CHAPTER 21: 21

NYLAH

"Yes, Ivy," I replied, shocking even myself with my sudden confidence.

"Hhmm, I see. How has it been for you in the pack? You haven’t left your room since that night’s incident." Her voice held a hint of mockery. Though she asked like she cared about me, I knew that it was far from that. She wanted to remind me of that night of the shame and humiliation, I knew her type so well.

"The pack has been cool, not what I expected. I had so much rest that I started reading about the pack’s history just to get acquainted with my new environment.

Maybe it was my little ancestral chat with Sofia, I had no idea what fueled my words, but I loved the reply I gave her.

It was enough to turn her smile into a deep frown. It wasn’t what she was expecting, that was for sure.

Sofia’s words rang in my ears. "Don’t be the one people trample on." I must’ve taken her advice to heart because Alpha Xavier’s soon - to - be - bride was not in the same mood she was when she confronted me.

"How has your stay been?" I asked further. She recoiled, shocked by my boldness, but I remained unfazed, my gaze on her, waiting for a response.

She might’ve seen me drenched in alcohol that night, she must’ve thought I was some helpless lady or a dumb one but I was going to prove to her, but more to myself, that I was capable of taking on this new life and environment.

"Is there a problem? Are you now the dumb one?" I asked sarcastically, reminding her what she said to me that night.

"You aren’t what I was expecting, though." I shook my head and made to walk away, but then she spoke up, making me stop in my tracks.

"Xavier is mine. Do your best to stay away from him, I’ll be your Luna soon and you will bow to me so you better do as I say if you don’t want your peaceful days here to be miserable." Her words were enough to kill my enthusiasm, but I could spare some minutes before my spirit was killed.

"For the record, the Alpha brought me here himself. Have you asked yourself why he brought me here instead of his mansion? He probably knows how boring and unexciting you are, so he brought me here to spice up things for him in bed while he uses you for show." I bit my tongue after the words I spat out.

’Where are these words coming out from gurl?’ I asked myself, bursting with excitement but maintaining a serious facial expression.

My rival bit her lower lip and shot me a glare. My words got to her just as they were meant to, and I hadn’t been so proud.

I scoffed and walked away from her with squared shoulders, just the same way she walked away from me that night. I felt like jumping for joy the minute I walked into my room.

Maybe it wasn’t that bad giving the same energy to the people who tried to bully me after all.

I was happy that I stood up for myself, but I remained unhappy about my strained relationship with Alpha Xavier, that was if it could be called a relationship. We weren’t in any communication whatsoever.

A flashback of his face that night was all I needed to spoil my exciting day. He looked like he was displeased seeing me like he wasn’t the one who sent for me.

He didn’t even check in on me or send a guard or anyone to check how I was doing after the incident... what was I thinking? If he couldn’t acknowledge me in public, how could he check in on me?

’I was wrong. This place is not for me.’ I settled into my bed with these thoughts, thoughts of escape began coursing through my mind.

Remembering how many guards were always positioned in strategic places in the pack, my chances could’ve been slim if they were in the tens, but as it stood, I didn’t even have a chance.

Sofia came to my room later on with dinner, and she told me some more about the pack and how things were being done here.

I told her of my encounter with Xavier’s mate, and she was happy, although not as happy as I’d expected her to be, hence dimming my excitement a little.

"Her name is Ivy, I heard." She quipped, biting into the loaf of bread.

"You don’t seem happy. Did anything happen?" I asked, unable to turn a blind eye to her unusual silence.

"It’s just that it’s risky. I’m happy you are learning to speak for yourself and all, but you have to know when not to speak at all. That is where the rank comes in. She’s the future, Luna. Hell, no one knows if the Alpha has settled with her people already and is just waiting for the wedding date to be set for her to be crowned the Luna?" I could feel the worry etched in her voice as she spoke.

"She could demand that you get killed, tortured and jailed or made a slave, a laughing stock for the whole of the pack to see and mock when they wake and mock before they go to bed." She paused just like she did the first time she told me about her story, and I could tell that there was something she wanted to say.

"Haven’t you wondered why I don’t have girls flocking around me like Lily does?" She started with a question.

"I did. Her name was Eve. She was the sweetest girl, but her life was cut short when she stood up for me against one of the royals. She was beaten to death. I watched her scream with blood all over her face, her eyes, nose, and ears. She looked nothing like I remembered when she finally gave up the ghost, and the worst part was she wasn’t even buried. Her body was thrown away." She inhaled deeply and sighed like she did when she was talking about her parents.

"I don’t want that for you, Nylah. I don’t want to lose anyone close to me again." By the time she finished, I got her message. One could be killed for a little crime here, and I needed to be careful, but I didn’t want to be careful.

I didn’t want to remain in a place filled with so many rules yet, so many people break the rules and go scot-free while some people speak for themselves and get killed for it, this was a hell hole and I would give anything to leave.

So I said the words without taking a minute to process the words.

"I want to leave Sofia, help me escape."