4. You Don't Love Me: Charlotte's Pov

(A few readers were commenting about how Charlotte's were brown, not blue, so I altered the photo to make them blue. I'm sorry if they're creepy/scary)

QOTC (question of the chapter): How often should I update per week?

Grrrrrrrr. 'Shift, I could open it for you.' my wolf says.

I continue to pull the bag of chips but fail to open it. Handing the bag to Brody, I watch as he easily opens the bag. "Try to finish this." he says, leading me to the game room where Xander is waiting for us.

The two of them forced me to eat some food earlier, now they're trying to get me to snack. "You're about to see me kick Xander's ass at Halo." Brody laughs as he takes a seat on the couch.

I was about to do the same and sit next to my brother, but Xander lets out a low growl and pulls me towards him instead. Sitting criss-cross with his legs on the outside of mine, he grumbles, "Eat."

Looking up at him and putting the smallest potato chip I could find into my mouth, I snuggle up against him. It feels nice to finally be given food and be tended to. Xander and Brody haven't hit me yet, I just have to do as they say and hope that they don't turn our to be like the men in the Red Stone pack.

Xander's arms are directly in front of me, both holding the X-Box controller and having his arms around my body at the same time. Looking up, I notice that his lips are slightly parted and that his tongue is poking out a little bit. 'Does that mean he wants a chip?' my wolf asks.

Reaching into the medium-sized potato chip bag, I pull one out and place it in his mouth. "Why'd you do that?" he questions, chewing on the chip. Was I not supposed to do that?

"Y-Your tongue was sticking out." I whisper.

I watch him and Brody play for a while, nibbling on a potato chip every once in a while. "You barely ate."

"I'm not hungry."

He and Brody give me a look but don't say anything else. I'm fully aware that I'm underweight, and I've been trying to eat. It's just that I've gone years with barely any meals and being called fat.

"Charlotte, do you have any hobbies?" Brody asks.

I shrug.

"Favorite color?"

I shrug.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

I shake my head and Xander laughs. "You two are opposites then. I wish Brody would shut up."

I shift and wrap my arms around myself. It's so cold. The sleeves on the shirt that Xander let me wear almost reach my elbows and the boxers are a little passed mid-thigh. It's still cold.

I lean back and place my head against Xander for warmth. So, so cold. "You okay, baby? Your shaking."

"Y-yeah." I stutter. Pausing the game, he reaches over for a soft blanket and wraps it around me.

"Thank you." I say poking one foot out.

"You're still the same." Brody laughs. "You always slept with a foot outside a blanket."

"How tall are you?" I randomly ask.

"I'm 6'0." he answers.

"You're really tall."

"I'm 6'1." Xander boasts.

"And you're taller."

"That's what I thought." he grumbles lightly kissing my cheek. I don't know why, but I let out a giggle.

"No!" Brody shouts throwing a pillow at Xander. He makes sure to aim away from me though. "No PDA. No lips on lips or lips on anything in front of me!"

"Nasty." he shivers.

"Ha, Charlotte thinks I'm funnier than you." Brody teases when he catches me laughing.

"No. She doesn't." Xander denies.

"Then explain she stop laughing when you started talking."

All eyes are on me now. "Charlotte, why'd the chicken cross the road?" Xander asks.

"To get t-"

"To get to the other side!" he starts tickling my sides to make me giggle. It hurts to laugh because of my injuries, but I can handle it. The whip marks on my back are numbed already.

"Ha." with one last laugh, he stops his assault on my skin. 'I like this.' my wolf says.

'Me too.' I agree. I've always seen people hanging out at Red Stone when I was cleaning, but I've never been included. It feels nice.

I also like how Xander is letting me spend time with my brother. A lot of times Alphas are extremely protective of their mate and prohibit any men from going near them. When he puts the controller and hands under the blanket and around my waist, Brody jumps up from the ground.

