I looked up from my bowl of cereal tiredly as Xavier floated through the front door. He sent me a smile, briskly kicking off his shoes and taking his coat off. The sun was already up, but Xavier clearly hadn't slept. After the murder had happened, he had clearly been working non-stop to protect the pack. After Jude's appearance, he'd shifted into overdrive, working all night at the pack house.

"Get any sleep last night?" Xavier called from across the large room.

I shook my head simply, finishing up my breakfast. It was getting to the point of exhaustion where I started to get dizzy, but I couldn't get a wink of sleep last night. The mental image of that creep Jude staring at me was burned into my brain. It felt like every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were his staring back at me. Try sleeping with that mental image...

"How did the meetings go?" I asked, washing up my bowl.

"Stressful. They managed to track him for awhile, but his scent became inconspicuous towards the edge of town. We know that nobody was hurt, so at least there's that. I've heightened security further and set a curfew for pack members to keep them safe." Xavier listed off, collapsing onto the sofa while loosening his tie.

"When was the last time you had a good nights sleep?" I frowned, watching his body crash into the sofa with concern.

"That night I slept with you?" He grinned lazily, making me blush.

That was the last time I had slept well too.

"You should take a nap." I suggested, siting next to him as he sprawled out on the sofa.

"You should take one with me." He smirked, taking ahold of my hand.

"I have school." I shrugged, "Speaking of which, I should get going."

"Cameron White caring about getting to class on time? What happened to you?" He teased, making a slight frown slip onto my face.

"I'm just trying to get the elders to take me seriously." I muttered, dropping his hand.

"Oh, baby." He sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

He pulled me in for a hug and I settled into his chest, enjoying the tingles that immediately rushed through my body. It was a sensitive topic for me, since I was sort of still butt hurt that the elders didn't think I was responsible enough. To them, I wasn't good enough for Xavier and that hurts me for obvious reasons.

"I don't want you to think that you need to change for them. I like you exactly the way you are; I like that you know how to have fun. The last thing I'd want is for you to compromise who you are so that they approve. Hell, I don't even meet the high standards they have in place." Xavier attempted to comfort me.

"Are you sure?" I mumbled, scanning his concerned face intently for an answer.

"One hundred percent certain." He whispered, his hand brushing across my cheek.

I sent him a small smile and mouthed 'thank you'. Clearly, he meant what he was saying, but I was going to try and brush up on my act anyway. This was final year, so this mattered. My GCSE's were pretty terrible, so A-levels were my last chance to get some good grades. Not to mention, it might help me get back into my mum's good books- something I needed all the help I could get with right now.

"Cam, would you do me the honour of going on a date this weekend?" Xavier suddenly boomed, making me jump as my head whipped towards him.

He had mentioned wanting to do this whole thing properly- starting with a date- but with all the commotion I hadn't expected one so soon.

"Are you sure? Don't you have a lot going on right now with the pack?" The twinge of excitement in my voice was undeniable, despite my concerns about the pack.

"It's long overdue; we should have had our date before all of this stuff went down. I kept side tracking you for the pack, but I just want to spend some time with you. Noah can take charge for at least a day."

"Then, sure. My answer is yes, Xavier Evans." I smiled softly.

"Thank god, I'm dying for a kiss." Xavier groaned, chuckling.

That made me blush. Admittedly, I was feeling exactly the same. The tension between us was certainly growing day by day, which was making it very hard to live together. The more I got to know him, the more attractive he was to me.

"It seemed like you knew Jude, who is he to you?" I changed the topic, since we hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened last night, since Xavier had rushed off to a meeting.

"Jude's a complicated guy. He used to be a part of the pack, actually. I went to school with him. His dad was dishonoured from the Beta position by my father because of his drinking problem. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't kicked out of the pack- he just couldn't remain as the Beta because it would put the rest of the pack in danger. My father tried to put him in therapy, get him the help he needed, but alcoholism is a tricky illness... Jude essentially blamed us for his dad going off the rails and left the pack. At some point he joined up with some rogues and has been terrorising the pack ever since." Xavier explained.

"That must be hard for you- were you friends?"

"I thought so. He was my Noah before Noah- nobody else could understand what it was like to have a Dad like mine. I was friends with Noah way before his dad became beta, but I was tight with Jude. The bond between a beta and an alpha is unlike any other friendship- Jude understood me, even if we were only alpha and beta in waiting, or whatever." Xavier sighed, "It's hard dealing with him now because he knows me so well- he knows the pack so well."

"Is that why he gets under your skin so easily?"

"Well, that and the way he looks at you. He knows how long I've waited for my mate- how excited I was to find you. Him knowing who you are, I just know that he'll do anything he can to fuck it up for me. I'm worried about you, Cam... Jude isn't safe."

My heart softened as he spoke about wanting to meet his mate- wanting to meet me. I could gather that he was excited about it from the whole waiting to have sex until he found his mate thing, but I didn't realise how much it actually meant to him. It's quite flattering, really.

