Chapter 24.
❝ I thought you were healing me but no, you broke me even more.❞
The interior was more beautiful than the exterior of the mansion, everything had a modern touch to it. The plants by the door along with a glass table and coat-rack gave the inside a homey feeling, as well as the warmth that instantly flooded my body the moment I walked in.
“And here I thought the outside was better,” I said out loud.
Dylan walks up beside me, “You’ll get used to it.” he grinned.
Xavier comes around after closing the door, and stood in front of me, beginning to unzip my jacket before pulling it off my arms and revealing my sleeve covered arms. All while doing so, he maintains eye contact that had a small blush rushing up to my cheeks.
“I could have done that on my own,” I claimed.
“Yeah,” Xavier agreed, lifting my jacket up and hanging it by the door, “but I wanted to do it.”
I pressed my lips together when the small smirk that sported his face appeared and turned away just in time to see Stella turning a corner from down the length of the hall that leads somewhere further into the manor. She lifted her gaze from her phone and locked gazes with us all, a friendly smile making its way to her pink lips.
“You guys are finally here!” she exclaimed and proceeded in a slight jog towards us.
She stopped in front of Justin, the smile never leaving her face. “I was just about to text you,” Stella whispered as she leaned up on her tiptoes and pecked Justin on the lips.
One of his hands dropped down to her waist while wearing a gentle smile, as his gazed down at her in adoration and she the same to him. I don’t why but I looked away feeling as if I was intruding on a special moment.
I took that moment to look around and examine everything, the walls were a solid white color and littered with pictures frames of all different sizes, leaning against the wall was a table the center nothing but glass and the framing wood. My gaze flickered upward to see a light bulb encased in a steel-like cage, a couple more a few feet away from it.
“You all came just in time, the cooks just finished fixing lunch.” I heard her say, bringing me back to the conversation.
“Good,” Justin mutters, pulling Stella by his side and turns them both of the direction they come from.
Both Dylan and Sam follow closely behind, and I look over to Xavier to see his eyes already on me, I’m starting to wonder why he looks at me a lot; I know I’m pretty and all but geesh. I saw his hand reach out towards mine, and I didn’t protest when he grabbed it and began to pull me to where the others disappeared to, all while he wore a cautioning look.
And I don’t blame him.
My steps were slow and calculated, everyone, matching my pace as I turned my gaze down to the floor watching as my shoes sunk into the plush carpet with every shuffle of my feet. It was then the noise of people chattering, gradually growing in volume, brought my attention back up as we turned a corner. Xavier’s hand tightens around mine when we walk through an archway leading to a huge kitchen area.
The black marble counters shone in the illuminated lights from above along with the silver stove and refrigerator that was positioned on the far side of the kitchen, different decors skittered across empty spots on the wall, giving the kitchen the same homey feeling. And from there, another archway leading to a huge dining area, long rectangular table stretching far with chairs surrounding it, but that’s not what grabbed my attention the most; it was the many people that were scattered everywhere.
The atmosphere was carefree, and smiles were upon many faces, I couldn’t help the small smile that spread across my lips when a few smaller children ran past our legs and down into another hall, their giggles drifting into the air.
“Wow.” I breathe out, turning my head to Xavier to see a gorgeous smile on his face
My heart stuttered within my chest at the sight, as my cheeks warmth with blood.
’Stop it, heart!′ I shout in my head, returning his smile.
He tugged my hand more towards him, until the point I was pressed up against his side, those small sparks kicked up a notch causing a shiver to run down my spine. Slowly, those close by began to acknowledge our presence, and one by one everyone was facing us; their gazes weren’t like the ones in school, they looked at me with curiosity.
I felt Xavier shift, “This is the way I live,” he tells me. “And I hope to live it with you soon enough.” his grazes his nose against my neck, inhaling.
I think my heart just stopped.
An hour or so later, after eating a small snack one of the cooks fixed for us, Xavier decided it was time for us to ‘talk’ and finally answer the questions that were swarming in my head. He walked us to the nearest lounge area, located upstairs with Justin and the other two in tow.
