MARRY ME

VANCE'S POV

It pissed me off to see Xavier pick on him, but what pissed me off even more was that he didn't fight back. ‘Stand up for yourself!’ I was screaming on the inside, but had to remain calm and nonchalant on the outside. Xavier was a big bully and he wasn't going to stop if Asher didn't push back.

I walked away from the staring contest Xavier and I were having, with Asher right in the middle. I took a deep breath and whispered to myself, “you know why you're here, Vance. Focus on that. I made my way to the training ground.

“Our first set of activity is an assessment of physical strength, both in your wolf form and out of,” the instructor began. I kept looking over him to see if Asher was coming already. His five minutes' grace had long elapsed and he was nowhere to be found. Even though I tried not to care, something inside me did not let me quit the unrest.

All the princes stood in two lines across from each other and I was directly opposite Asher’s empty spot. We stood with our hands behind our backs and our heads up. Thirty minutes into training, and there was still no sign of Asher.

“Pause!” the instructor yelled. One of the administrators whispered in his ear for a few seconds and he gave affirmative nods all through. My heart was beating very fast. I couldn't help, but think that something bad had happened to Asher. It was the only logical reason as to why he was not here by now.

“Dismiss!” The instructor sent us off and hurried away with the administrator. Everyone started to grumble and raise concerns we had no one to channel to.

“I'm here! I'm here!!” Asher ran in, very much in a haste. He was struggling to put on the other pair of his shoes. I placed my forehead in my palm. Why was he so disorganized? The rest of the boys erupted in laughter.

“Well, look who we have here,” Xavier stepped towards Asher. I stood in my spot, hoping that Xavier did not go any closer to him, but my hopes were not enough. “The party forgot to wait for its king,” Xavier mocked.

I watched them very closely, all through saying ‘fight back, Asher. Fight back!’

“You missed the entire party, I can teach you what we learnt,” Xavier said to him, by this time, already completely closing the gap between them.

“Really?” I was disappointed to see Asher beam with excitement. How could he not see through his mockery?

I turned around to leave and then it dawned on me that I was caring a little too much about Asher. It was a feeling I couldn't explain. It was almost like what I shared with my brother, but also very different. Whatever it was, I came to the conclusion it wasn't good, because every time I felt different, nothing good ever came out of that.

I slowly walked away from the scene. I wasn't very far off when I heard gasps from the crowd and then laughter from pretty much every side. When I turned around, I found Asher on the ground with Xavier about to land a punch on his face. I was like a beast who had been let loose. I sprung to him and threw him to the ground and everywhere immediately went mute.

“Prince Vance!” Asher yelled, freezing my fist in the air, stopping me from burying it into Xavier's jaw. I gave him a death stare. I didn't look at anyone's face, but I could feel their fear in the atmosphere. When the corner of my eye caught Asher and I saw how equally terrified he was, I slowly dropped my fist and got off Xavier.

“Leave him alone,” I warned and then grabbed Asher by the wrist, pulling him away from the rest of the crowd. I took him to the bathroom and washed off his bleeding palm, breathing very heavily throughout, I couldn't speak to him.

“There! I dabbed the water off. You should learn to stand up for yourself. Out here, it is a competition. Everyone wants to top the rank and the longest standing strategy has been to eliminate the competition, beginning from the weakest,” I said to him.

“Thank you,” his voice sounded very feeble. As he stared into my eyes, a felt chills ran down my spine.

“I could help you train,” my voice weakened too. Something about his presence crippled me in the knees, even though I knew it was crazy. I couldn't be attracted to a male. I was more than disappointed for my father as it was. This would kill him–this shouldn't even be possible.

I immediately pulled away.

“Vance,” he called, “there's blood on your arm,” he pointed out. I nodded and headed for the door, not wanting to spend another second with him alone, until I could understand what this feeling towards him was.

“Marry me,” He blurted, as my hand rested on the door knob.

“What?” My heart sank.