THREE WEEKS LATER
XANDER
In a flash, three weeks had passed since my unexpected encounter with my enigmatic mate.
I wondered how she reacted when she stepped out of that room and realized I was gone.
The thought barely landed before I snorted inwardly.
Reaction?
With that erratic temper of hers-wanting to kill me one moment, sparing me the next, and ignoring me right after-my presence or absence likely made no difference to her.
And that, I thought, was the truly unfair part of this entire ordeal.
How was she allowed to remain unbothered while she was all I'd thought about these past weeks?
Not a single day went by without her forcing her way into my mind, completely disregarding my attempts to avoid thinking of her.
It made me uneasy to think that if the longing was already this strong- even with our bond unacknowledged and unsealed-how much worse would it get once the ritual was completed?
"Xander?"
A voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I looked up to see Jaxon, my Beta, watching me from across the table, his brows faintly furrowed. "Are you okay?"
"Sorry, I zoned out." I cleared my throat, then lowered my gaze to the computer screen. "Continue from where you left off."
But a few seconds passed, and he still didn't speak.
When I looked up again, the tablet he was previously holding was already on the desk, and he was staring at me with that calm, unreadable expression of his.
My stomach tightened.
I knew that look far too well. It was his signature expression when he'd decided he wanted answers.
And the topic he wanted answers about wasn't hard to guess.
Under normal circumstances, there were hardly any secrets between us, but regarding my run-in with my mate... I hadn't told him a single thing about it.
Not because I wanted to hide it, but because there was nothing concrete to tell yet. Instead of worrying him with the news of an unexplained stranger living in the forbidden grounds, I wanted to gather enough information before speaking.
I'd been careful not to slip up in his presence... or so I thought.
Still, I made one last attempt. Maybe I was overthinking it.
Keeping my expression relaxed, I asked casually, "Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something you want to say?"
But Jaxon never disappointed.
"Something happened on the night of the last full moon, didn't it? Something unusual. Something you're not telling me."
I sighed inwardly.
As expected, I shouldn't have hoped to fool him.
He knew me too well.
"How did I give myself away?" I asked helplessly after a pause.
One of his brows arched, seriousness glinting in his honey-brown eyes. "Do you have any idea how strange you've been acting since you came back? Zoning out, smiling one moment, sneering the next."
"I gave you space at first, thinking you weren't ready to talk. But now? With you being so painfully obvious. I can't ignore it anymore."
"Tell me, Xander. What's going on?"
Exhaling softly, I leaned back in my chair, my jaw tightening for a moment before I finally answered.
"There's someone living in the forbidden grounds."
"That's impossible." His denial was instant, disbelief tightening his features. "It's off limits for a reason."
His reaction was expected.
I would've said the same if I hadn't seen her myself.
I didn't bother defending the claim.
Jaxon knew I never bothered with lies, especially not about matters as serious as this.
His denial was simply instinctive and would fade away soon enough.
Sure enough-
"You're serious?" he asked after a moment, the lines between his brows deepening.
"I wouldn't joke about something like this."
He stared at me. "It's hard to believe."
"I know." I nodded once. "But Jaxon, I saw her and had my wounds healed by her-a mysterious witch with unusual powers. She's real."
"You saw her?" Something seemed to dawn on him as his gaze sharpened. "How did you manage that?"
I didn't answer. I looked away instead, rubbing the bridge of my nose in silent guilt.
His voice rose, incredulity evident. "You really went in? Knowing how dangerous that place is? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I didn't have a choice..." I muttered.
Then I explained-how I'd collapsed halfway to the hidden cabin, how unknown footsteps had followed soon after, and how fear of being discovered had left me with only one desperate gamble.
"Still, that was reckless," Jaxon said, but his anger obviously weakened.
He let out a helpless sigh. "If you hadn't made it back, I wouldn't even know how to explain it to your mother, the Elders Council, or the rest of the Pack."
For a moment, I considered telling him the truth.
That it hadn't been pure recklessness. That I'd been there once before and had come out unscathed.
But in the end, I kept it to myself. His heart probably couldn't handle another shock.
Fortunately, he soon shifted to a more pressing concern.
Tapping the table with his index finger, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"Did you find out who she is? How she got there without anyone noticing?"
I shook my head, a hint of frustration in my voice. "No. She was too suspicious and extra cautious. Even though I pretended to be just an ordinary wolf who simply happened to wander in by a stroke of luck- which was true, by the way-she still guarded against me."
I conveniently left out the part where she almost killed me.
If I mentioned that, with how much Jaxon cared about me, she'd instantly become his most hated person, right below the ancient witch who cursed my bloodline.
My closest buddy hating on my fated mate? That'd be chaos.
"Then we need answers," Jaxon continued, his tone firm. "Leaving someone like that so close to us makes me uneasy."
I was of the same mind initially, so I nodded. "I'll dig through the old records, see if there's any mention of previous inhabitants. I'll also ask the Elders if they've ever heard anything."
"I'll help," Jaxon added. "The sooner we understand who she is, the better. She's an unstable factor."
Hearing him say that eased something tight and unspoken in my chest.
With someone as conscientious and level-headed as him, even if I... even in the future... the pack would be in good hands.
Lost in his thoughts, Jaxon fell silent.
I didn't interrupt him, instead my mind somehow drifted back to her again.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was already looking forward to the next full moon-another chance to see her, even if only in disguise.
I'd considered returning in human form, but besides the likelihood of not surviving the miasma long enough to see her, I also didn't want to provoke or startle her.
If she was already wary of me as a mere wolf, I could only imagine her reaction when she discovered I was a werewolf-much less her mate.
She really spelled trouble.
"Who are you thinking about?" Jaxon's voice suddenly cut into my thoughts.
Without thinking, I blurted out the truth. "My troublesome mate."
There was a beat of silence.
Then I realized what I'd said and looked up sharply.
Jaxon stared at me with a slow, dawning tilt of his lips. "Oh? So you found your mate." He leaned forward, amusement glinting in his eyes. "No wonder you've been smiling so stupidly lately."
I grimaced internally.
I wasn't ready to tell him that the mysterious witch who'd made the forbidden grounds her home was the mate in question.
Not because of the difference in race-honestly, that was the least of my concerns-but because of the complications.
Like why she was living in the deepest part of the forest.
Or whether she was the one behind the poisonous miasma that had harmed so many of my people.
Until I knew the truth... I couldn't acknowledge our bond to anyone.
Unaware of my turmoil, Jaxon pressed on, his eyes bright with curiosity as he asked the question I dreaded.
"So who is she?"
