27. You've Gone Soft: Xander's Pov (this chapter is short, but important)

cover made by me^^

Chapter Goal (for a bonus chapter featuring Brody and his possible mate): 2k votes

QOTC- how did you find My Broken Luna?

"Nothing has happened yet." I state, looking at the nonexistent reports on the rogue hideout. I won't send anyone out there; we don't know what lays within the walls of the hideout and too many lives could be lost. Every single time that the Lunar Shadow pack has ever been in battle, we were always the ones to attack first. No one is use to this waiting strategy.

"It's only been two days." Charlotte reminds me.

"That's forty-eight hours." I groan. "I'm not patient, sweetheart, you know this. Maybe we should attack all at once. If we overwhelm the hideout, we'll be able to take them out."

She shakes her head and says, "The land around the hideout is r-rigged. There's a pattern that you have to follow or everything goes ka-boom."

Even though she's telling me bad news, I can't help but chuckle at the way she does a little exploding motion with her hands as she says, "ka-boom". "What's so funny?" she asks, confused to why I was laughing at her.

"Nothing." I shake my head, still looking at her with amusement in my eyes. This girl is really something.

My girl is really something.

"If they don't attack within two weeks, then we're going to make the first move." I inform. Two weeks is the longest that I'll wait. The fact that there's a group of rogues that want to take my mate away from me is unsettling. What really disturbs me is that I'm not attacking them right now. "We're basically asking to be attacked if we wait any longer than that."

"You trained everyone really well, Xander. You don't n-need to stress about fighting." Charlotte reassures me. Unlike nearly every single story that my Alpha friends have told me about doing something violent, my mate doesn't seem worried that I'll get hurt. Does she not care about me enough to worry about my well-being? There's a chance of me getting hurt; not a big chance, but it's still possible.

"What will you do if I get hurt?" I ask, knowing that she won't express herself unless I ask her to. She never randomly states her opinion or thoughts, she has to be given a reason to first.

She shrugs.

"New rule: whenever we ask each other questions, we can't shrug. It has to be a real answer." I tell her.

"I would wait, I guess..." she quietly trails off. "For y-you to heal... Or w-wake up in the hospital."

"That's it?" I try my best to refrain from flipping out on my mate. She still doesn't seem concerned that I might get hurt. I don't care if I'm practically begging for attention, I need to know why she's lacking emotion right now. "You would just wait for me to heal?"

She nods, obviously not getting the point of this conversation. All I want is for her to care about me!

"Let's get out of the house." I say, changing the subject. "If we're going to play this waiting game, then we might as well do something fun."

"Ooh." Charlotte immediately jumps up at the word 'fun'. "Let's go to the fudge factory. I heard they give out l-lots of free samples."

She quickly climbs over the mountain of pillows that she made on the bed and lands on top of me. Now that I'm laying on my back with her laying directly on top of me, I get a full view of her phone. "Look." she tells me, scrolling down the fudge factory website. It lists the prices for the boxes of fudge, the tour admission fees, and all of the extra things.

"Why don't we go to the chocolate factory instead?" I suggest. There's a difference between a chocolate and fudge factory; chocolate factories sell strictly chocolate while fudge favorites have different flavored like caramel fudge and mint-chocolate fudge. "They have a romantic date thing at the chocolate factory."

"Look at this." Charlotte shows me the list of flavors there are at the fudge factory. She also reminds me that there aren't as many options to choose from at the chocolate factory.

I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed that she's wanting to specifically go to the fudge factory. This means that her pregnancy craving are beginning to make an appearance. I'm happy that she's starting to become more easily identified as 'with child', but my dad and older brothers told me about how much of a hassle food cravings were.

As Charlotte's mate and the father of our unborn child, I know that I have to start being extra careful about what I say and do. Food cravings for pregnant werewolves is paired with mood-swings. "I just reserved the tickets." she announces after a couple moments of staring at the dessert page.

"There wasn't a 'buy online' option?" I ask, noting how she used the word 'reserved'.

"No." she shakes her head. "We have to p-pay admission at th-the door, but I already reserved two tickets for the both of us."

"Okay, let's go." I gently lift her off of me and stand up beside the bed with my car keys in my hand.

"We can't go yet." Charlotte says, stopping me in my tracks.

"You're already dressed, sweetheart." I tell her. "You look perfect, let's go."

