Xena’s Pov. I stayed still until there was no one in the room— or I hope there wasn't. I couldn't really see because I was blindfolded. The clothes wrapped around my eyes, so tight that my eyes ached. I tried to move, but my arms were pulled tight behind me. My legs were also bound so I couldn't move, I was basically tied to the spot. My head slumped forward, and the moment I lifted it, a jolt of pain shot down my spine.Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching me. My head swung to the direction of the sound, my heart beating loudly. “Please…” my voice cracked. “Please let me go…”I didn’t even know who I was begging. I just wanted out. “Shut up,” a voice growled from nearby. It was a man’s voice and it laced of disgust. “The impure one speaks,” he shouted as if alerting the others. The sound of footsteps circled around me. I swallowed the lump in my throat as my head kept swinging left and right. “Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice cracking. “What have I done?”“What hav
Kael’s Pov“Kael… Kael—wake up!”Viktor’s voice echoed from somewhere far away, like I was trapped under water and trying to swim up. My head pounded like a drum, each beat worse than the last. I groaned and rolled to the side, feeling cold floor against my cheek.“What the hell happened to you?” Viktor asked again, crouching beside me.I blinked at him, forcing my eyes to focus. “They took her,” I muttered. My voice was hoarse and dry, like I’d been swallowing sand.“Who?” Viktor demanded. His face filled with panic. “Xena.” I rubbed the back of my head and winced. There was a lump there and it throbbing like it had a heartbeat of its own. “Someone hit me. Hard. Took her before I could do anything.”Viktor glanced around the living room, his jaw clenched. “Unfortunately, they didn't know they messed with the wrong person.”I scoffed. “I think they knew. They knocked me hard cold. They were too trained to b random people. Whoever they are they must know so much about the Lycan Lord.”
Xena’s POVI stayed in the house the whole day patiently waiting for the buyers, I wasn't sure why but I just felt should be there. My body ached from the contractions, faint but constant, and just enough to keep me on the edge. Kael had been gone since morning, out at the range again. I didn't know what it was with him and those horses. But whatever it was, I wasn't a little bit curious. I had business of my own. I paced the living room, then moved to the hallway, then back again. Every now and then I’d stop, take deep breaths, drop into a squat, hold it, breathe again. The exercises helped with the pain, helped keep my mind busy. But only a little.The day was really long. I looked out the front window more times than I could count. The buyers were supposed to come, but they didn’t. And no way would my step father call off the deal because I told him too. But most importantly where was he? I haven't seen him all morning. Selina came home later, she looked like she had just esca
Xena’s POVI walked back inside the house with the wind still howling behind me. My chest felt hollow, like I’d left a part of myself back there at the grave, along with everything I had been holding in for months.When I walked down the creaky stairs, Kael was leaning against the dining table with his arms crossed, his eyes dark but calmer than before. He looked up as I approached.“I’m called Jared,” I said, voice firm even though my heart was pounding. “He’ll come over soon.”Kael raised a brow. “I'm giving you a chance to save your life,” he paused for a beat. “He might have escaped Susan's people but he can't escape me. If I smell that he is a threat I will kill him.”“He knows about impure wolves. He might help hide it better than just pretending everything’s fine. And… I trust him,” I added, though I wasn’t sure if I said it for Kael or for myself.Kael’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he nodded. “There are rumors,” he said slowly, stepping forward, “about a potion
Xena's pov. “Hey mum, how's it going?” I chuckled between tears, standing at the foot of my mother's cold grave. The cold wind carrying whispers of her cheerful laugh. I didn't bother to hold back the tears, I knew she would understand. I wasn't weak, I was just tired. I stared at the flowers in my hands, unsure of what to do with them. Part of me felt I had no right to come back to her grave, I was the reason she was six feet deep in the soil. The other part wanted to join her there. She was my only source of comfort. “What should I do mum?” I asked with a faint chuckle. “Is it nice in there? Are you lonely? Or do you hate me for calling you late at night?”Silence. Except for the wind brushing through the dry leaves on the ground. “I'm sorry, mum,” I said, finally breaking down. “I know you said that I should always be strong and stand up against people who think that I'm just an impure wolf, I really tried but I couldn't. I will always be an impure where my fate will be decided
KAEL’S POV. I stared at the mirror like it was a death sentence. My reflection looked back at me—but it wasn’t me. No. This was some cursed, pimpled version of myself. A cruel joke. An evil twin from the acne realm.“What the hell is this?” I whispered, slowly leaning closer.My face was covered in acnes. one zit on my forehead. A red angry one. Another was seated on my left cheek—shiny, swollen, and filled of pride. And wait—was that a whitehead on my chin?!“Nooo!” I screamed and slammed the bathroom counter.Xena flinched behind me. “Kael, I’m so, so sorry—”“Shut up!” I spun around. “Don’t say a word! Not a single cursed word, Xena!”She blinked, her face pale, lips parted. “It was a mistake. I—I didn’t know it was foot wash. I thought it was body soap.”“Mistake? A mistake?” I pointed to my face. “This—This is not a mistake. This is sabotage! A crime against beauty!”I marched back to the mirror, rubbing my face like I could erase the zits just by touching them. Of course, I m