A combination of training and my fight with Jude had left me battered and bruised, covered from head to toe in small cuts and discoloured marks. Xavier had done a pretty good job at pretending not to notice after our conversation at the nurse's office, but I must look pretty bad because Gracie dropped a tray of drinks the second she saw me.
"I'm so sorry." Gracie stuttered, "I'm such a klutz today. How are you, Cam? Xavier's just through there."
"It's okay." I shuffled awkwardly, "I know it looks bad, you don't have to pretend for my sake. It looks worse than it is, honestly."
"Xavier warned us, but I was still surprised." She admitted, "Noah? Can you come pick this up, I can't sort it because Bump's too big."
"Bump's almost ready to pop by the looks of it." I noted, "Surely they can't get much bigger?"
"About two weeks to go." Gracie beamed, holding it happily.
"What happened?" Noah entered the room, dropping his own drink in shock when he saw me.
"Oh for god's sake, not you too?" I attempted a chuckle, looking at the shattered pieces of glass on the floor.
"You look like shit, Cam!" Noah exclaimed, not bothering to be as subtle as Gracie.
"Really? I looked in the mirror this morning and thought I looked bloody fantastic!" My voice was dripping with sarcasm, making a grin spread onto Noah's face.
"It must have been a funhouse mirror." He teased, grabbing a dust pan and brush to brush up the broken glass.
I rolled my eyes playfully at that, stepping over the glass and walking into Xavier's office with Gracie in tow. The room was as grand as ever, but it was significantly busier than usual- the room was so packed with people that an extra table had been brought in and placed alongside the usual, grand wooden one.
Xavier was stood in the corner with a cup of tea, sipping it casually as he spoke to a woman I hadn't met before. She was pretty and quite tall, only a head smaller than Xavier (who was freakishly tall anyway). The mood of the room was quite downbeat, which was to be expected when somebody like Jude was on the prowl.
"Cameron!" Xavier beamed, beckoning me over.
I sent him a small smile, feeling quite bashful as every set of eyes in the room turned to me- trying to get a look at who had made the Alpha so excited all of a sudden. A bruised and beaten, scrawny human isn't who they expected, but that made the reactions funny rather than daunting.
"Alpha Andrea, this is my mate Cameron." Xavier introduced the two of us, wrapping his arm around my waist.
I extended my hand politely, shaking her hand. After the events of yesterday, Xavier had called the neighbouring pack and asked them to come sooner than planned just in case Jude decided to attack right at that moment. However, I still hadn't expected them to get here as quick as they had.
"Xavier told me that you took on the leader of the rouges alone, hand to hand?" Alpha Andrea asked incredulously.
"Clearly, not unscathed." I joked, gesturing to the marks all over me.
"Even still, that's very impressive. You must be quick on your feet to escape a rogue like that." She complimented me, "Even I've left run ins with a rogue in worse condition than you."
"I think I took him by surprise, so it might have just been a fluke." I shrugged, "He didn't expect me to fight back."
"Whose idea was it to introduce emergency drills?" Andrea asked, pointing to her copy of the drill plans.
"Camerons." Xavier grinned, "He has a lot of great ideas. Since he hasn't grown up in the pack, he can offer a fresh perspective on things that we hadn't considered before- it's great."
"I might just implement the same idea at my pack." Andrea mused, "It's a fantastic idea. The elders are so adamant that the pack is importable, but even so, it's good to have a back up plan. I like it."
I blushed at that, not used to the flattery. Despite feeling slightly embarrassed, I mostly felt proud; I had wanted nothing more than to help our pack and now that I was actually doing that, I was doing a pretty good job at it.
"If you like, I can talk you through one of our drills later? To give you a better sense of the procedures and how Gracie and I designed it." I offered, a bundle of confidence building in my chest.
"That would be excellent." Andrea nodded, "Since we don't know how long we'll be here for, we should have plenty of time to go over it."
"Thank you once again for coming to support us in this time." Xavier's voice was so official that I had to stifle a laugh- it was weird for me to hear him like that.
No matter how often I hear him use his Alpha vice, I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I had spoken to Ava about what it's like to have an Alpha, but it was literally unfathomable to me; I just couldn't see Xavier as authoritative, no matter how hard I tried. His Alpha voice had no effect on me, other than a comical one.
"It's no problem, Alpha Xavier. I know you'd do the same for my pack, so it's the least that I could do. I apologise for not bringing more warriors, but I didn't want to wait for more and waste any more time."
"Oh no, any amount of pack members you could bring would be invaluable. Time was the key issue, so I completely understand."
"With Jude, he'll try to attack when you least expect it." I sighed, remembering how he caught me off guard in the bathroom.
"Are you very familiar with him?" Andrea frowned, noticing my use of his first name.
"His father was beta of the pack in the past, but Jude left when he was still a teenager." Xavier explained briefly, "I'll go into more depth at the meeting tonight, once you're all properly settled in."
"Great." Andrea nodded, "I think I'll head to my room now to freshen up- could somebody show me the way?"
"I'll call somebody." Xavier nodded, excusing himself from the conversation to make that call.
