but there was none.Everything around me started feeling off, and my heart was no longer beating in the normal way.I pulled out my walkie-talkie, and I wanted to dial Charles, but with no idea where he was or how it was in there, I decided against it.I returned my device to my pocket and moved the one I got from my father and his diary into my backpack, then I did a double back to the vessel.There was nothing I could do but wait, hoping that he would have more information when he returned.“Princess Anna, we got an interception from Black Moon but the connection was not stable enough for us to pick up anything,” the man we had left as a scout on the vessel said.“Oh, we will try again later in the night, connection is always better then,” I said, based on what Xavier had told me when he handed the devices to me.It was what Lartes had used to pass information from Black Moon to the island. It worked, we just had to fin
XAVIER’S POVI wasn’t even the one to reject it. Edna herself slapped her palms to the table and jumped to her feet.“No, uncle Nico. I am not going to be mated to him!” She cried out like I was some sort of plague but surprisingly I felt no hate towards her because it was a mutual feeling. I didn’t want to be mated with her either. I already had Anna.“Sit down Edna and listen to me,” Nico growled and for the first time since I have come to know him, I saw agitation in his eyes.But Edna had gone wild.She stepped away from the table and shook her head like she had suddenly become possessed.“Why should I listen to you?” She spat out and Nico narrowed his eyes and he searched for the right words to say but before he could even come up with them, edna continued.“No way! I have listened to you all my life. I have done everything you have wanted.” She beat her chest and pointed in my direction. “But you see this particular one, I am not going to do it. I am not even going to sit here a