-:Cecelia's POV:-

The lunch tray clattered to the ground upside down. The food that wasn't already on me splattered on the floor. The drinks she had taken had soaked through my shirt and now my clothes stuck to my body.

Pin drop silence resounded from all the wolves. Sera growled loudly in my headspace, having had enough of this disrespect. She wanted control and tell that bitch who was in charge. And man did I want to let her do her thing. But I couldn't:

One, there were humans there. 

Two, because there is this thing called being diplomatic. 

Three, because I didn't have to.

All the Crescent Moons and to my surprise even some Silver Moons stood up simultaneously as if the movement was choreographed. Word had really gotten around about Ashton and I being mates. Low, cautioning growls left their mouths are they silently threatened Mathilda and told her to back off. One loud growl stood out but we all know who that was, hun? 

Everyone who saw it happen knew that it wasn't an accident.

The humans shrunk into themselves and looked around in trepidation, finally noticing the commotion.

I raised one hand to hold the wolves off. It was instinct, a reflex. They all let out another growl as they settled down, glaring daggers at Mathilda. Who, by the way, looked horrified that her little stunt had backfired.

"What you said might be true," I said quietly. I spoke loudly enough for any werewolf to hear if they wanted to. "Maybe, in some ways, you are more equipped to be a Luna than I am or will ever be. You are a Silver Moon and I can not contest your familiarity with the pack and its people. I am but a warrior, distant from in a lot of ways, from her own Pack. 

"But, the first and foremost thing a Luna needs is love and trust from her pack. I have that." I stepped closer to her. "And that's all I need."

Behind her, I saw Ashton shaking with rage. Noel and Hayden were trying but failing to calm him down. His teeth were clenched and his hands fisted tightly over the table. 

Oh shit, that wouldn't do. He looked like he'd shift any moment. I dismissed Mathilda and made my way around her posse towards our table. Even from this far away I could see his eyes changing colors. It was a good thing that the humans had been focused on the drama happening between Mathilda and I instead of on Ash and his raw, primal behavior.

I quickened my steps and squatted down beside Ash as soon as I reached him. Noel and Hayden moved over to give me space. I forced Ashto- Xavier to look at me. His eyes were pitch black. How I wished I could mind-link him at that moment.

"Calm down," I told him, grabbing his hands. His shivering increased and another growl escaped his lips.

"X-" I cursed under my breath, stopping myself from saying his name out loud. "Ash," I corrected. "Take back control."

"Take him out!" Noel exclaimed in panic. Somehow now Ash's weird behavior was the center of attention.

I wonder why? I thought drily. 

I stood up and pulled at his arms. He didn't resist much. We practically ran out of the cafeteria with almost all eyes on us. We didn't stop in the hallways, we ran outside. It gave me a sense of Deja vu as I remembered how two weeks ago it was me alone, hurrying out of the same halls in dire need of an escape. 

He shifted sooner than I had anticipated, way before we had hit the woods, shredding his clothes in the process. I yelped, looking back towards the school to see if any human caught it. I let out a relieved sigh when I saw no one. 

Thank the Moon.

I hurried him towards and into the forest to avoid some human spotting a giant midnight black wolf so close to a school and sending the others into an unnecessary panic.

I turned back to Xavier and leveled him with a hard glare. He was too fluid with his emotions. As much as I had adored him for it, it had almost exposed us that day. He didn't look apologetic as he thrust his snout into the crook of my neck. His breathing slowly evened out. 

I felt something warm and wet slide up my neck and couldn't help the startled screech that blended with my laughter that escaped my mouth. I backed away from him, trying to remember that I was mad. He stalked towards me, his tongue sticking out, his eyes glistening mischievously.

"Xavier, we have class," I reminded them. He rolled his eyes with an air of stark indifference.

"I care," I narrowed my eyes at him. It was beautiful; how we could have a conversation without one of us even using words. He gave me vacant look. 

"Don't you want me to meet Bree?" I tried to entice him. He shook his head stubbornly, tilting his head towards the heart of the forest. He wanted to go on a run.

I groaned. I wanted to do this without bringing the recent incident but that looked to be impossible.

"Xav, I need to change," I finally said. That was true. Pizza sauce, juice, and morsels of food clung onto the off-white top I'd put on that morning, staining it for eternity. I had liked that top. It was ruined. And now I had a concrete reason to hate Mathilda.

At that, he looked ready to kill again.

"I don't even know what to say at this point except calm the fuck down!" I snapped, exasperated. His reaction to the situation had been cute for exactly five minutes before the growls and glared made me want to bash my head against the nearest tree trunk. That feeling might or might not have been fueled by the sticky and prickly feeling my clothes were giving me. But it was there nonetheless. 

So, no. I was not swooning.

"Shift," I ordered. "Behind a tree, Ashton," I added, remembering how I'd already seen him shift without clothes twice because of his recklessness and stubbornness. I fought a blush at the faint, fleeting memories appearing in front of my mind's eye.

