8. Burrito vs Egg Roll: Xander's Pov
~Cover made by me-
Correction: Charlotte's eyes are baby blue, not brown like in the previous pictures. (the pictures will soon be edited)
QOTC: Do you guys want a date scene?
"Are we seeing the same doctor as last time?" Charlotte asks.
"No, why?"
"He's creepy." she fiddles with her fingers.
"What do you mean?"
"Before I woke up, I heard him tell the nurses to leave and lock the door... I felt his hands on me-" She doesn't get to finish talking because I slam my foot on the brake.
Without saying anything, I violently get out the car and drag Charlotte out with me- leaving the vehicle randomly parked in the hospital parking lot. "Where's Dr. Thompson?!?" I angrily stalk through the plain white hallways.
Everyone moves out of the way the moment they hear my voice. "WHERE IS HE!?!"
One of the nurses points down the hallway and then rushes out of my sight. I don't bother running at all, with Charlotte trailing behind me there's no reason to do so. I grab Dr. Thompson by the neck and pin him against the wall. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU TOUCH HER?!?" I roar only inches away from his face.
I punch the side of his jaw when he doesn't answer me. "I don't know what you're talking about." he wheezes.
I loudly growl and slam him down to the floor. "Take him to the cells; lowest level." I kick him in the direction of some security guards.
I'm not going to let anyone else who touches Charlotte to die like that bastard Gary. Plus Dr. Thompson is already unconscious, I want him to feel everything. "Please don't kill him." a certain voice whispers.
"I'm not gonna kill him yet." I say through gritted teeth. I get a few staff members to clean up the blood and take Charlotte to the front desk. She's not saying anything, but I can feel her trembling next to me. I just don't understand why she wouldn't him dead!
"Which room do we go to?"
"Room 32 on the third floor, Alpha." she makes sure not to make eye contact with me.
***
"All I need to do is weigh and measure, then you will be good to go."
Once she steps into the scale, I automatically know that it's broken. There's no way that Charlotte actually weighs less than she did before. "What the fuck happened?"
"Since the Luna is finally getting food into her system, her metabolism is speeding up. She will need to be eating regularly throughout the day from now on." Doctor Kale explains.
"I-is that bad?" Charlotte quietly asks.
"No."
We spend the entire car ride discussing food groups and eating times. "What happens if I don't eat?" she looks down at her lap again.
"You'll start losing weight again."
"What if I start weighing too much?"
"That's not going to happen." I stop at a stop sign. "Now eat this."
She doesn't take the cereal bar, she just stares at it. Again. "Half?" I negotiate. She slowly takes the bar and nibbles on it.
"Why do you always have cereal bars?"
"Because they're smaller than potato chip bags." I instantly reply; my mom asked my dad and I the exact same question. "Since you have your casts off already, we'll be able to do more things?"
"Like what?" Charlotte boot over her foot. She just has to wear it if we do a lot of walking, otherwise she can keep it off.
"Like the welcoming ceremony and dates." I take her tiny hand in mine. "Shopping too."
"Dates?"
"Walks on the beach and stuff- don't girls like that?"
She shrugs and answers, "I don't kn-know, I've never been on a date."
"Me neither."
****
"How does the mating process go?" Charlotte randomly questions. She traces the lines on my hand and shifts on my lap.
Lowering down the TV volume, I say, "First we meet. Next comes marking, but I won't do that until you're ready; we'll be able to feel each other's emotions and read each other's thoughts."
"Then we'll mate and... yeah." I avoid the sex subject as best I can.
"Does marking hurt?"
"I'll make sure it doesn't." As she turns to face me, I lean in for a kiss. Short and sweet is how I keep it. (Ever since yesterday I've taken at least four cold showers after make-our sessions with her)
"Do you want to go on a run?" I ask.
"I can't." she holds up her gauze covered arm. It's supposed to be healing.
"How about a walk? Around the pack." She eagerly nods and smiles at me before frowning again.
"What if people stare?"
"Who cares if they do?"
"But... What if they say something?" Charlotte continues to list irrational that can happen if we go on a walk; I can tell she wants to go, but she's thinking of people judging her.
'Make her shut up!' my wolf happily orders. I crash my lips to Charlotte's and tell her, "Barely anyone will be around us, the most people we'll see are a few warriors on break."
"Okay..."
She looks unsure of her decision, but puts her shoes on; also getting her finger stuck in the laces at the same time. "Xander it's stuck." she whispers tugging at the strings.
