Lure To The Woods

XVII

I shook my head, not believing him. My gut was telling me that he was telling the truth, but there's no way I was believing that. This was absolutely insane; there's no way on earth that he's telling the truth. Now I was stuck in a house with a lunatic liar in the middle of the woods- I needed to get the hell out of there. He sent me a pleading look, so intense that it broke through to me a little. I still didn't believe him in the slightest, so I took a step towards the door to just leave.

"Cameron, please sit down before my wolf freaks out." Xavier barked, his eyes turning black.

I sat my ass back down at that.

His eyes were going darker with every step I took away from him and I knew that as crazy as he sounded, there was some kind of truth behind the madness. I didn't want to be cut into pieces, so I was going to do as he says. I pulled my knees up to my chest on the sofa, hugging them out of nervousness.

"Don't run." He reminded me, pulling off his shirt.

I blushed, wondering what the hell he was about to do. I didn't mind the view- his chest was chiselled by the gods and he was more than blessed in the looks department, but now was not the freaking time for my hormones. It was driving me crazy, seeing him shirtless, which in turn was driving me crazy because I couldn't rationalise why the hell I was attracted to him when I could be in danger right now. He then unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them down quickly. That snapped me out of my haze. What the fuck?

He's actually stripping in front of me... How far is he willing to take this joke? Just to take the piss out of me?

I was about to get up and walk away, when it happened.

His skin covering his body rippled before cracking was heard and his bones began to move out of place. I scrambled backwards, screaming in horror. Fur practically came out of nowhere, slowly covering his skin as his bones cracked into a new position. The sound was horrific and it made me nauseous instantly.

Xavier Evans just physically changed shape in front of my own eyes. He became a wolf. A very large one, at that. I could barely breath, looking at the thing in front of me in horror. He was a wolf. A wolf. It looked down at me before padding towards me, making me scream in horror again. I buried my face into my knees and wrapped my arms around my head, trying to protect myself.

I felt something wet drag over my arm, making my head snap up. He had just licked me, barking in a playful manner. I shook my head, trying to snap myself out of it. What the fuck was going on. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck.

He yapped again, snapping my attention back to him. He stared into my eyes with his own, ducking his head down. I think he was trying to show me that he wouldn't hurt me, but my heart was pounding in fear. Those eyes... They were the same warm chocolate eyes that I had been getting to know for the last month: it was him.

"Xavier?" I whispered, reaching out my hand hesitantly.

He stayed statue still, not moving an inch. He was clearly trying to make his giant, deadly wolf form as un-intimidating as possible, which was a pretty hard feat. I thought that my emotions would be all over the place, overwhelming me like they had when I had the panic attack. However, it was quite the opposite.

As soon as I placed my hand on his soft black fur, everything seemed to come together. It was like the clouds parted, showing me a clear path. The truth. Having contact with him made me calm, breathing a sigh of relief. I focused on my breathing, stroking the fur to calm me down. Once I'd had time to adjust, I attempted to speak.

"Could you turn back?" I requested, needing to speak with him. Well, the human him?

He nodded, his bones beginning to crack again. I took my hand away, tingles running up my entire arm now that he was Xavier again. The sound still made me nauseous, but I didn't scream this time. I couldn't take my eyes off of him as he transformed in front of me once again. It was so hard to believe.

"Are you okay, Cameron? Do you hate me? I'm sorry for not telling you." He immediately rushed the words out, his hands covering his junk.

"Get dressed!" I blushed, covering my eyes.

"Please answer, Cameron." He begged, shuffling around, "I'm decent."

His trousers were back on, but he was shirtless. My eyes dragged over his body again, feeling an intense urge to touch him. I just found the physical contact so comforting when he was trying to explain this, so I took his hand to calm myself down. He sank into the sofa next to me, holding my hand with both of his hands.

"I'm fine, just... shocked. I don't hate you- I'm just trying to process this." I blinked, staring into his eyes, "Can you explain more?"

"Well, I'm the Alpha of this pack. The elders are in charge of all of the packs- in charge of keeping order. Everyone in my pack is a werewolf, so we live in this community to shift freely and keep safe from our enemies- rogue werewolves." Xavier explained, "My wolf is called Kodiak."

"Kodiak?" I repeated, his eyes instantly turning dark- spooking me.

"Sorry, he just liked when you said it." He coughed, rubbing his eyes with balled fists until they returned to normal.

I blushed, playing with his fingers as told me more about things. It was a lot of information, but I was secretly relieved. I had been preparing myself to never talk to Xavier again after the other week, when the panic attack happened. The thought had been eating me up inside, so now I could relax somewhat.

"Why me?" I puzzled, "Why are you telling me?"

"We're mates, Cameron. Think of it like soulmates, but for wolves." He began to explain, looking straight into my eyes, "I've been waiting my whole life to meet you. We're destined to be together, chosen by the Moon Goddess to be a perfect match. It sounds farfetched, but that's why you feel the way you do about me; that's why you feel a pull, tingles, everything. I feel it too."

"Why did this all only start last month?"

"You turned eighteen while I was at University. I only returned home last month, so I only became aware of the bond then." Xavier's voice was soft, comforting, "I can't explain the lack of attraction thing on your behalf, though. That's not really part of it- a mate bond is supposed to just be an exaggerated natural attraction."

"Is the burning skin thing going to happen again?" I asked fearfully, terrified that I was going to have to put up with it.

"I'll never let that happen again." He promised, "It broke my heart to see you like that. I sat in the hospital for hours, just wishing I could make it better. You felt like that because you were trying to reject the mate bond. What you felt was our soul trying to tear itself in two. I didn't feel it because I wasn't rejecting it, but seeing you hurting was so hard. That's why you wanted to hold my hand- to repair our bond."

I nodded silently, taking a second to think about everything. There was a lot of information all at once, but I think I was coping well. I looked at Xavier's tired face, feeling bad for him. He had a hell of a lot on his plate right now and I was keeping him up at all hours of the day, worrying him.

I believed every word he told me. How could I not when he transformed in front of my eyes? It was going to take some getting used to, but I was sort of giving into the bond now. It seemed to be growing stronger- intensifying. Did I want to be Xavier Evans mate? I think so. I wasn't sure how all of this worked still, but I wanted to at least find out more before I make my decision. 

"What do you think?" He questioned, his look a mixture of hopefulness and fear.

I simply opened my arms, offering him a hug. He looked like he could use one and to be honest, so could I. This was intense, but as long as I got to share this thing- this 'bond'- with Xavier, I was okay. He grinned, pulling me to him happily.

I settled onto his bare chest, cuddling into it. What I really wanted was skin to skin contact, but baby steps, I guess. I was too shy to ask for him to take off his shirt right now. Besides, I was still getting the tingles- despite there being a layer of fabric separating us. He squeezed me to him, placing a small kiss to the top of my forehead softly.

"I've been waiting for this." He sighed contently, "I'm in heaven."

I didn't dare whisper anything back, since my heart was still pounding, but I let my eyes flutter closed hesitantly. This whole situation was blowing my mind- the only comfort I had was Xavier's skin on mine. So, I focused on that and let myself drift to sleep.