"But you have to put on a shirt."

*** (two hours later)

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." I apologize to my mate as we pull out of the parking lot. "We'll come back tomorrow on time."

"No, it's fine." Charlotte dismisses, but I can still tell that she's disappointed that we missed our tour time. She told me before that it was only a thirty minute drive to the factory (thirty minutes is short because we constantly have to drive in and out of the woods), but I took too long to pick out a shirt and style my hair. "We don't have to go."

'We made mate sad.' my wolf whines, hating the fact that Charlotte is unhappy because of us.

"Do you want frozen yogurt or anything?"

She replies with a, "No thanks."

Turning down the radio a bit, I debate on whether to start a conversation or not. 'I don't like seeing mate like that.' my wolf whimpers, referring to the frown on Charlotte's face. She's only a month into the pregnancy, but that's a lot for a werewolf. Most wolf-pregnancies only last four months, five months at the most. It all depends on the size of the mother. And since Charlotte is a lot smaller than most wolves, she'll carry our pup for six months before giving birth.

I'm not sure if she's truly disappointed or if it's the rise in hormones that's causing her emotions to spike.

Taking my eyes off of the road to glance at my mate every now and then, I frown when I see that there's still a frown on her face. "Do you want to go out for some frozen yogurt instead?" I ask, knowing that she has a soft spot for sweets.

She politely declines my offer... Again.

"Have you tried frozen yogurt since you got back?" I slow down the car as we approach a frozen yogurt place.

"N-Not yet." she answers. "But it's fine."

"Let's go on a picnic then." I suggest. "I have a basket in the trunk."

"How long has it been in there?" I smile when she asks me this; she didn't say no to the picnic.

"I packed it this morning, I was planning a date to watch the sun set and stuff." I tell her. We don't have much time to go on actual dates where it's planned and all that. The both of us have to make sure that all of our daily pack-work is completed and that there's nothing currently happening to the pack.

The rogues and Dylan are still out there, but everyone knows that they won't attack until at least two weeks later. That leaves us more time to prepare and rig the border to explode when they step on it.

"Are you up for a picnic, sweetheart?"

"Is it a long drive?" she asks, looking at her lap and fiddling with her fingers.

"It's the same distance as if we go home."

"Picnic." she answers.

"If you get carsick, I'll pull over this time." I tell her, remembering when we were driving to the cabin. She nearly vomited in the car and I didn't listen to her multiple warnings.

Without looking at me, she nods and turns her head to stare out the window at the buildings that we're passing. We sit with the radio being the only sound in the car for ten minutes before I realize that the extra sound I'm hearing is Charlotte humming. 'Turn the radio down a little so we can hear mate.' my wolf tells me. I do as he says and lower the volume so that I can hear my mate humming.

It's not like she's singing or anything, but I just love hearing her voice. I've heard her sing a little bit around the house, but she always stopped whenever she sensed me coming. Charlotte's phone starts ringing and when I see the caller ID, I ask, "Who's 'A Bear-Bear'?"

"Brody." she tells me, pressing the 'respond with text' button.

"What's my contact name on your phone?" If Brody has a special name on her phone, then I should have one too.

"It's 'A Xander'" she answers, causing me to frown as we get to our destination. I stop the car and lean over so that I can see my name in her contacts list.

"A Xander? I thought that I was the only Xander in your life." she hands me her phone and let's me scroll through her contact list.

A Bear Bear

A Xander

Joseph

Ryan

Ian

Fredrick

Fredrick 2

Pudding Cup

"Who's Pudding Cup?" I ask, wondering who these people are and how she has a lot more contacts than me. "Why the hell are there so many guys in your contacts?"

Ethan

Theo

Collin

She even has my brothers as contacts! I'm not sure why that bothers me, but it just does. "Why is my name 'A Xander' when I'm the only Xander in your contacts?" I hand her back her phone and try my best not to let my jealousy show. I am 'A Xander' in her life, not The Xander.

"What? No. It's not that." Charlotte reaches for my hand and shakes her head, clearly hearing my thoughts. "You're 'A Xander' so that your on the top of my c-contacts list." she explains. "It's you and Brody as the first two people."

"Oh." I mumble, the jealousy and anger quickly fading. "Your name on my phone is a heart emoji."