We entered a medium sized room, with creamed colored walls, a small brown bookcase on either side, stacked with books, and a large sofa that curved making a ‘c’ shape in the middle, long enough to fit seven to eight people. A stone fireplace directly in front of the sofa.
I immediately walked in, the area open with no closed door, and made my way to the sofa to sit. Before I could, large hands gripped my waist, tugging me back until I fell into a lap, leaning up against a broad chest.
“Xavier!” I yelp.
His chuckle vibrated against my back, as he shifted his hands from my waist to wrap his arms around me, pressing me more against him.
I groaned, falling limp. “Let me go.”
“No.” he muttered into my hair.
After a few failed attempts of me twisting to remove his arms, only to have him tighten them further, I gave up much to Sam’s amusement. I shift my weight until I laid back comfortably on Xavier’s chest.
“So what’s your first question?” Justin asks, from the other side of the sofa.
I think for a moment, “What’s a rogue?”
He nods his head, “Okay.” he mutters, “You know how wolves travel in packs?”
I nod remembering Samantha’s same question while swatting at Xavier’s hand when he begins to run them up and down my jean covered thighs.
“Rogues are basically lone wolves who either decided to be on there own. .”
“. . or they are banished wolves that committed crimes within their packs.” Stella finishes, her brows slightly creased.
My mind flashes back to the red-eyed wolves, and Justin seems to know what I’m thinking and soon shakes his head. That sparks my interest a bit, as I move onto the next question.
“So, what traits do you guys have?” I ask, leaning to the side, collecting my hair into a ponytail.
“Such as?” Dylan says, with a cock of his head.
“Why you guys wear casual clothes when it’s freezing outside?”
He laughs, shifting as he rested his arm on the back of the sofa, while his leg laid on top of his right knee. “It’s a wolf thing. We’re naturally warm along with being able to heal and run faster.”
I nod, toe-ing off my shoes and socks, then turn sideways in Xavier’s hold, to where I was cradled perfectly in his lap. He seemed to love the new position, his hand gripped my thigh, tightly.
I grunt, grabbing his fingers and try to pry them back. He only grips me harder, making it impossible to move his hand off.
“Next question?” I hear Sam utter, the smile in her voice clearly heard.
“What’s an Alpha?” I voice, slapping Xavier’s hand.
“An alpha is the leader of the pack, he’s in control of everything, and beside him is his mate. But most will call her Luna, it’s an old term we still use, she’s like the mother of everyone as she watches over them.” Dylan answers.
“You have the second in command, which you call the beta and the third in command, you call the gamma. They are needed when the alpha can’t do certain things.” Justin adds, his lips tilted to the side.
“There are other positions but I don’t know if you’ll be interested in those.”
“Okay.” I grit out, pinching Xavier’s hand when he begins to squeeze my thigh again.
“Any other questions?”
“Why do you guys’ eyes change color?” I ask with complete wonder, forgetting about Xavier for a moment.
“That’s our inner wolf,” Dylan answered. “They sometimes come to the surface of our minds when an emotion is strong or we call onto them, our eyes mostly turn pitch black for the point of being furious sometimes they’re also peeking and taking a looking at things,” he explains.
To prove his point, his eyes began to glow bright blue and shift to a more white-ish color. I stare, mouth parted a bit in amazement.
“Wow,” I mumble, nodding.
He chuckles, his eyes switching back to their original color before he settled back against the couch. Xavier pulls me tighter against his chest as if I wasn’t already, his hand squeezing my thighs, getting a little too close to my inner thighs.
I slapped his hand, prying his thumb back as Justin spoke. “Anymore?”
“What are mates?” I huff, looking up in time to see both Dylan and Sam share a knowing smile.
“Its what you both are.” Stella grins.
I frown, “Excuse me?”
Stella leans forward, excitement shining in her brown eyes. “Xavier and you, you’re both mates. It’s like the soulmate thing you humans believe in, but its true to werewolves.”
