18. F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real): Xander's Pov

This chapter is dedicated to: ballgownswift for being such an awesome reader ever since I started writing on Wattpad.

The name of Charlotte's mate is Xander. While I was reading the comments throughout the chapters, I noticed that there were a few arguments about his name. There's even a chapter titled, "Because You're Xander Reynolds".

Charlotte = Shar-let
Brody = Broe-dee
Xander = Zan-der

QOTC- none. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll answer. 🐓

"Happy New Year, sweetheart." I smile, leaning in for a kiss. Charlotte happily repeats my words and does the same. After we pull away, I move her hair to the side and stare at the tattoo-like symbol on her neck. This is how the werewolf world knows that she's mine, there's no doubt about it. "I love you." I whisper, not bothering to raise my voice over the loud fireworks. "I love you so fucking much."

"I love you too."she giggles when I shower her face with light kisses. Every time those words leave her mouth, a smile makes its way into my face. She doesn't openly talk about how she feels about me, but I can tell the that she tries to make up for it with kisses. I keep my hands on her waist as we look up at the bright fireworks lighting up the sky.

She was afraid of being on the roof at first, but quickly adjusted. My Humpty Dumpty references weren't any help, though. I didn't think that she would be scared of things like that. She stares at the shapes and patterns going off, but I'm staring at the beauty herself. "They're s-so pretty..." she trails off, looking at the bright lights.

"Yeah," I agree, still staring at my mate.

*** (a couple days later)

Charlotte's Pov

I'm not going to cry. I am not going to cry.

I keep repeating those words in my head, trying my best to steady my breathing and blink away developing tears. I haven't been able to sleep at all knowing that I'm meeting with Alpha Jones and Gamma Dolan tomorrow. Xander planned on staying up to try calming my nerves, but he eventually fell asleep. 'Mate will protect us from them.' my wolf reminds me.

'I know, but we can't protect him.' I reply. Xander can easily take down anyone who attacks, but he doesn't know how Alpha Jones or Gamma Dolan act when provoked. Sooner or later they'll come up with a plan to escape the cells and start a war between Red Stone and Lunar Shadow. I just don't want anyone to get hurt because I decided to run away from my tormentors.

"Xander." I call out when I hear the booming sounds of thunder outside. All of it reminds me of the times I had to sleep outside in the pouring rain without any form of protection. "Xander," I repeat, my fear growing stronger with each second passing. Alpha Jones, and Gamma Dolan always find ways to get into my head even if it's indirectly. "Pl-Please wake up."

I take his hand and gently tug on it, not planning on hiding in the bathroom this time. The last panic attack I had, I gave up on waking up my mate. That won't happen tonight. "Xander." my right leg begins to tremble as scenarios of him getting angry at me for waking him up fly through my mind. My wolf and I know that he wouldn't ever lay a hand on us like that, but we can never be too sure.

"Mmm." Xander growls, immediately reaching out for me as he wakes. "Charlotte..." he trails off before noticing my terrified form. "I'm so sorry, baby. I wasn't supposed to fall asleep so early."

"I-It's okay." I sit up and allow him to pull me into his embrace; his strong arms always providing me with a sense of comfort and safety from the outside world. I concentrate on inhaling his masculine scent and the steady stream of sparks from where our skin is touching. He traces patters on the exposed skin on my waist and whispers sweet nothings into my ear. I hug him tightly, afraid that I'll never be able to do this again.

"I'll protect you, no one-"

"I know." I cut him off, knowing that having to repeat that sentence so much annoys him. "I just d-don't want a war to start. N-No one needs to g-get hurt." Alpha Jones is easily angered, he breaks pack treaties and attacks without warning. The wolves of Lunar Shadow are well-known for their advanced fighting skills and ruthlessness, but that doesn't mean that everyone will leave unharmed and living.

"Those bastards aren't leaving my territory. I can't guarantee peace between Lunar Shadow and Red Stone, I'm going to kill every wolf who ever touched you." Xander growls. "I'll be using the slaughter-house a lot more."

My eyes widen as he speaks, "Th-The slaughter-house is r-real?" Even though I was locked up for as long as I can remember, I still knew about all the stories about the dangerous Lunar Shadow pack and their vicious Alpha. I've mostly experienced the less violent side of Lunar Shadow, but that may only be because I'm the Luna/Beta's sister.