A few seconds of an awkward silence pass before I finally make a move and get out of the car. "I only packed sandwiches, but I think that I did pretty good. We can watch the sun set and ummm...." I trail off, trying to think of other things that we can do out in this field. "We can go for a run; you haven't shifted into your wolf-form in a while."

"Okay." Charlotte shrugs, content with my plans. We walk to a mostly-flat area in the grass and start setting up for our picnic. Once we're both comfortably sitting down on the blanket, I lean in closer to her and bend down for a kiss.

'Alpha, Luna, Beta. We have found a rogue near the border that we believe to be associated with Dylan.' one of the elite guards mind-links just as Charlotte and I's lips brush.

"FUCK!" I shout in frustration, my anger coming back.

"It's fine." Charlotte dismisses, not seeming sad that our date was cut short... Again.

*** (one week later, 4:36a.m.)

"We aren't getting any fucking leads!" I shout in frustration, banging my fist on the wall. Charlotte flinches from my violent outburst, but she doesn't tell me to calm down. She knows that it won't help.

The rogue suspect purposely got captured and commuted suicide once he found out that he was in the slaughter-house. "Brody doesn't have any ideas either." Charlotte sighs, rubbing her eyes to try to stay awake. "It's just a waiting game now."

"I know." I nod, completely agreeing with her. Accepting the fact that we're basically waiting for an attack was extremely hard to accept. It's hard to sleep at night knowing that someone wants to hurt my mate.

"You should get some rest, sweetheart." I say, cupping her cheek. She shakes her head and tells me that she's not tired, but the way she leans into my touch and closes her eyes says otherwise. "It's almost five in the morning, you need to sleep."

"I just need some coffee." she shakes her head again, trying to conceal a yawn.

I'm tired too, but if I fall asleep, Charlotte might try to stay up and work on the rogue situation even more. "You had a cup already, any more than that can harm our pup." I remind her. Dr. Kale said that it's okay for her to have coffee, just no more than a cup per day.

"If I go to sleep, y-you have to go to sleep too." she says. "Deal?"

"Deal." I murmur, placing a kiss on her forehead. Both of us are too tired to walk upstairs to our bedroom, so we just lay next to each other in the office. "Go to sleep, sweetheart. We both need it."

"You promise you won't let them take me?" she asks, mustering enough strength to keep her eyes open to look me in the eye.

"Neither of us are going anywhere." I tell her, wrapping my arms around her tiny frame. Within seconds of closing her eyes, I know that she's fast asleep. "I promise."

Dylan's Pov

"I'll heal within two weeks." I state, looking at all the wolves in the room. "Then we'll carry out our plan and get our little toy back."

Everyone shouts and howls in agreement.

"You'll carry the wolfsbane." I tell Jimmy. The rogues have questioned his loyalty since he was an elite-guard for the Lunar Shadow pack, but I knew that he would change his mind about that once I handed over the sack of money. "Our main priority is to get Charlotte. We need to keep Xander and his Beta busier than the other wolves, kill them if you have to."

"What about the guards and warriors?" Jimmy asks. "There are over a hundred wolves who will attack us if we step foot into the territory.

"Kill them." I shrug. If Xander's pack members are stupid enough to risk their lives for a silly girl, then they'll pay the price for making that decision. There's no way in hell that I would risk my own life for anyone. That's why I disposed of my mate the moment we met; having a mate would just slow me down. I would have to provide for my mate and that would just hurt my pack financially.

"Show no mercy." I tell everyone. "Kill as many people as possible. We don't want them to come after us."

"Yes, sir."

Before waking out of the room, I make sure that everyone knows our game plan. I have no intention of taking down the Lunar Shadow pack, I could care less about their whereabouts. I just want Charlotte.

The rogues feel the same way; once we have Charlotte back, she'll clean the hideout for us and contribute in easing everyone's stress. She'll be responsible for providing us with entertainment and anything else we either want or need.

'I'm getting my property back.' I happily tell my wolf, even though I know that he won't reply. My wolf stopped talking me the day I took Charlotte's innocence and I haven't heard from him since then. To me, that doesn't really matter since I'm still able to shift into my wolf-form and still have my heightened senses.

"Will the slave-"

"She's not a slave." I snap at the wolf who labeled her as a slave. "That bitch is an object, a property. Don't give her any titles or ranks, she hasn't earned that yet."

