I NEED HELP

ASHLEY'S POV

“Thank you,” I said hurriedly, realizing how awkward everything now was, “I meant to say thank you. Where I come from, marriage is the height of appreciation and it just slipped.” I babbled an explanation. I saw the weird look in Vance's eyes, even he wasn't convinced, so I went ahead of him and dashed out of the bathroom, before he had the time to come up with a reply.

“Oh, I'm going to fail hard,” I whispered to myself. At this point, I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me that my journey was driving down the path of very bad.

“What's going on here?” I asked, as I approached a large gathering of the princes. It was very difficult to see above their shoulders, as they were all way taller than I. Luckily, I took advantage of my body size and squeezed between them to the front of the crowd.

“There he is,” one of the princes announced. It wasn't until after his announcement that the crowd had circled around me.

“What is going on here?” I tried to sound bold, clenching my fist quite strongly. None of the boys would say anything to me. Well, until a path opened up on one side and Xavier popped out. I rolled my eyes. “Great!” I exclaimed, realizing I had walked into a trap that was set for me.

“When are you going to get tired of picking on me?” I probed. I decided to take Vance's advice–stand up for myself.

“Pick on you?” Xavier pulled even closer to me, something I didn't think was possible, considering how close we already were. “You think this is about picking on you?” He probed, “I'm trying to help you, Asher. I'm trying to make you see that you don't belong. Your pack does not belong. There's a reason your father has been in hiding, because that's where your pack belongs, in the shadows,”

His mention of my father fueled the rage that was already welling in my gut. I had no control over when my hands swung and brushed his jaw in a fist. Everyone gasped. I was quite in awe of myself, but tried to act like it was normal.

“You do not speak a word about my father. Not even a mention of his name or the figure he represents,” I warned and turned to walk away. I was barely two steps away when I felt a strong hit from behind and before I could say the word ‘jack’, I was laid on my back with Xavier over me and his fist dangling over my face. His second hand held me by the neck.

“Just because you are here as warriors, doesn't mean you have to act like animals,” a voice pierced into the air. I opened my eyes, which I had shut in fear and was glad that two camp guards were standing beside us. “I wouldn't deliver that punch if I were you,” Xavier dropped his hand slowly at the guard's word. “Both of you, come with me,”

I got off the ground, dusted off my body and followed the guards. I made sure I was two steps ahead of Xavier all the time, so I didn't have to see the look on his face. The other princes were whispering and expecting him to kill me, after I landed a punch on his face and I knew that the fact he didn't retaliate was eating him alive.

“I must say, I am highly disappointed in both of you,” the camp commander scolded. We were led into his office and standing with our hands behind our backs and our heads bowed to the floor. “Xavier, once is a mistake, twice can't be.” He continued, “and Asher, I really did think you were raised better,” my heart ached at his statement.

“Indiscipline does not go unpunished. Moving forward, over the next two weeks, the both of you will be required to spend whatever free time you have left in community service. You will do the menial jobs around camp and would only leave to eat, sleep and participate in activities. You may go.”

The commander did not give us the luxury of explaining ourselves. My heart raced terribly as I realized this meant more time with Xavier. I could barely survive with sparsely seeing him and now. I stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind me, right in Xavier's face.

“This way!” I walked right into the guards asking the princes to move to the training ground. I joined them and stood in an isolated spot. The guard apologized to us for a break in class earlier and resumed.

“For physical training, you would be required to fall and lift up a tree, in your wolf form,” the guard said, “I'll give you a demo,” awe filled me as fur sprouted from his skin and he became twice his size. The guard walked to a fat tree, pulled it out of its roots and held it above his head. All the other princes were clapping, but they were not awed. It seemed very normal to them.

I had never seen a wolf up close, nor had I ever morphed into one. At Crystal pack, only the warriors morphed into their wolves and I wasn't exactly allowed close to them. I watched their training from my big window, but that was as far as we got.

“Begin!” I stood there, watching, as all the other Alpha Princes took their wolf form. There were all kinds of colors; from black furred wolves to golden brown, scattered across the forest, attempting to fall trees. I was on the outside, looking in. ‘Maybe there was a reason princesses weren't allowed here,’ I thought. Even if I was able to morph into my wolf, I risked the chances of being exposed.

I turned around with my head to the ground to leave, when a great roar shook the trees. I turned back around and sighted a dazzling white wolf. He was different, and I was surprised I did not notice him. He held a big tree over his head, a tree, slightly bigger than what the guard had pulled up. All the other wolves paused for a minute. It was like they all saw their doom and they were probably not wrong.

The princes had gone for smaller trees than the guard had used. The closest that attempted to pull up the same size was Xavier and he didn't seem to be making much progress with that.

“Nicely done, Prince Vance,” the guard said, taking notes on the pad in his hands. I raised my head and looked into the eyes of the white wolf. He was different. Vance really was one of a kind, not just as a person, but his wolf had terrifying strength. The world felt paused for a second, but then Vance looked away, calmly placing the tree on the floor. He immediately switched back and clapped his hands, dusting it off, before walking away with them in his pocket.

“Arghh!” Another growl came and pulled all our attention to Xavier, who had succeeded in pulling up his own tree and holding it above his head. At this point, no one needed to say anything to me. I walk away, rethinking all of my life's choices. Perhaps, this was not a smart idea. No matter how hard I tried, I was never going to be strong enough to pull up a tree, this was excluding the fact that gardens and around plants were the places I found the most peace.

‘Then try,’ I heard a voice from inside.

‘What?’ It was my wolf. I recognized her, I just wasn't sure what she was talking about. ‘No matter how hard you try, but you haven't tried,’ she said, ever so tenderly.

‘For one who can't pop out, that's a strong opinion,’ I tried to shove her off.

‘What good are you if you don't? Wouldn't they all just be right? You don't belong here to begin with?’ I was thrown into deep thought. I may have been raised within four walls my whole life, but one thing my father did not do was raise a quitter. ‘There’s always a way, Ash,’ he would say, when we were faced with an impossible situation, and true to the goddess, he always found a way.

“There's always a way!” I exclaimed in excitement, and this time, I knew the way.

I dashed to my room. I was taking my destiny into my hands. If I couldn't prove the kingdom of Achaia wrong, then it was fine, but I wasn't going to quit until I was exhausted all the way.

I pushed the door open with all of the built up excitement in me, “I need your help!” I announced to Vance, who was sitting on the bed with his back facing the door. He responded pretty strangely, sending all my excitement down my stomach. He was extremely startled, like he had been caught red-handed. Actually, he had been.