Xavier

*The window of the eastern wing was the only exit not monitored by guards, mostly because it dropped forty feet into a dense, unlit thicket of thorns. To a human, it was a death trap.To Xavier, it was a Tuesday.He didn't bother packing a bag. Silk shirts and designer watches were just breadcrumbs for his father’s hounds to follow. Instead, he stood at the edge of the stone sill, loosening the top three buttons of his collar as the suffocating weight of the Viper Elite—the name the media gave his family, though they didn't know how literal it was—pressed against his chest.“She’s the daughter of the Prime Minister, Xavier. You will smile, you will propose, and you will secure our northern border.”His father’s voice echoed in his mind, sharp and venomous. For months, it had been a relentless parade. He’d woken up three days ago to find a foreign socialite sitting at his vanity, explicitly placed there by his father’s security team. Tonight’s dinner party had been the final straw—a room full of wealthy sycophants watching him like a prize stallion.Xavier closed his eyes. He let the warmth in his core bloom, shifting his bone structure, collapsing his ribs, and shedding the restrictive weight of human skin. Within seconds, a magnificent, midnight-black black mamba coiled on the stone ledge. His scales absorbed the moonlight, completely invisible against the dark stone.He dropped.The thorns hissed against his scales, but he slipped through the sharp brush completely unharmed. Reaching the forest floor, he moved with terrifying speed, pouring his frustration into pure momentum. He slithered past the perimeter sensors, under the iron gates, and out into the vast, unpredictable freedom of the human world.Three hours later, miles away from the estate, Xavier shifted back. He stood on the dirt shoulder of a quiet highway, shivering slightly in the cool night air, wearing nothing but a pair of dark trousers. He had no money, no phone, and no plan.But for the first time in twenty-four years, he could breathe. But then, the sounds of growling come from behind him. In a flash, everything goes black* (you continue!!! Go wild and have fun!!!)