Chapter 11

ARIEL~~~~

His face scrunched up in confusion as he raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"None of your business," I replied. "What where you are going next time."

"I should be the one saying that," he replied. "You bumped into me."

"If you were watching where you were going then you wouldn't bump into me," I retorted. This is obviously the Northerner, and I've been told by Roseline to be rude to him so I'm going to do just that.

"We're sorry, sir," Denise said. "She's in a bad mood right now and we are in a hurry."

"Don't apologize to him," I hissed at Denise. "Entitled guys like me have got to be put in their place once in a while."

"Entitled?" he frowned this time. It's working. "You bumped into me, refused to apologize or simply walk away, and you still have the guts to call me entitled?"

"What are you gonna do, huh?" I stepped towards him menacingly. "I dare you, big boy."

"Ari!" Denise yelled and pulled me back. She then looked up at the man who just stared down at me with an expressionless face. "I'm extremely sorry, sir. I apologize again for her behaviour. She isn't in the best of moods right now."

"Never mind," he brushed it off as he walked away. "I can't take such a shorty seriously anyways."

My face contorted in anger at those words. "Did he just call me a shorty?"

Being 5'4 in a world where everyone was at least 5'6 or taller, it was an unspoken rule to never mention my height. Everyone in the kingdom knew that.

"Um, you shouldn't dwell on that, Ari," Denise tried consoling me. "I don't think he's from around here. He might be the Northerner."

"Even still, isn't it rude to insult a person using their height?" I asked as I glared at him.

"I think you did the same when you called him big boy," Denise said nervously and with good reason as my glare was directed at her now.

"Don't talk to me," I hissed and stormed away towards the throne room, annoyed that she supported the guy who abused me using my height.

I barged into the throne room and plopped on the closest seat with a frown while Denise waited outside.

"Oh, you were just a few minutes late," my mom smiled. "Xavier was here just a few minutes ago. You just barely missed him."

"Who's Xavier?" I asked absentmindedly as I seethed.

"Huh?" my father frowned. "Is that a joke?"

I took a second to think before saying my next words. My father's frown meant that I'm supposed to know this person, and the only person I don't know by name right now is the Northerner.

"Y-Yes," I stuttered. "He made me mad so I don't wanna acknowledge his name."

"Oh, lover's quarrel already?" my mom smirked. "For a person who strongly protested this marriage, you seem to be getting along well with him."

"Uh, yes," I smiled. Even though I used it as a cover, I meant that literally. He just made me hate him and I'm never going to acknowledge his name.

"I wanted to have a conversation with you both," my father sighed. "But he had a few things to take care of so he excused himself early."

"Oh, good," I relaxed in the chair. I didn't even realize that I'd been tense since I almost exposed our plan. "I don't want to see him."

"Baby, don't forget that you both are still getting to know each other," my mother advised. "It's okay to have issues but you shouldn't make him feel like you are the kind of girl who keeps a grudge."

Again, I meant that literally so I chose not to reply.

"Is that all?" I asked, eager to go to my room. Asher's stunt and that Northerner's attitude was pissing me off and I wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and close my eyes until I felt even a little better about myself.

I considered telling my parents about him height-shaming me and using it as an excuse not to marry him, but from their reaction to us fighting, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't see it as a big deal. They could even argue that he never knew, or even worse, call him to warn him about it. The latter would be the worst possible outcome at the moment so I decided to give it a rest for now.

"About Asher," my dad said, his tone turning serious. "How has your relationship with him been?"

"He's been avoiding me ever since he was told of my marriage," I sighed as I laid back, trying to look unconcerned. "He's being a dutiful soldier for his Alpha, I guess."

"I see," my father smiled, but I could see that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Then, why do I perceive his scent on you?"

Shit! Shit!! Shit!!!

†††††††††††

XAVIER~~~~


I sighed as I made my way inside the house.

"Southerners are a pain in the ass," I thought. "How can someone bump into me and still have the guts to demand an apology?"

"Welcome home, sir," Martha greeted me as I entered.

"Yeah," I replied as I walked into the house. It's only been a few days but Martha has tried her best to make the house a little conducive for me. She stood awkwardly in front of me for a little while, enough for me to know that there was something wrong.

"What's wrong, Martha?" I asked in a hushed voice, just in case I just walked into an ambush.

"You're walking into an ambush, sir," she whispered back, confirming my suspicion.

"Where are they?" I asked as I backed towards the door.

She shook her head as a warning for me not to go out.

"There are three in your bedroom and four scattered around the house," she said.

"What do I do?" I asked as she seemed to want to help me.

"Work with me and we'll take them out," she replied. "I don't want the Alpha to find out about this. It's for your own good."

"Okay then," I replied as I composed myself. "What's the plan?"

"You can fight, right?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that," I replied.

"Good," she said. "Go to your room. I'll take care of the ones down here."

"Will you be fine?" I asked.

"I don't mean to make you hate me, but I used to be called the Assassin of the Battlefield during times of war. Your father was a kid at the time. I can handle a few small fries scattered around the house even without my wolf. I was ordered to protect you and I will."

"Okay," I said as I made my way upstairs. "Be safe."

"You too," she replied. "If you die then I'm dead too."

I made my way up the stairs and made loud steps as I made my way to the door. I picked a vase along the hallway and made my steps silent as I got closer to the door to throw them off my actual distance to the door.

I also made sure not to let out my wolf aura for now, to avoid them pinpointing my location. I could feel their aura through the door.

"One in front of the door and two at either side of it," I thought. I was already in front of the door and I don't think they've realized it yet.

I let out my aura in a burst and kicked the door off its hinges, causing it to crash into the guy in front of it. In the same motion, I smashed the vase on the head of the one on the left while I dodged a slash from the one on the right.

The werewolf who I hit with the door transformed into a wolf and lunged at me with fangs bared, ready to tear into my flesh but I was ready for it. I smashed my fist into him while the one on right delivered a spear to my torso. He had only transformed his fingers into claws so he wasn't much of a threat as I held my ground and wrapped my arm around his neck, putting him in a chokehold while the fully turned wolf recovered. The guy on the left passed out from the force of the vase, leaving me with only two guys to deal with.

The wolf lunged at me again but this time, I swung his partner who was slowly losing consciousness and slammed them into each other. They landed on the bed and again the wolf lunged at me without giving me a break.

I was ready this time though. I turned my fingers into claws and slashed at his exposed underside while I dodged his charge. He immediately turned into his human form as he crashed into the wall. His chest had claw marks, cutting deep into the tissue.

"P-Plea-" I slashed his throat before he could finish his sentence. I did the same to the other two passed out on the floor.

"Try again in your next life," I said as I wiped the blood off my claws with my shirt. "The North has never and will never be inferior in a fight."