IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 16

Axel

The rest of breakfast consisted of me shovelling heaps of food into my mouth. I wanted to finish as soon as possible so that I could escape the scrutiny and get on with training.

When I was finally done, I silently picked up my plate, stood up and took large deliberate strides towards the kitchen. Heads turned and followed as I walked by. Some females were giggling behind their hands, eyes bright, full of excitement and some spoke in hushed voices. Even with the remains of a ghastly bruise along the left side of my face, the women still gawked at me, their gazes a story of lust and desire.

Yet, I desired none of them. None, but one.

On my way towards the kitchen, a she-wolf in a white apron approached me and intercepted the plate from my hand with a naughty wink. I grumbled a thanks and glanced at my wristwatch, noting the time.

It was 6h55 and training would be starting within 5 minutes. As I scanned the dining hall, wolves were still lounging around casually, helping themselves to some more coffee and chatting as though they had all the time in the world.

I hated when people did not consider punctuality as important.

“TRAINING, FIVE MINUTES!” I hollered in my Alpha tone and the entire hall shuddered. One of the younger she-wolves even fell from her chair, however, I paid her no attention and left the hall with multiple eyes burning into the back of my head.

Quickly and purposefully, I headed towards the training arena tucking my broken hand inconspicuously into my abdomen. It only took a few steps, before I heard a scurrying of feet behind me and as I glanced around, all the warriors had stepped out of the dining hall, following me towards the training grounds.

Some were still chewing, some were wiping their mouths, but they were there, and they were ready to start on time.

Gabrielle

I knew he was somewhere in the room because I had smelled him the moment he entered. I didn’t bother looking for him and kept my gaze focused on Pam as she told me about some new book she had been reading.

After the horrible dinner we had shared the night before, I wanted to avoid him as much as I possibly could. I knew meeting with him daily was going to be hard, but it turned out that I had underestimated the situation drastically. Being forced to interact with a mate who clearly wanted nothing to do with me was terrible.

Why hadn’t he rejected me yet? If he hated me that much, why not set us both free by rejecting the bond and dealing with the consequences that came with it. Why suffer like this? It could not be easy for him either, although he showed no signs of suffering at all.

It was clear that he was dealing with something, judging the large, blue and purple colouration around his left eye. Not to mention the dark, eery colours emanating from his aura.

The bruise on his face must have been some kind of brawl he had gotten into before coming to Dire Mountain. Probably a brawl with his brother if I had to guess. I mean, he must have put up quite a fight before coming here.

Nero curled up around my feet brushing his lush soft fur against my ankles. John took a seat right across from me, as usual.

On instinct, my hand slid down to Nero’s level, and I brushed my fingers through his grey and white coat. A form of comforting. After all, he was my best friend in the whole world, except for Pam, of course. She was my bestie, sure, but Nero, he would take a bullet for me without hesitation.

In his beastly heart, I was his universe and I loved him for it.

It didn’t take long for John to join in the conversation, which helped, because I wanted to keep my mind busy. Distracted.

I would say that it went pretty well, and I had managed to empty almost all of my food, until-

“TRAINING, FIVE MINUTES!” His husky, authoritive voice suddenly filled the air, sending a shudder down my spine. Not a shudder of fright, but a shudder of pure delight.

What a traitorous body I had. It yearned for him, and his voice was all it took to remind me of his powerful presence.

Pam’s eyes snapped towards me, but I kept my gaze fixed on my plate. I truly hoped she hadn’t seen the tiny goosebumps forming on my forearm. Even my breathing had turned uneven, and butterflies filled me to the brim. I hated it.

I hated being so attracted to someone who hated me in return.

His commanding energy left the room soon after, and within the blink of an eye, every male warrior stood up and followed.

John huffed in irritation but kept eating his breakfast as though the young Alpha had no effect on him whatsoever.

I knew better though. I could see the changes in him, around him. He would not be fooling me.

As I peered at him through my lashes, I knew for a fact that he did not like Axel. Not even the tiniest bit.

“Are you ok?” Pam asked barely above a whisper. She was leaning closer with a worried expression on her face.

“Sure,” I lied, “why wouldn’t I be?”

A perfect, plastered smile instantly slapped onto my face. The Beta looked up from his food and also waited for Pam to answer.

“I-uh,” she glanced towards him and mumbled, “never mind.”

After that, an awkward silence fell around the table, and I couldn’t get myself to put another piece of food into my mouth. My appetite was completely and utterly spoiled.

Replaying our disastrous dinner from last night in my mind, I pushed my plate away and waited for Pam to finish up so that we could head out to training ourselves. We didn’t train with the other warriors though. We had private lessons daily with either the Beta or the Delta since we were different from the other wolves and therefore required different training.