Andrea and I were left alone, which was slightly nerve wracking for me- she oozed authority, but in a different way to Xavier. I still wasn't affected by it, since I wasn't apart of her pack, but I had a strange urge to impress her.
"How are you finding the Luna role so far?" Andrea made polite conversation, placing her finished cup of tea on the table.
"It was strange at first, since I'm human and I had to grasp how everything works around here, but I enjoy it now. I'm excited for when I finish my education in a few months and I can focus solely on the pack." I answered truthfully, thinking about how lost I was at first in meetings, "I still have a long way to go with bonding with the pack members, but I'm hoping to make progress with that once this Jude business is over with."
"My mate found the Luna role quite difficult at first, but once he stopped thinking about it in a traditional sense and made it his own, he loved it so much more." Andrea hummed, "You'll bond with the pack more once you feel more at home, so don't try to rush things. Find out what you do uniquely and make it your role."
That was some pretty good advice, so I was grateful for that. It was also good to know that I'm not the only person who struggled with the role at first. I felt such an immense pressure at first to take everything into my stride and jump head first into things that I was quite often overwhelmed with how quickly things were moving, so knowing that it's okay to take things slow was great.
"Thank you, Alpha Andrea." I gave her a small smile, watching as Xavier made his way back over to us.
"If you'd like to follow me, I'll lead you to your room." A pack member popped out form being Xavier, offering Andrea a polite smile.
After saying our farewells and agreeing to see each other at the meeting later, I was finally left alone with Xavier. He wrapped his arms around me once again, resting his chin on my forehead as he cuddled me from behind. I felt like heading to bed, but it wasn't even evening yet- we still had another meeting to attend in a few hours before I could even think of those comfy bedsheets.
"Would I be judged if I came to the meeting in pyjamas and with a duvet?" I joked, suppressing a yawn.
"Tired? You don't have to come tonight." Xavier murmured, swaying slightly while hugging me.
"No, I want to be there. I'll be alright, I just need a caffeine boost." I hummed, eyeing the room for something with sugar.
"I've got to say a few words to the pack, but then we should pop home and take a nap before the meeting. We'll just have dinner after the meeting." Xavier suggested, which sounded great.
"Lead the way."
Xavier detangled his arms from my waist, taking ahold of my hand as he lead me to the lift in the corner of the room. It was sweet that he remembered that I hated taking the stairs, but I don't think he realised that going down stairs wasn't as bad as going up them. I guess it's the thought that counts?
"What's the address about?" I questioned, wondering why Xavier had to say a few words.
"They're been left mostly in the dark about everything that's going on. They only know about the stuff that's filtered through the grapevine and stuff that's been public, like the attack at school, so I thought it's about time to make a formal address." He sighed, rolling up the sleeves on his button down.
"Kiss good luck?" I offered, making a goofy smile replace his stressed expression.
"You're perfect." He hummed, pecking my lips tenderly.
The lift doors opened and we headed towards the gardens where all of the pack members were currently doing self defence drills. They did this every evening now, so they were getting pretty good. Even the kids were getting involved, learning how to distract an attacker and use their weight against them.
As Xavier and I walked outside, everyone slowly came to a stop with what they were doing and diverted their attention towards us. I felt less nervous being in front of the pack now than I used to be, since I had spent a lot of time with them while going over the lockdown drills and procedures, but I didn't look my best right now so a few nerves remained.
"It's great to see you guys taking so well to the self defence training- the amount of improvement some of you have made in a mere few weeks is incredible." Xavier began, using his Alpha voice once again.
People began to gather at the bottom of the steps, standing on the grass and looking up at Xavier and I with curiosity. I couldn't imagine what they must be thinking is going on. Sure, this pack is bad at keeping secrets, but I don't think any of them would even dream of thinking that rouges were so close to breaking into the only safe space they had. Everything had been kept extra hushed because of the possibility of a traitor, informant giving Jude information from the inside.
"As you are probably aware, we have had a lot of trouble with rouges in recent months and with the arrival of our neighbouring pack today, you must be wondering what exactly is going on. I don't want this speech to overly alarm any of you, but I think you deserve to know what is going on, so that you can best prepare in case the worst comes to the worst... Rouges are closer than ever to breaking through our border, onto pack land." Xavier continued, shocking everyone.
I had never seen so many jaws drop open at once. The entire crowd was stunned into silence at first and Xavier paused with them, allowing them a second to process that information. The atmosphere in the air switched so quickly to a tense one, people gradually beginning to mutter to one another about the news until the whole crowd were panicking, the volume gradually raising.
"I guarantee you that we have this under control." Xavier raised his voice significantly, silencing the crowd once again.
"I know this is scary for you, but if you just stay calm we'll all be fine." I chimed in, "We have gone over our emergency drills countless times and you all know self defence. You just need to remember your training and in case of an emergency, follow the drills. Don't panic. Don't act impulsively. You'll be fine because we're prepared."
My words seemed to comfort some of the crowd, but the atmosphere was still just as tense. This was unprecedented territory for everyone, so stakes were high and I hoped to god we got things right.