"Hands above the blanket, Reynolds!" he yells pointing at us. I hold up my palms and shrink further against Xander. The way my brother is yelling is scaring me.

"That's better." he states when Xander moves his arms to their original position above the blanket. My wolf whimpers at the loss of contact, but doesn't do anything about it.

"So when do you want to shopping?" Xander asks.

My confused expression lets him know that I don't know what he's talking about. "For clothes, we could go to the mall and fill up your half of the closet."

"I don't have any money." I say.

"I'm paying." I really don't like the idea of having someone waste their well-earned money on me. I'm perfectly fine with old clothing; that's why we have washing machine right?

"How much clothes did you used to have?" Brody asks.

"Stuff from the pack ladies. They had small clothes in storage and gave them to me when Alpha wasn't looking." I answer.

"I swear I will find and kill your old Alpha."

"You need to tell me the name of your old pack." Xander says but I violently shake my head.

"Why not? They shouldn't get away with abusing you!"

Xander's Pov

QOTC: (question of the chapter) How often should I update per week?

"I don't want anyone to get hurt." Charlotte whispers. Her old pack fucking abused and starved her and she doesn't want them to get hurt?

I can tell that she's a caring and gentle person, but that doesn't mean that she has to care for her old pack. "You do realize that I'll find out who they are sooner or later, right?" I want her to know what no matter what they'll get what they deserve.

She nods pulls the blanket tighter around her. "When do you get your casts off?" Brody asks changing the subject.

"Three weeks for the boot and five for the rest." I say. Charlotte was asleep when Dr. Jones said how long she had to keep them on. We're supposed to go back to the hospital to get her stitches removed in a week.

It's obvious that she heals slower than the average wolf; almost human like, but with me around her wolf abilities are slowly getting stronger. "You want anything to drink, sweetheart?" I get no reply.

"She's sleeping." Brody tells me.

"Did you review patrol plans yesterday?"

"Yeah, I added three more wolves to sector seven. Communications are faster."

"Anything else happen?"

"We have two rogues in the cells." he says.

"How come they aren't dead?" Usually rogues are dealt with immediately. No one comes near Lunar Blood territory unless they want to fight.

"They said they came to get someone." Brody informs.

"Who?"

"I don't know, but we could do some interrogation tomorrow."

"I will do interrogation. You will stay with Charlotte." I correct. I want to be by her side, but if I don't let out my anger I might accidentally take it out on the house- there's no way that I'd hurt my mate, but I don't want her to be any more afraid of me than she already is.

She shouldn't be afraid of me at all.

"Shit. I have to call off the search team." Brody curses scrambling to get up. He runs out the house and slams the door behind him.

What do I do now? On a normal day I would either be alone watching TV or with Brody helping out with the search team. Now I have my mate by my side and nothing to do.

I stand up and carry her bridal style to our room to place her on the bed. As I'm opening the door, she mumbles something surfing on potato chips. It seems like she's having a bad dream despite the weird things in it.

"Charlotte," I say trying to wake her up. She's supposed to get lots of rest but I don't want her having nightmares while doing so.

"Hmm?" is the sound she makes as he slowly opens her eyes.

"You were having a bad dream again."

"Oh."

"Are you hungry?" I ask even though I know the answer already. She shakes her head.

"Do you want anything?" her question surprises me.

"What?"

"I can cook something if you're hungry." she says looking me in the eye.

"No, it's fine." I brush off. Charlotte shouldn't be doing anything right now; in fact, she shouldn't have to do any work at all.

"Are you sure? I could bake you cookies or a cake." she offers. She sits up straight and leans against me- the mate bond is having an effect on her.

"I'm fine."

I stare at her as she plays with my hand. She looks so innocent yet the black bruise under her eye, cut on her lip, and bruised jaw shows that she's taken lots of hits. The time I first saw her scars littered her skin.

Most people would think that shifters don't get them, but almost everyone has at least one. Charlotte just has a lot more than the average person- they'll heal with time, though.

