Xander freezes as Isabella stirs in her sleep. He prays his movements didn't wake the sleeping girl up, as he wants her in his arms forever. Xander could tell Isabella started to grow tired in the middle of the second movie. She kept trying to fight it but eventually the fatigued girl fell asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. As her slumber deepened, her position shifted and her head ended up resting on Xander's chest. He happily adjusted their bodies so she could be more comfortable, and after doing so, he has made tremendous effort to stay still so he doesn't wake her.
Xander's eyes begin to feel heavy, fighting off sleep. He hasn't been sleeping well recently, and a deep slumber would be beneficial. It seems like all he's been doing recently is killing and it's starting to get to him. Other Alpha's might call him weak for this; for feeling. He's been trained to kill enemies, then to be able to sleep without thought. That's what Alpha's do. Does that make him a bad Alpha? No, it makes him human. He looks down at his mate in his arms, and grimaces. She doesn't know the arms holding her are the hands of a murderer. Hands so evil should never hold a body so precious, Xander thinks. But she's his mate. Not holding her would drive him even crazier than killing does.
The rhythm of Isabella's heart beat acts as a lullaby. It calms the Alpha down, allowing him to drift to sleep. He's not sure how long he's asleep before his phone goes off, waking him up. He quickly answers it to avoid waking Isabella up.
"Hello?" He whispers frustrated. He finally was having a decent slumber, only to be interrupted by his Beta.
"Where are you? You're gonna be late for the meeting." Josh says quickly.
"What meeting?"
"The meeting you scheduled last week," Josh says confused, "Wait why are you whispering? Where are you?"
"Shit right. Ok I'll be there soon."
"You should be fine if you hurry. I'll see you later." Josh hangs up.
Xander curses mentally. How could he have forgotten about a meeting that he himself scheduled? This doesn't look good for him.
He looks down at Isabella who is still sleeping and sighs dreadfully because he has to wake her up.
"Isabella." He whispers her name as he lightly rubs her back. Softly rubbing her back does the opposite of wake her up. She slightly moans in comfort and cuddles into his body more. Xander smiles at her unconscious action, but he has to try to wake her again.
"Isabella," He lightly shakes her, "I have to go."
Isabella's words lazily blend together, "Just stay."
Xander smiles once again but then frowns, "I can't. I want to but I can't."
"No." She simply says, refusing to move.
Xander's mind jumps to thinking about trying to wake Isabella up every morning, when they start spending nights together. He imagines it being quite a struggle if she's going to act similar to this.
"You know you're stubborn when you're tired," he laughs, "I'm going to take you upstairs so you can sleep there and then I have to go, ok?"
"Ok." Isabella says quietly.
Xander wraps his arms under his mate's body then stands up, holding her bridal style. Isabella wraps her arms around his neck, her head still laying on his chest. Even throughout the whole maneuver, Isabella looks like she barely woke
Xander follows Isabella's familiar sent all the way to a room at the end of the hall. He opens it and her wonderful scent hits him immediately. He admires the wall she has dedicated to her drawing and paintings. Although he wants to, he doesn't waste time looking around more before resting Isabella's small body on her bed.
"Alright Izzy, I have to leave now." He says.
Isabella slowly opens her eyes and makes eye contact with him. Xander softly removes her curls from her eyes so he can see her full face. She smiles widely at the boy in front of her.
"Thanks for coming over, " she whispers, "I'm sorry that I fell asleep."
He smiles, "It's ok. I had a good time. I wouldn't be leaving if I didn't have something else to do today. I'll talk to you later."
"Wait, I'm such a bad host. I should walk you out." She begins to get out of bed but Xander stops her.
"I can show myself out, you stay here. I'll see you later, Sleeping Beauty.."
Isabella smiles bashfully and let's out a small laugh at the name, "Bye, Xander."
