Chapter 6

Ashley gave me a considerate look as we sipped hot drinks later. "So...are you doing alright after everything with Xavier yesterday?"

I nearly choked, warmth flooding my cheeks. We hadn't exactly discussed the intimate interlude we staged yet. "Oh - uh, I'm fine," I managed after a coughing fit. "It was all just pretend anyway to trick Celeste."

Ashley tilted her head, something unreadable passing through her emerald gaze at my flustered response. But she merely patted my shoulder comfortingly. "Well if you do ever want to talk, I'm here. And once again Serena, I am so sorry, you are like a sister…no you are a sister to me. Telling you who I am would have put you in grave danger.… still I have failed miserably at protecting you… "

“Shhh,” I said, hugging her, “You don’t have to feel guilty, I shouldn't have followed you but that’s ok now, everything will be fine.” I said as she sobs against my shoulders.

—-

Ashley gave me a somber look over the tea that she made after crying against me. "I hope Xavier was able to properly reassure you after everything..."

I flushed, avoiding specifics from the intimate ruse we shared. It still felt confusing to examine too closely. "Oh don't worry, he was a gentleman about the whole pretend situation."

I attempted redirecting us again. "Have there been many dangerous encounters with fanatics like Celeste previously?"

At that, Ashley exhaled heavily. "Unfortunately, yes. Purist factions believe werewolves must stick strictly to mating within our kind. Unfortunately, mating among ourselves makes us more animalistic, more dangerous towards humans."

Her expression clouded with sorrow. "Celeste herself once badly injured a human boyfriend of her own cousin. Just for being mortal."

I stiffened, outrage and disbelief swirling through me. "That's horrible! Please tell me if the poor man survived at least?"

"He did, but barely." Ashley stared into her tea as if divining dark visions. "Celeste faced no justice either. Her status protected her from any consequences after what was ruled 'instinctual aggression'."

I shook my head, utterly appalled that someone so callously violent could avoid penalties thanks to privilege and toxic prejudice. What other suffering had Celeste sown unfettered?

Unease trickled down my spine. "Has she posed problems for Xavier specifically in the past too?" I tried keeping my tone casual despite the uncomfortable twist in my gut.

"You could say that." Ashley's mouth flattened, hesitating. "He had quite the rebellious bad boy reputation at our university. Naturally he caught Celeste's eye quickly when she arrived our freshman year."

I raised my eyebrows but said nothing as she continued. "I think they had a brief fling. But Xavier told her directly he had no interest in her warped elitist vision for our kind."

My pulse quickened to hear Ashley confirm the prior history between Xavier and Celeste that she previously flung mockingly in my face at the party. Only moonlit threats had distracted me from that unpleasant revelation in the moment.

"Why does his past love life even matter to her now?" I heard the petty undertone in my voice but found myself unable to curb it.

Ashley eyed me over her teacup knowingly. "With Xavier, the thrill has always been in the chase and initial conquest. I doubt wounded pride is something Celeste handles well..."

I absorbed this new side of Xavier's past with surprise and reluctant fascination. "He seems so responsible now though. Is he still considered a bit rebellious?"

Ashley snorted indelicately into her tea. "Oh the broody bad boy reputation has definitely faded since he matured into the pack alpha role." Her eyes glimmered with gentle humor. "But that hasn't stopped rather forward feminine attention at times."

I raised an eyebrow, pulse quickening at the images her statement provoked coupled with his rakish history.

"Even Celeste still hounds him occasionally. I think she hopes being a pureblood will sway him." Ashley rolled her eyes expressively. "As if that antiquated prejudice matters to Xavier after the progressive example his own parents set before they died."

I leaned forward, newly fascinated by these peeks into Xavier's origins. "What were his parents like then? Before..."

I trailed off delicately but Ashley's suddenly too-bright eyes betrayed tragedy lay there.

"Angie and Brantley really defied convention at the time by marrying against purity customs. She was a lovely, kindhearted mortal woman and he was a formidable alpha descended from a long line of werewolf nobility."

Her voice took on a faraway quality, as if reminiscing happier times. "They were devastated when purist radicals began targeting mixed lineage families. But Angie and Brantley refused to be intimidated or persecuted for love."

Sadness tinged her wistful tone now. "Of course that made them martyrs for equality to some...and targets for hatred to others."

I didn't miss the dark edge underscoring her words about Xavier's parents and cause. A picture was forming - if Brantley and Angie perished violently, did a young Xavier witness insidious forces of prejudice rob him of family?

I shuddered at the images such trauma must have imprinted for this pack leader forced into early, unjust maturity far too soon.

—

I mulled over everything Ashley revealed about Xavier's past and the violent purist climate. "Does it...hurt physically when you shift forms?"

It was an inane question after all the trauma touched on, but I grasped for safer topics.

Ashley's expression turned pensive. "Honestly, yes. Bones and muscles stretching or compressing rapidly do burn at first. We're accustomed to it from early ages though."

I winced sympathetically. "Will I have to witness transformations anytime soon?"

"Soon probably not, they typically happen more on lunar event nights. But generally yes." She gave me an apologetic smile. "Once you live among us, our dual natures will be laid bare regularly.I am a golden wolf, by the way."

I nodded, smiling.

After a few contemplative sips, curiosity prompted me again. "If you're comfortable sharing...what were your parents like?" I tread delicately, having gleaned hints of personal tragedy. I knew that she lost both of her parents to an ‘incident’ like she used to say when she was younger but it’s only now that I make the correlation about her past.

Pain shadowed Ashley's eyes, a sorrow that pierced straight to my core in dreaded anticipation.

