6. The Story: Charlotte's Pov

"THEY WHAT?!?" Xander roars standing up. He punches a large hole in the wall then turns to look at me again.

"IS THAT WHY THEY LET YOU HANDLE ROGUES?" he asks not lowering his voice. I nod, whimpering when he kicks a table. One of the wooden legs flies off and the entire thing crashes on the floor. The two of us are shaking; the only difference is that I'm trembling with fear and he's shaking with rage.

Tears are still rolling down my cheeks but I don't make a move to wipe them away. One thing I've learned is to not attract attention when someone's angry. Alpha Jones and Beta Matthews always went for me when someone pissed them off. They made sure to know where I was twentyfour/seven.

I subconsciously trace patterns on my wrist and it soon turns into scratching once Xander flips over one of the couches. I'm fully aware that mates have the power to calm one another down, but I'm afraid that Xander will see me as a threat and beat me. My wolf is afraid that he'll accidentally hit us instead.

Soon, the sound of ripping fabric lets me know that he's shifted.

Unlike his human form, his wolf is more attentive to me. He whines and starts to slowly walk over to me. "X-Xander?" I stutter when he hops on the couch.

'What does he want?' I ask my wolf.

'I don't know.' she whispers just as afraid as I am.

Xander's Pov

QOTC (question of the chapter): Do you want more Xander/Charlotte action?

I just had to shift- it makes me feel like I offer more protection. Those bastards will pay for everything they've put my poor mate through.

I let out a whimper when I realize that I'm scaring her and hop on the couch. I need to feel her. "X-Xander?" she stutters as I do so.

I tap her elbow with my snout and try to wedge my head in the opening between her knees and chest. She was curled up into a ball because of me. Once she sits Indian style, I move forward and lay directly on top of her.

"What a-are you d-doing?" she asks.

Only the middle of my body is on top of her, my legs, head, and tail are all on the couch and not touching her. 'No one can touch her if we stay like this.' I tell my wolf.

He and I both know that we're going to stay in this position for a while. "Your heavy." Charlotte whispers shifting uncomfortably.

Licking her arm, I move so that I'm still on top of her but not putting pressure on her body. "I could feel your thingy." she probably didn't mean to say that out loud.

'It's not my fault it's big.' my wolf grumbles. I would be lying if I said I'm not aroused. It's a good thing Charlotte's not moving against it.

The weird look on her face makes me wish that I knew what she's thinking. It's obvious that she's quiet on the outside but different on the inside; what could be going on inside of her pretty little head?

*** (Twenty minutes later)

"You can uncover your eyes now, sweetheart." I say pulling a shirt over my head. Charlotte puts her hands in her lap and nervously plays with them. Using the medium sized trees outside as bats really helped me calm down. She was surprised when I pulled the entire trunk from the ground, but didn't stop me.

"Do you hate me?" she asks; a single tear rolling down her cheek. Frowning, I pick her up in my arms and lift up her chin with my finger.

"Darling, I could never hate you. Don't even think that I ever would." I lean forward and lightly kiss her plump lips. When I pull away, I use my thumbs to wipe away remaining tears as gently as I can so that I don't put pressure on her bruises. Such pretty eyes shouldn't cry like this.

Remembering that the hunger pill that she took earlier is finally working, I offer to cook us both dinner. "You need to eat something. At least two meals a day." I state moving us to the kitchen. The average wolf eats four or five full meals per day, but I need to get my mate used to eating first. Once I figure out what kinds of food she likes it should be easier.

"Milk, water, or orange juice?" I ask opening the fridge. As usual, she shrugs and doesn't give a definite answer. Luckily I saw her eyes light up when I mentioned orange juice.

I pour a glass for her and some milk for myself. "How does soup sound?" she hesitates, then shrugs again. Was she about to orally answer my question? That means we're making progress!