When mates meet scars slowly fade and disappear, that's what my parents told me when I was younger. "Are you cold?" I ask.

She shakes her head. How do I start a conversation if she doesn't reply with words? "Do you want to go shopping tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

She shrugs. Is she afraid to talk? When we're just playing around she's more happy and open, but when we talk about her needs and herself, she's even more quieter than she usually is.

"I need to do some work in the office, do you want to stay here or come with me?" I ask.

"Can I come with you?"

I pick her up in my arms again and walk to the office. This room was originally a bedroom, but I had some modifications made. It's better to work in my own home than in the pack house or somewhere else. "How long do you work everyday?" Charlotte asks breaking the silence.

'HELL YEAH!!! SHE STARTED THE CONVERSATION!!!!' my wolf cheers.

"Three to six hours depending on the day. I do the papers a few weeks ahead of time." I say. The first few months of being Alpha all I did was do paperwork to get ahead, now I'm almost two months ahead in paperwork right now.

"Xander," I love the way my name rolls off her tongue. "Your phone is ringing."

"Who is it?" she picks up my phone and reads the caller ID contact name.

"It's Brody." He was just here, why does he have to bother my mate and I?

"Ignore it." I say wishing that my phone still had a decline button.

"What if it's important?"

"He would mind link me if it's important."

"Brody left a message."

"Ignore it."

"He's texting you... a lot."

"Ignore it." reaching over, I turn off the ringer. Should I just mute the entire conversation?

"Won't he get mad if you don't answer?" the look on Charlotte's face makes me know that she's truly scared of what will happen if I don't answer the phone.

Pressing the answer button and putting it on speaker, I hold the phone between us. "Wow, I didn't think you'd answer." Brody says in shock.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"

"I don't know." I could imagine him shrugging.

"Is Charlotte awake?" he asks.

"Yeah... Wait, never mind." she just fell asleep again.

"Why'd you call?"

"The team was wondering when they'd finally get to see Charlotte again." The search team is mainly people who knew her when she was younger, so they've spent a lot of time searching.

"Probably at the ceremony or when I get them to be guards."

"Okay." he says hanging up. There will be times that I'm not by Charlotte's side and of course she will still have some form of protection. Brody will definitely be my first man to call for the job, but if he's also busy then I'd get my dad or Gamma to do it.

Most likely my mom will try to go shopping or something with my mate and neither dad or I will let them go alone. Sometimes he even sends guards to lurk from a distance when he feels the need to. 'Send guards and trackers.' my wolf suggests.

Trackers?

'To hunt down anyone who tries to flirt with mate.' he explains.

Good thinking.

Should I ask my mom to go shopping with Charlotte? Of course I'll go too, but I don't know anything about girl stuff- But my mom will give me a long lecture about not telling her that I found my mate.

Should I call her right now? Or should I call dad? 'Or we can take a nap.' my wolf suggests.

He literally comes up with the best ideas.

Closing my laptop and putting up my papers, I lay down on the couch. I move Charlotte so that she's laying down next to me and in my arms. The blanket is luckily long enough to cover my entire body- not every blanket does that.

Closing my eyes, I fall asleep with a smile when Charlotte curls up to my side.

*** (One nap later)

Click.

Click.

Click.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

"What the hell is that?" I grumble opening my eyes.

"Xander! Watch your language!" my mom scolds putting away her phone. Was she taking pictures?

"W-what's going on?" Charlotte asks waking up and revealing herself from under the blanket.

"Charlotte, this is my mom. Mom, this is my mate, Charlotte." I introduce.

"Hi." Charlotte whispers sitting up.

"Oh my goddess!" mom exclaims pulling her in for a hug. "I've been waiting to meet you!"

Before she releases her embrace on my mate, she sends me glare. "What did I do?!?" I ask holding my mate close to me.

"You were supposed to tell me when you found your mate."

"I didn't have time-"

"Yes you did." she cuts me off.

"Mo-."

"I don't want to hear it."