After making sure the front door is locked, Xander leaves out the side door, locking it behind him. He rushes to his car, starts the engine, and presses hard on the gas, trying to make it to the pack house quickly. Every family in the pack lives in their own house or apartment, like normal families and older couples, throughout the state. Having every single member of such a large pack live in one huge pack house, would be very bizarre to the humans who live in the community. The mansion like house is hidden in the woods, to avoid extra attention. The large size is necessary to house the current Alpha and Luna if wanted, pack members from outside the community when they visit, the elderly, and the like. It also acts as a place members of the pack can come together to socialize and hold events.
Imagining the disappointed look his father and the elders could give him if he walks in late, makes Xander cringe. He was groomed for this Alpha title so he's judged for even the slightest mistake. The pressure is unbelievable. Running into the pack house, he swiftly makes his way to his office, which used to be his father's, and so on. He grabs the necessary paperwork, then swiftly exits, making his way to the meeting room. When he enters, he's pleased to see not everyone has arrived, and they are not waiting on him. He takes a seat at the head of the table, then skims the room for his friends. They're scattered around the room and he spots Josh at the table with snacks, that Xander bets his loving mother set up, shoving his face with food. Xander laugh to himself before Josh sees Xander and walks over.
"Hey." Josh says as he sits down.
"Hey. Thanks for calling me. I would have been screwed."
"No problem," Josh tilts his head in confusion, "Where were you anyway?"
"Isabella's."
"Oh ok. Wait, when did you leave to go? Wait," Josh smirks, "Did you sleep there?"
"Dude, get your mind out of the gutter. I went over this morning. We just hung out. It was nice." He smiles.
"So you guys are together? You told her everything?"
"No and no."
"Xander-"
"I know, I know. I'll tell her. I just want us to really get to know each other first. I can't just spring on her that I'm a werewolf and that we're soulmates. I want her to fall in love with me naturally, not because she thinks the love is forced because of this bond. I don't know how to explain it.
"Wow, that's deep shit man." Josh says.
"You don't take anything seriously." Xander laughs, rolling his eyes at his friend.
"I am serious! Look, you don't have to tell her everything, just tell her you're a werewolf. Then, get to know each other. She'll fall for you, and the fact that you have a bond will just be icing on the cake. That's when you tell her everything else."
Xander nods, understanding his friend. "Ok yeah, maybe I'll do that."
Xander draws his attention away from Josh and to the room, and realizes everyone is in the room. Every pack member in the community who could make it, besides people under 18, are joined in the large room. Monthly meetings are required so people can voice their concerns or thoughts, as well as address any problems that are occurring. He stands up to begin the meeting.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming. It's good to see everyone," he smiles, "We'll begin with opening the floor for an open discussion. Please be respectful when someone is speaking."
The meeting is relatively short as no one had any concerns that were drastic. Everyone is filing out as well as Xander, when his dad stops him.
"Alexander, can I speak with you?" Alexander knows it's serious because of the use of his full name and his father's tone of voice. He walks over to him.
"Yes?"
"You were almost late. You weren't, and you're the Alpha, so I can't reprimand you, but it can't happen again."
Xander nods, "It won't."
"Good. Xander, I want you to be with your mate but you can't let her drastically effect your performance as head of this pack." His father must have heard Xander tell Josh where he was.
"It's not her. She's amazing. It's my fault, I lost track of time." He lies. He's not going to admit to his father that he actually completely forgot about the meeting.
"Ok," he nods, "Good job running the meeting. It went well. Either you're getting good at the whole Alpha thing or you're good at faking it." He smiles joking.
Xander laughs, "Or a mixture of both."
"Oh, I should probably tell you good luck."
He look at his dad confused. "Good luck? Why?"
"During the meeting your mom asked where you were before this. I told her Isabella's. She looked way too excited, so my bet is she will probably find you soon to bombard you with questions."
Right on cue, they both hear her yell Xander's name from across the room.
"Xander, I want to hear all about your day with Isabella!"
"Who's Isabella?" A pack member ask.
"Alpha, is she your mate?" Another member ask.
The word Alpha and mate in the same sentence catches everyone's attention. All eyes land on Xander, and all faces read excitement. An Alpha finding a mate is one of the best things that can happen to a pack. Within a second, Xander is being bombarded with questions, but not just from his mother, from everyone.
Xander's mom gives him an apologetic look. "Oops...sorry."