The hunt with Xavier actually went off without a hitch. I was impressed when he easily grabbed an elk with his bare hands, and sank his teeth into its neck, drinking from it for a few seconds. I could feel my teeth aching as I watched him feed, but when he handed me the limping body, his red eyes brightened when my teeth found a spot right next to his. He made sure two out of the four wolves were with me before he went to the other elk the wolves had brought down, and began to drink.
When we had all had our fills, and the extra meat was stuffed into a cloth bag for the sick, we headed back home, me taking the lead. Xavier followed close behind, his breath fanning the back of neck when he would get too close. With him being a hybrid, he was twice as fast as a normal wolf or vampire, so he was probably jogging right now.
I jumped over fallen trunks with ease, breathing in deeply— something I felt I hadn't been able to do in a while. I followed the faint trail of our scent, which was mainly covered by the musky scent of the wolves. Wolves, that trailed behind, giving me a wide berth... for safety.
I slowed down when I began to see the first signs of supernatural life, and straighten myself out, now trailing behind Xavier, who carried a bag over his shoulder with ease. I could tell he was a bit precautious with every step he took as I followed him, but he didn't do anything about the wandering eyes that fell on me. It was understandable.
After delivering the meat, we quickly went back inside to take a shower, getting rid of the coppery scent that hung around us. Once I was done, I went to the main conference room, arriving just as Dimitri was rounding the corner with Emilee on his arm.
"Just in time," Dimitri remarked as Emilee bounced to me, encasing me in her arms. She dragged me like that inside, plopping me down in the chair next to her as her husband went to the other side. Alex and Delilah sat on his side, but she quickly stood up and came to us, grabbing my other hand in confidence. I could feel the warmth of her human body next to mine, and could hear the strong, and appealing beat of her heart, but having the eyes of two Kings on me quenched down any thirst I might have had.
"Do you know where you will be going?" Alex asked, breaking the silence. I shrugged and shook my head, earning a soft nod from him. He turned his head to Dimitri, and he immediately began to speak.
"Her training went well. She is clearly ready to be around humans—" he motioned to me being seated next to Delilah. "—so we don't have to worry about that, but we will be keeping an eye on you for the rest of the year."
"And by year, he means your first vampire year," Delilah whispered in my ear, making me shiver as her warm breath fanned across my neck. I instinctively inched closer to Emilee, who tightened her grip on my arm, and gave an apologetic smile to Delilah. She understood, and squeezed my arm once more before going back around the table, sitting down next to her husband. I saw him immediately relax, and I tried to not take that harshly.
"I understand," I finally answered to Dimitris words.
"As for feeding, if you are in a pack, we recommend to take the meat to them, or even allow one of them to go hunting with you. If you are outside... just, try to feed near a pack." He didn't have to worry about that. If I followed everything according to plan, I would always be near or on pack grounds, and with the royal family as friends, I could stay as long as I needed.
They warned me of a few other things, Delilah invited me to her childhood house, —which she assured her parents would treat me like one of their own— and Emilee just kept on hugging me, almost as if she didn't want me to go.
When the last words were said, and they were standing up to leave, words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Wait!" They all looked at me, and I began to panic. My eyes went down to my fingers that were playing with the hem of my shirt, and I quickly thought of an excuse. When my mind came up with the perfect one, it brought tears to my eyes, and that is how I stared up at them.
"What is it?" Delilah breathed, her own face morphing into one of shock.
"I was wondering..." I sighed and failed to wipe away the few tears that rolled down my cheeks. "I know it's not until a couple more days... but since I am leaving tomorrow... I was wondering if I could have one last family game night..."
Delilah's lips began to quiver before she quickly walked back to me. Emilee gasped, one of her hands going to her mouth while the other one went up to steady herself on her husband. "Of course we can, right Alex?"
"Already linked everyone."
~~~~~~
"Are you ready for this?" Xavier grinned, slapping his hands together hard before he rubbed them. He cracked his knuckles, and I saw his eyes flash different colors as he watched his family get settled in the room.
"We are playing a game, not fighting one another. Relax!" I laughed, pushing him with my shoulder and he laughed with me.
When everyone arrived —thanks to Tatiana, who had stayed behind to watch over my transformation— the teams were set up. They gave me the option to choose my own teammate since this was my idea, but I told them the old fashioned way was better. A few names later, and what were the coincidences that Xavier was stuck as my partner? I could have sworn I saw Alice winking and smirking before I looked up, but I wasn't fast enough. I wouldn't complain though... if this was the last time I was going to be near them like this, I would take the ficus tree on the corner as my partner.
