Chapter12

The Pull of Strength

Blythe's POV

The day passed in a haze.

Even as I sat through endless council meetings, listening to petitions about border disputes and trade agreements, my mind drifted back to that note.

'He is not what he seems.'

"Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.

The words gnawed at me, chewing through the fragile defenses I had built around my heart.

Who had sent it?

Why now?

And most importantly... what did they mean?

Xavier.

The boy who saved me.

The boy who kissed me like a drowning man desperate for air.

What secret did he carry beneath those solemn eyes and calloused hands?

The late afternoon sun bled across the horizon, smearing the sky in gold and bruised purples.

I escaped the court because of "needing air" and headed toward the Pack's training fields—a secluded stretch of land bordering the forest. It was one of the few places untouched by court politics.

As I neared the open grounds, the sharp ring of steel meeting steel reached my ears.

Curious, I slowed my steps, keeping to the shadows.

A group of young guards were sparring, their movements clumsy and undisciplined.

At the center, instructing them with crisp, precise movements, was—

My breath caught.

Xavier.

His tunic clung to his torso, damp with sweat, revealing a body honed not just by labor but by something deeper—discipline and experience.

He moved with a fluid grace that no groom should possess.

Not just strength but skill.

Not just power, but control.

He parried a clumsy attack from a guard-in-training, his movements so fast they blurred.

The boy stumbled back, panting.

"Again," Xavier said, his voice calm but firm.

Another boy rushed him, sword raised.

Xavier sidestepped, disarmed him with a flick of his wrist, and pressed the flat of the blade against the boy's neck.

"Dead," Xavier said, handing the weapon back.

The boys groaned in frustration, but there was no mockery, no cruelty in Xavier's tone—only a quiet demand for better.

I leaned against a tree, my heart pounding.

How?

Where had he learned to fight like that?

Omega ostlers were trained to muck out stables, not wield blades like seasoned warriors.

Unless...

Unless he wasn't just a stable boy.

A sliver of unease wormed its way through me.

He is not what he seems.

The words echoed again.

After dismissing the trainees, Xavier knelt to collect the scattered training swords, wiping each blade clean with reverence.

He looked up—and saw me.

We just stared at each other for a moment, the distance between us crackling.

Then, slowly, he rose.

"My Lady," he said, bowing slightly, his voice a shade too formal.

I stepped forward, compelled by something I couldn't name.

"You handle a blade well," I said lightly, though my heart thundered against my ribs.

He shrugged. "You learn, growing up."

"Learn where?" I pressed gently, taking another step closer.

He stiffened. His eyes darted away for a second before settling back on mine.

"Nowhere important," he said.

A lie.

I could hear it in the tightness of his voice, the way his fingers twitched at his sides.

I wanted to push him, to demand the truth.

But instead, I asked, "Why do you hide it?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

"Because strength frightens those who want to believe I'm nothing," he said, voice low.

The bitterness in those words struck deeper than any blade.

We stood there, the dying sunlight painting us in molten gold, two broken pieces of a puzzle that didn't quite fit, but we could not let go.

"You are not nothing," I said fiercely before I could stop myself.

His eyes widened slightly, emotion flicking through his carefully guarded mask.

For a heartbeat, I thought he might step closer.

That he might reach for me.

But then—

A sharp shout shattered the moment.

"Your Majesty!"

It was Captain Rowan, one of the guards, jogging toward us.

Xavier immediately bowed and stepped back, retreating into the shadows like a soldier vanishing into the night.

I clenched my fists to keep from reaching for him.

"Your Majesty," Rowan panted, stopping before me. "Forgive the interruption. Lord Vito requests your presence immediately. He says it's urgent."

Of course, he does.

Duty always had the worst timing.

I passed on a smile. "Tell him I'm on my way."

The guard bowed and hurried off.

When I turned back, Xavier was gone.

Again.

The council chamber was tense when I entered, Vito pacing like a caged wolf.

At the center of the long oak table lay a torn piece of crimson fabric—the remnants of a royal standard.

I frowned. "What happened?"

Vito's eyes were hard. "A warning," he said. "Rebels defaced the western outpost. Burned our crest. Left this behind."

He slammed a fist onto the table, making the goblets rattle.

"They're testing us."

I swallowed.

The rebellion was no longer whispers and rumors.

It was here.

It was real.

"We have to respond," Elder Moses said grimly. "Swiftly. Decisively."

Vito nodded. "I've already dispatched patrols."

I forced myself to nod, to play the part of the fearless Queen.

But inside, fear coiled like a serpent.

The kingdom was cracking at the seams.

And I stood at the center—pulled between duty and a boy who was fast becoming the only light in my suffocating world.

Scene Shift: Midnight

Sleep eluded me.

I wandered the silent castle halls in my nightgown, the cold stone biting against my bare feet.

Instinct led me back to the training grounds.

To where I had seen him last.

The moonlight spilled over the empty field, silver and soft.

And there, lying half-buried in the dirt near the edge of the clearing, something caught the light.

I knelt, brushing aside the loose soil.

A pendant.

Simple. Old. Worn smooth by years of touch.

I held it up, heart hammering.

On the back, barely visible, an engraving:

"For the heir of the hidden blood."

My breath caught.

Heir.

Blood.

Hidden.

I looked toward the dark woods as if I could still see him there, melting into the night.

Xavier wasn't just a stable boy.

He wasn't just my forbidden desire.

He was something far more dangerous.

Far more important.

And someone didn't want me to find out.