Page 70 of Twisting You

I pulled my sweater off and hurled it to the side, slipping out of my jeans before getting into bed.

There was a tapping on my window. I snapped my head up and my eyes widened as I saw Xavier in the tree outside.

Climbing over the bed and quickly running over to the window, I opened it up.

“What are you doing?” I hissed.

“Move.”

Doing as he said, I stepped aside and left the window open wide. He flung himself from the tree and landed in my room with a dull thud.

“Xavier, it’s late and you didn’t answer my question.” I pulled the window closed before crossing my arms to face him. “What are you doing here?”

“You wanted answers. I’m here to give them.” His eyes drifted over my body for a moment before snapping back to meet my gaze. “I thought the sooner the better.”

Shifting uncomfortably, I walked quickly across the room and pulled the blankets back onto my bed before slipping into them.

Now covered, I looked at him. “Well, then you better start explaining. I do want to get some sleep tonight.”

“Thanks for your help tonight with the boys.” He moved to sit on the end of my bed. “With Emily.”

“Yeah, well.” I looked at my lap. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to do it.” Xavier sighed. “But you did it anyway.”

“Xavier, why did you deny me? Why is my dad convinced you’re a bad man? Why do your kids have the scent of alpha blood?” I looked at him. “You need to explain.”

All the questions bubbled to the top and I couldn’t hold them back.

“OK. But you need to let me tell you the full story, and when I am done you can ask questions, or tell me what I already know.” He shook his head. “And for the record, I’m sorry.”

I nodded my head and leaned back against my pillows. “I promise to remain silent.”

“I was 17, young and well, you know. Young. I was headstrong, a jerk and thought I was untouchable. I was also Alpha of the Crows Tribe.”

I gasped and then flung a hand up to cover my mouth. I nodded my head for him to continue. I knew that tribe, that pack. They were famous. Legends surrounded them and all for the wrong reasons.

“You know what happened to us.” He looked away from me and stared bitterly across the room. “We were wiped out.”

Mass murder and slaughter were more suitable words for what happened to them.

“Dad died young and I stepped up.” Xavier shrugged his shoulders. “I was young, like I said. Thought I knew it all. Our pack was strong, tight and dangerous and I lived on that. We were untouchable. Well, that was what I thought. So when we took war out on our neighboring pack, I expected us to win.”

Xavier’s voice dripped with disgust. “But that was why young wolves shouldn’t lead. Alphas are meant to be old, wise. And I wasn’t. But I didn’t think that then. The pack wiped us out in the middle of the night. No one survived.” Xavier looked me in the eye. “But you already knew that.”

Sighing, he continued. “I wasn’t killed. Because my punishment was to live with what I had done. I had called war. I had chosen to make them fight and I was too young to think that the other pack would stage a surprise attack. So I left, and went to search for you.” Xavier looked me in the eye. “I thought that you could make my life better. I sought you for forgiveness. For killing your pack.”

Xavier shifted his weight on the bed and dropped eye contact with me. “But I didn’t find you. I found Emily and you know how that played out.”

I nodded my head, not that he needed me to confirm his words.

“And then I found you.” Xavier looked back at me. “And you were everything I couldn’t have. Everything I feared.”

I frowned. How? But I didn’t have to ask him to explain. He continued.

“You were like me. Strong headed, determined and young. Younger than me, which meant you weren’t meant to lead with me when I made that call for our pack to go to war. I had convinced myself the only reason it backfired was because I didn’t have you. If I had had you by my side, it would have ended differently. I had told myself, the only reason we died was because I had failed to find you. Not because I made the wrong call.”

“But you were 17. You couldn’t find your mate if you wanted to.”

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