"Of course it it." Xander replies. "I only use it for people who really piss me off or hurt the ones I love... Like the Red Stone wolves." even though his voice is calm and steady, there is still a hint of anger in his tone. Almost as if he's already thinking about what he's going to do to inside the slaughter-house. I can look into his mind to see what he's imagining, but I'd rather not see the graphic images.

"N-Not a-all of them were like th-that." I whisper. "Only some."

"Don't lie to cover up for them, sweetheart." Xander warns, knowing that I always try to hide the worst things that Alpha Jones and the others did to me.

"You can't slaughter an entire pack." I shake my head, wondering how anyone can do such a thing. The stories about Xander bringing down werewolf packs I know are true. "Th-There are families-"

It's him who cuts me off this time, "I don't hurt the women or children. They either choose to live as rogues or join Lunar Shadow." I stare at him in confusion for a few seconds. Only letting women and children go still means that any male who has shifted would be hurt or killed.

"Not all of the men hurt me." I tell him once more, hoping that my words will actually get through to him this time. "One w-was nice-"

"You never had crushes on anyone but me right?" Xander interrupts with a growl. "I don't like hearing you talk about any 'nice' men who aren't named Xander Reynolds."

"He helped me escape." I whisper. "D-Delta Williams did."

Once he hears this, Xander's entire facial expression changes. "I won't kill him." he states. "Did he never hit you? Ever touched you?"

I shake my head, not needing to know what he meant by 'touched me'. "He g-gave m-me food... And showed me the easiest ways o-out of the territory."

I only ate every few months, but I received things to eat and drink each week from Delta Williams. The packages he provided me with somehow disappeared when placed in the attic; no matter where I hid the food and water, it would always disappear the next night. I couldn't even get anything into my system before it was stolen because the packages were too thick for me to open.

Every few months, I would wake up in the middle of the night and see the little amount of contents laid out and ready to eat. It was like someone was making sure that I starved, but was still given enough food to survive.

There were a couple times that Delta Williams offered to run away from the pack with me, but I know that he would be giving up his title to do so. As much as I needed and wanted to run away, there wouldn't be anywhere to do if we actually succeeded. "Did he ever openly stood up for you? Did anyone do that for you?" Xander asks, not understanding what I'm trying to tell him. I thought that he would be happy that someone at least tried to help me.

"They couldn't, Xander." I explain. "W-Wolves can't go against th-their Alpha."

"They-" he stops speaking, as if he can't find the right words to say. "I won't pretend like what they did to you is okay. You shouldn't either. In fact, I don't get why you aren't trying to add to their punishments, you aren't even holding a grudge or anything against those assholes."

I lower my head and keep my mouth shut. I know that he's been annoyed by my lack of anger, but I don't see a reason to be angry. Holding a grudge against Alpha Jones and everyone else who took away my childhood won't undo their actions. "The way you think makes sense, but I don't get how you completely avoid feeling mad." Xander sighs. "Tomorrow when we go down to the slaughter-house, you're free to say anything you want to Dylan and anyone else there. I won't let anybody disrespect you, I shouldn't have let the girls who were sending you letters get off the hook so easily."

I still don't open my mouth to speak. It's better to let him say what he wants to say before replying. "We don't keep things from each other, okay?" he leaves a trail of kisses starting from my mark and down to collarbone. "I tell you everything that happens to me, I want you to do the same."

I nod in response and mutter an, "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Xander lays back down on the bed and rests my head on his chest.

"W-Wait." I push myself away from him in order to grab my poop-emoji pillow.

"I don't like that pillow." he pouts.

"Why?"

"It's taking my spot. Your arms should be around me, not that." I chuckle at his explanation and move the brown object behind me, wrapping my limbs around my mate instead.

"Is this better?" I ask, enjoying the sense of warmth and comfort from his arms.

"Yes."

*** (tomorrow at noon)

"I-Is Brody c-coming?" I question, holding Xander's hand with a tight grip. He doesn't seem to mind, I don't even think that he thinks that I'm holding onto him like my life depends on it; in this situation, I think it does. Alpha Jones is more enraged than ever. There's no doubt that the first person he'll take his anger out on is going to be me. After all, I'm the reason why he's locked up in the first place.

"He is." Xander answers. "You stay in between us, don't go in front of me or behind him. The first underground level is just rogues, but I don't want any of them touching you. Each level down holds worse and worse prisoners. The slaughter-house is on the fifth."