"I'd say I like that shade of pink on you," he complimented, walking out from behind a tree in a pair of basketball shorts. I scowled in response but he ignored it, continuing, "But it isn't an appropriate response to the situation." I didn't miss the underlying rage in his tone. It wasn't directed at me, yet I frowned.

"And pray tell, how does one react to such a situation?" I said sarcastically.

"You kick their butt and show them who's the boss," he stated simply as if I were dumb for even asking that. As if it were obvious.

"That's ridiculous," I scoffed. 

"No, it's not," he grit out. "You're their Luna and they better accept it soon."

"Ash, you can't force them to accept me," I said. "This whole us being mates thing was sprung on them out of nowhere. They have grown up to hate me and my pack. It will take time to adjust and get used to this concept of me being their future Luna."

He sighed deeply, not saying anything for a while.

"You are my mate, Cecelia," he began. "And I know I treated you like trash in the beginning. You didn't deserve that. Yet, I did it. Mostly because of my lack of trust in Crescent Moons and the baseless hatred I'd been taught to harbor against you. I mean, I heard you talking to a boy and I freaked out!

"I know where my Pack members are coming from and I also know how baseless their beliefs are. For Selene's sake, we don't even remember what the feud was about initially, it's been so long!

"All I'm saying is, I saw through the lies because my need to be with you overpowered all the beliefs I know now to be untrue. I want my pack members to see that too, you know? There is no need for rivalry! We are not as different as we were brought up to believe. Is it too much to ask for people to give you a chance before they decide what kind of a Luna you'll be?"

He wrapped me up into his arms, uncaring of the food that was now sticking to his torso and abdomen. I hugged him back, sighing into his skin as I breathed in his scent. The sparks and tingles that came with his touch were always welcome. Sera yipped happily.

"No, it's not. But understand that the world doesn't work that way," I murmured as he rested his chin on my head.

"I know," he said bitterly.

"It's fine," I ran my hand up and down his bare back soothingly, feeling the muscles contract and then relax under my touch. I smiled to myself, pleased with the effect I had on him.

"I'm taking you out today," he stated after a brief silence. 

"I'd love that," I told him honestly. I wanted to get to know him. Away from the confines of a hospital room and away from hawk eyes and prying ears because of which we always had our guards up.

"How about dinner?" He asked. "We can go to any restaurant you want."

I hummed in response, closing my eyes. Hugging your mate is addictive, people. Don't judge me.

I came back to reality with the warning bell. I guessed I wouldn't be meeting Brianna that day. Then I remembered.

"Fuck," I cursed, pulling away. "I had to change!"

"Let's ditch," Ashton said. I looked at him as if he just told me that the world was flat.

"Are you insane?" I said incredulously. "We missed school for a week! How are we going to explain our absence from school again? Dad will kill me and so will Aaron when he finds out I ditched with you. Have you forgotten about yesterday?" I rambled.

"Okay, so we're not ditching," he said, his frustration with the situation obvious. "Let's get you changed then."

"What am I? A three-year-old kid?" I raised an eyebrow mirthfully.

He laughed.

"Come on," he urged, dragging me to the parking lot. "I have a few spares in my trunk."

Half an hour later I was freshly showered and dressed in the locker rooms, keeping watch. Ashton was cleaning up the mess I transferred to him while hugging him earlier and replacing his shredded clothes with whole ones. 

I was in oversized overalls, dressed in clothes that belonged to Ashton. I had to roll up the pants a few times to avoid tripping but his T-shirt was fashionably oversized on me.

At least I didn't have to roam in juice-soaked clothes all day. Sera was over the moon to be surrounded by our mate's scent and fortunately-unfortunately, her mood and thoughts were contagious.

Ashton walked out dressed in similar attire as mine, but his set fitted him way better than mine did for obvious reasons. He wore a V-neck black shirt that clung to his chiseled torso and a pair of fitted black jeans along with them.

I distracted myself with the thoughts of classes before my mind wandered further. We had missed a period. Technically it was halfway into class time, so we were extremely late. 

Basically, as good as missed.

We stashed our dirty clothes in Ashton's jeep. We then spent the next few minutes listening to songs together, sharing a pair of earphones. The rest of the day people kept staring at me weirdly, Mathilda seemed to have disappeared, and Ashton's dark mood seemed to be improving with every second for some mysterious reason. Not that I was complaining. I was just curious.

It was when he dropped me off at the Packhouse did I understand that mystery.

"Don't forget, we have a date tonight," he winked and then drove away without waiting for a response. His chuckled faded as he disappeared down the trail and into the forest, out the Pack borders.

I stood there for a few seconds before I shook myself and laughed at his antics.

I had stuff to do before I went out on the date.

*************************************

A/N:-

Dun dun dun, here's a new chapter. Sort of a filler, but I wanted to build up the moment a little.

Hope you guys liked the chapter!

QOTD: How tall are you??

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Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.