Laughing at her incident, I examine the multiple knots she tied. "Do you know how to tie your shoes?" I ask wondering how this happened.
"I do, my hand just slipped."
"When you were younger you got your finger stuck in almost everything." I say. "One time you came crying to me because you got your finger stuck in the Operation game board."
"Really?" The color pink appears on her cheeks.
"You thought that you were gonna die because Brody told you that the game electrocuted everything that went in." the next sentence I whisper in her ear, "I was your hero."
"I believe that."
"You do?"
"I trust you." she nods. "You aren't lying."
As we head outside, I realize that she can't keep up with my long strides, let alone my shorter ones. "Hop on my back."
"Your skin is soft." She wraps her legs around my torso and places her arms over my shoulders with her palms on my chest.
"That's one of the training centers." I point to a gym-like building. It looks like a large metal shack on the outside, but it's extremely high-tech on the inside.
Charlotte leans forward and rests her head on my shoulder while looking at everything in front of us. "Do you walk around the territory a lot?"
"No." I lower my voice so that only the two of us can hear. "People try to talk to me when I come out alone."
"I thought that Alphas scare everyone away?"
"Hell no. That's what a bad Alpha would do, I know each and everyone of my pack members by their names."
"Then why don't you like talking to them?"
"Because they ask me weird questions."
"Like what?"
"Do I prefer toilet paper rolls under or over, what position I sleep in, and stuff like that."
"Oh."
"Isn't that Jimmy?" she turns my head in the direction of a search team member.
"That's Jared."
"Then where's Jimmy?"
"Why the hell do you want to know where Jimmy is?!?" I snap. She shouldn't be worrying about any other man besides me.
"I don't..." Charlotte looks at the ground and stays silent as we walk forward.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."
"It's okay." I receive another kiss on the cheek.
"So if that was Jared, then is he Jimmy's twin?"
"That is Jared."
"That's Jimmy."
I actually know that his name is Jimmy, but I like how Charlotte's brave enough to argue with me. "Hi Jimmy." she waves as he walks by.
"Luna, Alpha." he smiles as he passes us.
"I told you his name is Jimmy."
"I know you did, and I was wrong." I play along. My dad didn't teach me much about girls, but he made sure that I knew that no matter what: your girl is always right.
"XANDY!!!" an all too familiar voice squeals. I don't even turn around to make sure it's him, I just hold Charlotte tighter and start running.
"COME BACK BABY-"
"SHUT UP!" I holler.
"Who is that?" Charlotte clings onto me ,trying her hardest not to fall off.
"Someone I don't want to talk to right now."
"I HEARD THAT BABY BRO- Wait, who's that?" Collin slows down to a jog.
"Charlotte? CHARLOTTE!!!" She cringes and covers her ears at the unnecessarily loud volume that he's speaking in.
"Hi." she shyly whispers, burying her face in my shoulder.
'She just got her casts off.' I tell Collin. Her cuts and bruises are still visible, but they're almost completely healed.
"You grew." he states waiting for her to reply.
'She doesn't remember anything before she was taken.' I tell him.
"I'm Collin, Xander's role model."
Charlotte's Pov
QOTC: Do you guys want a date scene?
"Hi." I whisper. Looking up at the large man, I debate on whether to make eye contact or not. He looks like the guy-version of Evelyn, but has the same colored eyes as Xander. They're the same height too.
"I'm Charlotte." Collin and Xander both stare blankly at each other and I know that they're mind linking.
"Did I mention that I'm Xander's role model?" I slowly nod. "Are you gonna say something now?"
"How old are you?" I ask. He said that he's Xander's older brother, but they look in their early twenties.
"Fifteen." Xander punches him in the shoulder. "Twenty six, basically the same thing."
***
"How many siblings do you have?" I blow on the soup laying in front of me.
"Four. I'm the middle child."
"Is Collin the oldest?"
"Unfortunately." he grumbles. He sneaks an arm around my waist and tries to put some soup in my mouth.
"Do you have a sister?"
"No." He pokes my lips with the spoon. "Open your mouth."
"I'm not hungry." I say. I ate in around noon already, isn't that enough for the day?
"Yes you are." he tries to force my lips apart with the hot metal spoon. It burns my mouth, but I don't speak up about it.
"I can feed myself." I try to take the spoon but he doesn't let me.
