57. The Promise Of A Wolf

**XANDER**

I rubbed my face with the palm of my hands and tried to scrub off the exhaustion. Being an alpha, being the leader…it was always the hardest. Every decision I took came with a chip on my shoulder that I would have to carry to my grave. I could only wonder how my father flawlessly performed his duty, all the while being the man of the house for my mother and us.
And as if to add on the burden, a determined knock resounded on the door, snapping my attention like a dry twig. When my eyes lifted, the wolf inside of me groaned in the slightest disgust.
“Kade.” I slammed the laptop screen softly and set it aside. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit—again?”
He crossed the threshold in long, purposeful strides, smirking all the way, and pulled the chair across from mine. “Your territory lacks embankments,” he criticized unashamedly. “For an alpha who brags about security, your measures are laughable.”
For some reason, this man disgusted me more than he angered my wolf. Kade was an unnecessary bump in the road I would have to deal with. “My men are quite capable of strength. I hope you are not here to nitpick the administration of my pack.”
“That’s a little beneath me, Xander.” He cackled softly. “I was simply wondering of the all bloody things I’d have to change once I take over your place as the alpha of two packs.” His voice held every scrape of stupid arrogance he could conjure.
“For an alpha, you are quite a daydreamer,” I retorted. “Make sure to include unicorns, too, since you like dreaming of fictional things.”
The chuckled vanished, replacing the veil of burning anger he veiled inside of him. Kade thrust his hands into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a paper, and then slid towards me.
My brow rose quizzically. “What is that?”
“The Council has taken their decision.” Translation: he pulled his cards to enforce the measures. But I didn’t interrupt the fool and let him have his say because if I didn’t, he would have done it anyway. “In lieu of your ridiculous decisions, you have to face the consequences. You disrespected my sister and you brought in a human into our world. If you want to remain an alpha, you will have to fight me and earn your place.”
The anger palpated and vibrated off him. How does someone so politically sound act so irrationally, was beyond me. “You know, Kade, what’s unfortunate?” I sighed. “Not because I have to earn my place as the leader and prove the Council, but I have to earn it through you. I have to fight a glorious, incompetent man who thinks with his hanging balls rather that his brain.”
“How dare you?” He half-roared and half-sputtered. “You think you are some Almighty who can trample on my sister’s honour and walk out unscathed?”
Her narrowed gaze leveled. “So it has nothing to do with my leadership or my mate and everything to do to appease your sister? I feel sorry for her, Kade. I truly do. If a woman of her beauty and stature has to conjure up a pack war because her delicate ego has been ‘trampled upon’, I don’t know what to say.”
Janelle has alpha blood in her veins and power in her authority, and yet she let the stupidity get the better of her. And her brother too.
“You have no right to talk about my sister.”
“Neither do I wish to.” Pushing off my feet, I rose to my full height. “You want a fight? I will give you one.”
Kade mimicked my stand. “You don’t have a choice, Xander. And by the next, full moon, you will be a dead creature already.”
“If that’s my destiny, I will abide by the Goddess’s will,” I proclaimed. “But remember one thing, Kade, if I lose this, I would still be a man who died for the love of my true mate. And if you die, it will be for nothing but empty arrogance. Now I feel bad for the wolves of your pack as well.”
“I will save my feelings for the moment I kill your wolf and lay claim on your pack,” he sneered, turning half around in an attempt to leave. “Goodbye, Xander. Oh and by the way, if I were you, I’d spend the time with the ‘one true mate’ while I still can.”
“Don’t worry, I have an eternity with her.”
I didn’t know if my words registered with Kade or not, but clearly, he was not in a mood to listen to them anyway. I picked up the paper once again, one with the shinning emblem of The Council proclaiming I fight Kade for the position.
I could have avoided all this drama and simply declared that my beloved mate was not only a supernatural but a woman with ancient blood singing in her veins like a potent spell. But that would mean jeopardizing Maeve’s life, and my wolf would never agree to it.
That evening, when I had walked back to my room, the door was ajar, and Maeve sat with her eyes shut and lips murmuring. She looked stricken with exhaustion. Three candles were placed around her, one with blue flames while the other emitted green and blazing orange, unlike anything like true fire.
The moment I was a foot away, her eyes snapped open like a deer in headlights, and the flames snuffed out.
Crossing the little distance, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her soft, pliable body into mine. “My love, you should rest for a bit.”
“I don’t know, Xander,” she sighed tiredly. “I am anything but calm nowadays until I get the spells right.”
At that exact moment, the candles lighted themselves up. But this time, it was just a yellowish flame. Maeve forced her mind into concentration, but she could only do so much. Watching her struggle somehow brought out the protective wolf in me. “Overwhelming yourself will only hurt your mind and your ability to practice magic.” One of my palms veiled over her eyes, feeling the fluttering lashes tickling my skin. “Here, close your eyes and imagine yourself in a calm, serene place. You will be able to do much better.”
Heaving a big gulp of air, Maeve channeled her focus, and I watched the flames burning bright into an array of colors. One by one, the fire turned bluish-green. Simultaneously, Maeve kept on murmuring foreign words, emphasizing a particular spell called ‘*Araeris*’. The more she uttered, the flames got brighter. And then, all of a sudden, she pushed my palms down and opened her eyes with a gasp.
“What happened?”
“Give me your hand,” she urged, still dazed. And without waiting for me to act, she grabbed my upturned palm.
“What are you doing, love?” I asked when she grabbed a small knife with the candle.
“I am sorry, but it will pinch a bit.” Before I could comprehend, she made a small cut on my palm, just small enough for the blood droplet to ooze out and repeated on her palm. What the hell was she doing? Maeve joined our palms, letting the tiny droplets of blood mingle with each other, and the flames slowly started to turn silver. “Close your eyes now,” she implored, more forcefully now.
“Maeve, this is—”
“Please just close your eyes. I promise it will be good.”
Another clueless minute ticked by as she chanted her spells. By now, I had lost the number of times the candles had changed their colors.
“This is stupid,” I thought to myself, and Maeve slowly opened her eyes. But this time, she did not just look at me; she gazed into my eyes like she could see straight into my soul.
“This is not stupid, Xander,” she murmured, shocking me.
“How the fuck…can you hear me?”
Maeve shook her head dismissively. “I can hear the wolf in you. I have just mind linked with you, Xander when I mingled your blood with mine through magic.”
I snatched my hand and stared down at the cut. Except there wasn’t any.
“I can’t believe this.”
“*Shh*. Let me…” She took her time, unfazed, and relentlessly recited the words her eyes locked with mine. They had a knowing look, both of dread and surprise. And I just knew that Maeve heard my wolf already.
“Kade. Kade came to meet you,” she whispered.
“Yes. I am sure my wolf blabbered you the rest of the conversation as well.” This was not how I wanted to break the news to Maeve.
My fingers clutched the fabric around my waist and fisted. “Xander, I am afraid. What if he is—”
I cut her off and clasped her face with my palms. “Maeve, there is not a force in the world that would stop me from coming back to you. I don’t care if I have to fight Kade, the Council, or even the Moon Goddess herself; I will always find my way back to you. And I am not making this promise as a man who is in love with you or as the Alpha to the future Luna of my pack. I am making this promise as a beast to my angel. You will always be my forever.”
I sealed my promise with a kiss, branding her lips with mine. Maeve needed my wolf and me to be her strength, and right now, that was all I could offer. And damn it all to hell, I would carve out my heart if she ever needed me to.

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***Thank you for unlocking the story of Xander and Maeve. Are you all excited to read the fight between Xander and Kade? Will Xander be able to come back to her - alive?***