AYLA
We rode deeper and deeper into the woods until the palace disappeared completely behind the thick canopy of trees. The gust of wind hitting my face and whipping my hair around was so exhilarating. A rush of adrenaline coursed through my veins as we continued riding, bouncing on the horse.
I couldn’t help the screams and laughter that kept escaping me. This felt good, so good that I had tucked my problems into the back of my mind, leaving them to rot there while I enjoyed this rare moment of bliss.
After a while, something suddenly rustled violently in the bushes beside us, and the horse neighed loudly.
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
"What—" I began to say when the horse suddenly lifted its front legs off the ground. I screamed, grabbing desperately at the reins as my body tilted backward.
"Hold on!" Alpha Ezra barked.
"I am holding—"
The horse jerked again, and my fingers slipped.
I felt Alpha Ezra’s arm wrap tightly around my waist just before we were both thrown from the horse. The world spun around me, trees and sky becoming nothing but blurred colors.
I braced myself for the painful impact, but it never came. Instead, Alpha Ezra twisted our bodies just before we hit the ground, and a loud grunt tore from him as his back slammed against the earth.
I landed directly on top of him.
For several seconds, neither of us moved. My heart pounded violently against my chest as we stared deeply into each other’s eyes. His lips looked so tempting, as soft as a ripe plum. Every atom of my being wanted to seek out his lips and kiss him deeply. His eyes, the way he looked at me... Oh my goodness. What was wrong with me right now?
"Get off." His golden eyes darkened, a hard frown settling over his face.
I snapped out of my trance, and my cheeks reddened with embarrassment as I pushed myself off him. My hands swatted at my clothes, dusting off the grass that had stuck to them.
His face twisted slightly in pain, his hand gripping his other arm as he stood up.
"Are you hurt?" I asked.
He didn’t respond, simply dusting bits of dried leaves off his clothes.
"So you care about me?" I proceeded to say.
"And who says I care?" he groaned.
"You protected me with your body when we fell off the horse. Thank you."
"That was just a reflex," he countered.
"I thought so," I murmured as I looked around at the vast expanse of grass and trees surrounding us. "Now, where is your horse? How do we get back to the pack?"
"We walk," he casually said, as though he didn’t know how deep into the woods we had ridden.
"What?" My eyes widened in shock.
I didn’t have a wolf, so I couldn’t shift and run back. It was also impossible for him to change into his beast and take me back to the pack on its back—that was, if he didn’t want me dead.
"The earlier we start, the earlier we’ll reach the pack," he muttered. "Let’s go."
"I am not walking back to the pack!" I retorted strongly.
"Then stay there." He didn’t wait for another word before walking ahead.
Ideas kicked into my mind. Perhaps this was my chance to escape. But looking around and realizing how damned I would be if I ventured into this thick forest alone, my feet moved on their own as I followed behind him.
"Why did you have to bring me this deep when you knew you couldn’t control your horse?" I grumbled as I tried to catch up with him, but he was too fast.
"You didn’t say that when you were laughing, screaming, and enjoying the ride," he grunted.
"Well, I would’ve preferred not to get abandoned by the horse in the forest and have to walk all the way back to the pack when you could just mind-link your Beta to bring another horse or something," I retorted.
He stopped and abruptly turned to look at me, a muscle in his face twitching. "Shut the hell up, would you? You complain too much," he groaned, his Lycan King aura pouring off him. He paused, and sighed. "We are not within mind-link range."
My mouth formed an ’O.’ How far into the woods had we gone if he couldn’t reach his Beta?
He turned around and continued walking. By the time we had been walking for several minutes, my shoes and the bottom of my black pants were covered in mud. Some had even slipped into my shoes, making my feet feel uncomfortable.
"You walk too fast," I breathed as I tried to catch up with him.
"You complain too much." He hissed.
"You’ve said that already."
"Then shut the fuck up!" he groaned.
I glared at the back of his head. "Maybe if you knew the kind of life I’ve lived, you wouldn’t find everything I do so irritating."
He stopped again, and I almost walked straight into him.
Slowly, he turned around. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," I grunted as I walked past him. This time, I was ahead.
He wouldn’t believe me anyway, even if I told him about it. He never even believed that my family had betrayed me and chose instead to believe I was a fraud, punishing me for a crime I didn’t commit.
The sound of rushing water reached my ears, and a river appeared between the trees, sunlight reflecting beautifully against its surface.
I glanced down at my muddy feet and immediately changed direction.
"Where are you going?"
"To wash this off." I kicked my feet slightly to show him as I continued walking.
"We should keep moving," he grunted from behind me.
"I’ll take two minutes."
"Ayla!"
Ignoring him, I moved towards the edge of the river and crouched down, removing my shoes before dipping one foot into the cool water. The sensation against my skin felt so nice and refreshing. My feet had already started hurting from walking, and the cool water relieved some of the ache.
"That’s enough. Let’s go," his annoying voice sounded from behind me.
"Do you ever stop ordering people around?" I turned slightly to look at him when my other foot shifted against the muddy ground.
It slipped.
My eyes widened in alarm, and before I knew what was happening, the ground disappeared beneath me and I fell straight into the river. The cold water swallowed me instantly, and panic exploded through my body. I kicked desperately, trying to find the bottom, but my feet touched nothing.
No. No. I couldn’t swim.
Water gushed into my mouth and nose. I flailed my arms and legs frantically, trying to gasp for air, but there was no air to breathe in, only more water filling my mouth.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist, and I desperately grabbed onto him, barely aware of what I was doing as he pulled me upward. Our heads finally broke through the surface, and I gasped sharply. He dragged me towards the bank and hauled me out of the water before lowering me onto the grass. I rolled onto my side immediately, coughing violently as I spat out water.
"Ayla." Worry was evident in the Lycan King’s voice as he called my name.
But I only coughed again.
"Ayla, look at me," he said.
"I... I am fine," I wheezed.
"What the hell were you thinking? Why did you go to the bank when you knew you didn’t know how to swim?" he yelled.
"It’s not like I went there with the intention of drowning myself. I slipped," I spat.
"And how does a twenty-four-year-old not know how to swim?" he growled.
"You know nothing about other people’s struggles when you’ve lived a glorious life in the palace all your life," I retorted as I tried to roll over and stand up, but he grabbed my arm firmly, stopping me.
"Does this have anything to do with the scars on your back?" he growled.
"It’s none of your business." I tried to stand up again, but his grip only became firmer. He pushed me back onto the ground and leaned over me, trapping me in place.
"I will not tolerate any more disrespect from you. I could rip your throat out right now if I wanted to, and nothing would happen. Talk. Now!" His menacing voice rumbled, and Lord help me, he looked so attractive right now.
How could I be attracted to my oppressor? Someone who just threatened to murder me.
I blinked once, then twice, not saying anything as I stared deeply into his eyes. The close proximity was doing unwanted things to my body. Mora! The way his wet hair clung to his forehead, water dripping slowly from the strands, was so damn tempting.
He had also gone quiet, staring deeply into my eyes, his chest heaving up and down.
My gaze dropped to his lips, my heart beating rapidly against my chest. I tried to control myself, to stand up and move away from him. But this time, I didn’t. I couldn’t.
Before I could stop myself, I crashed my lips against his, my fingers curling into his wet hair.