Prey

Chapter 8

Doe's POV:

Xander and I walked silently to the dining hall.

Usually, when we were in public, the small talk and any show of basic decency flew right out the window.

I walked one step behind him from muscle memory at this point, glancing around the room for a familiar face.

If Nico did end up actually buying another pet, I definitely wanted to see her.

Xander looked like he was doing the exact same thing, effortlessly dodging through the crowd of vampires and humans alike to meet up with his brother.

I could tell that he finally spotted him once Xander made a b-line in one certain direction.

Not long after, I saw him as well, immediately noticing the new girl who's leash was set in his hand.

The thing that immediately stood out to me was how ridiculously red her hair was, followed by her pale skin and wide blue eyes.

Except the thing that made her stand out the most was how obviously terrified she was.

Which I found odd.

Usually, pets are raised to at least keep their panic to a minimum after just being purchased.

Even with the variety of them, I've seen from differing pet shops at least had that down.

Although as I got closer, I could almost differentiate the look in her eye from regular panic.

The way her head turned at every loud voice or whenever someone stepped too close to her mixed with the way she held herself in an attempt at comfort.

She had been through something before.

Her and Nico turned towards us at the same time, both eyes setting on Xander as he approached.

I could almost imagine the sneer he gave her based on her eyes widening in fear and her small step back.

Xander really liked his first impressions to new pets to be something that they fear.

Make them intimidated by him right off the bat.

The girl looked away as we finally reached in front of them, eyes darting around the room once again.

"So," Xander began, "Is this the one you chose for me?"

Nico's brows rose in a just barely noticeable note of acknowledgment at the question before looking down at the girl.

"No," He stated, effectively surprising both Xander and me, "I came to my senses and realized I shouldn't have to fix your mistakes. So I bought her for myself."

I focused back on the girl, who seemed too busy trying to ground herself to be listening to this conversation.

She definitely didn't look like the type of pet Nico would be in to.

His were usually more... calm at first.

"Hm. Good on you. I was gonna reject your offer anyway." Xander added.

"I figured," Nico said, turning to head towards our seats, "Khloe."

The girls head jolted up at the sound of what I guess was her name, then they began walking.

We followed behind, noticing how she would occasionally glance back at Xander and me.

Poor girl didn't look like she was going to last very long.

The brothers made their way and sat in their seats, while I took my place standing to Xanders left.

At least, that was usually the plan until I found Xander's hands at my sides and soon after found myself on his lap.