"Why are w-we going down there again?" I ask, still not understanding why we have to see Alpha Jones inside the slaughter-house. If Xander and Brody just want me to exchange words with him, then there isn't any reason for them to take me down into the slaughter-house... Unless they plan on doing something to me instead.

They could be mad at me for not succeeding to escape Red Stone sooner.

There's also a possibility that everyone has gotten bored of me.

Or Xander finally realized how weak his mate is- "Stop thinking like that." he lowly growls, putting his car keys back on the counter. I know that all of the horrible scenarios that I was imagining are dumb, but there's a tiny possibility that one of them is true.

"C-Can w-we stay home?" I close my eyes for a few seconds and take a deep breath. "Just for another hour?"

It seems like the more I talk, the harder it is to muster out sentences. Xander looks around the room, then back at me. "One hour..." he trails off, thinking about how long it would take for Brody and the other wolves to prepare for the slaughter-house meeting. "Yeah, we'll stay home for about an hour. It'll give my guards more time to prepare for your arrival and secure the cellars."

"Hey, hey, sweetheart." Xander places one of his hands on my cheek, and tilts my head so that I'm looking directly at him. "I'm your protector, I won't let anything happen to you." he promises with a short kiss on the lips.

I nod, not trusting my voice. It's not that I'm mostly afraid of Alpha Jones physically hurting me or calling me names, I'm afraid of what everyone else will think of me afterwards. Even after months of being away from him, I won't be able to stop myself from lowering my head in submission like I have been doing since the day I was taken. Brody will be reminded of the things that were done to me and Xander will finally realize how broken I really am.

I learned that I am never to speak to Alpha Jones or look directly at him. There were rules that I were taught to follow and I know very well the punishments that I would receive if I broke any of them. I'm afraid of Xander wanting to ask questions when we return home.

He'll want me to go into detail about what I experienced and not the headline versions of them. I never said anything Delta Williams because he would simply assume I liked him or something. There are still certain people who he doesn't need to know about.... Some of them in Red Stone, some of them in our own pack.

"Sweetheart, you keep zoning out on me." Xander lightly kisses my mark, immediately snapping me out of my thoughts. He figured out how sensitive that part of me is, now he knows how to get my attention. "It's okay to be nervous. No one will judge you."

"I'm fine." I whisper, pushing away from him. He frowns at my actions and results for just holding my hand instead.

"Don't shut me out. I thought we were past this?" he growls, pulling me back onto his lap. I don't know why, but he always wants to sit in this position. There always has to be skin to skin contact or else he isn't satisfied.

"Wh-why do I have to s-see him?" I ask. It's comforting to know that Alpha Jones is locked up so that he can't hurt me or anyone I love, but how close he is to where Xander and I sleep is scary enough to keep me up at night.

"You get to say whatever you want to him."

"I have nothing to say." I wince as I remember how many times Alpha made me repeat that line.

Flashback

"Shut the fuck up!" Alpha Jones growls. He puts his belt back on and looks at my sobbing figure. "One more peep out of you, and I'll remind you of the only thing that disgusting little mouth can do."

I try to silence the sounds coming out of my mouth, but don't succeed. The wolfsbane that he dabbed on my battered body burns too much. "DID I TELL YOU TO SPEAK?!?" he roars, his face only inches from mine.

"I have..." I reach up and clutch my head, trying to stop the world from spinning.

"What did I say about speaking, huh?" Alpha kicks me to the side and pulls me up by my hair.

"I have n-n-noth-"

"Is the little slut too stupid to remember five words?" he chuckles. "Is that what's happening here?"

I don't bother to wipe away the tears streaming down my face, Alpha Jones doesn't like it when I do. "I have nothing to say." my voice comes out raspy due to my lack of water intake.

Flashback Over

"I have nothing to say." I repeat before looking back at my mate. He frowns at my glassy eyes and trembling body.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks, knowing that I'm thinking about my past.

"Later." I whisper. Since he'll be asking questions after we leave the cellars, it'll be easier to tell him everything at once. I knew that sooner or laster he would want me to go into detail about how I used to live, I just thought that the topic would be easier to talk about by now.

"I love you." Xander pulls me back onto his lap and holds me close.

"I l-love you too." I close my eyes and steady my breathing. "We should g-go." I say, knowing that I shouldn't be the reason of a last-minute change to the planned schedule. We're already ten minutes late, it'll take another five if we shift and run to the cellars. Ten if we stay in human form and walk.

"We can wait for an hour, I didn't notify anyone yet."

