Beastly

Chapter 54

The car ride was slow. Way too slow.

At intervals, I glanced at Xander who sat at the driver's seat. His focus was fully on where we were

going, his two hands firmly on the steering wheel. We drove through the forest and into the town and I

took my time to observe just how lively and beautiful everywhere was. I had never been to the town at

night and even during the day, I hardly had enough time to look at it all. Everywhere was thriving.

I had learnt a whole lot from the short time I had been here. Xander had found ways to generate jobs

and income for the pack members in various ways. This pack was one of the few in the world that had

trade ties with human habitations. They grew cotton and sold it off to manufacturers. Each person was

encouraged to get a degree and had the opportunity to further their education through scholarships that

Xander also managed to secure through his connection with the Canadian government. In exchange,

the pack would have skilled manpower that could solve problems and was sometimes sent to other

parts of the country. It was all purely choice though. Most decided to stay and opened up their own

businesses but did business with humans still.

The pack had a history of great leaders, maybe except Richard, but honestly, I believed Xander had

done much more in the short time he was alpha than anyone else had. He picked up every broken

piece that he came across and made it excellent once again. Apart from that, he had eradicated

'omega stands' in the pack. Everyone was on equal standing and got equal opportunities, regardless of

how they had been born and what pack they had migrated from.

Now that I thought about it, Xander, despite his reputation as heartless and cold was outstanding. He

was multitalented, ready to put his life on the line for the ones he swore to protect and a force to be

reckoned with. He genuinely cared.

My eyes turned to look at his expressionless face, the passing lights illuminating his features. You

could never know just what he was thinking and he was somewhat of a brute when dealing with some

things. If I had stayed and rejected him instead, what would have become of this place? What would

have become of him? The people he had saved, what would have become of them?

His eyes suddenly met mine and warmed up as I stared into them but his face remained the same. I

tore my eyes away, embarrassed that I had been caught looking at him.

"You've been avoiding me." he said and from the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw a quick smirk

appear on his face

"I haven't." I responded

"So why won't you look at me?"

"Because your face isn't as attractive as you think it is." I was no good at lying and I'm sure he knew

that. His small chuckle was evidence enough.

"I'm not going to bite little mate." I felt his hand brush lightly on my thigh, the move jolting me so much I

had to look at him "At least not yet."

"You're annoying."

One of his hands reached up to brush my hair and his lips lifted in a small smile.

That's right. There would be no chance to think of these things if I had the courage to stay and reject

him, this pack would have no longer existed and I would have spent the last years of my life without

knowing those I knew now. They would be gone and maybe, so would I.

I'd have spent the last few years of my life not knowing how Xander could look at me.

"We're here." he said simply. I looked out and saw that we had driven to the front of a cabin, nestled in

between trees but not totally away from the rest of the town. It was private and accessible. The front

was lit up properly, but there were no other cars parked in the driveway.

"Oh, okay." I said and made a move to open the door

"Wait." he said

I watched him as he got out and walked to the door. My eyes widened gradually as he pulled my door

open and held out a hand for me.

"Are you trying to be romantic?" I asked him, taking his hand

"I am. I was told I might get brownie points for this." he said and I scoffed "Do I?"

I bet it was either Cole or Sterling that had given him that sort of advice.

"Not on your life." I responded, but smiled anyways "What is this place?"

I let go of his hand and together, we walked side by side to the entrance. He opened the door for me

again and I thanked him as I stepped in, taking in the environment.

Everything was completely different from what I expected. It was a simple restaurant with booth chairs,

a bar and low lighting. The place, however, was empty and the only thing I could hear was the sound of

soft music playing in the background. A smiling woman with peppered hair suddenly stepped out of a

door and she bowed in front of us.

"Good evening Alpha Xander, Luna Ava." she said "It's a pleasure to have you dine with us. Shall I take

your coat ma'am?"

"Um, thank you." I replied, smiling and taking off my coat. The heat of the cabin warmed my skin as we

waited for her to hang my coat and return to where we stood

"Lead the way Mauve." Xander said

"Yes sir."

I glanced at him, only to see him already looking at me.

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Nodding, I began to walk behind her slowly, tightening the coat around my body. When we finally got to

a back door, she bowed again and opened the door.

"Enjoy your evening Luna Ava."

The first thing I noticed was the large body of water that was ahead. The dim moonlight reflected on it

and it looked so peaceful. The second was the setting of the room. Right next to the large window, was

a round table with two chairs. There were flower decorations, candles lit in various places with cute

light bulbs illuminating the room as well.

'It's so pretty.' Keira was as astounded as I was and I'm sure the reaction was painted across my face

so vividly. My eyes caught the flowers arranged on the table in a bouquet.

"Are those...?" I asked, stepping forward and picking it up "Shit, they are. How did you know?"

He pulled one chair for me to take a seat and I looked up at him in disbelief. He, on the other hand,

shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing and sat down opposite me.

"I didn't know. I just thought that you might like them." he said, his head tilting to the side "Do you?"

"Yes. These are my favourite flowers." how coincidental was this? "Are you sure you didn't ask

Marcus?"

He scowled slightly, before answering "Why would I ask him anything about you?"

"I get the feeling you don't like him very much."

"I don't like any stranger that sets foot in my land."

"He's my brother."

"And?"

"You're so difficult sometimes." My eyes rolled, but a smile tugged at my lips as I turned my attention to

look at the water. Now that I was closer, I could see it all clearly. It was so surreal "I never knew this

place had a lake."

He grunted lowly, not responding and from the corner of my eye, I watched him lean forward and fold

his arms on the table. Obviously, he was watching me. We were here now, on this supposed 'date'. So

far, despite his teasing, he hadn't done anything to make me regret coming out here tonight. I wasn't

excited but rather relieved at the fact that this wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.