"It's not even my fau-"

"You don't even love me!" she sobs. Oh no. She's crying.

"Xander, you made your mom cry." Charlotte says furrowing her eyebrows. She embraces my mom and moves away from me. I didn't even do anything!

"Uh... Mom?" I don't know what to say.

"Can you get me a tissue?" she asks still sobbing.

"I don't have any tissues." I state.

"If you loved me you would have some!" she hugs Charlotte and cries harder.

"Do want toilet paper?"

More crying.

I get up and run to the bathroom. Dad would literally kill me if he found out I made my mom cry.

Charlotte's Pov

"Mrs. Reynolds are you alright?" I ask rubbing her back. I don't have any memories of having parents, but I know that you aren't supposed to make the people who raised you cry.

"Oh darling I'm fine." she says sitting straight like nothing happened. She wipes her face with tissues from her purse and then laughs.

"I was faking so that Xander would leave the room."

"My name is Evelyn by the way." she adds.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"That's the same thing Brody said."

"It's not a bad thing, honey. He and Xander could learn a thing or two from you, all they do is talk." she laughs.

"Won't Xander be back soon?" I ask. Maybe he got lost.

"No, I hid all the toilet paper and paper towels while you two were sleeping."

"Really?"

"I also drew a mustache on a picture I took of him." Evelyn says showing me her phone. It's a picture of Xander sleeping with a bright green mustache and unibrow.

"Enough chit chat, have you two kissed yet?" she's so blunt with the question.

I nod slowly.

"Well tell me about it!"

"Xander kissed me on the first day I woke up." I start. "I got scared when we were talking about being mates and then he just leaned forward."

"Have you two done anytime else?"

"We slept in the same bed last night." I say. The look on Evelyn's face tells me that she wants to hear more.

"I tried to see if he's ticklish."

"I meant if he does anything romantic." she laughs.

Oh.

"He just holds me a lot." I shrug.

"Mom, I couldn't fi- you aren't crying." Xander states walking into the room.

"Were you faking?" he asks.

"Yes, now what's that?" Xander's holding both of crutches in his right hand and a bottle in his left.

"Charlotte's crutches and medication." I thought I already took my pills? Are there more things I need to take?

"It's for your back, sweetheart." he tells me.

"Oh, I'll apply it on for you then." Evelyn says standing up. She takes the bottle and crutches from Xander and helps me get adjusted on them.

"Mom, I was going to do it."

"Well I am. Charlotte and I are going to have some girl time, besides, you have work to do."

Xander groans and quickly presses his lips on mine before getting out his papers again. Evelyn keeps an arm around me to help support my weight- it's sad how I can't even walk on my own with the help of crutches.

"It says to wear sanitary gloves when applying and to lightly massage product into wounds." Evelyn reads.

"Will it hurt?" I ask afraid of the burning the cream might cause.

"Just a little bit. Can you lift your shirt for me?" I'm hesitant, but I eventually turn away from Evelyn and lift my shirt so that my back is exposed.

Tears form in my eyes as she gasps. "Oh my goddess." she breathes looking at all the scars and stitches I have.

"Who did this to you?" she asks.

"My old pack."

"I'm so sorry." she apologizes pulling me in for another hug. "You don't deserve to be hurt like this."

This time she makes sure to not put pressure on my back. Long cuts from whips, medium ones from knives, and bruises scatter across my skin- It's only one of the reasons that I hate my appearance.

Besides the fact that my eyes don't sparkle like everyone else's and that my hair isn't soft like the other girls in the world, my will to live is no longer present. Maybe it was abuse from Alpha Jones that made me like this, or maybe it was the pain that I've inflicted on myself.

:@;&:$/&;$($/&/&#$%^&*()(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&^%$%^&*(

QOTC (question of the chapter)- how often should I update per week?

Thank you all for 300+ reads with only a few chapters up! I didn't expect this many until at least ten chapters were up. Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

xoxo Priscilla