by Simone Elise
“You guys need to speak to your dad now.” I smiled and pulled away to look at both of them. “I will be downstairs if you need me.” They nodded their heads and I wiped a stray tear away from Nathan’s cheek. “Everything will be fine.”
The door cracked open and both boys turned towards it. Letting go of them, I stood up and looked at Xavier.
I shot him a small smile as I walked past him. His hand wrapped around mine, stopping me. His eyes said it all. He didn’t need to speak words.
Smiling gently, I pulled my hand from his and walked out the door, closing it softly behind me.
“Great job, Cho!” Chad smiled at me. I glanced at Dad as he nodded his head in agreement. “It must be the alpha blood in you.”
I smiled gently and let out an unsteady breath of air. I had done it. “I doubt it.” It was luck it had nothing to do with my alpha blood, or my family bloodline.
“Someone needs to go down and talk to Emily.” Dad looked briefly between Chad and me before his eyes stayed landed on me. “Keep her company until Xavier is free to explain.”
“I deserve an award for all I have done today.” I groaned and exhaled sharply while gritting my teeth. This was just my luck. Damn you, fate!
Turning my back to them, I slowly began to walk away.
“You don’t deserve an award, Chloe. It is your responsibility to help your pack. We are of alpha bloodline after all.” Dad said softly behind me. “Our job to help and support.”
I froze mid-step and my face twisted with realization. I knew what it was now. The smell that lingered in the scent of the boys. That smell I couldn’t pinpoint.
It was the smell of alpha blood. Fresh, raw and unhidden from our senses. Gasping, I spun around and looked my dad in the eye.
“The boys’ scent has the scent of alpha blood.” My eyes were wide as I informed the two of them of this.
Dad’s face was calm, like he knew. Chad’s face mirrored mine. It was covered in shock. Slowly my eyes drifted to the closed door. That meant only one thing…
Xavier was an alpha.
Chapter 16
Emily wasn’t making sense. She was just sitting there, crying and muttering things which weren’t understandable. I kept my hand on her knee, trying to pull her out of this babbling mess. Why was I trying? I didn’t have an answer for that.
“Emily, you’re not making sense,” I said kindly, again.
“So everything is true?” She looked me in the eye. “About…you…monsters.” She choked.
“Emily, I am going to give a word of advice. If you care for Xavier and your boys, you will not say that word to them.” My voice was hard.
“This isn’t happening.” She held her knees tight to her chest. “This isn’t meant to happen. Things like this don’t happen to me!”
Hurry up, Xavier, I screamed in my head. This wasn’t my place, to be explaining the ins and outs of our world to her. It was his. It was bad enough knowing that she would now be a part of my life, forever. Now that her sons were changed, they would join the pack, and she would be able to too, if Xavier stayed with her.
I prayed he wouldn’t, but then I cursed myself for thinking that.
“Is it true about soul mates?” Her face went pale and her eyes wide. “Am I Xavier’s?”
How did I respond to that? I could lie and say she is. I could scream no and tell her he’s mine. I could say no, we don’t have soul mates. It’s a myth.
But I couldn’t say anything. I just sat here with my mouth half open as my mind twisted over the facts, the options.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” She shook her head slightly and looked at me with complete panic.
“I…well…you…see…I…you…Xavier should…um…answer that…um, question.”
Oh, Chloe, you just made everything a hell of a lot worse.
She sprang up from the chair and started screaming Xavier’s name at the top of her lungs. Which for us is even louder!
“Shush!” I calmed her, or attempted to shut her up. “Xavier is busy with the boys. He can answer your questions later!”
“You mean my children!” She spat at me before crossing her arms. “MY children who are now…because of HIM!”
“Xavier loves you.” Oh, if she knew how much pain I felt saying those three words to her. Perhaps it would wipe the look of hatred from her eyes. “He chose you.”
“What do you mean, chose me?” Her eyes were narrowed slits.
I opened my mouth to say something to her, but at that moment my dad walked in.
“Chloe, I need to speak to you. Now.” Dad didn’t glance at Emily. His eyes were locked on mine and I knew from what was flickering in his pupils that something had happened.
Walking quickly past Emily, I followed Dad into the foyer.
“What, what’s happened?” My heart thumped and my palms sweated. Why did I have a feeling my world was about to be turned upside down, again, tonight?
“It’s Daniel.” Dad sighed. “His mother just phoned me…”
“And?”
“He found his mate.”
“Well, that’s a good thing.” I shook my head and tried to pretend to be calm about this, when the words were knives.
“It’s not what you think, Chloe.” Dad’s voice was a low whisper and he glanced up the staircase briefly before coming back down to my ear. “His mate…isn’t.”
“Isn’t what?”
Dan had his mate. I should be happy. I am happy for my friend. It was selfish of me to expect him to never find his mate. He deserved his other half.
“His mate is dying.”
“WHAT!” I screamed. Dad looked at me fiercely before gripping my arm and pulling me out the front door. “You mean dying dying?”
“Cancer, from what his mother told me.” A grim smile crept over dad’s lips. “He found her at the hospital.”
