RISK

21

"Xander I have to go." Isabella laughs between kisses escaping Xander's hold on her.

"Ten more minutes?" He begs as he pulls her back down onto his bed by her waist, beginning to place a thousand kisses on her cheeks.

Isabella shakes her head. "You said that ten minutes ago."

He shrugs. "But I mean it this time."

"No," she laughs, "You don't."

"Ok you're right. I don't." He says honestly with a grin on his face. Xander kisses Isabella's lips and rubs her thigh. She feels that now familiar feeling as butterflies take off in her stomach. Before things can progress, she pulls away.

She smiles at him before pressing a light kiss to his cheek. "I really do have to go."

Alexander nods, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Ok. I'll walk you out. Be careful, ok?"

Isabella frowns at his words. For a few hours she almost forgot her life could be in danger.

"Hey," Alexander pulls her from her thoughts, "Don't worry. One of my pack members will be out there in wolf form making sure you get home safe."

"Ok." she nods, trying to convince herself and Xander that she's not frightened.

Xander and Isabella walk through the halls of the pack house hand in hand. When a pack member leaves their room and sees the couple, Isabella shyly removes her hand from Xander's. The pack member bows her head lightly at the couple and disappears around the corner.

"Are you ok?" Xander asks, worried for any reason Isabella doesn't want to be affectionate with him.

Isabella realizes what her actions could have looked liked and nods her head quickly. "I'm fine," she pauses, "I'm just...not really used to public displays of affection. I guess I'm just private." She shrugs.

Xander smiles at her.

"What?" She eyes him curiously.

"Lets just say that werewolves are...open. Blame it on the Moon Goddess but werewolves are known to show their affection any time in any place. You'll see if everywhere while you're here. I guess it's just hard to keep your hands off your soul mate."

The word soulmates makes Isabella's heart skip a beat every time.

She nods. "I guess it's just something I'm going to have to get used to."

"Oh don't worry," Xander smirks, stepping in front of Isabella. He holds her waist and pulls her body into his, "The more we're together and the stronger the bond gets, you won't be able to keep your hands off me." Before Isabella could blush, he places a kiss on her lips and Isabella can't help but lean in for another one. He smiles and grants her wish, pressing his lips to hers. When he pulls away he notices Isabella shyly looking anywhere but into his eyes. He grins, of course wanting to prolong the teasing.

His hands sneak their way lower past her waist to her butt. The thin material of her sundress makes it easy for Xander's large hands to squeeze her butt and she gasp in surprise. He places kisses on her neck, trailing up to her ear.

"But obviously there are a lot of things that can only be done in private." He whispers and Isabella closes her eyes, explicit images popping up into her head. She doesn't know where this newly found intimate curiosity came from because it certainly wasn't here a few days ago.

Xander hears footsteps around the corner coming towards the pair. Within seconds he no longer has Isabella up against the wall. The pack member sees the pair, smiling at his Alpha and Luna. Isabella tries to smile but all she can think of is Xander's hands roaming her body.

"You ok?" Xander asks his mate with a smirk on his lips.

"Mhm." Isabella nods a little too quickly to be convincing.

"Come on," he grabs her hand with a grin still on his face, "Let's get you home."

Isabella gets in her car and gets herself situated. Through her car window she recognizes a classmate transform into his wolf right in front of her eyes. She gasp in surprise but a smile slowly begins to form on her face due to fascination. She assumes this is who is going to be following her home in the shadows to make she she arrives safely. The drive home isn't long. Isabella spends the majority of the time wishing she could spend the night with Xander. She remembers what he said about those times happening in the near future and she smiles to herself. Before she knows it she's pulling into her driveway. She unlocks the front door and her eyebrows furrow in confusion at the sight. On the floor are boxes with some of her and her dads things packed up.

"Dad?" She yells into the air, needing answers immediately.

"In here, Izzy!" Her dad calls from the kitchen.

She walks into the kitchen and attempts to gives him a light smile. "Hey dad. Please don't tell me those boxes mean what I think they mean."

Her dad sighs.

Isabella's eyes widen in shock. "Dad, no. Again? We cannot be moving. We just got here." She tries to keep her voice leveled.

"I'm sorry, sweetie but this town isn't what I thought it was going to be."

"And what did you think it was going to be?" She asks.

"I thought it was going to be safe." He answers.

Confusion is evident on Isabella's face.

"Dad. This place safe. It's in the middle of nowhere and everyone's home by eight. What more could you ask for?"

"You don't understand."

Isabella and her father don't argue. They're one in the same and they get along very well. However, Isabella doesn't see this conversation going that well.

"Don't treat me like I'm not old enough to understand things. Maybe if you tried to explain, we could figure this out. What about this town is unsafe?"

Her dad pauses before giving her the answer she's looking for. "Those wolves."

Isabella's mind goes blank trying to think of what to say. There is no way her dad could know about Xander's pack. Suddenly it hits her.

"Those wolves I saw through my window I told you about? I was just overreacting dad. I'm sure they're harmless." She says trying to convince her dad.

"No, Isabella. They're dangerous. Trust me. I know."

"Dad I get that you're trying to protect us but what could you possibly know about wolves?"

Isabella watches her dad as he seems to be having an internal battle with himself.

"Dad. Please." She urges him.

Her dad looks at her. "I know about wolves because of your mom's family history. We need to talk, Isabella and this is not going to be easy."

-

Oooooo