"All ready?" She announced once the starting order was settled. She stayed up in front of the room —since her and Tom were the first team to go— and watched us all nod or pick up our drinks in agreement. "Go."
It was chaos for the next hour as we all drew, acted out, and trumped one another so we could win. Xavier and I weren't winning, but we were having fun. The hugs of celebration he gave me were a little too much for my heart, but I let him do it, pasting a small smile on my face so no one could see past my facade.
"Truth or date time."
This was new to me. The few games I had played with them, they had never mentioned anything about this game being part of the bunch. But by the looks of everyone else —Xavier included— they were used to the randomness.
Delilah brought back the basket with the names, and then began to swirl her hand around, wiggling her eyebrows at all of us as she took out a piece of paper. Guess that was better than spinning a bottle...
"Noah!" Noah stiffened in his seat as everyone snickered, relaxing when their name didn't pop up. "Truth or dare."
"Truth." He didn't hesitate to choose. When Delilah asked him his question, my jaw dropped, Eveline squirmed and blushed beet red in her seat, which then caused everyone to start hooting.
"Yeah, whatever. Give me that basket, mom." He ruffled through the names and took one out. The spotlight swapped over to Alex, and it bounced like that, thankfully never landing on me. I sat back in my seat, laughing and sipping on my watered down drink, not expecting my name to be called.
"Finally, Eva!" The drink in my mouth came out as fine mist in front of me, and there were a few chuckles as I turned to Emilee, nervously. It seemed like an eternity passed before she uttered out the three words. "Truth, or dare?"
"Dare," I found myself immediately saying, surprising myself as well when there were a few gasps emanating from all the corners of the room. I thought it would had been a while before I blushed for the first time since being rescued, but here were my cheeks, on cue, getting red as I felt all eyes on me.
Emilee thought long and hard this time as she stared at me. The few times that she had been chosen, she had belted out the words easily, but now she chewed on her bottom lip, making me nervous. When her lips drew up into a smirk, and then Dimitri started to cough out his drink did I know I had chosen the wrong thing.
"I dare you... to sit on Xavier's lap for the rest of the game."
There were shocks for what felt like the third time in a few minutes all around the room again, as I felt my jaw dropping. From the corner of my eye, I saw Xavier stiffen and then stare at me, before he turned back to his aunt. "No, don't make her do something she is not comfortable doing, please," he begged, which I should have appreciated, but instead, it pissed me off. Did he clearly think I couldn't do this? I had decided to play this game, and rules were rules...
He was still trying to argue my case when I stood up, snatched the basket from Emilees hands, and plopped myself on his lap. I felt him immediately freeze underneath my butt, and I placed the basket on my lap before grabbing his frozen arms —that were up in the air— and wrapped them around my waist. All jaws dropped as I grinned at them, swaying my hands in the papers before I pulled one out, saying the name that was written down.
"Xavier. Truth or dare?" Everyone was still quiet, trying to process what had happened so I repeated myself. I jabbed my elbow behind me, and turned my neck to stare at him. "Hello, truth or dare?"
"Uh... truth," he finally said, his fingers twitching around me. I ignored them, and began to think. My thoughts got all jumbled up with the past, the present, and the future, but one specific moment was surfacing, shining out like a neon sign. I eyed everyone, and feeling a bit shy on saying it out loud, I moved closer to his face so I could whisper it in his ear.
"Is it really true that you love me?" I whispered, hoping no one heard me. "Or did you just say it cause I was dying..."
I pulled back, staring right into his eyes as the words registered. As I watched his pupils dilate, and then soften, his hands tightened around me and he breathed out. "Of course. I meant everything."
My face fell for some reason. I nodded mutely, and turned back around, handing him the basket silently. I could feel all eyes on us as they stared at us curiously, but no one dared to ask what I had asked him. He slowly released one hand from its hold on me, and reached for a paper, reading the name.
Thankfully, my name wasn't called again for the rest of the game. It's not like I could concentrate anyways, since his words echoed in my head.
I meant everything.
So was he going to let me go that easily? Was he really over this bond we supposedly had?
I didn't know my heart was breaking until my mind confirmed it. His words affected me more than I thought, more than I knew, and there was nothing I could do now. He wanted me gone, even though he had said that he loved me, so it must not be enough. I wasn't enough.
So when the game finally ended, and everyone began to go to their rooms, I quickly stood up from his lap and walked away mutely, not bothering to say goodnight to anyone.
Why break my heart even more?