Anila POV The growling of my stomach stopped my words from escaping my lips. My cheeks flushed right away, and I held onto my stomach, attempting to silence it. “Sorry,” I murmured, embarrassed by the intrusive sound. Penny stood to her feet, laughing. “For what? Being hungry?” She asked, glancing at her phone. “Dinner will be served soon. Let’s go to the dining hall, and we can continue this conversation after” she said, motioning for us to follow her. I was grateful for the momentary distraction and subject change. I hadn’t even realized an hour had passed since I was trapped in the elevator with Zach. The memory caused my body to become incredibly hot. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and stood with everyone else. Penny draped an arm through mine. “We are in this together, Anila,” she assured me. “Stick with us and you’ll never be alone.” I smiled, it was a nice thought having a group of girls that I could depend on and even consider my friends. I ne
Anila POV The amount of gasps around the table was alarming. “What?” Penny gasped. “Are you serious?” Both Sadie and Sally gasped. “No way!” Sage gasped. “Holy shit,” Becca gasped and then she burst out laughing. “And here we are, feeding you awful information about him.” Penny’s face was beat red when she turned to me. “Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry, Anila. You must think awful of us. Speaking about your mate like that,” she said, shaking her head, her blonde, red, and feathered curls bouncing around her features. “I’m sure he’s so much different with you because you are his mate.” “That explained why he looked so happy,” Sage said, nodding in agreement to Penny. “You don’t need to apologize,” I said, placing my hand on Penny’s arm to calm her. “I’m glad you told me this information. I only just met him, and I wasn’t really sure what to think of it all. It’s… a lot,” I admitted. “I can’t believe Zach would be so cruel as to fight Xaden for his mate,” Sally breathed, sh
Anila POV I probably should have turned away. Maybe try to find a different bathroom; not that I would even know where to start looking. But something was keeping me grounded and when I peered around the corner and saw Damien’s distraught face, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere. My chest tightened even more. I was finally able to get a better look at Damien. I saw him when I first arrived after I found his wand, but with everything that had gone on, I wasn’t able to actually look at him. His hair was a deep shade of brown, like the riches of the earth. It lay in soft waves around his features. His eyes were a darker shade of gray than mine, and hard to read. Especially through his thick-framed glasses. I had to admit to myself that he was good-looking in a nerdy kind of way. Though, despite him appearing a bit nerdy, his body revealed that he was no stranger to the gym. He was tall, but his arms were nicely built and the white collared shirt he wore fi
Anila POV The familiar gorgeous wand flipped over me as if it had jumped off a springboard before spiraling around my legs and up my body. It swished and flicked above my head, and then twisted down beneath my feet. I wasn’t quite sure if it was happy to see me, or if it was performing a dance, but I didn’t stop the smile from forming on my lips. Suddenly my body feels heavy, and the magic releases its tight hold on me as I drop to my feet. The wand holds still in front of my face as if assessing me for any damage before whipping around. It dove straight for Sarah, aiming to take an eye out if she hadn’t ducked out of the way. She made a surprised yelp as it quickly turned around and came at her again, this time smacking against her cheek. There was a small red line that formed on her pale flesh as her hand covered it, betrayed shock written all over her face. As the wand readied for another attack, taking advantage of Sarah's hesitation, Damien was quick as he snatched it
Anila POV I have never before seen someone’s face change so red as they do in the cartoons, but that’s exactly what Sarah’s face did. And with the round shape of her head, she looked painfully like a tomato. She opened her mouth, readying an argument before Xaden held up his hand, cutting her off. “What are you going to say? That it isn’t true?” He shook his head, the calm features I was so used to seeing were nowhere in sight. “You approached so many men. Jaxon, Heath, Paul. Even Harley, and Myself.” My eyebrows raised at the list. “Wow, impressive,” I commented, but it only made Sarah start to tremble. “We are just classmates… friends. Nothing more!” She barked, but Xaden gave a boisterous laugh. “Only after you got rejected and turned down by every single one of us. ‘Just friends,’ she says. You know what is the most ridiculous? That you have this poor man believing the bullshit spewing out of your mouth.” Xaden’s tone turned angry as he gestured to Damien, who remaine
Anila POV The shopkeeper shook his head with a mirthless laugh. “I can’t believe it actually chose someone,” He said more to himself than to us. He slammed his hand on the table, causing me to jump. “What does that mean?” I found myself asking. “It means it’s all yours, young lady.” He begrudgingly hands the necklace over, and I am slow to grab it. No way something so exquisite was free. But from the deep frown on the old shopkeeper's face, I could tell he wasn’t very happy about it. “Thank you,” My voice was kind as I held the necklace. Its weight was surprising, considering how much metal is a part of it. It weighed almost nothing. Xaden looked at the necklace for a long moment, thoughts upon thoughts flashing behind his eyes before he gave a warm smile. “Congratulations, Anila. Let’s get back, so you can rest before tomorrow. You have orientation at 11 and then you’ll get your schedule. We can find time to meet tomorrow and begin your training.” I looked at t
Anila POVI lay on my new bed, feeling a bit overwhelmed over the day. It was hard to believe that I’d been away from home for a little over 24 hours. In a matter of hours, I found out that I was more special than I ever thought I could be.It was strange going to bed when the sun was rising. The sun was desperately trying to shine through my closed shades, and I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to sleep. I hadn’t slept since the plane though and my body was tired despite the time of day.Penny told me that I’d get use
Anila POVXaden walked with Penny and me to the dining hall. Penny was quiet since the elevator and I knew she probably had a ton of questions for me, but she wasn’t going to ask with Xaden present. He kept his hands entwined with mine and honestly, I was okay with that. I wanted him close; something inside of me needed to feel his presence.After that awkward elevator ride, I didn’t want him anywhere else. When Zach left the elevator, he went the opposite way and there was a part of me that wondered where he was going. Just before he disappeared, he paused, his eyes found mine. He held my eyes for only a second before