Outcast: The Alpha Kings Beloved Chapter 17 by Blue Tears. 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 hesitatio n. I looked at him in surprise

What on earth did he mean? . “Someon e is ou tside. Anthony’s Adam ’s apple bobbe d as he spoke. I felt my cheeks turn bright red for thinkin g of something naughty. I cleared my throat and tr ied to get up, but a sharp pain shot up from my leg. Wincing, I sank b ack into the bed and asked, “Who?” . “Barb ara. ” Yikes. If Barbara was stand ing outside, she ind eed posed a problem. But on second thought, I realized the prince had nothing to do wi th me, so why was he so hesitant to go out? “So what if she’s outs ide? There’s nothing going on between us. You can go still go out. In my eyes, this made pe rfect sense. But Anthony turned his head and l ooked at me. I could see the compl ex emotions in his eyes. All right. I ge t it now. Maybe it was because the p rince didn’t want to be se en walking out of my room. It could cause a sca ndal. It made sense he wanted to save face. I opened my mouth to say som ething, but then I heard Bar bara’s voice outside my door. “Prince Anthony is so biased. That time Jen nifer poured soup on me, I went to him to seek justice, but he just brushed me off!” . “I think he treats Jennifer differen tly. What a bitch!” . Anna, the she-wolf who often hung out with Barb ara, echoed with hatred. Like many other she- wolves, Anna was obse ssed with the prince. And consequently, li ke many other she-wol ves, she despised me. “He has shown h is bias for her more than once,” . Barbara adde d through gr itted teeth. “When we were in our pack, he protected her and allowed her to participate in the trials. Even though she was late, h e ordered us to delay the trials. He asked all of us to wait for her, a humble slave. Not to mention, he even forced m e to apologize to Jennifer in public. Damn it! I was so fucking angry. I really don’t know what he sees in that bitch. Motionless, both Anthony and I lis tened quietly to the two she-wolves outside the room talking about us. It brought on an awkw ard atmosphere. I stol e a glance at Anthony. To my surprise, his fac e was red—an expression I had never seen before. Was he embarrassed? Or angry? I really couldn’t let the prince out now. If Barbara and Anna saw that I had be en in the same room with him, they wo uld spread rumors about us, no doubt. However, after hearing what Barbara said, I realized t hat what they said was true. Anthony reall y did treat m e differently. Although he had already told me not to expe ct special treatment from him just because I was his mate, his actions spoke otherwise. Finally, the two voice s from outside faded a way into the distance

They were gone. After an awkward silence, Antho ny opened the door and slipped outside without uttering a word. I stayed in bed, wondering how Anth ony felt about me. Did he only treat me as a partner and a trainee, or was there something else? . Anth ony’s POV: . The next morning, I went to give med icine to Jennifer. With it, her leg could re cover faster. But truth be told, I sti ll felt embarrassed from what happened yesterday. Although Barbara’s words were full of em bellishment, 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 your self. ” My wolf, Zan e, jumped out again. “You like h er! Plain a nd simple. “Zane, be q uiet. ” I sh ook my head. I didn’t want to listen to Zane. I made my way to her dormitory bui lding under the scorching hot sun. In the distance, I could hear trainees shouting loudl y on the training ground. When I reached Jennifer’s ro om, I found her lying in bed with her eyes wide open. If it were any other injury, it would’ve heal ed by now. But Jennifer’s leg was broken, so sh e couldn’t even get out of bed or walk freely. When she saw me co ming in, she seeme d to be surprised. She quickly pulle d up her quilt to cover herself up. “Mr. Jones, what’re you doing here?” . “I’m just passing by. By the way, I want ed to have a look at you. After all, I w as partly responsible for your injury. As I approached her bedside, I noticed that she was only wea ring a lace camisole. I gulped. Her shoulders were exposed, and if I looked d ownwards just a bit, I could see…Well, she pr obably didn’t know the impact she was making. I averted my gaze quickl y and picked up the medic inal spray I had brought. Then, I reached for the corner o f the quilt and lifted it slowly , only revealing her injured leg. “Mr. Jones, how about I put o n my clothes first?” Jennife r was obviously embarrassed. “Don’t worry, you’re not my type. ” I spok e without looking up, focusing solely on spraying the medicine on her injured leg. “Not your type? If that’s th e case, how come you can’t br ing 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. I Wait, no—I di dn’t have any s pecial feelings. Zane was j ust talkin g nonsense. “I told you to b e quiet!”