Outcast: The Alpha King’s Beloved by Blue Tears
CHAPTER 14 LOVE ON THE TRAINING GROUND
Jennifer’s POV:
Prince Anthony seemed to be looking at me and Daniel. After letting his gaze linger on me a second longer, he turned away and then left without a backward glance.
I scratched my head in confusion.
What was the matter with Anthony? Was he just some moody werewolf? Or did I somehow offend him?
“Jennifer, what’s on your mind?” Daniel waved his hand in front of me, trying to get my attention. “Is something bothering you?”
“What? Oh, it’s nothing.” I gestured for him to sit next to me on the lawn. “Thanks for bringing snacks!”
“No worries. We’re friends.” He opened the shopping bag and handed me a bag of chips. “I heard that girls like eating chips, so I figured you might want some, too.”
Friends? What a precious word! He was the noble Alpha’s heir, yet he was willing to be friends with someone like me.
“That’s really nice of you, Daniel. Yes, we are friends.” My eyes stung a little. I was so moved that I found myself wanting to cry.
I took the snack gratefully, tore the bag open, and shared the chips with him.
“Jennifer, you did great today,” Daniel said. “I’m honored to be friends with you!”
“Me too.” Even though we had just met, it felt like we were old friends. I felt like I could talk to him about anything under the sun.
We talked for so long and covered so many topics that we realized we had a lot of things in common. Daniel was well-informed, funny, and outgoing. Chatting with him was pretty fun. I felt very lucky to have him as a friend.
“You know what? Anthony is as emotionless as a psychopath,” I complained, pursing my lips. “Carson is harmless compared to the prince!”
“Really? Is he that scary?” Daniel seemed to be amused. “Carson is well-known for his strictness. Is the prince really harsher than him?”
“Yes! I am telling the truth!” I rubbed my sore shoulder and winced. “Every day after training, I feel like I’m going to collapse.”
Daniel didn’t reply. He looked at me sympathetically, waiting for me to continue.
“Actually, there’s something I can’t seem to wrap my head around. Prince Anthony is always scowling. Doesn’t he ever get tired? I seldom ever see any other expression on his face…” Recalling the cold expression on my trainer’s face, I pouted.
Just then, Daniel seemed to see something behind me and his expression changed dramatically. But I continued to rant, regardless.
“Daniel, if you were trained by the prince for just one day, you’d know how I feel. Sometimes, I wonder if I’ll freeze to death under his cold stare. You don’t know how scary his eyes look! Plus, he’s moody. I can never guess what he’s thinking. And why can’t he change his expression? If he keeps this up, won’t he get Bell’s palsy?” Recalling the cold expression on my trainer’s face, I pouted.
He started to wink at me exaggeratedly, as though he wanted to say something.
Only then did I realize something was wrong. I turned around and looked up, only to see Anthony’s icy face.
At that moment, I felt as if I stepped right into hell.
All the color drained from my face and my heart seemed to stop beating.
Oh, my God!
“Well…” I tried to find the words to explain to him, but I soon found that I had nothing coherent to say.
“If you have the energy to talk about such nonsense, it seems I didn’t train you hard enough today. Let’s add two more hours.”
Without waiting for a response, Anthony turned around and headed back towards the training ground.
‘What?’ I watched him in silence.
I cursed myself internally. Why the hell did I talk about the prince like that? And, as luck would have it, the prince happened to hear what I said. I would rather be struck by lightning than train for another two hours!
Anthony’s POV:
What was wrong with me lately? I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of Jennifer these days. She was really skilled, which impressed me. I wanted to train her myself. So I asked her to stay. But right after our training session, the werewolf named Daniel came and gave snacks to her. Were they close? I didn’t know why, but the thought of them being good friends made me feel strange and unhappy.
The next day, I divided them into two different teams during the training. Thinking of the way Daniel looked at Jennifer, I made sure that Carson a*s*signed him more training tasks to keep him busy.
Today, I asked Jennifer to stay on the training ground again so that we could continue our training, as usual. She was very talented. No matter how difficult the move was, she ended up learning it quickly. Back then, I had agreed to let her participate in the trials precisely because I knew she had a lot of potential.
Generally speaking, Jennifer’s boxing skills were already above average, but I held her to a higher standard. In a battle with the enemy, she could die if she wasn’t cautious enough. I needed to be strict with her. She didn’t seem to enjoy my sternness, but I had no choice but to train her in this way.
“Raise your wrist and punch harder.” To correct her form, my hand reached out to lift her wrist higher.
The second my fingertips brushed her skin, her face seemed to turn red. She glanced at me and lowered her head in silence.
I saw how flustered she looked and my heart skipped a beat.
I quickly shook my head to push those thoughts to the back of my mind. At this moment, I was not her mate, but her instructor.
“Mr. Jones, you seem distracted!” Suddenly, Jennifer threw a punch towards me. I had instructed her time and time again to always be on the lookout for an opening when fighting an opponent. However, this time, it was I who was careless and she saw this as an opportunity to strike. I didn’t have the time to dodge her attack.
But right before her knuckles connected with my face, she stopped. Of course she didn’t dare to actually hurt me. But because of her momentum, she lost her balance and fell forward. I quickly snapped to my senses and reached out to catch her before she fell to the ground. She landed in my arms.
I had always been disgusted with women who tried every means to touch me. But right now, I didn’t mind Jennifer’s touch.
“I’m so sorry.” Jennifer scrambled to get out of my arms. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I continued to train her as though nothing had happened.
As our training went on, the atmosphere between us seemed to become more intimate.