(Third Person POV).
"Who unleashed the horse?" Draven asked, voice low and dangerous as his gaze travelled from one person to the other.
No one spoke.
The warriors looked stunned, their heads bowing in confusion and sha. They shouldn’t have neglected their duties even for a second.
The Alpha wasn’t going to forgive this.
Jeffery, having just caught up, barked orders at a few of them to secure the remaining horses.
Wanda panicked, seeing Xamira standing at the side looking all guilty. It was only a minute before Draven found her and connected the dots, and she didn’t want that to happen.
She doesn’t want Draven to ever know who unleashed Tempest and caused such ruckus. It wouldn’t benefit her. After all, Xamira had been in her care. She would have a take on the bla.
In hopes to distract Draven, Wanda stepped forward, her smile tight and her voice overly sweet. "It must have been an accident, Alpha. Perhaps one of the servants forgot to secure the latch properly."
Draven didn’t even look at her. He wanted answers. Not distractions.
Then, his cold gaze moved sharply to where Xamira stood, trembling, with her small fists clenching and unclenching at her sides.
"Xamira," Draven called, voice soft—but it was a softness laced with steel.
The little girl flinched. Slowly, she peered up at him with wide, guilty eyes. She was afraid of she had done, and of his reaction.
"Co here," Draven ordered, beckoning on her as the intensity in his eyes dimd. As much as his entire being was vexed, he didn’t want to scare her more than she already was.
Xamira hesitated for a mont before taking slow steps forward, all while looking at the ground.
redith watched quietly from the side, her hands still clenched tightly into the folds of her dress. Her chest squeezed painfully at the sight of Xamira’s frightened face.
Even though Xamira almost caused her harm, she believed it to be an accident. And for a second, she wanted to interrupt Draven and stop him from scaring the child. But on a second thought, she thought it wise to let him do his job. And besides, she didn’t want to speak to him yet.
Draven crouched to Xamira’s level as she stopped in front of him, his voice lowering even more. "Did you touch the horse, Pumpkin?"
The child’s chin wobbled. Her big eyes welled with tears. She shook her head first—but then, after a heartbeat, she nodded miserably.
There was a stunned silence around them.
Draven exhaled slowly, his hand coming to rest gently on her head. His anger didn’t explode outward—it folded inward, coiling into sothing far more dangerous.
He straightened and turned toward the gathered servants. His voice was sharp, precise.
"Return her to her room. Now."
Dorothy hurried forward from wherever she had co, scooping Xamira up in her arms before she could protest.
As Dorothy carried her away, Xamira’s small voice floated back across the lawn:
"I’m sorry, Daddy!"
redith’s chest tightened a bit. She felt pity for Xamira, having seen how sorry she was, plus the reflection in her eyes.
She could tell how genuine the child was with her apology. She didn’t an to cause her harm. Yet, redith wondered how Draven was going to deal with the situation because it wasn’t over.
Draven turned, his gaze cutting briefly toward redith—but whatever emotion flickered there, he locked it away before anyone else could see it.
Without another word, he strode away, his broad shoulders rigid with contained fury. The horse racing was over.
Wanda watched him go with an unreadable look. She was expecting him to scold her for not watching his daughter properly, but he didn’t.
’It couldn’t be that he forgot, right?’ She thought, restraining from giving herself more hope.
Seeing how furious Draven was at the mont, to the point that he had to leave, it could be that he was still going to scold her. But at a later ti. Thankfully, not in front of others.
Then slowly, she turned her head to redith, her lips curling into the faintest of victorious smiles.
redith lifted her chin, refusing to flinch under the weight of Wanda’s fun with the passing of the danger over her life a few minutes ago.
She had survived worse.
But now, redith had co to understand sothing without bias. Wanda wished her evil and would celebrate in her death.
The hatred that woman had for her was sothing that was never going to change. And she had to be careful around her.
Just then, Dennis’ voice woke redith from her thoughts.
"Are you hurt?"
redith turned to et his concerned gaze. A sharp retort was just at the tip of her tongue, but one breath in and one breath out was all it took to calm her emotions.
"I’m good. Thanks for asking."
Dennis nodded, releasing a deep sigh of relief as his gaze briefly road her body just to be sure she was unhard before resting on her face. And at the sa ti, Wanda walked away.
She couldn’t stand redith getting the attention once again.
"I apologize for what Xamira did," Dennis said, a few thoughts running through his head.
For example, he couldn’t understand why his brother chose not to apologize to redith at the heat of the mont instead of leaving in anger.
"It was a mistake," redith said defensively without missing a beat.
"That could have been worse if my brother wasn’t fast enough to carry you out of the way," Dennis finished.
He ant no harm by trying to let redith know the weight of the worst fate that could have fallen upon her because of an innocent child’s impulsiveness.
There was nothing wrong with letting her see that Xamira was wrong, but of course, she didn’t seem ready to have the conversation for whatever reasons were best known to her.
"I appreciate your concern. With your permission, I will head inside for a rest. As you already know, I almost lost my life," redith stated, feeling the worried gaze of her maidservants.
Without waiting for a response, she walked away.
Dennis’ gaze followed her, watching how Azul, Kira and Deidra fussed over her.
"My lady, are you alright?"
"I almost had a heart attack..."
"Forgive us for not watching out..."
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