CHAPTER 33: 33

NYLAH

I could barely sleep throughout the night with images of Xavier flooding my mind.

His demeanour, his perfect body, built especially for seductive purposes. The way he spoke with calm, the manner he reacted to words thrown at him with an unfazed expression, and his possessiveness towards me all made me want to throw myself at him.

Yield me until there was nothing more to give.

"Get a hold of yourself, Nylah!" I screamed in frustration at the way I fantasized about him. Just one night, the first night of having a meaningful conversation with him, I’d gone all nuts fantasizing and daydreaming about him.

I forced my cheeks to take their normal form and stop stretching into a smile, and I buried my head in my pillow.

There was no way I was going to give him so much power over me, my thoughts, my mind, my... heart.

"Urgh!" I half screamed as I turned on the bed, my face now facing the fancy ceiling.

It all began to calm down, my racing heart when I remembered his words again.

"You’ll be training with me starting tomorrow, so you need enough rest. No one lasts a day training with the Alpha."

I was going to be training with Alpha Xavier starting tomorrow! I gasped and covered my mouth with my palm as I made a mental note of a hundred things that could go wrong.

What if my legs suddenly gave out their will to walk when I saw him dressed in a training outfit? What if the breeze blew his hair so beautifully that I forgot how to breathe, looking at him?

"This is a bad idea," I whispered, shaking my head with disapproval.

"This isn’t going to happen." I continued until I finally drifted to dreamland.

A slight knock on my door followed by the eyes-piercing bright sunlight that shone through my window forced a strain and then a stretch out of me before I finally shot my eyes open.

"The Alpha awaits you at the dining hall." The now familiar voice of the guards who had been manning my door for over a week announced.

My eyes widened as I remembered what was on the event list for today. But we didn’t talk about having breakfast together...

I got down from the bed and ran to the bathroom to freshen up and get prepped for training. Whatever he wanted me to do at the dining hall might involve training as well.

I brushed every intruding thought about Xavier aside and focused on the training. That was the most important thing.

Sofia would’ve helped to calm me, but she went on a trip alongside some pack members and guards to get some rare herbs to prevent the soon coming vampire attacks.

Once I was done getting ready, I stood in front of the dressing mirror to do a once over but shook my head and walked out of my room on second thoughts.

There was no need for a once over when I wasn’t going for an important occasion or a date with my lovers. Xavier and I had no such relationship. He was my master and I was nothing short of a slave.

I was led to the dining hall where I met Xavier sipping on some hot coffee.

"Helps me wake up." He was referring to the coffee.

I nodded slowly and looked around the large hall, wondering why I was summoned his voice rang out again.

"Have some before we start. I don’t like having a slow student on the field."

"Thanks, but I’m good. And I’m quite certain that I’m not slow." I managed a smile, but Xavier seemed intrigued by my response.

"Really? Who told you that?" He almost took a sip from the cup when he stopped.

"I’d rather not say." I shrugged, but he persisted.

"I’d like to know, you can’t say no to your Alpha."

I squinted before replying, "Brian..."

Thankfully, he didn’t react like he did the previous day.

He just blinked away and gulped down the remnant from his cup.

"Well then, I guess we’ll have to see for ourselves. Brian is a little slow, in my opinion." I stifled a mocking smile.

"Let’s get to it." He stood to his feet, and I followed behind him until we were at the training field.

"Well, let’s see what you’ve got." He gestured with both hands, and I began throwing punches in the air, just like Brian had taught me to.

"Good, but not fast enough. You won’t survive a battlefield with this pace." He walked around, his gaze pinned on me the whole time while he criticized.

"Let’s do it again. This time around, go faster." He moved back to give me more punching space.

I repeated the punches like the first time but in a faster rhythm.

"Yes, faster atta girl." He called from behind with a pleased voice, and I continued, I increased my pace until I couldn’t any longer.

"It’s okay. Constant practice makes perfection."

"I don’t believe that." I countered,

"No one can be perfect no matter how much they practice. They can only make progress." After a long pause, he replied.

"It. Is. Possible. To. Be. Perfect." He emphasized every word as though they were too big for me to comprehend, and maybe they were.

"What’s the next one?" I asked, darting my eyes to the training materials scattered around the field.

It was better to leave the things that were beyond my understanding that way. At least, that’s the one thing I’ve learned coming to the pack.

"Sword fight." He replied, picking up two wooden swords.

"Why swords? I thought our claws could do the job." I asked, my breath stuck in my throat. If only he knew about my fear of swords.

"Yes, they can, but they’re never enough. One has to learn all the possible ways to kill an enemy, so if anyone surfaces, victory is assured." He walked to me with a smile that faded almost immediately and was replaced with worry.

"What’s wrong? Are you sick?" He rushed to me, dropping the swords in the process.

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out so I started crying instead, hot beads of sweat formed on my body as the tragic event that scarred me and made me scared of swords replayed in my head.

Xavier didn’t ask any questions again and just held me in his arms as I cried shamelessly. ’You might regret this moment later on...’ I pushed away the thought that sprang into my mind. Later would take care of itself.