I bob my head in understanding, feeling Xavier’s breath on the hollow of my neck, his lips slightly grazing the area, resulting in me shivering, those sparks igniting unknown and unknown emotions.
“Mates are the other half of said person’s soul, so when found they complete the bound to be whole.”
Stella pulls the side of her blouse down and away from her neck, revealing a bite mark, with two holes at the top and bottom and a few other indents surrounding them. My eyes widen a bit, as I lean forward to get a better look.
“The bound isn’t completed until you both mark or bite one another.” her smile’s gentle as she looks back at Justin, who’s wearing a content expression.
He pulls the collar of his shirt down as well, revealing the same looking mark. I mumble an ‘oh’.
“That looks like it hurt,” I state. Both wounds looked fresh, probably a week or a few days old.
“At first.” Stella says, her accent thick as she moves back to leaning against Justin’s arm, “but after that, the feeling of complete ecstasy washes over you.”
A growl rumbles through Xavier’s chest, I lean back and gaze up at him to see his eyes a shade darker than before. I hear both boys on the other side of the couch laugh.
“I’m surprised to see he held off this long.” Justin laughs, “With Stella, I couldn’t go a day or two without us tumbling within the sheets.”
I could see her cheeks light up, pink, my soon following.
Dylan chuckled, nodding his head as he smacked Justin’s chest. “I won’t let mine out of my bed.”
Sam scoffed, while I turned my attention to Dylan. “You found your mate?”
His eyes cut over toward me, “Not yet, but I’m speaking in general.
′okey. .′
“Enough díck talking,” Sam says with a shake of her head. “We’re here for Abigail.”
I bounce my feet off the couch cushion, “All-righty then. What did you mean by ‘complete the bound’?”
“Have sex,” Xavier says bluntly.
My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline, as I whip around to look at him, his lips pulled into a sexy smirk, his hair falling into his lashes. I stared for a bit longer. The hand on my thigh, squeezed, causing me to jump and a sudden laugh to escape my mouth. My hand flew to his, once again trying to pry it off of me.
“Stop. I’m ticklish right there.”
Mischief flickers within eyes but he turns his head away, that smirk still tugging at his lips. Pinching lips together, I look over at the others to see their eyes trained on eyes.
“He started it.” I suddenly say.
Sam snorts in laughter with Dylan running a hand through his matted hair, shaking his head. “Well if you don’t have any more questions, we’ll be on our way.”
Before I could open my mouth, they all rise to their feet, and shuffled their way out the lounge, Sam was the last one to exit before we were left alone. I tense, remembering the last time Xavier and I were left alone.
As if reading my mind, he shifts underneath me, sitting up straighter pulling me tighter against him.
“So what do you think?”
I heave out a breath from his question, thinking. “It’s not bad.” I voice, “The people are nice, here.”
He grabs my hand, his engulfing mine, “And?”
I didn’t realize how comfortable I was until the muscles in my body began to relax further than they already were, and a sense of drowsiness washed over me. I laid my head to the side, in his collarbone, moving in deeper to the crook of his arm.
A small smile paints my mouth. ”And I haven’t had my great first impressions with wolves, so I’m getting there.”
He doesn’t say anything after that as we fall into silence, the crackling of the firewood, burning under the flames drifting into the air. Xavier suddenly brings my hand up to his lips, my eyes following the action, as he kisses the top of my hand.
“I’m so happy to have met you,” he mumbled against my skin.
I grin, lazily. “You don’t show it.” I joke.
All he does is hum, his eyes skittering across my face before his eyes move down lower, directly looking at my lips. My breathing picks up a notch as his head bends down, eyes blazing with a simmering fire.
“I thought I did,” he mumbles.
I don’t get to say anything, as his mouth slants over mine, taking my breath away, my eyes fluttering closed. His soft lips tenderly part my own, deepening the kiss to a sensual and passion filled one.
‘God. .’