Ashley slowly turned her teacup in restless circles. "You have to understand, our kind face threats from multiple fronts. Not just fanatics, but...well, let's just say I've learned from experience how human fear breeds monstrous acts too."

I covered her hand gently, hesitant to rouse agonizing memories yet equally determined to fully share this new supernatural burden with my dear friend.

Ashley mustered a trembling exhale. "My parents, Jessina and Markus, were peaceful people devoted to our pack. We lived very average benign lives amongst humans when I was young, if in secret."

Her fingers tightened around mine almost painfully. "One day when I was 10, bitter arguments erupted after I trusted the wrong schoolmate with our heritage. And the following week, everything changed..."

Her voice dropped to a haunted whisper. "An anti-werewolf faction attacked our home to kill the 'beasts' hiding amongst them. My parents died defending me from slaughter."

I pressed a hand over my mouth in mute horror. Monsters came in many forms under moonlight's illumination. And Ashley learned that lesson engraved agonizingly into her gentle soul far too soon.

Neither of us could find words after Ashley's shattering confession. At length she continued raspingly.

"Afterwards the pack alpha took me in, along with his daughter Natasha who became like my sister. But for years no one would speak the truth about those responsible."

Her shoulders curled inwards, body language radiating bone-deep sorrow and remembered fear. "As it turned out, that hateful mob included the parents of the very friend I confided in. Her name is Myrna."

Outrage joined the swirling riot of emotions churning through me. How could anyone justify destroying lives that way out of ignorance and fear?

"Oh Ashley." It was all I could manage around the sudden aching lump in my throat. I simply wrapped her in a fierce hug, hoping my presence could provide even thin shelter against the battered ghosts haunting her still.

She clung tightly back, shoulders quaking with long suppressed anguish. Perhaps she had needed to unburden this secretly guarded trauma for some time now. I brushed her hair soothingly, letting her cry out likely decades of grief.

Finally Ashley pulled back, wiping her eyes self-consciously. "I'm so sorry for dumping all this without warning..."

I shook my head adamantly, refusing apologies when her sharing this defining tragedy with me was a gift enough. My perception expanded vastly tonight, in more ways than one.

"Were those humans ever brought to any justice?" I finally asked quietly, almost afraid of shattering the delicate calm settling back over us both.

Ashley's mouth flattened bitterly. "No. The alpha ruled it retaliation provoked by Markus and Jessina revealing themselves recklessly, even if they never bit or actively harmed anyone."

I opened my mouth to object but Ashley continued tonelessly.

"After losing his own successor heirs that night, his only concern became preventing our pack from seeking retribution lest violence escalate endlessly." Her eyes dropped listlessly again. "So their deaths faded into cautionary tales warning against trusting outsiders. Nothing gained, only lessons carved excruciatingly into a young girl's tattered heart."

I swallowed hard, wishing desperately then I could retroactively erase such deeply rooted scars from her childhood. Grasping both Ashley's hands tightly in mine again, I stated fiercely, "Maybe justice never came then, but I swear to stand by your side facing whatever threats emerge next time without hesitation."

A sound, foreign and unexpected, roused me from the depths of my thoughts—the sharp rap of knuckles against wood. My pulse quickened as I recognized its source: Xavier was at my bedroom door. This would be the first time we'd met since the kiss that etched itself into my memory, branded with longing and a fierce intensity that I hadn't known I was capable of feeling.

"Come in," I called, my voice steadier than I felt.

The door creaked open to reveal his towering frame, and all at once, the room seemed too small for the both of us. He stepped inside, closing the door with a soft click that resonated like a gavel in the courtroom of my emotions. I was on trial, and my composure was a flimsy defense.

"Serena," he greeted, his deep voice reverberating through the space between us. His eyes, dark and fathomless, searched my face for something I hoped he wouldn't find.

"Xavier," I replied, the name tasting bittersweet on my tongue.

I watched him carefully, noting the way his black shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, hinting at the power that lay beneath. His jeans were a dark wash, fitting him in a way that drew attention to his long legs. The image of his strong arms wrapped around me flashed unbidden into my mind, sending a warm flush to my cheeks.

"How have you been?" he asked, his tone light, belying the weight behind the words.

"Good. I've been... good." It was a lie, but it fell from my lips with practiced ease.

He nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. "I'm glad to hear that. I've made some arrangements for your safety. There will be a bodyguard, Savannah, accompanying you to university every day."

"Bodyguard?" The word lingered in the air, heavy with implications. Protection meant danger, and danger was what we were tangled up in, woven together by secrets and moonlit transformations.

"Yes, it's for the best," Xavier insisted, his eyes holding a glint of something unreadable.

"Thank you," I murmured, though gratitude warred with frustration within me. I didn't want to be caged by concerns and constant surveillance—didn't want to be reminded that my life had spun into a territory where such things became necessary.

"Serena..." he began, then hesitated, his jaw clenching. Whatever he wanted to say remained unsaid, hanging between us like the thick fog that blanketed the ground on the night of a full moon.

Tension crackled, charged with the undercurrent of our unspoken thoughts, our shared memories. Every cell in my body was acutely aware of his presence, of the space he occupied—a space that seemed to press closer with each second.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, desperate to break the silence that felt like it was suffocating me.

"No. Just... take care of yourself." He turned away, and for a moment, his guard slipped, revealing a glimpse of vulnerability that caught me off guard.

"Xavier," I said, and he paused at the threshold, his hand on the doorknob.

"Stay safe," I added, the words carrying more weight than I intended.

He offered me a ghost of a smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, and then he was gone, leaving me alone with the echo of our conversation and the palpable absence of his warmth.