“Cancer. That means she’s human?” I arched an eyebrow. You had to be kidding me. Humans seemed to continually be entering my life at the moment.
“Yes, she is.” Dad nodded his head. “Which means…”
“We might be able to save her?” I prompted. “Werewolf blood is known for that.”
“Dan doesn’t want to.” Dad closed his eyes briefly. “He won’t talk to her.”
“Why?”
“Human and wolf bond isn’t as strong. You know that. Well, Dan is hoping he can...”
“Avoid it until she dies.” I rolled my eyes. Of course he would. Dan taking the easy way out. What a surprise. “I will talk to him. Make him see reason.”
“That’s the thing, Chloe.” Dad glanced behind me at the closed door and lowered his voice “Do you want to? I know you enjoy being with him. If his mate dies, he would be free and you both could have normal relationship together.”
“So you are saying for me to…”
“To think before you act. That is all.” Dad smiled briefly at me. “Also, it is important Xavier speaks to you now. Let him inform you of some things.”
“You mean why his kids have alpha blood?” I sighed. “I will let him explain.”
Dad nodded before rubbing his chin. “Chloe, I know you said you wanted to be apart from Xavier. Let the separation take its course and I supported that.”
I nodded my head.
“Well, my reasons for supporting it weren’t just focused on your happiness. I didn’t approve of him as a man and I didn’t want him with my daughter.” Dad shook his head. “The bottom line, Chloe. I want you happy now. So if that is with Dan, let it be with him or with that human boy. But if you and Xavier work together, your life won’t be easy, Chloe, and I don’t want that for you.”
“So you don’t want me with him?”
“Xavier has a past. Unlike me…us. His bloodline is…not as pure. Chloe, just don’t make any decisions until you know everything. I don’t want to influence your choice.” He reached for my hand. “It’s your decision, not mine. And y
ou’re young. You have a lifetime ahead of you. Nothing has to be set in stone.”
I nodded my head and smiled, before being pulled into his chest. Life wasn’t made to be easy, but surely my life wasn’t meant to be this hard.
***
“So, we should talk?” I looked Xavier in the eye and he nodded his head. “Tomorrow?”
He held the front door slightly open. “Yeah, I guess it is late.”
“Yeah, it is. Enough drama for today.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I suppose you still need to talk to Emily, anyway.”
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder and nodded his head, before looking back at me. “Night, Chloe, thank you.”
“Night, Xavier.” I turned and walked up the garden path, glancing back over my shoulder as Xavier closed the door.
Tomorrow felt too long to wait. Even though it was late now, I wanted answers.
***
I closed my bedroom door, leaning against it. What a night. I had to get some sleep so I could talk to Dan in the morning. Make him see reason.
Before it was too late.
I pulled my sweater off and hurled it to the side, slipping out of my jeans before getting into bed.
There was a tapping on my window. I snapped my head up and my eyes widened as I saw Xavier in the tree outside.
Climbing over the bed and quickly running over to the window, I opened it up.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Move.”
Doing as he said, I stepped aside and left the window open wide. He flung himself from the tree and landed in my room with a dull thud.
“Xavier, it’s late and you didn’t answer my question.” I pulled the window closed before crossing my arms to face him. “What are you doing here?”
“You wanted answers. I’m here to give them.” His eyes drifted over my body for a moment before snapping back to meet my gaze. “I thought the sooner the better.”
Shifting uncomfortably, I walked quickly across the room and pulled the blankets back onto my bed before slipping into them.
Now covered, I looked at him. “Well, then you better start explaining. I do want to get some sleep tonight.”
“Thanks for your help tonight with the boys.” He moved to sit on the end of my bed. “With Emily.”
“Yeah, well.” I looked at my lap. “It was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to do it.” Xavier sighed. “But you did it anyway.”
“Xavier, why did you deny me? Why is my dad convinced you’re a bad man? Why do your kids have the scent of alpha blood?” I looked at him. “You need to explain.”
All the questions bubbled to the top and I couldn’t hold them back.
“OK. But you need to let me tell you the full story, and when I am done you can ask questions, or tell me what I already know.” He shook his head. “And for the record, I’m sorry.”
I nodded my head and leaned back against my pillows. “I promise to remain silent.”
“I was 17, young and well, you know. Young. I was headstrong, a jerk and thought I was untouchable. I was also Alpha of the Crows Tribe.”
I gasped and then flung a hand up to cover my mouth. I nodded my head for him to continue. I knew that tribe, that pack. They were famous. Legends surrounded them and all for the wrong reasons.
“You know what happened to us.” He looked away from me and stared bitterly across the room. “We were wiped out.”
Mass murder and slaughter were more suitable words for what happened to them.
“Dad died young and I stepped up.” Xavier shrugged his shoulders. “I was young, like I said. Thought I knew it all. Our pack was strong, tight and dangerous and I lived on that. We were untouchable. Well, that was what I thought. So when we took war out on our neighboring pack, I expected us to win.”
