XANDER (Editing)

Chapter 24

XANDER'S POV

Izzy fell asleep in my arms after her little lecture to me.

I let her words ponder in my mind.
I know she's right. I feel so...weak. I've never been so weak before.
I've never been weak before I had a mate. I used to have no emotion. I would harm people because I didn't like them...and I never thought anything of it.
I could rip my victims apart with my bare hands and not blink an eye. That is why people feared me. I was strong. I had the ability to turn my feelings off.

Maybe that's why I feel so vulnerable. I've never let my emotions control me. I've never let myself feel anything that might be good for me. But I did. I feel now...I feel a lot...for Elizabeth. She is my weakness. And now that my enemies know that, I am doing everything to protect her because I know if she is taken...How can I keep going?

But she is right, I can't always worry about my ability to protect her. I need to protect my pack as well. I will do everything in my power to end this. I just pray that nothing happens to her...my fiancé

Fiancé? I need to get my mother to talk to Izzy about the wedding. I want to get married before I have to leave for the hunt. I'll be gone for a while to find this son of a bitch that is trying to take my Mate from me.

I don't know why he is trying so hard. It's been years since the massacre I did upon his Rogue pack. I thought he had died. But obviously not.
It's strange. I spent 6 years with him in his cells. I remember him trying to touch me. Saying that I'm his special little boy. I would always fight though, no matter what. Every time He came into my cell, I would fight until he was too tired to try and take me again.
About after a month of being there, a new boy they traded in from England was in the cell next door to me. He was pretty big for a boy around 13. He looked more about 16 than a 13 year old.
At first he wouldn't talk. The Rogue Alpha would come in every second day, into the English boy's cell.
He would stroke the boy's hair and say how handsome he was and how he's going to be his special boy, just like how he did to me.

The Rogue Alpha would take him upstairs. I wouldn't know what happened when they went up there.
But, every time the English boy came in, he would curl into a fetal position and cry. His wails broke my heart. I guess he got what I was supposed to get from the Rogue.
When a new batch of boys arrived, there were too many of them to fit in one cell each. So they started to put two boys in each cell. The rogue put the English boy with me. I was glad. I wanted to protect him from the rogue alpha.

Every time the rogue tried to come in, I would use all my strength to attack him.
He never touched the English boy again.
Later on, the English boy showed his gratitude by telling me his name.
He said the Rogue Alpha called him
Jax. But his real name...was Noah.

The ringing of my iPhone ripped me out of my deep thoughts.
I look at my mate, making sure she wasn't wakened by the sound.

I look at my phone to see the caller. Speak of the devil.
"Hey Noah, what's going on?"

I softly pull myself from Izzy. And replace me with my pillow. She instantly takes it and burrows her face in it. I chuckle. My sweet little mate.

I walk out of the bedroom and onto the balcony.

"We've got two problems."

I sigh and close my eyes. Mentally preparing myself for anything that is about to be said. "Which are?"

"Well 1. There is an alpha who is declaring war upon us."

"What!? WHO?"

"Your mate's father, Nikolai. He is convinced that you kidnapped his daughter and raped her."

"WHAT?!" I snarled. I quickly pop my head to the side to check if Izzy is still asleep. I see her chest is breathing steadily.

"What is the second problem?" I growled.

"Ummm...IZZY'S brother, Eddie, is missing. He went out patrolling when it was his shift. He never came back."

I take deep breaths to calm my beating heart and I say through my teeth."And when did this happen Noah?"

"Yesterday Alpha."

"And why am I only just hearing about it NOW?" I growled

"We thought to wait just in case he came back. But when the time lengthened...I decided to call you."

I feel my rage slowly growing. Where ever me and my mate go...trouble seems to always reach us eventually.

"I'll be back by the morning."
I hang the phone up. I start to plan what is to happen.
I make my way back inside the bedroom.

I scan the area until my eyes land on the empty suitcase that's on the floor.
I grab it and start to walk back and forth between the suitcase and closet. Packing everything in.

Izzy starts to stir in her sleep until she slowly lifts her head up. Her brows pull together as her eyes squint from sleep.
"Xander? What're you doing? Come back to bed."

"We can't Izzy."

"Why not? What's going on? And why're you packing?"

I feel guilty for doing this. I mean, we haven't really had proper time away.
I sit next her on the bed. I stroke her cheek softly with the back of my hand.
"There's trouble at the pack."

IZZY'S frown deepens. She sits up and leans forward, "what kind of trouble?"

"Your dad has declared war on our pack because he believes I kidnapped you," the next words taste bitter in my mouth. My rage fires as the words leave me mouth, "And have taken you by force," I snarled.

Elizabeth's mouth has dropped. I can hear her heart beatin faster.
"That's not all." I grab her hand as a supportive gesture.
"Your brother Eddie is missing. It was his shift for patrolling the boarders, which I'm guessing is the Eastern boarders since that's the furthest one out there. He never came back."

Elizabeth looks away from my face and stares at the rising sun outside. I feel her shaking a little. I know how special her brother was to her. He was her rock when she was at home. I never thanked him for that. I never showed him my gratitude for taking care of my mate.

I shake off the thoughts. I have no time to think like that.

With a steady hand, I softly grasp her chin and turn her to face me.
"Sweetheart, we don't have time to feel sad right now. What we have to do is go back to our pack. We need to be strong now. We need to The Alpha and Luna."

She looks deep into my eyes. I know she understands me. She knows what has to be done.
"You're right. We need to leave."

With a seriously expression, obviously lost in thought, she runs around the room packing her things.

I can tell she is being strong and I admire her for that.

I hook my finger in her jeans and pull her to me. I wrap my arms around her waist to make sure she can't get away. "What the? Xander can't do-"

She talks too much sometimes. I smash my lips on hers. I passionately kiss my mate. Her arms slowly come up and around my neck, slowly weaving her fingers through my hair. I'm a sucker for that.

We separate breathlessly.
"Everything will be okay. Do you trust me?" I ask. It'd be pretty awkward if she said no.
But she let's a small grin escape, "I do trust you."

I smile and peck her lips, "I love you."

She rest her head on my chest and releases a tired sigh, "I love you more."

We just stood in each other's embrace for a while. Soaking each other's presence in. Hoping it will strengthen us.

I pat her ass, "Come on sweetheart. We gotta get going." I kiss her forehead and go to the closet to pack and get ready for the trouble that we're about to face.