TAMING THE PLAYBOY ALPHA - Chapter 21: Chapter 21

FREYA'S POV
The chilly silence is more painful than the embarrassment flooding through me while I sit there covered in fluid.
I can't even look up at Silas, wondering the look he would be giving me right now.
The crowd reacts finally and all I hear is laughter that echoes around me incessantly. Just like that, I've become some sort of laughing stock to the whole school - most likely to Xena and Silas as well.
I bite my quivering lips, squeezing my eyes shut.
I'm fine, no matter what I was going to be fine.
I don't notice when the flames from the arrow start a fire that licks up the flammable liquid spilled everywhere. In seconds, it runs up the trail to a larger puddle around me, bursting into a flaming wall of fire that engulfs everything around me.
Too shocked to move, overcome by my fight adrenaline response, I remain frozen in place till Silas tackles me out of the way before the burning flames combust around me.
I open my eyes, breathing hard and Silas kneels above me, breathing just as hard as I am.
The echoing laughter only grows louder after this. I attempt to numb the sound all-round by plugging my ears with both my hands but it's not as effective as I want it to be.
Silas stares at me for a while before he suddenly grabs a hold of my wrist, pulling me to my feet with much ease.
I open my eyes and finally look at him. Rather than judgment, there's something else looking back at me.
"C'mon, let's go."
He pulls me, along past the noisy crowd and I don't protest at all. We leave it all behind.
We keep walking till we reach the storage room where most sporting equipment is kept. It's silent as there is no one in sight.
I lean against the wall, finally able to catch a bit of my breath after a while. Silas stares at nothing for a while.
I don't dare to look up to him. Tears sting at the back of my eyes painfully, threatening to leak from my eyes but I blink them away.
I begin to wonder, maybe if he does fill a bit of judgment. It's only reasonable. There's no way he wouldn't second guess me after what had happened.
My brief feeling of relief quickly changes to anxiety, the fear of being found out by non-other than Silas, the Alpha prince, it would mean the instant death penalty.
I can't help but tremble with fear stuck in this predicament with the worse possible person to find out my secret.
SILAS' POV:
We're finally away from the noisy crowd and I can finally think.
Everything is going way off the script I had initially planned. It was meant to be quite simple; get Freya to be my partner, give her the greatest honor any female could ever dream of having, use the whole outdated ritual stuff to stay close to her and woo her and end the day, being cheered on by thousands...
Yet she had no interest in all that and the whole ceremony had flopped worse than I could have ever imagined.
I turn to her now and she full-on trembles, twiddling with her fingers.
I smirk quietly at a newfound opportunity barring itself infront of me. There's nothing more irresistible than a prince who rescues the damsel in distress.
"Hey." I move closer to her, using a softer tone.
I gently place a hand on her shoulder and she flinches away from me.
"You okay?"
She takes in deep breaths calming herself.
"Y-Yeah, I'm f-fine."
She doesn't sound fine but I don't prod further; patience, that's how you get the girl. Patience is key.
"What happened out there?"
She takes a moment to breathe again. While I'm taking her current shaken state to my advantage, I can't help but feel somewhat angered by it.
The taunting they had given her, I should have done something about it - only I didn't know she would be this affected.
"Take your time," I say with a calm tone with more genuinity mixed in there.
I might be a player but I'm not completely heartless.
"Well, uhm... the truth is I was born with a rare birth defect."
I pause, letting that sink in momentarily.
"It's not common so you might have not heard about it. My parents hated me, especially because of it. When I feel stressed, my muscles go limp and it's impossible to do anything physical. I've been home schooled all my life, so it's never really been a problem but this is my first time with other people. I guess it's just really hard adjusting."
She twiddles with her hands still with her head hung low and avoiding my eyes.
Her whole detached state is completely different from the Freya I know and it does something to me.
I feel uncomfortable watching her trembling hands, her nervous habit, I have a strange urge to punish everyone that made her like this.
I shake the primal instinct away from my head. I need to focus on why I was really doing all this; going through all this for. To win her heart for my bet. I need to think straight.
I place my hands on hers. They're smaller and too fragile; heat erupts on the tip of my fingers as I rub circles around them to calm her.
"Hey, it's fine."
She finally looks up at me. Her brown doe eyes glistened like diamonds looking at me with so much curiosity and wonder.
Another urge forms in the pit of my stomach to do something I'm not so sure of myself.
"Don't listen to all those taunting out there. The fact that you tried so hard and put in all that effort was enough for me."
The words leave my mouth automatically but my mind solely focuses on the caramel brown hue of her eyes, the light freckles almost unnoticeable spread across her pale cheeks, those peach pink small lips....
"Silas, you in here?"
And Lucas runs in, ruining the whole moment. She retreats from me, turning the other way as a red hue forms across her cheeks.
Cute.
I look away from her, putting enough distance between us - reminding myself that patience was required.
"The whole school is going crazy over what happened."
He continues, clueless about what he's interrupted. He pauses when he finally spots Freya standing there awkwardly.
His initial concerned look switches to a naughty smirk as he looks from her to me and winks.
I roll my eyes at his childishness, warning him to not say another word with just my eyes.
He holds back his laughter, nodding his head whilst pretending to lock his lips with an invisible key and tossing it away.
I stare unimpressed by his actions. If he wasn't a genius in the art of combat, I'd have found another Zeta for myself ages ago.
I turn to Freya, wanting to continue where we stopped again but sadly, another intruder interrupts.
"Freya!" Xena runs in through the door just time to ruin the moment further.
I sigh, giving up.
She pauses, seeing Lucas and I. She has a confused look for a while but then focuses her attention on her goal again, ignoring our presence.
She moves past Lucas and me, like we're invisible, coddling up to Freya in seconds.
"Are you okay?" she assesses her for injuries but finds none before pulling her into a bear hug, squeezing her considerably tight.
"Xena, you're strangling me."
Xena pulls away quickly, letting her take in enough air once more.
"What happened out there?"
She asks Freya now. Freya seems uncomfortable, looking up at her, then between Lucas and me.
The number of people here now seems like a crowd and it's clear she's not comfortable discussing something so personal with a crowd of people.
Xena quickly assesses this, nodding her head and turning to me.
"If you'll excuse us Alpha, I'll take her to the dorm to wash off all this flammable liquid on her."
Ah, so she's interpreted it that I'm the problem along with Lucas. If I had been given a few moments more, I'm sure I would have broken grounds with Freya - if they hadn't barged in.
I look at Freya but she avoids my eyes again.
"Alright." I nod, stepping aside for them to leave. Once they're gone, I sigh, exhausted by just everything that's happened.
Lucas stands there, watching me for a moment, clearly with more than enough questions running through his mind; questions that I know would be too annoying to answer.
I glare at him but he chooses to ignore my warning to shut up and speaks anyway.
"So... what's with you and Freya?"