>I woke up groggily to find myself in different yet familiar surroundings.How did I manage to get into Xavier’s bed again? I had no memory of going to his home.Wait, what was the last thing I remembered?I racked my brain and sat up straight.I was kidnapped with Alyssa. John had saved her and left me to the wolves, literally. Xavier had shown up in the nick of time and saved me.Sitting up I felt a sudden cold hit my chest and back. I shivered and looked down to find myself utterly naked. How did I get undressed?I did not feel anything between my legs, so I could assume that nothing of that sort happened. I wrapped the blanket around me and looked around the room. Where was Xavier?I saw a note stuck to the bedside table lamp. It read, ‘Gone to check on Alyssa. Will be back by lunch.’ Impulsively I kissed the paper and folded it.Feeling hungry, I got up and threaded to the kitchen to ransack his fridge.I found half a loaf of bread and some cheese. Thankfully, neithe
>Zoe was curled up in the blanket that I draped over her when I had brought her in. She was rocking back and forth while staring at the bloody uniform that I had stupidly left on the bathroom floor instead of throwing it in the laundry like every time I did with my bloody clothes.I rushed to her side and was on my knees beside her in an instant.“Zoe?”I called but she was like in a trace.I scooped her and stood up, the clothes falling back to the bathroom floor she had picked them from.That made her look at me like she was seeing me for the first time. She seemed surprised to wike me there. Like waking up from a long slumber.“Hey there.” I looked at her, curled in my arms as I walked back inside the room and lay her on the bed.She grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled me down with her. I did not resist. It was clear that she needed me.I moved her to my lap and settled on the bed. She placed her head on my chest without a word. I wrapped my arms around her under
>Xavier’s way of helping me was different. I can’t deny that I loved every second of it.The way he worked my body made me forget everything around us and lose track of time. Every second made me feel like we belonged together and this is how it is meant to be. It was a strange emotion. I felt like I had known him for a lifetime when we had barely met a couple of month ago. So much had happened since then.I had been so busy I had not gone to meet Dad. He must’ve been so lonely and sad. I know I would not be as courageous as he was. In the evening, I woke up and found that Xavier was gone again. Another note awaited me on the bedside tablelamp. It read, ‘Gone to Office, there is an emergency. You can borrow my clothes. Don’t wait for me.’The last part meant that he was not going to be back anytime soon. I went to the bathroom and was relieved to see that the bloody uniform was gone. Xavier must’ve made sure that I did not come across it again.I showered and borrowed h
> I walked in and saw the same receptionist. I walked straight to the elevator without giving her a chance to stop me or ask anything. “Where are you going? You cannot just-” She called behind me but I was already inside the elevator as someone had just left and it was closing. I had been to Xavier’s office before and knew of his floor number. I pressed the button and watched with satisfaction as the elevator doors closed in her face. I was sure she was going to call security and I wanted to see her face when she would be told that I was Xavier’s paying client. I walked into the office and found Xavier sitting in his rotating chair waiting for me. “Welcome.” He said with a smirk, one foot placed on the knee of the other leg. I plopped my handbag onto a couch and spoke, hoping to convey my frustration, “I get it.”“What do you get?” He raised a brow. This man was testing my patience. “I get that this is unlike your usual high-profile cases and I’m paying in installme
>Jacob brought the files that I had asked and the three of us had been creating a strategy for a while now.Zoe had been sharing some stuff that she thought could help us with the case. Everything had to be perfect for us to be able to hit John without him having any chance to escape.The more I found out about him the more suspicious I got of how he got to be the new Beta of the pack. Men like him don’t just get promoted, especially when there is so little merit to him.I still don’t know what my sister saw in him. It had become personal to me now. Not just my mate but my sister’s life was also on the line. I had to expose John’s real face to her without making things rough between us. I knew I was all she had after our mom. Father had been more of a mentor to me and left her to the nanny.“You are not listening. I’ll make some coffee, we are starting to get distracted.” Zoe stood up and I looked at them. She was right, I had started to zone again. Coffee would do m
>After dinner, we had smoothly transitioned back to work. Zoe proved to be a great work partner.She was just as focused and refused to lie down or rest for even an hour despite my insisting she do so. I understood how personal it was, and I admired her resilience. She was ready to go to any lengths to save her father. She had taken on Jacob’s role in his absence and it made work go on quite fast despite the fact that there was a lot of data to sort through and I preferred doing everything manually in hardware.Due to personal experiences, I had learned that big heavy files were harder to steal than a tiny USB with terabytes of classified data. Also, paper was unhackable and once burnt could never be retrieved thus, saving it from ever being recovered by the wrong people.Either she would read out some stuff and I would note down whatever I believed to be useful or I would read and dictate to her what to note down for me. We had been so busy sifting through piles of d
>While Jacob excused himself to take care of an appointment on behalf of the Alpha Councilor and Xavier left for his business. I chose to go to Xavier’s place to rest for a while.I knew my father’s case was sensitive and I wanted to be close enough to reach the office within a few minutes instead of a couple of hours’ drive from my pack.After having slept a while, I decided to explore the territory of Blood Crescent, Xavier’s pack. Before I had never had the chance to travel much. But now that I was here and feeling restless because I had nothing to do as I waited for Xavier to finish his business and return home or office.I drove around for a while, going out of the elite areas where Xavier’s office and the building housing his loft were. I moved towards the middle class and poorer neighborhoods and was surprised to find the difference from my own pack’s such neighborhoods.There were no beggars or homeless as far as I had seen. So consumed by my adventure I forgot to
> Xavier did not get to say anything on the topic because as soon as we started chopping onions, we were surrounded by people who were also chopping vegetables for ‘the stew’ and I was shocked to find Xavier actually smiling like this was his home and not the loft. He joked with the people around him and popped some cut carrots in his mouth now and then. There were no traces of the scary Alpha Councilor that the rest of the world knew. “Alpha, it’s time.” A huge man came from behind Xavier and nodded from where he had come. Xavier quickly dropped the knife and dried his hands on a white scarf with a golden print that he had dangling from his belt. I had seen this scarf in his loft a few times, too. “Time for what?” I asked. “To set up the outdoor oven.” Eva, a woman sitting beside me, answered on his behalf, as he had already gone after the man. “Outdoor oven?” I asked, intrigued. “There are too many of us to cook in the regular ovens inside. So, Alpha helps make a h