Getting off of the sofa, I climbed on top of Xavier. He wrapped his arms around me and I settled into his chest, giving him a tight hug. The vibrations calmed both of us after the difficult and emotional conversation, letting us relax momentarily amongst all of the chaos.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, I need to get you to Sixth Form." Xavier hugged me tight one last time.

I looked up at him, cupping his cheek with my hand. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched me move closer, his eyes growing dark. That made my head go lighter than air, making me feel dizzy as I enjoyed the effect I had on him. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his cheek, lingering there for a second before pulling back.

He looked adorable, all dazed and flustered from a simple cheek kiss. I climbed off of him and went about my business, getting ready to leave for class. He stayed laying still, groaning in frustration.

"You're a tease, Cameron White." Xavier chuckled, finally getting off of the sofa.

"And you're a sexually frustrated virgin, Xavier Evans." I shot back with a smirk.

"Touché." He barked a laugh, slipping his shoes back on and grabbing the keys.

"Maybe I should learn to drive; I feel bad that you're having to drive me everywhere because the woods are so far from everything." I suggested.

"I like driving you around, but if you want to learn to drive I could teach you." Xavier shrugged.

"Do you even own a manual car?" I chuckled, "Learning to drive an automatic Tesla is redundant- we're in Britain, not America. You're the only person I know who drives an automatic."

"Fair enough. We could borrow Noah's old car, I'm sure he won't mind. He's been thinking about getting rid of it anyway."

"If he doesn't mind, then great. Thanks, Xavier." I beamed.

"Anything for you." He smiled back, making my heart skip a beat.

"Stop flirting with me and get in the car." I blushed, waving him out of the door.

"Yes, sir." He smirked, saluting me mockingly.

I rolled my eyes at him with a smile, climbing into the passenger seat as he opened the door for me.

"When are you giving Noah his car back?" I gestured to the car that Xavier was still driving.

"More like when is Noah giving me my car back- he spammed me with selfies in it earlier. He and his wife adore it, so I'm not sure I'll be getting it back anytime soon." Xavier shook his head, starting the ignition.

I plugged in my phone and turned on music, relaxing into the seat as we drove through the neighbourhoods. As we turned the corner, I ducked down in my seat slightly. Despite not being in Xavier's car, they still recognised him and sent a wave. All of the teenagers were hoarding near the front gates, waiting to carpool to school now that they couldn't travel by themselves.

"Not sure why I'm hiding as if they don't all already know what's going on." I realised, sitting up straight.

"I mean, if you're ready then I'm sure Noah would appreciate you being at his surprise baby announcement party. It's happening soon, but it's up to you. The whole pack will be there, so I understand if you're not ready yet." I noticed that Xavier rambled whenever he was trying to make me feel not pressured

I thought about it for a second, feeling nervous. Noah seemed fun and I wanted to get to know Xavier's friends, but the idea of being in front of the whole pack with Xavier made my chest go a little tight. I already knew that the elders would be judging me and that the pack had an affiliation with gossiping.

On the other hand, I knew I had to face it sooner than later if I wanted to be with Xavier, so I might as well get it over with.

"That sounds fun." I eventually replied, giving him a nod.

"Really?" The excitement was plastered on his face, making the nerves in my chest melt away.

"Really." I confirmed, taking ahold of his hand as he drove.

He beamed at me, squeezing my hand as we finally moved through the now open pack gates. The car journeys never lasted very long and before I knew it, I was hopping out of the car in front of the school gates. I waved goodbye and he did the same, watching me walk through the school gates to make sure I was safe.

I strolled through reception and across the courtyard to the Sixth Form common room, entering. I was earlier than the majority of kids from the pack for once, so the common room wasn't very busy. The only ones from the pack here were the ones that could drive.

The second I walked in, my whole group bolted upright with questioning eyes. I put my finger to my lips, unsure of how much the pack members knew about last night's events. If they didn't know, then I didn't want to be the one to spill the beans.

"Smoke anyone?" I tried to seem casual, gesturing to the fire escape.

We all headed down the fire escape- Mick stumbling down them he was so eager- all of us taking a seat on the steps at the bottom. I could tell that they were waiting for answers, but I was pretty unsure about what to say. How the hell do I explain last night to them? I had stayed up all night thinking about it, but I was still at a pretty huge loss.

"Cam, say something. We were all escorted home by a guy named Phil last night; we deserve answers." Heather seemed freaked out, which was fair enough.

"What happened after I left?" I was pretty curious about what they did to Jude.

"That guy- Jude- and Phil had an argument for a while before a bunch of others guys came in and we were told we needed to leave." Mike explained, "The whole pub was emptied, other than Jude and the guys who stormed in."

"So when you left Jude was still in the pub?" I clarified, to which they all nodded.

"Who was he?" Heather quizzed, her eyes filled with concern.

"The guy that Xavier was trying to protect me from."