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Harper didn’t seem fazed by the situation and wore a smile in spite of it all. Lexi leaned against her best friend. Harper kissed the top of Lexi’s head, assuring Lexi that there was no ill will between them.
Lexi felt so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful friend as Harper. And now that Harper was her personal enforcer, she would always have her best friend by her side.
Especially now that someone apparently wanted her dead. Who could that possibly be? They were obviously determined but not very effective. Harper would keep her safe; she always would. Lexi sat up and looked into her best friend’s eyes.
“Harper, thanks for being here. As my best friend and as my enforcer. I really need you around now.”
Harper knew what Lexi was getting at. Lexi could tell by the glint in her eyes. Her mouth turned up in the corner like a smile that wasn’t quite strong enough. Harper helped Lexi to her feet.
“Well, I’m not going anywhere, Princess, so you needn’t worry about that. Something we should worry about would be who the culprit might be.”
“It could be anyone. It’s not like the pack welcomed me with open arms. And with the pack house being open to all members, it leaves a great deal to the imagination.”
Harper and Lexi began sparring again. Revitalized by the revelations she had, Lexi’s strength was just as powerful as before, if not more powerful.
“Do you think it was someone inside the pack house?” Harper grunted out.
“Who knows? It could be staff, it could be a healer, it could be anybody,” Lexi practically shouted.
Lexi’s anger mounted again, and her movements became stronger and more confident. Harper was a strong woman, and even so, she was starting to struggle against Lexi’s force.
“It’s a good thing you can heal me, Princess. You may need to pretty soon.”
Lexi was less than amused as her thoughts ran wild. She was getting rough with the shifter but continued her attack on Harper. Harper kept the smile on her face, never wavering for her friend. Lexi wondered how Harper did that … remained happy when everything seemed bleak. She had always had that ability, and Lexi had always envied it. Lexi tended to be a bit hot-headed at times.
Lexi’s fire had begun to burn slower, extinguished by the love her friend continued to show her. In spite of everything, Harper had been a terrific friend and an outstanding companion through good times and bad.
Lexi remembered how they used to spar when she was younger. Harper used to teach her different moves, and Lexi became stronger just for knowing her. Harper was destined to be an enforcer based on her strength and tenacity. Opposites attracted: Harper trained to be a soldier while Lexi trained to be a princess.
They were just getting back into a rhythm. Obviously, Harper was in the same reminiscent mindset as Lexi. They started laughing, and their fighting became closer to child’s play.
Suddenly Lexi went rigid. Her eyes widened.
She began to fall backward as the pain in her chest grew. Distantly, she heard Harper scream. She was sobbing and calling for Xander. Was he close by? When Lexi hit the ground, her head bounced off the dirt, and she saw what had happened.
The arrow stuck straight out of her chest, right where her heart should be. Lexi believed with every ounce of the strength she had left that she was dying. In the last moments before her vision went dark, she saw her attacker.
They were perched in the shadows on top of the tower with a cloth pulled over their face. The bow was still taut, ready to loose another arrow if need be. Despite the less-than-clever disguise and with the darkness closing around her eyes, Lexi clearly saw who had shot the arrow.
She couldn’t believe it. And then the world went black.
TWENTY-SIX
XANDER
The connection between mates was supremely intuitive and palpable. Xander wasn’t far away when the arrow struck Lexi. He had been in the garden, the same one they had run through a few nights before to make love. He was never very far from her as he felt the need to protect her, but he also wanted to give her space to be free as the future queen.
He bolted around the corner to the area where Lexi and Harper had been training. Harper called to him, but he was already halfway there, focused like a high-speeding locomotive on a mission.
The arrow had penetrated just above Lexi’s left breastbone. Xander knew it had taken the wind out of her, pushing her backward in a slow-motion tragedy toward the earth because it had also taken the wind out of him.
Lexi was lying on her back, blood blooming at the top of her white shirt like a painter’s rose. Xander fell to his knees and scooped her up in one quick motion, holding Lexi in his arms like she was a rag doll.
“Get the healer,” he grunted at Harper.
Harper ran in the opposite direction as Xander bolted back to the garden, vaulting his large, strong body up the back stairs and into the private kitchen. Lexi mumbled in his arms, the arrow sticking out of her chest tall and mocking.
“Xander …” she grumbled. His wolf stirred in response.
