"I didn't ask you to help me."The words slipped past her lips in an annoyed huff, her coal eyes glaring daggers at us. Not only had we forced Cora to follow us into the dining hall, but Paige had also gone extra and insisted she sat with us for dinner. Now we had an overly sensitive she-wolf on our hands who would rather glare at us the entire night than eat."We had to diffuse the situation. You should be thanking us, you would've gotten your first and last strike tonight." Paige said coolly, pointing her fork at the wolf across from her.Cora scowled back," Thank you?" She scoffed incredulously, "I had the situation under control.""Ha!" Paige barked out a laugh, "It didn't look like you had the situation under control. Am I wrong, Dee?"Two of them faced me simultaneously, and my face burned at the attention. I swallowed the food that had stuck in my throat before answering, "No." Cora rolled her eyes, eyeing me with a sneer, "Why am I not surprised you agreed with her?"My chee
My fingers flexed against the leather of my gloves as I adjusted the strap on the back of my hand. The leather was soft and cool beneath my hands, reminding me of home. It had been a long time since anyone had allowed me to wear this sort of thing. The only other time I'd ever worn it was a few years back during my first and last combat in my pack, I'd emerged in second place following Judy. "These gloves are so cool, don't you think ?" Paige turned to me, an excited glimmer in her eyes. "Who knew leather could be this comfortable?" "It's imperial leather," I told her, pointing at the intricate silver engravings. "My father told me the capital produces the leather themselves, it's as hard as steel but feels like silk."A loud snort from behind us drew our attention, turning our heads toward the source of the noise. Cora had an eyebrow raised and her arms were crossed as she stared us down. "Everyone's at the arena already and you two are here discussing leather?"Paige made a chok
"I can't believe them. They're basically treating us like animals at the slaughterhouse." I nodded solemnly at her words, the fuming brunette was pacing the length of the room, her short dark hair bouncing up and down with each movement."They're just so cruel!" She hissed, the word sounding more like a curse than anything else. She stopped pacing abruptly to take one of her pillows off the sofa and slammed it against the wall. The loud thud resonated in my ears."Stop overreacting Bree, everyone is shocked about this too." The strawberry-blonde said soothingly, sitting on one of the armchairs, and reaching out to pat her hand comfortingly. I looked at Paige who had her head resting on my shoulder, her eyes trained on the scene in front. The news had shocked everyone to the core, some taking it harder than most, one of the girls had fainted the moment we stepped into the courtyard leading to our residence. "Overreacting? Didn't you hear the same thing I heard!?" Bree turned to fa
The arena looked completely different compared to an hour ago, for one, the once-empty bleachers were now occupied by a wild throng of spectators. The throne wasn't empty anymore, the Queen dowager sat regally on one of the golden chairs, the other was left vacant. My eyes flickered to the field where we would be competing, the dias was now decorated with golden and silver ribbons, and Lady Calloway stood at the center, microphone in hand. "Goddess, we're doing this in front of a crowd?" Paige's soft voice reached my ears and I turned to her. She still looked nervous, and I tried for an encouraging smile but my lips were trembling too much to be anything resembling convincing. I took a deep breath as we walked further into the enormous field, I'd lost sight of Cora and the rest of the girls during our run here. My eyes scanned the raving crowd, they looked pumped up for this, some even carrying banners. One group had been singing some songs I didn't recognize when we arrived. Oth
The back of my legs was aching. I had difficulty breathing and it felt like my vision would fade to black at any moment. But the pain in my left arm wouldn't let me rest. I forced myself to stand straight. My entire world shifted as my foot hit the ground again. My knees buckled and I struggled to catch myself on one arm. The pain flared even worse when I tried to stand upright again.Twenty minutes was starting to feel like an eternity. So many girls had fallen behind me, some were injured, and barely mobile just like myself. The roars of the crowd seemed to echo in my ears. It was hard to concentrate. We had less than ten minutes left and I hadn't set my sights on the finish line. I lifted my head to catch sight of Paige. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face, and tiny bruises littered her skin from the hit she had taken moments ago, but her eyes still shone with determination and concern,"The blade cut you deep," She offered me a hand which I gratefully accepted, "We have to
"You're joking!"I was halfway out of the room but Paige's hold on my wrist kept me rooted on my spot. My throat bobbed in a tight swallow, and I fought to get air into my lungs. "Let me go. I have to go speak to her." My gaze was firmly set on the cerulean-coloured curtains surrounding us. I tugged against her iron-clad grip, but she was strong, too strong for my feeble attempt. "You're insane! You passed already! You won, why can't you just accept it!?" The emotion in her voice startled me and I looked over my shoulder at her. She was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood but her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. My heart squeezed painfully as I wondered why she was upset, we hadn't even known each other that long but she was willing to risk her victory for my safety,Why?I opened my mouth to explain, but the words caught in my throat. In truth, I didn't know what to say, I couldn't tell her the truth...however, I couldn't find it in me to lie either. So I remained silent.
I had no clue where he was taking me. Heck! I didn't even know anything about the man, but I trusted him, I trusted the reassuring smile he kept throwing at me over his shoulder, the way he gently squeezed my wrist as if telling me that I would be fine. I trusted him and I didn't know if that was a wise decision.We were far away from the West Court now, even from the main Palace, with only trees and shrubs stretching out into a thick canopy of greenery, a forest I hadn't even known Castle Black possessed. The trees were tall, their branches heavy with blossoms and leaves that swayed in the cool breeze. It smelled fresh, almost like a field after rain. A soft, gentle wind tickled the back of my neck. It felt so relaxing… so right. We walked for a while, and my ankle protested with every step but I told myself it would be worth it,Finally, we reached a clearing and a shocked gasp escaped when I realized what I was staring at. My gaze flickered to his grinning face, a proud look on his
"Theo."The name slipped out of my lips in a chant, and his hand tightened its hold around my waist. My heart pounded erratically, I was sure he could feel them. I couldn't breathe, my brain felt like it had short-circuited, and my gaze remained fixated on him,Theo "You-" He started to say but the rest of his statement died off, his eyes becoming unfocused. Confused, I pulled back to examine him, his ears were twitching back and forth, his brows furrowed in concentration."Theo?" I called and he blinked, emotion returning to those chocolate-brown orbs. "Is something wrong?""No," He whispered, then shook his head, "No, nothing's wrong." He added, making his voice firmer.I closed my eyes, relishing in the feel of his fingers trailing across my face. He pulled back, the water swishing along with his movements I let my eyes snap open and the look on his face told me what I needed to know,"You have to go, don't you?"He looked sheepish and the sight of him like that unfurled a stran