"I want to feed you." He notices the weird look I give. "It's an Alpha thing."
"I don't feel like eating."
"Yes you do. And if you don't start eating more, you'll lose even more weight." he looks frustrated now. "So eat."
I look down at the filled bowl and start feel nervous. Doctor Kale said that she was surprised when she found out that I wasn't food aggressive- most wolves like me are. Most of the time, abused wolves consume food every chance they get because we don't think that anyone will feed us again. I partially believe that, but there's this voice in my head telling me that I don't deserve anything glorious like food.
For the last few days everything has been confusing me; Alpha Jones made me learn that I wasn't to talk unless he specifically told me, but with Xander, he actually wants me to speak. All the things that got me in trouble back with the Red Stone pack, are things that everyone wants me to do here. Every time I say something or answer a question I'm afraid that I'll get a beating for it.
I want to get better and not be afraid of everything that comes my way, but there are certain things that I can't erase from my mind. Images of whips, fists, and men are only some of the things I see in my nightmares. Xander thinks that my nightmares got better because he doesn't see me bolt upright every two hours shaking in fear. "Charlotte, baby?" he snaps me out of my thoughts.
"You zoned out." He lifts my chin up with his finger and looks into my eyes. "Are you okay?"
I nod and look at the bowl of soup again. "You only have to eat a fourth, then we can do something else." Xander rubs his hand up and down my arm in a soothing manor. Relieved that he isn't pressuring me to eat anymore, I pick up the spoon and put a little bit of it into my mouth.
"What kind of soup is this?" I ask enjoying the flavor.
"Chicken noodle, haven't you had it before?" I shake my head and continue eating.
"I've never had soup before, I wasn't allowed to have it." The only liquid besides water that I was ever given to eat or drink was orange juice- and that was only because we had visitors and I was dying of dehydration.
"What about during winter? Didn't those bastards give you warm food?"
I shake my head once again. "But they left me alone around Christmas." I say enthusiastically.
"Are you being sarcastic?"
I shake my head and tilt it to the side in confusion. Christmas and the month of December was my favorite time of the year. Since everyone was busy spending the holidays with their families and friends, no one had time to touch me. Every big holiday like Christmas and Alpha or Beta birthdays, I got time to myself without anyone physically hurting me. I got verbally abused for not having any family or friends, but it was better than getting "alone time" with the warriors of the pack.
"We still put up a stocking for you every Christmas." Xander informs. "It wasn't the same without you there."
"Really?"
"Every year you would do funny things and make everyone smile. One time you tried to stay up on Christmas Eve to kidnap Santa Clause, you used cookies and milk as bait but got hungry and ate them." I let out a few giggles after hearing the story.
"You used a fork as a weapon." he adds. I rest my head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling tired. A yawn escapes my mouth and I push the almost empty bowl away from me. I managed to finish about three-fourths of it.
"What time is it?" I watch as he pulls out his phone and turns it on.
"It's past my bedtime." he says.
"But you're a grown man, Xander."
"I lived alone before I found you again, there was nothing for me to do at night so I went to sleep early." he explains.
"I thought that Alphas were supposed to be popular- not that I'm calling you a loser or... anything like that." I nervously ramble. His blank stare is the only sign I need to know that I've offended him with my question. I look at him with wide eyes and back away. From earlier experience, I know that saying anything else will anger him even more.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he pulls me back next to him and moves loose strands of hair away from my face.
"Aren't you mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"But the look on your face after I started talking..." I slowly trail off. Knowing when someone is mad at me is getting harder and harder; usually that's the only emotion anyone has towards me. No positive feelings, just negative ones.
"I'm not mad at you, baby. It's impossible to be angry at you." Xander strokes my hair and tightly hugs my body. He makes sitting in this position so comfortable that I fall asleep peacefully.
***
"I-I'm sorry, sir." I stutter. I bend down and try to clean the broken pieces of glass on the floor, not caring about how badly it's cutting my hands.
"You better be." Gamma Dolan mutters. I hear some shuffling before something is slammed onto the top of my head. "You come in here and use all of the pack's stuff. You break and get everything dirty- I don't even get why we picked you up in the first place."
"I'm sor-"
"DID I TELL YOU TO SPEAK!?!" he uses his foot to push my head down the on the tile floor. Both tiny and large shards of glass cut into my skin.
