Xander's POV

I paced back and forth in Donovan's kitchen. He stayed quiet and just watched me.

"You know she'll be safe with us if you decide to take her," he finally spoke. I attempted to massage out the crick in my neck with no luck as an involuntary growl left my lips.

"I don't like the thought of her leaving our pack grounds. She's most comfortable here," I husked out, forcing my wolf, who'd crept up during the encounter, down.

"But she's safest with you," he reasoned. I gripped the edge of his kitchen countertop and allowed my head to drop down. The mere idea of leaving Scarlett behind instead of taking her with me on this trip was upsetting enough that it had caused a forced shift earlier today right in the middle of my office. It's not like we were a brand new mated pair - it had been a little over a month now. However, it might as well have been with how needy I still felt for her and whenever I was around her.

There was just an ease when I was with her. We had a routine down. She always awoke early to make breakfast while I got ready for the day. Breakfast was usually silent as neither of us were huge morning people. We typically spent lunch apart as we both worked away at this list of things required of us by the pack. My favorite time of day was when our work days were over. We would cook dinner side-by-side while talking about our days. There was always a dessert of some sort - I'd quickly learned my mate had a terrible sweet tooth. Over dessert, she'd tell me stories from growing up in the orphanage. In return, I'd share my own childhood stories. Once we cleaned dinner up, we'd take a long relaxing shower together. Sometimes it would turn heated. Most of the time, we'd only exchange soft kisses and gentle touches. Scarlett had come to love when I would carefully wash her back. I spent a lot of our post-shower time gently massaging her back with the tonic we got from the pack doctor to help with the nerve pain she suffered with. We always ended our nights wrapped in each others' arms. Being away from her for even a day seemed like torture.

"I think you should talk to her-" Donovan's words were cut off by my harsh growl.

"Not a single person will speak a word of this to her until I've made a decision and subsequent plan. She's been through enough. She shouldn't have to shoulder this choice," I grunted.

"I can understand where you're coming from, and your concern, but I don't think you're giving her enough credit. I think she'd want to have a say. She'd at least want to be involved rather than kept in the dark."

"Yeah, well, speaking of. My little stunt of throwing you and Griffin out to keep her in the dark supposedly bought me a one night stay in the guest room," I grumbled, annoyed beyond belief. Donovan's light-hearted chuckle met my ears. I threw daggers at him with my eyes.

"Your mate is being generous. Whenever I piss Riley off she'll strip all the guest beds of their linens and put me on the couch." I shook my head at his admission before releasing a deep sigh.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," I mumbled before turning and leaving his place. The pit that had been in my stomach most of the day only worsened with each step I took closer to home.

"Alpha Harrington," one of Scarlett's guards nodded to me before moving out of the way of the door. I acknowledged her before entering. Our place was quiet, which wasn't necessarily unusual. However, there was something different. I couldn't place my finger on it until I sauntered further into the first floor. Usually when I came home, the first thing I saw was Scarlett moving around in the kitchen grabbing out the ingredients for whatever we were going to cook. Tonight, however, she wasn't anywhere in sight. I'll be fixing my own supper. And eating it alone it seems. Fuck. I tried to roll out the tension in my shoulders, immediately turning to the stairs to go in search of her.

I came to a stop right in front of our bedroom door. I noticed the offensive pile of things neatly stacked at the foot of the door. It consisted of my pillow, a pair of the boxer shorts I usually lounged in until I discarded them to sleep, and my toothbrush. I felt a surge of anger rush through my belly. When she'd made the comment about kicking me out of our bed, I didn't think she was actually serious. My hand grabbed and attempted to turn the door knob only to find it locked. I balked. She locked me out?

"Scarlett?" I called out. I heard some shuffling behind the door, my anger flared. "Scarlett! Open the fucking door!" I yelled. My demand was followed by the muffled sound of a door - my guess was our bathroom - slamming shut. Moments later I heard our bathtub turn on. My anger shifted from the situation to myself. Now not only was I kicked out of our bed, I had to miss out on our shower time. Her skin was always considerably more stiff at the end of the day. How was she possibly going to reach to use her cream? She was now unknowingly punishing herself too. I growled in frustration before snatching the offending pile off the floor. I trekked into the guest rooms closest to our bedroom. It just so happened to be the one I'd redone for Scarlett. Despite the bed not having the greatest mattress, the sheets and blankets were all hers. It meant the room was still saturated in her scent. That was at least a bandaid over the wound.

Regardless of having the comfort of her scent, I tossed and turned on the bed. It was impossible to find a comfortable position. I was so used to Scarlett's soft body pressing up against mine. I would tangle a leg between her own while I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her scent as I fell asleep. Without her to hold onto, and effectively cuddle into, I couldn't find the right angle. This sucked.

