Seventeen

"Alpha Maxwell! Oh my God!" Xenia cried as she reached out to him.

His shoulder was bleeding, definitely where the bullet hit him.

"Martin… Martin! Guards! Arrest him!" Alpha Maxwell said in between groans, and that's when Xenia turned and saw Martin holding the gun, completely freaked out.

That's when she knew his intentions was not to shoot the Alpha but her, but Alpha Maxwell took the bullet for her.

Martin heard what the Alpha said and immediately started speeding through the forest, the guards were running after him.

He ran as fast as he could, panting and turning to see the space between him and the guards he knew if he let them arrest him, he will likely get beheaded by the Alpha.

Martin ran fast, his heart beating. He could hear the guards behind him, their footsteps getting closer, hitting on the ground like giants elephants. He pumped his arms and legs, his breath coming in short gasps.

Furthermore, he looked back, seeing the guards gaining on him. Fear made him run even faster, his eyes fixed on the trees ahead, his legs were getting tired, his throat was dry, sweat were coming out over his face and body. He stumbled on a root and almost fell, but managed to catch himself.

Just as he thought he was safe, his foot caught on a hidden log. He felt himself flying through the air.

Martin landed on the ground with a thud, the wind knocked out of him. He struggled to get up, but his body felt heavy.

The guards surrounded him, their faces stern.

"You think you can run after than us? Arrest him." The lead guard ordered, and they grabbed him and dragged him on the ground, all the way through the forest to the car.

His body was bruised due how he was dragged.

Xenia and the other remaining car had already placed Maxwell in the car, but he was still bleeding so much.

His bleed had already stained his shirt, the car, and Xenia's clothes.

Xenia was so scared, her eyes were blurry due to tears.

"Hang on, okay? You will be fine." She muttered crying.

Maxwell was slowly losing his energy due to bleeding, he could only turn, his eyes ball, turning around.

"Please don't die." Xenia pleaded and thought of what to do, but her head was blanked.

"How long until we reach to the palace?" Xenia asked the driver, looking through the window to see if she can be able to depict the distance, but she doesn't even recognize where they are at the moment.

"We will be there soon. The doctor was called, and he will be waiting for us at the palace." The driver answered.

Xenia glanced at Maxwell.

An idea popped into her head and she immediately tore her gown, then tied his hand completely to reduce the bleeding, and somehow it worked.

Even though Maxwell was so weak, he stared at Xenia with a smile.

His other hand reaching to his face.

"Don't worry, I…I….will...will be fine." He stuttered.

"Yes, yes, you will be fine, I will make sure of that, okay." Xenia sniffed and pushed her hair back, then gently placed his head on her lap, brushing his hair gently with her hands.

***

The driver finally arrived at the palace, and the news of Alpha Maxwell been shot had already circulated the pack.

A stretcher was already waiting for them at the gate of the palace.

The Royal doctor was called, and the guards placed him on the stretcher and carried him to his chamber, while Xenia ran after them.

The people present there pitied her condition, she looked messy, her eyes were puffy red and her dress was torn.

The guards placed him on the bed and Xenia was told to wait outside by the doctor and she obeyed.

Minutes of waiting outside, Roselyn and Beta Dimitri came running to her.

"My Luna!" Roselyn exclaimed and Xenia hugged her tight, bursting into tears.

"It's all my fault, Roselyn. He took the bullet for me. Nothing will happen to him, right? He will be fine, right?. Please tell me he will be better. I won't forgive myself if something happens to him." Xenia cried, almost losing her breath.

"Shii, it's okay, my Luna. He will be fine, Alpha Maxwell is a strong Alpha. His blood heal rapidly, remember how his blood cures you in no time? Don't worry, he will be fine. Please stop crying." Roselyn comforted her and wiped her tears, even though more end up falling.

"So...Martin was the shooter, huh?" Beta Dimitri finally said, after being quiet for a while.

Xenia looked at him with her red eyes and nodded.

"I told you, it was a bad idea going against the people, now for the first time, our Alpha was attacked because of you. He even took the bullet for you, why did he let the bullet hit you instead. You should have carried your cross and not made him carried it. Now look at his condition." Beta Dimitri wailed angrily.

"Beta Dimitri!" Roselyn yelled.

"What! Was I wrong? Luna Xenia, was I wrong?" Dimitri asked.

Xenia sniffed.

"He is right, Roselyn. I should have listened to you, Beta Dimitri, but I swear I didn't know it would result to this." Xenia exclaimed as more tears fall from her eyes.

"Well, it just did. Next time, listen to advice, okay. Now let's just pray the Alpha is fine." Beta Dimitri said and rolled his eyes.

Roselyn pulled him to a side.

"What you said to the Luna is so unfair! I hope you know that!" Roselyn yelled.

Dimitri scoffed.

"Oh really? You wanted me to say what to her exactly? That oh, it's not your fault, it was an accident, BLA and blah?" He asked.

"But it was an accident!" Roselyn half yelled.

"An accident that could have been avoided if Luna Xenia wasn't so stubborn and had listened to advice. You know, I seriously blame Alpha Maxwell for giving her such a huge power just few days after meeting her. And yeah, don't yell at me, don't forget your place, you are a maid, I'm a Beta, clear?" Beta Dimitri hissed.

"Clear." Roselyn replied, looking down.

She watched as Beta Dimitri barged out of the place angrily, and she was so irritated by his outburst at Xenia, she is already going through a lot and the least he could do was to be nice, but he couldn't.

Roselyn sighed and marched towards the Alpha's chamber, where Xenia was still waiting by the door side, pacing up and down and muttering silence prayers.