Prey

"You are going to make sure of what? To get this mess cleaned up?"

David's voice rang in Ryan's ears, making him turn around and face him.

The anger that he had been venting on the lifeless object finally found its target; and without the delay of a single second, he moved towards David.

And before he could understand what was coming his way, Ryan grabbed his collar while he spat the lava out of his mouth, which had been simmering inside his guts all along. 

"Why? Why did you have to humiliate me like this-"

"I have not humiliated you."

David spoke back, grabbing the wrists of the two hands attached to his collar.

"You did! You did, why did you replace the real Alpha Pudding with the wrong one, after coming to know the truth-"

"I did not-"

"Yes, you did."

"I did not-" 

"David! You might be capable of cheating this whole world, and you might be capable of fooling your own emotions; but you can't cheat me just like you can't deny the soft corner you have in your heart, for her-"

"Shut up!"

"Why, because the truth tastes bitter?"

Ryan asked with a smirk on his face, and was about to loosen his grip; when he noticed that David had let go of his hands and grabbed his collar in return, as he roared out;

"I do not have any soft corners for my enemy -"

"Oh, really? Then tell me why! Why the hell did you not serve the real Alpha pudding, and at the dance -"

"About the Alpha Pudding, I am not sure what you are trying to say or accuse me of. 

But at the dance, I grabbed her away from you because I can't stand any girl facing any kind of physical torture from a monster like you-"

"Is that so! Then how can you forget about-"

David thundered on without a pause of response from his end.

"It's not about me! I am here to talk about you, Ryan, so shall we?" 

"Do you consider yourself the King of this whole place, that I am obligated to talk according to your preferences."

Ryan spoke, leaving his collar and freeing himself from his grip at the same time, knowing that he had hit his weakest point now. 

This is when he heard his calm voice back,

"What do you mean by 'consider', I am the king of this whole Territory."

"Oh, isn't that rich! A King who is not even capable of revealing the real identity of an intruder just to keep his image clean! Or should I say, you have fallen for the enemy's daughter?"

Ryan counter attacked.

"You know this very clearly, that if I say anything about you stalking Nora, then your entire career is finished -"

"You!"

Saying this, Ryan raised his fist and was just about to punch him. But David dodged his attack at just the right time, deflecting his punch through the air. 

"Ryan! My dear ex- best friend! I hope you remember very clearly exactly what I am capable of. Hence I am telling you now, that the next time, you shall not get this grace.

And once again! I am not clear about what misunderstandings are cooking inside your mind, nor am I interested in knowing who is responsible for switching the fake Alpha Pudding from the real one. But I am glad that someone did… because now that you have already blamed me of falling in love with the enemy's daughter, I will show you my hatred for her."

David's eyes flashed with anger, as he continued throughout gritted teeth;

"But I am here to give you a friendly warning: she is my prey! Stay away from her. 

And by this, I mean about stalking and physically both, because next time a scar on her wrist might result into a broken hand for you-"

"Scar on her wrist?"

This was the only thing that was able to draw Ryan's attention to David's words, as he opened his mouth again, thinking that David might not have heard him the first time. 

"What do you mean by the scar on her wrist -"

But his statement was left hanging in the air, as he noticed David making his way out of his room and probably, the dorm, too.

_________________

It was a good thing that Louis had made her memorize the entire map of the school, because of which she had not faced any difficulties in finding Romera's house on her own. 

And on her way back, she was just thanking herself for deciding to go and visit her, thinking that there might be something important because of which she had summoned her.

Even though it was just because she wanted to keep a check on how she was feeling, and if she was finding herself to be comfortable here or not.

She loved her time there- it was not only comfortable, but it felt personal as well. Romera and her husband Adrin, they both gave her the glimpse of the caring parents and the home she never had.

And while she was lost in her imagination and replaying the memories she had just created, she was about to knock into a large boulder with her left foot. 

But right before that, she felt a grip around her right arm and got pulled towards the origin of the force. And before she could have said anything, she heard the voice which was the sole reason for her bad mood today.

Great! Just when her mood had managed to get slightly better, he was there once again, to make it worse! 

"Who told you that just because you are a Princess, you are allowed to roam freely in this school at night?"

"The very same person who strictly warned me to stay away from you."

She retorted, and was about to free her arm from his grip and move ahead, when he managed to turn her around by pulling her from her left shoulder, and thus made her face himself. 

"Then I must say, you need to get your facts from the right person, because this one is proving to be quite misinterpreted and delivering wrong facts to you."

"Dav-" 

Her words paused before they could have reached halfway out of her mouth, as soon as she noticed that after finishing his sentence, he had slowly pulled her hand upwards and gently started to put the ointment on the scar that had already started to fade.

_________________