I glanced over at the clock and sighed in defeat at the bright red letters glaring back at me. Damn near three in the morning and I hadn't even been able to relax. I sat up in the bed and harshly rubbed a hand down my face, wiping away the exhaustion.

"Fuck this," I grunted. Snatching my pillow off the bed, I made a determined beeline for our bedroom. She didn't know this, but there was a key of sorts for the bedroom door. Only I knew where it was stored. Rummaging around in the hall closet where I kept it hidden, I pulled it from its spot. I made quick work popping the lock and throwing our door open. Not much to my surprise, Scarlett was awake and pacing in front of our windows. Her gaze met mine, quickly turning from worry to irritation when she saw me.

"You can be pissed off at me all you want. You can give me the silent treatment. You can yell. I don't care. But I'm not sleeping without you," I stated in a tone that left no room for argument. I sauntered towards our bed, throwing my pillow back in the spot where it goes. "Quit being stubborn and get in here, baby," I demanded after she hesitated a few seconds. She released a soft sigh before following me to the bed. Despite her upset demeanor, the second she climbed in, she curled up into my body like she did every night. The action immediately put my wolf, who'd been pacing in my head all night, at ease. My arms wrapped tightly around her waist and cinched her body as close to mine as she could possibly get.

"I don't like you hiding things from me," she whispered in such a soft voice I almost didn't hear it. My eyes shut as I clenched my jaw. The tone of her voice made my heart squeeze. Dammit, I'm a bastard.

"Everything I do is to keep you safe and happy. I never want you to be stressed or to worry about anything," I murmured against her temple before pressing a soft kiss where my words had landed.

"But in doing so, you did the exact thing you were trying to avoid," she said while turning in my arms so we were face-to-face. I brought a hand up and stroked her cheek. I was momentarily side-tracked by how beautiful she was as she nuzzled into my hand. A thick knot formed in my throat so tight I almost choked around it as a feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. A feeling I'd never felt before. It made me realize that I hadn't even noticed what was happening until it had punched me right in the gut. It was so slow over the past few weeks; like a thief in the night, this woman had so easily crept in and stolen my heart.

"I love you, Scarlett. If anything happened to you..." I trailed off. The constriction in my throat from simply the thought of having to go a day without her in my life was too much to bear. I had to swallow hard to get it to ease enough to try speaking again.

"You won't let that happen," she murmured, her wet eyes glistening with unshed tears I could see in the moonlight streaming in from the open curtains. "Say that again. Please," she begged softly, her tone almost desperate.

"I love you. More than I did yesterday and less than I will tomorrow. Everything you do is perfect to me. If anyone ever tried to take you from me, I would search the ends of this earth and kill anyone who got in my way to find you. I would do anything for you," I stated vehemently. A single tear slipped down the side of her face as her soft, delicate hand reached up to caress my cheek.

"I love you too," she rasped out, "so much". A warmth spread throughout my whole body. It was another sensation I was experiencing for the first time. My mind was made. This woman isn't leaving my side. Not for a minute.

We moved towards one another at the same time, our lips connecting as I moved over her while sliding between her legs with practiced ease. Her arms wound up to lock around my neck. We parted only long enough to shred the rest of our minimal clothing before our bodies found one another again. There was no sense of urgency like there usually was from us both before our first orgasm - so needy for the other we couldn't help but rush things the first round. I took my time with every caress, every kiss.

When I finally sank into her, it was like our first time all over again. Every sensation was magnified. The hand at the base of my neck lightly scraped my scalp as it ventured into my hair before grasping at the strands and giving a light tug, Scarlett's tell tale sign that she really liked whatever I was doing. Our bodies were just a hair's breadth apart, every inch of skin practically molded together. I trailed my kisses from her lips down to her jaw, my thrusts becoming a touch rougher as she gave the skin near my ear a soft nibble. The change in pace had her moaning my name appreciatively before biting my ear lobe.

"I-" she gasped when I leaned to add more pressure to her clit with my pubic bone, "-love you," she panted out against the shell of my ear. I couldn't, and didn't want to, stop the moan that barreled from my chest at the profession. My balls started to tighten and pull against my body. I quickened my pace just a touch, but increased the strength of my thrusts. Scarlett was always asking for it harder rather than faster. I'd grown to learn when I was close to coming and needed her to get there faster, this was the answer.

It only took a couple thrusts before Scarlett was digging her nails into my shoulder hard enough to draw blood as she threw her head back against her pillow.

