RISK

14

"Why are you torturing me?" Isabella laughs, knowing what Xander is doing.

"It's cute when you get all nervous." He smirks knowing exactly what he is doing.

"Alexander, you're making it worse!" She tries using her hands to cover her face, but he won't have it. He puts her hands down, and before she can put them back up, he places a soft kiss on her lips. Isabella is taken back. They have never kissed in public before.

When they separate they notice almost everyone in the parking lot has their eyes on them. Most of the students at the small school are in the pack, and Xander realizes he just exposed who their Luna is. He sees them taking mental notes, and he knows in the next hour, everyone in the pack will know exactly who Isabella is. They had a name before, now they have everything.

Before this would be ok, but the more people who know about Isabella, the easier it will be for Octavius to find out about her. He quickly mind links Josh to spread the word of another official pack meeting, rather than the small one of just them he originally planned. Xander needs to make sure this news does not spread. And in the werewolf world, news like this spreads like rapid fire.

Xander looks around the parking lot one more time to make sure he doesn't see an unfamiliar face who saw him and Isabella.

"We should go." Before getting a response, he opens Isabella's car door for her. She gets in confused because Xander was all smiles a minute ago. He starts the car and pulls off without another word. Halfway through the car ride, Xander starts gripping the steering wheel tightly. He's getting frustrated. Octavius has an upper hand, a trick he used to get past Xander's border without any sign or trace. And Xander has no idea how that is. Xander had an upper hand, because Octavius did not know he had mate. And he might have put that in jeopardy. He might have put Isabella in jeopardy. Not just today, but when they went out for lunch. The more people who see Isabella and Xander together, the bigger the possibility word can get to Octavius. At this point, Xander never knows who's watching.

Isabella can't hold her tongue any longer.

"Is everything ok?" She eyes Xander's abnormally tight grip on the steering wheel.

Xander takes a quick look at Isabella's worried face, and back on the road. He forces a smile, not wanting to worry her.

"I'm fine, Iz." He takes her hand in his, to comfort both her and him. The pair pull into Isabella's driveway.

"Do you want to come in?" She ask, "My dad's not here." Isabella mentally scolds herself. Of course she made the invitation sound like she wants to fool around. "Not that it matters." She adds, laughing nervously.

If there is one thing that could make Xander smile right now, it's Isabella. And she did. Watching her get all nervous and bashful just makes him smile. She's adorable and he really wishes he could come in.

"I would love to, but I can't." He says sadly.

"Oh ok," She nods, "Bye then." Isabella is about to open the car door when Xander stops her.

"Hey." She turns around and he leans in to place a kiss on her lips. His dark tinted windows prevent even a werewolf from seeing in. "I'll call you later, ok?"

"Ok." She smiles. She exits the car and Xander watches until she enters the safety of her own home.

Just as Xander hoped, when he gets home his pack is all in one place waiting for him. Whispers about what the meeting could be about is the topic of conversation. They just had a meeting, so they know this must be new and important. Everyone assumes it's about Isabella because now the whole pack knows who she is. Xander goes to the front of the room to get everyone's attention.

"Hello everyone. Thank you for coming. I know this meeting was not scheduled, and you may have other things to do. I do not want you to react with worry when I tell you this. As you all know, last week Octavius' pack crossed our border and attacked. I do not know how they were able to cross our border without us knowing. Octavius has some sort of trick or method helping him do so, and it's up to us to figure out what it is. The sooner we solve this, the sooner we can put an end to this. Now...Octavius does have a mission and obviously bad intentions. His goal is to overthrow my pack, so it becomes his."

Worry and chatter breaks out around the room because everyone is aware how Octavius plans to overthrow. The process is common knowledge.

"Please quiet down, everyone." He waits for the room to settle down. "As you know, because I do not have a child of my own to take the Alpha position, if Octavius kills both me and Isabella, my pack becomes his."

"You and Isabella must have a child then!" A pack member yells out in suggestion, getting a lot of agreement from the crowd.

Xander is taken back by the proposition. He's trying to move slowly with Isabella, and having a child is definitely the opposite. Of course he wants to have a child with Isabella, many children if she's willing, but it is way too soon.

"And we will one day," he answers, "Just not anytime soon. Listen, Octavius does not know of Isabella's existence. If we can keep this a secret, we have an upper hand. But until we know what their trick is, that's their upper hand. We must make sure no one who is not in this pack knows I found my mate. There will be no talking about Isabella beyond these walls. No one is to tell even their friends or mates in other packs. I know we trust our friends and mates, but they might tell someone they think they can trust whom they actually cannot. We must be very cautious."

"What does that mean for you and Isabella, Alpha?"

Xander sighs. "We never know who is watching. I cannot spend time with Isabella beyond these walls. Even going to her home or her coming here can be risky because of who might see..." Xander starts to realize the severity of the situation, "I might need to cut off all in person contact with her."

Protest and objections voice around the room. Everyone knows how detrimental lack of contact can be to mates. It starts as emotional pain, but as time goes on, that emotional pain starts to feel physical. The heart is heartbroken and the body craves the touch of it's soulmate. Xander's wolf will be in pain without Isabella. First, his wolf will constantly try to force Xander to go to Isabella. If he doesn't, eventually his wolf will surface and try to take control of Xander's body to reunite the two. If Xander can somehow fight that, his wolf will just shut down out of exhaustion and loss.

"Alpha, she won't understand anything. You'll break her heart. You must tell her everything." A pack member suggest. Xander looks at her and starts to consider. This is a lot to spring on Isabella. If just being a werewolf wasn't enough, now he would have to tell her about Octavius, mates, Luna's, and that her life could be in danger.

Xander mentally curses. The reason he did not want a mate in the first place is because he knew he would be putting her in danger. He just found his mate, and he's already putting her life at risk. If he stayed ignoring her and fighting the bond, maybe things would have been better. He thinks about which option, telling Isabella or keeping her in the dark, will keep her safer. If he tells her, she might be scared and overwhelmed and never want to talk to Xander again. And that alone is enough to break Xander's heart. But even if she's scared, she'll know who to call if she doesn't feel safe, or someone unfamiliar approaches her. She'll know to be cautious. And Xander's pack member is right, maybe if Isabella knows, she'll know Xander is distancing himself for a reason. 

Xander nods, his decision made. "I'll tell her. I'll tell her everything."