Xavier’s voice dripped with disgust. “But that was why young wolves shouldn’t lead. Alphas are meant to be old, wise. And I wasn’t. But I didn’t think that then. The pack wiped us out in the middle of the night. No one survived.” Xavier looked me in the eye. “But you already knew that.”
Sighing, he continued. “I wasn’t killed. Because my punishment was to live with what I had done. I had called war. I had chosen to make them fight and I was too young to think that the other pack would stage a surprise attack. So I left, and went to search for you.” Xavier looked me in the eye. “I thought that you could make my life better. I sought you for forgiveness. For killing your pack.”
Xavier shifted his weight on the bed and dropped eye contact with me. “But I didn’t find you. I found Emily and you know how that played out.”
I nodded my head, not that he needed me to confirm his words.
“And then I found you.” Xavier looked back at me. “And you were everything I couldn’t have. Everything I feared.”
I frowned. How? But I didn’t have to ask him to explain. He continued.
“You were like me. Strong headed, determined and young. Younger than me, which meant you weren’t meant to lead with me when I made that call for our pack to go to war. I had convinced myself the only reason it backfired was because I didn’t have you. If I had had you by my side, it would have ended differently. I had told myself, the only reason we died was because I had failed to find you. Not because I made the wrong call.”
“But you were 17. You couldn’t find your mate if you wanted to.”
Xavier didn’t turn to look at me, but nodded his head briefly. “I know now that it was my own mistake, my own blinding pride and stubbornness. You were too young to lead back then. So not having my mate with me wouldn’t have changed the result.”
“Then you found out who I was.” My voice was dry. Everything made sense now. “I’m an alpha’s daughter.”
“Everything I didn’t want.” He snapped his eyes to mine. “I promised myself I would never lead again and you…”
“And if something happened to Chad, you would have to.”
He nodded his head. “Yeah.”
If something happened to Chad, if he couldn’t lead the pack, the duty would fall on my and Xavier’s shoulders. Mainly Xavier’s. Everyone knew the man took the lead.
“So you denied me and lived a life with your sweet Emily.” I rolled my eyes. “Instead of being a man and standing up!”
I flung the blankets back and reached for my pants, putting them on. “Instead of telling me this, you kept it to yourself!”
What a surprise. Xavier lived to keep secrets.
“I’m not proud of what I did, Chloe.” Xavier defended himself, clearly hurt by my response. “I ran away from my responsibility and, when I found you, I didn’t want you.”
“And now your emotions won’t let you deny me anymore.” I crossed my arms shaking my head. “But the question is, Xavier, are you willing to risk everything to be with me? Are you ready to be a man?”
“You mean.” He stood up. “You will still have me?”
“I didn’t say that. I said, are you willing to be a man? I can’t understand your actions, but I understand your fear. But, Xavier, we are all scared. We all have things that scare us. We all have a past. But the question is, when are you going to stop dragging it around with you?”
“If something happened to Chad, I wouldn’t be able to lead. I’m not an alpha.”
“You can’t live through the past, Xavier.” I reached my bedroom door and flung it open. “You need to decide what you want, and when you do, you need to leave your past behind and face the future. Without me or not. I can’t be with a man who isn’t one.”
I slammed the door behind me. I needed air. I needed to get away from him. But what I really needed was to come to terms with what he just told me.
He had done something that I could never do. Run away from his pack. Even if they were dead, it was still his land. He should have rebuilt his pack. He should have done something. Not run and HIDE!
Of course
I knew the stories of what had happened to his pack. They were like horror stories that haunted every alpha. Everyone’s first fear. To be wiped out.
So why couldn’t I bring myself to forgive him for what he had done? I came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase and realized why.
It was because he had once again lied to me and now I knew the truth. It only made me doubt him more. He had hid it from me, like a dirty secret. He hadn’t stood up and faced it. He hadn’t attempted to make amends for what he had done. Like a man should.
Instead he lied, hid and lived with regret. Everything I despised in a man, because a true alpha, a true man, wouldn’t do that. I now understood what my father meant. My life would not be easy if I chose to accept Xavier. So should I fight for him? Or should I let Dan not save his mate and live a life with a man whom I could trust and love with all my heart.
I was standing at a crossroads and I needed someone to push me in the right direction.
Xavier’s POV.
I watched her slam the door and I sat here frozen. She knew now the decision was in her hands. I wasn’t running away anymore. She had to realize that. If I wanted to keep hiding, I wouldn’t have told her.
But I told her because I wanted my mate. And even if she hated me right now, I wasn’t letting her go, not now, not ever.
She was mine and I wanted her. And as I thought that, I felt my old self come to the surface. The side that would not sit back and take anything, my alpha streak coming out, ready to claim his mate, ready to fight for her.
Chapter 17
I just had to see Dan. I had to convince him. Make him see reason. I opened the front door and nearly walked straight in to a closed fist.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, Chloe.” Cole quickly pulled his fist down. “You opened that door quick.”
“Cole, what are you doing here?” I placed a hand on my heart as the blood pumped crazily through my chest, mainly from shock.
“Well I sorta lost your number.” He grinned guilty at me. “So here I am.”
“Here you are.” I repeated while raising an eyebrow. “For?”