Pouring the contents of the soup cans into a pot, I walk to where Charlotte is sitting at the dining table. She's looking down at her feet and hiding her face with hair. "What's on your mind?" I question trying to make her talk to me. Shrugs and nods are responses, but they don't tell me what she really wants.

"If something's bothering you, you need to tell me." I say tucking her hair behind her ear. You know what she does?

Shrugs.

I'm not exactly a patient man, but for Charlotte I'll try to be. "Come one baby, talk to me." I whisper using my finger to lift up her chin.

"Y-You want me to t-talk?" she asks still sniffling. Why would I want her to be quiet in the first place?

"That's why I'm asking you questions." I deadpan. I can't believe that she's so shy. I'll have to find out what gets her to open up; maybe it's flowers, females, my mom, or something. All I know for sure is that I'm going to make tomorrow the day she tells me about her past.

"I think the soup is done." she whispers. Sighing and getting up, I turn off the stove and pour the soup into two bowls. Charlotte doesn't even look up as I do so, she just looks down and tries her best not to make eye contact with me.

We were doing perfectly fine this morning; laughing, tickling, and just hanging out. Maybe she prefers that over a planned date or whatever.

Placing the bowls down on the table, I sit down again. "Look at me." I say moving her head upwards again.

"I'm not mad at you if that's what you think." I start. "I need you to tell me if you want or need anything. Now, what's on your mind?"

"W-What if they come for me?" she asks fearfully.

"I could take down an entire pack with my bare hands, you have nothing to worry about." Charlotte doesn't show any signs of relaxation after I say that. I sigh and put a spoonful of soup up to her lips.

"I can feed myself." she whispers with an adorable look on her face.

"I want to feed you. Open your mouth."

She does as I tell her to and leans back against me. While she's swallowing it, I put some soup in my own mouth. We continue that pattern until the both of us finish the whole thing- me eating most of it. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" I ask.

And we're back to shrugging.

Going to bed is worse than last night; Charlotte distances herself from me and gives me most of the blanket. She's also facing away from me and isn't even using the entire pillow her head is on. Reaching out for her waist, I pull her towards me. "Go to sleep." I mumble putting my face between her neck and shoulder in a spooning position.

I am physically and mentally incapable of falling asleep unless I know that she's already peacefully sleeping in my arms.

We lay in that position for about ten minutes but she still doesn't fall asleep. I know she's tired, there are bags under her innocent eyes. Charlotte's constantly closing her eyes and dozing off, but she shakes her head before she can do so. Why is she trying to stay awake?

"Sweetheart, I know you're tired. Just sleep." she slowly shakes her head. "What's wrong?"

"I hate the nightmares I get." she whispers. The way she says that sentence is showing how truly afraid she is. Needing sleep, but not wanting to; it's something that no one should have to go through. Especially Charlotte.

"I don't want to see any of it again." I could see the salty tears forming in her eyes. I turn on the night lamp and start to rub her arm.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I would take away your nightmares if I could." It's killing me inside that I can't keep my mate peacefully sleeping. She's supposed to be my sleeping beauty- that's what I used to call her sometimes when we were younger.

When we were younger, I already knew that we were mates. My wolf and I wanted to pounce on every other guy who asked her to the elementary dances- Charlotte is ours. Nobody else's.

Brody and I helped our parents with the search team until we were old enough to lead our own. The only things we were focused on was finding her and leading the pack. "Xander?" she calls.

"Yes, baby?"

"What if this is just a dream and I wake up at my old pack? W-What if this isn't really happening?"

Her doubts don't faze me. It just tells me that she's grateful and happy to be in my arms. "This is real, I'm sure."

"How do you know?" she asks.

Smiling at her, I whisper, "If this was a dream I wouldn't be able to do this." and press my lips to hers.

/&;&(@/@-$$;@((@

QOTC (question of the chapter): Do you want more Xander/Charlotte action?

I know, I know, late and short chapter. But I've been busy these last two weeks but I'm not anymore.

xoxo Priscilla