ASHLEY’S POV I heaved a sigh of relief. In that moment, I realized two things, Vance cared about me a little more than he'd like, and I cared about being here a lot more than I said. The final tournament had been moved backwards and there was now only two days left. The camp official’s was drawn to the fact that two nights from now was a full moon and it would be just perfect to test the wolf abilities of the princes, amongst other things. Everyone was on their toes. There were no more classes and we didn't even get to see the officials. All of their energy was channeled towards preparing for the tournament. The princes were getting no rest either. Everyone was working up their skills. It was the last chance to go up the board. Well, everyone but me. I spent half of the two days I had, staring at the board in fear. I vividly remembered where I started–the last of twenty-five, and now I was second place by only three points. The other half the time, I looked around for Vance, or wa
ASHLEY'S POV My heart was racing. I knew my world was going to come crashing and my lie be exposed, but when it didn't in the first few weeks, I got overly comfortable. I found a way to spend time with Vance without losing it close to him and only a few days before leaving camp, it all came down. My father and I had been arguing since he found out I was here as Asher and the argument did not stop. “What do you mean you told him everything?” He yelled in my face. I was too worried about Vance to be invested in my father's query, but I couldn't help the thoughts that ran through my mind about how we got here. I had never heard my father yell, but it seemed from the night he announced my wedding to a stranger to now, it had become our new normal. “He found some things and quite frankly, I couldn't bear to lie to him anymore,” I told my father, avoiding his eyes that were blazing red with fury. “You've come this far, Ash. You came this far,” he drove his words with emphasis, “Only b
VANCE'S POV The weight of my father being in camp and having to maintain top spot was too much for me to bear at the time, so I couldn't react violently to Xavier snooping through our things, as much as I wanted to. I let him walk right past me and straight out the door. I took a deep breath and looked around. For a second, I regret not asking him to clean up the mess he had created. This was the first time Xavier was going to be snooping around, and I wasn't sure I could handle a second. He was merely lucky I didn't find myself in the mental space to pounce on him. My plan was straight–clean up and then report to the commander, and I got to it immediately. I had everything in place, except for the bag Xavier had in his hand when I walked in. I bent to pick it up and as soon as I straightened up, its content spilled everywhere on the spot. My legs felt drilled to the ground and my eyes went from item to item–items I couldn't make meaning of. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the
XAVIER'S POV I couldn't stand how much Vance was around him, always protecting him. Time and again, I convinced myself that I didn't care, but I couldn't wipe from my memory the good times we shared. Every time I tried to talk to Asher, Vance would not let me get in more than two sentences. “Dad?” I was just about to give up hope when they walked past me, but his father showed up. Asher did not seem very excited by his father's presence, but his excitement was a little less disturbing as compared to his father walking right past him, like he wasn't standing there. “Aren't you going to talk to him?” I asked Asher, after his father walked by, but Asher, without a word, dashed to his apartment. I was greatly confused. I knew about the rumors of Asher being adopted, but it still didn't justify his father acting like he was non-existent in public. If not for anything else, he was out here representing the entire Crystal pack and he was doing a great job at it. He rose from the last on
ASHLEY’S POV “It's very okay to be an adopted child,” “What?” I blurted, following Vance's statement. “Being a royal really isn't about the size or special powers we have. Being a royal is about the content of one's heart, and I've only known one other person my whole life with a heart as pure as yours.” I realized as he spoke that the rumors flying around was that I was an adopted son of my father. Vance's speech about being a royal by heart almost melted my heart, but I couldn't soak in it, given that I was in a perpetual state of panic. “Thank you,” I had more questions in my tone, than I did gratitude for his compliments. Vance nodded, “how did…” I hesitated a bit, “how did the camp find out?” I probed, “One of the guards confirmed that Alpha Smichtt never had a son. The only child born to him was a female.” Vance responded, “it didn't take long to put together that he needed a son to take over the kingdom and in the absence of his wife, he tried to adopt a son.” I nodded. “
ASHLEY'S POV I walked all round camp and was left in awe by the groups of princes practicing all manner of skill in preparation for the competition. Their circles from the outside looked impenetrable. The princes also displayed tremendous skill, from speed to strength to their ability to morph partially into their wolves and control things with their minds. As a princess, none of these was anything I had to do. I was taught courtesy and how to make visitors feel extremely welcome. My father's skills had always amazed me, but I assumed he was born with them as a superior breed, nothing prepared me for how intensely they had to train to be called Alphas. ‘If ever there's a time to leave, Ashley, now is,’ I thought to myself. I stood at the door of my apartment and was a little hesitant. I took one more look at the camp’s scope that was within my sight range. ‘Goodbye, royal academy,’ I whispered. My plan was simple –go in, pack up and return to tell the commander that I could no long