Outcast: The Alpha King’s Beloved by Blue Tears
CHAPTER 17 A VISIT
Jennifer’s POV:
I lay on the ground in a daze. The world seemed to stop and my ears were ringing. I could see Anthony jumping down from a height of more than ten meters. He landed next to me and started checking my injuries.
“Can you move your feet?”
Every part of my body was singing with pain, and my right calf hurt badly. I found I could barely move my leg.
“Your shin is broken.” Anthony gently touched my right shin and looked at me seriously.
I struggled to sit up, gritting my teeth in pain. It would take at least two days for my broken leg to recover.
“Can you walk?” Anthony asked.
I nodded and tried to get up with my hands on the ground to support me. But before I could stand up, I felt a pair of strong arms scoop me up. Surprised, I looked right into Anthony’s eyes, which were inches away from mine.
I wanted to shout, but I found I couldn’t make a sound.
“Don’t move.” Anthony tightened his grip around me, pressing me against his chest.
I could hear his steady yet powerful heartbeat. For some inexplicable reason, this made me feel safe.
It was the first time I was this close to Anthony. I studied him curiously as he carried me towards safety. He had strong arms, broad chest, and a face that all the she-wolves swooned over. His face was chiseled to perfection, and he moved with an air of nobility.
A few minutes later, Anthony brought me to the dormitory building. It was a rare day off and it was a particularly beautiful day, so the building was practically empty and the others had gone out.
Anthony carried me to the bed. “You can rest for three days before resuming the training.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jones,” I said gratefully.
“Don’t thank me,” he said gruffly. “I would’ve done the same for anyone else.” He sounded eager to distance himself from me.
But the truth was, he didn’t need to explain himself. I already knew that.
“Okay,” I said meekly. “Oh, please close the door for me when you go out.”
Anthony didn’t say anything more. He turned around and headed for the door. But just as he reached for the doorknob, he stopped in his tracks.
“I think I need to hide in your room for a while.” His voice was a little hoarse, and I could sense his hesitation.
I looked at him in surprise. What on earth did he mean?
“Someone is outside.” Anthony’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke.
I felt my cheeks turn bright red for thinking of something naughty. I cleared my throat and tried to get up, but a sharp pain shot up from my leg. Wincing, I sank back into the bed and asked, “Who?”
“Barbara.”
Yikes. If Barbara was standing outside, she indeed posed a problem. But on second thought, I realized the prince had nothing to do with me, so why was he so hesitant to go out?
“So, what if she’s outside? There’s nothing going on between us. You can go still go out.” In my eyes, this made perfect sense.
But Anthony turned his head and looked at me. I could see the complex emotions in his eyes.
All right. I get it now. Maybe it was because the prince didn’t want to be seen walking out of my room. It could cause a scandal. It made sense he wanted to save face.
I opened my mouth to say something, but then
I heard Barbara’s voice outside my door. “Prince Anthony is so biased. That time Jennifer poured soup on me, I went to him to seek justice, but he just brushed me off!”
“I think he treats Jennifer differently. What a b*tch!” Anna, the she-wolf who often hung out with Barbara, echoed with hatred. Like many other she-wolves, Anna was obsessed with the prince. And consequently, like many other she-wolves, she despised me.
“He has shown his bias for her more than once,” Barbara added through gritted teeth. “When we were in our pack, he protected her and allowed her to participate in the trials. Even though she was late, he ordered us to delay the trials. He asked all of us to wait for her, a humble slave. Not to mention, he even f*orc*ed me to apologize to Jennifer in public. Damn it! I was so f*uc*king angry. I really don’t know what he sees in that b*tch.”
Motionless, both Anthony and I listened quietly to the two she-wolves outside the room talking about us. It brought on an awkward atmosphere.
I stole a glance at Anthony. To my surprise, his face was red—an expression I had never seen before. Was he embarra*s*sed? Or angry?
I really couldn’t let the prince out now. If Barbara and Anna saw that I had been in the same room with him, they would spread rumors about us, no doubt.
However, after hearing what Barbara said, I realized that what they said was true. Anthony really did treat me differently. Although he had already told me not to expect special treatment from him just because I was his mate, his actions spoke otherwise.
Finally, the two voices from outside faded away into the distance. They were gone. After an awkward silence, Anthony opened the door and slipped outside without uttering a word.
I stayed in bed, wondering how Anthony felt about me. Did he only treat me as a partner and a trainee, or was there something else?
Anthony’s POV:
The next morning, I went to give medicine to Jennifer. With it, her leg could recover faster.
But truth be told, I still felt embarra*s*sed from what happened yesterday. Although Barbara’s words were full of embellishment, I had never realized that I treated Jennifer differently until then.
But I told myself that the reason was because I valued her potential. I was cultivating her talent, nothing more.
“Quit lying to yourself.” My wolf, Zane, jumped out again. “You like her! Plain and simple.”
“Zane, be quiet.” I shook my head. I didn’t want to listen to Zane.
I made my way to her dormitory building under the scorching hot sun. In the distance, I could hear trainees shouting loudly on the training ground.
When I reached Jennifer’s room, I found her lying in bed with her eyes wide open. If it were any other injury, it would’ve healed by now. But Jennifer’s leg was broken, so she couldn’t even get out of bed or walk freely.
When she saw me coming in, she seemed to be surprised. She quickly pulled up her quilt to cover herself up. “Mr. Jones, what’re you doing here?”
“I’m just passing by. By the way, I wanted to have a look at you. After all, I was partly responsible for your injury.”
As I approached her bedside, I noticed that she was only wearing a lace camisole. I gulped. Her shoulders were exposed, and if I looked downwards just a bit, I could see…Well, she probably didn’t know the impact she was making.
I averted my gaze quickly and picked up the medicinal spray I had brought. Then, I reached for the corner of the quilt and lifted it slowly, only revealing her injured leg.
“Mr. Jones, how about I put on my clothes first?” Jennifer was obviously embarra*s*sed.
“Don’t worry, you’re not my type.” I spoke without looking up, focusing solely on spraying the medicine on her injured leg.
“Not your type? If that’s the case, how come you can’t bring yourself to look at her?” Zane kept shouting in my mind. My wolf was getting more and more annoying recently. He seemed hell-bent on exposing my feelings.
Wait, no—I didn’t have any special feelings. Zane was just talking nonsense.
“I told you to be quiet!”