'What are you doing?' my brother's voice invades my mind. 'You and Xander better not be doing anything- Scratch that, I'm coming to pick you up. He can walk alone.'

"Is Brody talking to you?" Xander asks. "He said that he's coming to pick you up and now he's cussing at me."

'Why are you being mean to Xander?' I roll my eyes when both of them start to argue over the mind-link.

'I'm not being mean!' Brody denies. 'It's my job as your brother to make sure that you don't mate with a creature with a penis! You shouldn't even be in contact with anything with genitals! Xander always smells musty, I don't understand how you like being close to him.'

'Don't talk about my mate like that.' I frown, but know that he can't see it.

'Ha.' Xander childishly taunts his friend. 'Charlotte and I are mates, you can't change that.'

'You two aren't allowed to mate.' Brody immediately responds.

'You can't stop us.' I should probably stop the two men from arguing, but the things that they're saying to each other are amusing. 'I can mate with Charlotte once she says it's okay.'

'How are you supposed to mate with my sister?'

'With my-'

'With what?' Brody cuts him off. 'Your two-inch impaler?'

Shots fired. I let out a fit of giggles, my gloomy mood replaced with a happy one. 'Charlotte, sweetheart... He can't say that, right?' Xander frowns at me, suddenly insecure about his "size".

'Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it.' I tell him, a light blush making its way onto my cheeks.

'Char, open the front door. I'm here.' Brody says.

"B-Brody's downstairs. Bye." I climb off of my mate's lap and start to walk down the stairs. Xander tails behind me, obviously not wanting me to leave with my brother.

"You are going with me." Xander wraps his muscular arms around my waist and lifts me off of the ground. "Not Brody."

"Can y-you put me down?" I ask pecking his cheek. It's not that I don't like how close we are, I just don't like that my feet aren't touching the floor.

"No. Brody always interrupts our alone-time. I'm not letting that happen anymore." he grumbles, starting to sit down with me still in his arms. "I already Brody-proofed the door."

"Why?" I ask, wondering why he's suddenly so possessive and weird. I know that Brody always comes into the house whenever we're trying to cuddle and stuff, but I didn't know that it bothered him that much.

"We're going to be late, but that means more cuddle time." he smiles, laying down on the wooden floor with his arms and legs wrapped around my body. He sighs when he heard Brody struggling to open the front door, I think that he Brody-proofed the windows too.... Maybe even the whole house. "I have more locks and security within the house."

"Can I g-go outside n-now?" I try to get out of his arms, not liking that he's keeping me from Brody. I'm comfortable in the position that we're in, I just know that we have somewhere to be right now.

'Char, open the door. I can't get in.' Brody says through the mind-link.

'I can't.' I tell him.

'Why not? I'm your favorite brother.'

'I'm under Xander.' I say before realizing how sexual that sounded. 'Wait. Wait. Wait-'

With a long and loud howl, I hear Brody slamming his body into the door in attempt to knock it down.

Slipping through my mate's arms, I quickly get up and unlock the door for Brody. He's still in his wolf form when the door swings open. He immediately pushes me behind him and growls at Xander. "Don't h-hurt each other." I say to the both of them. 'I'm talking to you Brody.'

'Get on my back. We're going.' he speaks to me, but keeps his eyes trained on my mate.

Xander's Pov

'What is he doing?' my wolf asks with a growl. 'We are the only man that mate can ride.'

"Mine!" I shout, rushing to lift my mate off of her brother's back. When I take a step forward, he growls and continues to do so when Charlotte makes a move to get off of him. "I'm not afraid of you Brody. I beat your ass before."

'Don't hit each other.' Charlotte warns.

'Bye.' Next thing I know, Brody is sprinting out the front door with my mate still on his back, holding on for dear life. 'YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!' he tilts his head back and playfully howls.

'I'm the gingerbread man!' Charlotte giggles through the mind-link.

:&;&/$/&;@:$/)-&";@)

"Touching leads to kissing, kissing leads to groping, and groping leads to sex!"
-Brody

Just saying, this chapter was shorter because the second half will be uploaded on Friday. I felt bad for promising a New Years chapter and not actually doing one.... So Chapter 18.5 will be up on Friday (January 8th).

I also know that some of you are interested in making banners/covers, so if you send one to me on Wattpad (through DM), it will be featured in one of the chapters.

Thank you all for being AMAZING readers!!!!!

xoxo Priscilla