Tears are freely falling down my cheeks, but Gamma Dolan doesn't care. Pain is the only thing I feel as he lifts me by the neck and throws me against the kitchen counter. My shoulder blade hits the pointed edge and I hear a crack. "Clean this up and have my food done by the time I get back." he demands walking out the room.
Knowing that I'll get in more trouble if I don't do what he says, I get up and ignore the burning sensation on my face. Using a wet paper towel, I try to get out as many pieces of glass as possible. I hold the side of my head and shut my eyes in pain. Alpha kicked me in the head yesterday.
"Charlotte, open the door!" Xander brings me out of my trance. I turn off the sink and tell him that it's open.
"Did you think about doing it again?" he asks referring to my self harm. I shake my head and show him my arms.
"I just needed to wash my face." I tell him. I laid in bed for about an hour not being able to fall back asleep. The only way to get past my nightmare was to splash my face with cold water. I didn't care that it would make me more awake and alert, I just wanted to get Alpha Jones out of my mind.
"I need you to lay with me." Xander picks me up and hugs me like a teddy bear. He keeps my body pressed against his and starts rolling us over on the bed.
"You know what this position is called?" I smile at him. "The burrito."
"It's called the egg roll." he corrects.
*** (A/N: I was going to stop here but you guys are so awesome that I'm gonna keep going)
"This is nice." Xander whispers in my ear. We're laying snuggled against each other on the couch and trying to watch some Boy Meets World- well I'm trying to watch, Xander is just trying to cuddle.
"Are you getting warm?" he asks looking at the long pants and sweatshirt I have on.
"No." I answer. It seems weird, but I'm actually freezing cold. The only warmth I feel is in my hands where Xander's holding them. Noticing my discomfort, he nuzzles his face into my neck and puts a leg over my body.
"Is this normal?" I wrap my arms around him.
"Being cold or what?"
"This... You and me."
"I still don't understand your question."
"Is this how mates are supposed to be like?" I know how the mating process goes, I just don't know how mates are supposed to act towards each other.
"Kind of. We're on the right track," he says. "I just have to get you to stop being afraid of me."
"How are we going to do that?" I turn my head up to look him in the eye. He smiles and kisses me on the lips. He only pulls back a few inches before passionately kissing me again.
I follow his lead and tangle my fingers in his hair. Our lips move in synch and we both fight for dominance, but it's kind of obvious who won.
Ding dong!
Xander angrily growls at whoever interrupted our moment. He opens the door and yells, "What the hell do you want?"
"The team was wondering if you and the Luna are going to have dinner in the pack house tonight, Alpha."
"Maybe."
"Hi Jimmy." I squeeze my body in between the door and Xander.
"Hey, Luna."
"Do you want to eat dinner in the pack house?" Xander asks.
"Will there be a lot of people?"
He looks to Jimmy for an answer. "About fifty people, Luna."
*** (ten minutes before the dinner)
"We need to go shopping soon." Xander tries to find a shirt for me to wear. We both know that this is a casual dinner, but I don't have any clothes to wear. And I mean that I literally have no clothes to wear.
"My mom said she left some more clothes outside the door for you." Xander picks up the bag and start flinging clothes everywhere.
I smile at all of the long pants and shirts I see. Evelyn probably knows that I don't want to show my scars, I'm lucky to have her around. "Here." Xander hands me some leggings and a sweater. Cozy.
Once I come out of the bathroom, I find him laying on the bed still wearing the same clothes from earlier... Playing on his phone. "Did you need the bathroom?" I think that I took to long in there changing.
"Nope. I'm ready." He puts away his phone and stands up.
"I thought you were going to change?"
"It's dinner with the pack, we're all close so no one has to dress up." He wipes some deodorant on his underarms and says, "I'm fancy now."
"You smell manly." I compliment. Breathing in his woodsy scent, I let out a relaxed sigh.
"I need more." he whispers to himself. He furiously wipes more of the substance on his pits and throws an arm around my shoulder.
"Are your parents going to be there?" I ask once we're in the car.
"Yeah. Collin and his mate aren't though, they're going on a date or something." He randomly takes my hand and doesn't let go for the rest of the car ride.
"Is that the pack house?" We pull up in the driveway of an extremely large, fancy mansion. It's more than twice the size of the Red Stone pack's pack house- and I haven't even been inside yet.
"Barely any people eat dinner in the pack house, so don't worry about the people." Xander assures. He opens the car door for me and we slowly walk to the front door of the pack house.