"Look at me, baby. Look at me, Scarlett," I ground out, never easing up on her. Her eyes immediately snapped open to stare into mine. "Mine. You're mine. Say it," I growled out.

"I'm yours," she husked out, just barely holding on to the edge of sanity before her orgasm hit. I slammed into her a final time and sealed our mouths again. Taking every last cry of pleasure she had for myself because I was one greedy bastard when it came to this woman. Her orgasm triggered my own, and I waited for the high to slowly subside as the aftershocks left her body.

"Are you asleep on me already?" I murmured in amusement, staring down at Scarlett's completely relaxed and limp form. The small, amused quirk of her lips gave me my answer.

"You're still inside me and half-hard. I don't think I could possibly fall asleep like that," she snickered breathily. I was immediately fond of the idea.

"Might be kinda nice for Xander Jr. to have a snuggle buddy all night long," I commented. Her reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes shot open and she leveled me with a serious look.

"Don't you go getting any ideas just because I let you hang out for a while after sex," she insisted. I chuckled before leaning down and lathering her neck and chest with kisses, some I purposely placed in her ticklish spots. The action caused her to release that adorable giggle that was music to my ears.

She laid silently in my arms for a few minutes before she started squirming. I released her so after sex clean up could ensue. Most of the time it meant me changing the sheets from all the come and sweat we'd worked up while Scarlett peed and fixed her hair - typically that time was littered with complaints about how 'ratty' I'd made her hair from all the pulling, grabbing, and running my hands through it. That wouldn't change anytime soon, though. I loved her hair.

"Did you get your cream put on?" I asked her as she exited the bathroom wearing a new night slip. She gave me a sheepish expression.

"Kind of," she murmured with a shrug of her shoulder.

"C'mere," I beckoned, reaching for the tub of thick cream on her nightstand. She pulled the nightgown off silently as she came to rest between my legs. Turning, she exposed her back to me so I could properly lather the medicine on her back.

"Can you take the day off?" she asked softly as I continued massaging. I sighed deeply, eyeing the clock that now read 4:15. If I didn't, I would have to be up in an hour. But I really shouldn't.

"There's so much I need to get done..." I trailed off, finishing with her back and gently turning her to face me. I helped her slip back into her pajamas as every single one of the things on my to-do list flitted through my mind.

"Are you going to tell me what made you so upset earlier?" she asked, shifting so she was pressed against my chest. Her hands wound up and around my shoulders where they began running rhythmic circles into my skin. I sighed deeply, knowing we needed to discuss the topic sooner rather than later.

"It's the Dawnfall pack in Wyoming," I started, waiting for any sort of reaction.

"I was in an orphanage there once when I was younger. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but it was sometime between nine and eleven," she revealed. I was less than shocked by this admission. My mate had lived in more states and packs than I could keep track of at this point.

"I don't know what it was like when you lived there, or if you even remember much, but to date the pack doesn't have a great reputation. It's not a bad pack to live in, per se, but the Alpha is fierce. He's not one you want to cross or even think about getting on his bad side. He's nearly impossible to get into communication with and he has almost no treaty alliances with any other packs. But he would make a great ally if I can get him to agree to a treaty. I've just barely gotten my foot in the door. However, he wants to have the meeting on his pack grounds. This is the first and only formal meeting he's agreed to thus far after months of negotiation and communication..." I trailed off, already feeling a new tension headache coming on.

"I see," she murmured softly, looking deep in thought.

"I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Leaving you here seemed like the most logical answer because this is where you and your wolf feel the safest. However the thought of not taking you with makes me physically ill. I can't do it Scarlett," I stated with finality, my forehead wrinkled together with the stress I was feeling.

"Then I'll go with you," she reasoned as if I hadn't been stressed over this practically every second for the past 48 hours.

"What?" I balked.

"The place I feel safest isn't here because it's our pack. It's because you're here, Xander. I am safest and feel safest wherever you are. If you're going to this pack for the meeting, then I'll go too." I scanned her face closely for a few minutes, looking for any hint of possible deception for my benefit. Making sure she wasn't just saying it to soothe me.

"You're sure?" I asked. She just nodded. I released a heavy sigh.

"Okay then. I'll let him know that you'll be attending and all the names of our security team who will be coming as a result of that," I stated. She just smiled sleepily and nodded. "I figured you could talk with his Luna while you were there, too. Maybe try and discuss some of the changes you've made to our orphanage and how they've been successful for our pack," I added as we climbed back into bed. I felt the familiar sensation of her happiness blossom in my chest after I'd spoken.

"Mmm, you're gonna get such a special wake up call tomorrow when you go into work late," she hummed lazily. I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. Couldn't say no to that, now could I?