Betrayed by Blood, Claimed by the Alpha
Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Chapter 78

Betrayed by Blood

"Lydia," a familiar voice hissed close to her ear, and she froze.

The voice... she knew that voice. Slowly, the hand over her mouth eased, and she turned around to face him.

"Xander?"

_________________________________________

There he was, after all these days. He was right there, standing in front of her. She could hardly believe her eyes. He was truly here.

"X-Xander." She called out to him again, her voice rough with emotion.

"It’s me, Lydia."

Lydia gasped, as though his voice solidified it all. It was like the breath she had been holding for days was finally released. She didn’t hesitate for a second.

Lydia closed the space between them, her arms wrapping around Xander’s neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. She squeezed him as though she could never let go, as though she feared if she did, he would disappear again, as though she had never seen him in the first place.

Xander’s body stiffened for a brief moment, but then he exhaled, wrapping his arm around her body. She could feel the stiffness in his body but paid it no mind. All that mattered in that moment was that he was here. Alive.

"I thought I lost you," Lydia whispered as she stepped back, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.

"I’m sorry," Xander said, his voice rough. "I didn’t mean to make you worry."

Lydia stared at him; he looked different, with a mountain of beard now covering his jaw, his skin tanner, face bruised, and lips cracked. He looked like he’d been dragged through hell, and once again, Lydia’s heart broke.

"Where have you been, Xander? Why didn’t you—" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Everyone has been searching for you. I have been searching for you. Why didn’t you come to me?" She croaked out eventually.

"Come to you? Lydia! I came to you, and you couldn’t help either. What was I supposed to do? Stay there until Cain got fed up with me and had me hanged? Is that it?" Xander spat out. He was frustrated, tired of running and trying to prove his innocence. He escaped Matt’s cabin and had to track down his former junior. He had begged and even blackmailed him before he agreed to lead Lydia here. It’s been hell...

Lydia’s heart skipped a beat, but her anger quickly took over. She shook her head, her hands curling into fists. "I’ve been fighting for you. Every day I’ve been fighting. But you—" Her voice wavered slightly, "You didn’t trust me. You didn’t trust any of us. You just ran off and—" She stopped, trying to regain control of her emotions. "Do you even understand what you’ve done? What we’ve been through?"

Xander took a step back, a disbelieving scoff escaping his lips; he ran his fingers through his hair. "Did you just say what you’ve been through?" He chuckled bitterly. "I have just one arm, Lydia. If anyone should talk about going through something, it is me. And what do you think I did exactly, huh, Lydia?" he spat out bitterly. "I’ve been trying to survive, and all you’ve done is stand on the sidelines, playing it safe. What did you want me to do, huh? Just sit back and wait for Cain to kill me?"

Lydia took a step back, her breath catching in her throat. The words stung, harder than anything she had expected from him. "You could’ve trusted me," she whispered, her voice strained. "You could’ve waited. You could’ve believed that I was trying to help you."

Xander’s jaw tightened, and he looked away, "I didn’t have the luxury of waiting, Lydia. I could’ve been killed next based on however Cain was feeling. I couldn’t just wait around till a miracle dropped." He gritted out through clenched jaw.

"So you go ahead to kill those guards? Is that it! To save yourself, you kill all those people?"

Xander stared at her blankly, his resolve weakening. If anyone had said this to him, he wouldn’t even waver at it, but this—this was Lydia, and even she didn’t trust him... he swallowed the lump in his throat, "You too? You really think I would take the lives of the very same warriors I trained since they were teenagers? You think I’m so callous, so evil that I would do something as horrible as that?"

"Xander—"

"You really think I’m such a despicable person. Tell me, what else do you believe I did? I sent those assassins to Cain? That I acted that way with Avery because I wanted to? That I would try to force myself on her or—"

Lydia stepped forward, grabbing his hand. "What? No! I don’t believe you did anything like that—"

Xander jerked her hands off roughly, "Oh, but you did, Lydia. You stand there, in front of me and tell me I killed those men. I trained them, I ate with them, drank with them. I was a part of them, and you think I would murder them so brutally. Tell me, did it ever occur to you that I didn’t escape? That maybe I was taken against my will?" He spat out venomously.

Lydia swallowed hard, masking her emotions as much as she could. "Were you—"

Xander’s jaw hung open in disbelief, "What?"

"Were you taken against your will?"

"You— Lydia—No! I left. I saw the opportunity and I took it. What did you expect? For me to wait to be executed? I ran because I had no choice."

"You always have a choice! Xander! You didn’t have to do this," Lydia whispered, "You should have trusted me, Xander. I could have helped."

Xander scoffed again; he took out one of the flyers he had ripped off a tree on his way here and shoved it at her. "Was this also my choice, Lydia? Was it? To have my face plastered on every single thing in this region! Was it my choice too?" He growled, his veins popping out of his neck.

Lydia snatched the flyer from him, squeezing it hard and tossed it aside. "Come back."

"What?" He croaked.

"Come back to Vehiron with me. I will beg Cain, I’ll find the proof of your innocence. I will do everything and anything, but you’ll be clear of this atrocious accusation.

Xander took a step back, shaking his head slowly as if the words she spoke couldn’t register in his mind. "Beg Cain? You want me to go back to Cain’s hellhole, to beg him for mercy after everything he’s done?" His voice trembled with frustration; he was terribly hurt. "You don’t get it, Lydia. You don’t understand what it’s like to be trapped in that dungeon, waiting for a miracle, for Cain to change his mind, for your innocence to be revealed. You don’t know what it’s like to count the seconds, waiting till you can see even a fraction of the sky." He shook his head. "I’m not going back there until I find proof of my innocence."

"Xander—"

"No! I came to you because I wanted you to help me... I can’t be proven innocent inside Vehiron. I need to search for the person that sold the poison and those that bought it from him. Only then would I be able to return. Until then, I only ask you to help me...."

"Help you with what?" Lydia asked.

"Resources... I need to see those assassins."

Lydia gasped, her eyes widening. "What? What do you mean see those assassins?"

"I know they haven’t been buried yet. They’re embalmed till there’s lead on this whole debacle. I need something of theirs. A ring, hair, necklace, cloth. I need something of theirs to find my innocence."

"Xander, that’s... that’s insane. You want me to break into a place where they’re keeping the bodies of the men you’re accused of murdering? You want me to steal evidence to clear your name?"

"Steal? Why would you have to steal it? You are in charge of these things. You can simply just—"

"You really think you’re the only one this whole thing has affected, huh? What did you think happened when Cain found out you escaped? Who do you think bore the brunt of his anger? He took away everything! I only have my title now. I have to earn his trust again before he can even give me a chance. I don’t have access to anywhere anymore."

Xander ran his hands through his hair frustratedly; he should’ve seen this coming. He should’ve predicted this. He should’ve—

Lydia stepped closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Xander, please come back with me. How long do you plan on being on the run? How long will it take till Cain catches up to you and forces you?"

Xander gently removes her hand off him, stepping back, "He’s never catching up to me, not unless you tell him anything about our meeting today."

"Xan—"

"I’ll see you again when I come to prove my innocence." He said, stepping away from her slowly.

Lydia took a step forward, her hand stretched out, she called out his name again, but he was long gone.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.