"Is that the Alpha?"
"Who's the girl I smell?"
"Charlotte?"
Questions can be heard through the brick walls. I guess the dining room isn't sound proof. When we walk inside, I see tables set up everywhere with food placed on them. "Alpha." Some people even address me as Luna, others stare with curiosity.
"Everyone was just waiting for you two to arrive." Evelyn says as we take our seats at her table. There are only five chairs at this one; one seat for Thomas, Evelyn, Xander, someone else, and I. All the other tables have six to eight chairs with them.
"Is Brody coming?" I ask.
"Yeah, he's in the kitchen."
I shift uncomfortably as people whisper and stare at me. "They're just curious." Evelyn whispers, but I can see that it's making her uncomfortable too.
"Hey, Char." Brody takes the seat on my left. Xander's on my right and Evelyn and Thomas are in front of us.
"Hi Brody." I laugh as he gives me a side hug.
"What's everyone waiting for?" Xander asks his dad.
"You, the Alpha, are supposed to say an introduction speech." Thomas tells him.
"Oh." he clears his throat and stands up. Everybody instantly quiets down and looks at our table. "We are welcoming back a beloved pack member, Charlotte Beck" I blush as people turn their attention to me.
"Also Lunar Blood's new Luna!" More people cheer and some even whistle. "The ceremony will be next week, more information will be passed out tomorrow. Enjoy your meal everyone."
Xander awkwardly scratches the back of his neck and sits back down. "What happens during a pack ceremony?"
Thomas and Evelyn engage in their own conversation while Brody and Xander explain to me, "It's telling everyone your position and making it official. Since you never officially left Lunar Shadow, you won't have to do that part of the ceremony."
"Oh." I mumble looking at the plates spread out on the table.
'What's wrong?' Brody's voice echoes in my mind.
'I ate earlier already.' I pout knowing that he'll force me to eat.
'When?'
'Around three-ish.'
'That was five hours ago.' He sighs. 'Just eat as much as you can.'
I watch as he dumps some spaghetti onto my plate. "So we'll go shopping tomorrow." Xander states.
"I'm going, too." Evelyn speaks up.
"What are you shopping for?" I question poking at my food.
"Clothes. For you." Xander answers.
"Oh." I awkwardly whisper. Luckily for me, everyone else starts a conversation. My food still lays uneaten and undesired. It smells good and all, but I don't thinly that I need to eat it.
'Char.' Brody sternly calls my name.
'Hmmm?'
'Put some food into your mouth.' he stares at me. I pick up my fork and shove a little bit of the spaghetti into my mouth. The urge to run to the bathroom and throw it all up is strong though. I don't have an eating disorder related to bulimia or anything, it's just natural for me to do so. Every time I was fed, there was always something wrong with the food.
Whether it was tampered with, old, or undercooked, it made me know that I had to get it out of my system. "Put some food into your mouth." Brody says out loud.
"I already did." I whisper.
"I didn't see." Stuffing some more food into my mouth, I maintain eye contact with him while I chew. "That's better."
'If you go to Victoria's Secret tomorrow, don't let him go in the store or look in your bags.' he warns.
'Why?'
'Evelyn might get you some lingerie and shit.'
'Have you ever heard of male lingerie?' I laugh as he makes a funny face.
"I'm supposed to make you uncomfortable! Not the other way around!" he yells, digging into his food. I can see the light blush on his neck and ears. It's weird how the thought of male lingerie came across my mind, usually it's just normal thoughts in my mind. Never any weird things.
"What did you say to Brody?" Xander sneaks an arm around my waist.
"I just asked him if he ever heard of male lingerie." As I finish my sentence, both Xander and his dad do the same thing as Brody. They drop the conversation and start chomping on their food; a light pink blush visible on all three of their necks.
Looking Evelyn, she shakes her head at me with a small smile on her face. "We should get the three of you some."
"NO!" The men shout. Pack members only stare for a split second before returning to their attention back to whatever it was on earlier. Xander grumbles something along the lines of "Not gonna happen" and then moves my chair closer to his.
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Super late and long chapter guys! So, so, sorry about that! School recently started for me so it's been hard to get my schedule back to normal.
QOTC: Do you guys want a date scene?
Also, thank you for so many reads and comments! You would not believe how happy it makes me to see my book get almost one hundred reads per day. And chapters will now be about this long (4000 words).
xoxo Priscilla