"Give me that phone." I order, grabbing a phone from a nearby wolf. "Everyone get out, I'm have a few words for Xander Reynolds."

There's no need to try hiding or sneaking around. Everyone here knows that the Lunar Shadow pack knows our location, Xander just won't send any of his wolf in. That's one of his many mistakes right there; both of our packs have enough numbers to just send in wolves and let the front-liners die first. He could easily win if he decides to just let go of a couple hundred lives.

I wait for the rusty metal door to shut before dialing that Xander Reynolds' number; all of the Alpha know each other's numbers. On the fourth ring, the bastard picks up. "I have a few words for you, Xander Reynolds." I state, not giving him time to ask who's calling, but I'm sure that he recognizes my voice.

"I know it's you Dylan." he growls, spitting out my name like I've done something horrible to him. I never did anything to him. He's the one who invaded my pack and stripped me of my title, he's the one who did wrong. Not me. "Why the hell did you call for?"

I smirk when I hear how tired he is. "I want you to know that if you just hand her over, then no one will die." I inform, referring to Charlotte. "I'll even buy her from you if you want the money."

"You will not take my mate." Xander angrily growls. He doesn't threaten me or give me any information on what he plans on doing to my wolves in case they get captured. I don't necessarily care though; their lives are suspendible.

"You've gone soft." I chuckle, earning another growl from the stupid man on the other side of the line. "That bitch has made you go soft. It's just going to weaken your pack in the long run."

"I have a few words for you too, Dylan." anger laces his tone as he speaks to me. "Charlotte hasn't made me softer, she made me stronger. If you dare step into my territory and try to steal my mate, you'll wish that I killed you in the slaughter-house. My mate isn't going anywhere with you and she never will be."

&-$;&/@-$:):@;@/&)-@:@;5&/$&-";@&/$-$:@;&;$-$-&:@/@:&;$/@-//$/

"Will you still love me, when I'm no longer young and beautiful?"
-Lana Del Rey

QOTC- anyone on Musical.ly? (I follow back: dot.dot.priscilla)

Hello my wonderful readers! I want to apologize for not updating last week! (some of you even messaged me about since you all know that I always update on Fridays) I announced in my past two authors noted that I would be busy with tests and choir competitions, so I just wanted you all to know why there wasn't an update last week.

I'm not sure if I passed my tests yet, but my school got the highest scores on our songs and sight-reading and I am incredibly happy about that.

This chapter is kind of choppy since I was writing the different POV's at the same time and I was kind of going through a writers block. It's short, but it's extremely important to the storyline.

And my decision for making a sequel to My Broken Luna is still undecided, but I've got lots of ideas for it. I just have to find out how to end this book so that those who don't want to read the sequel won't be left on a cliffhanger or anything like that.

But one thing that I have decided on is that I WILL BE WRITING ANOTHER WEREWOLF BOOK!!! The book isn't published yet, but I'll have the blurb in one of these authors notes once I upload the unwritten prologue. One thing I need help on is choosing between two names for the main guy character. It's either Maxwell Hunter or Kade Mathews. (Please comment on this paragraph)

And the reason why My Broken Luna's storyline is starting to move at a slower pace is because I noticed that I do a lot of time-lapsing and I want this book to reach at least thirty chapters before it ends. All werewolf books have around fifty to seventy parts and I want to stay around the minimal range so that the book doesn't drag out Charlotte and Xander's entire relationship.

And I decided that Brody should have a love-life, so if we reach the chapter goal, I'll post the bonus chapter featuring Brody and his possible mate.

WHEN THE FOURTH WALL BREAKS: Xander's Pov (This is a new end-of-chapter-short)

"What are you doing?" Charlotte asks me. "You're laughing like a hyena."

"Look, sweetheart." I wave her over and show her my phone. "I just downloaded this app called, Wattpad. It's books and stuff, but some of the stuff on here is really funny."

"How many followers do you have so far?" she doesn't even asks what I'm laughing at, she just wants to know my follower count.

"I don't have any yet, I just made my account."

"So did I." she smirks, showing me that she literally just made a Wattpad account. "And I have four."

"The author needs to make me more popular." I grumble.

Charlotte just laughs and wraps her arms around me, "Don't worry, I'll give you a shoutout."

Chapter Goal (for a bonus chapter featuring Brody and his possible mate!!!): 2k votes

xoxo Priscilla