Chapter 8 Xander 🩸

• "Xan, I know you do not see reason in caution, I know you prefer reckless living, heck! I know your life motto is 'leap before you think', but please! Just this once, please! Do as you are advised."
• She finally stopped pacing. I can't believe my eyes. She seriously stopped pacing the room, and here I was; thinking she was broken.
• I push my body off the cold backrest of my throne, then I place my weight on my knees; leaning closer to my mom.
• "And what do you advise?"
• "Throw that useless piece of rag out on the streets!"
• "I was asking my mother. Wade. Don't interrupt," I glare at the fucker standing behind my trembling mother.
• She moves closer to me, her eyes imploring me to listen. "That Ganymede girl is dirty work that your father should have dealt with long ago," she says. "You should finish what he couldn't."
• I cock my head and raise a brow at her. "And by 'finish what he couldn't', you mean?"
• "Kill her!"
• This fucker! "Again, Wade, I was talking to my mother."
• "Let him talk—"
• "No."
• "Xander!" my mother grabs my hand, fondling it gently. "You cannot give power to your enemies."
• I see why she is worried. I see why she is scared of Crescent. I see why I should be worried. But I cannot let her go, I won't be that scared Alpha, that one that my father was.
• "I can handle her," I pull my hands free from her hold. "Don't worry about me, mother."
• My mom sighs in defeat. The defeated look on her face would have earned my pity if it didn't make this sudden quick change from defeat to conniving.
• She's plotting.
• "Whatever you are thinking, mom, do not do it," I say sternly.
• She shrugs as if she is oblivious to what I am saying. "Thinking? What could I possibly be thinking?"
• "Gia—"
• "She's a Ganymede," Wade's voice interrupts me once again.
• Seriously? Who let this one loose? He came to drop off his son, and, to my dismay, the putz hasn't left since.
• "Excuse me?"
• "Crescent, although taken out of power, remains a Ganymede, and the stories about them aren't just myths and legends, they have roots."
• Gosh! I can't believe this. Wade looks really shaken up. For a man as proud as he is, Crescent's presence in my House really does bring the coward lying beneath his facade.
• "If you are unsure about her capabilities to take care of little Wyat—"
• "Ryat."
• "—then you should stop bringing him here."
• "What is the Pack House without the pups?" Gia — yes, she's Gia to me now — cuts in again.
• Oh, Gia. No one gets on my nerves as effectively as she does. At this point, it's a talent.
• I turn to face her. "The Pack House."
• I sure do hope that answers her question. Who the fuck made it a thing to raise high rank pups in the Pack House? Like, who the fuck? They deserve some good smacking.
• "Now," I relax on my seat. "The thing about the Ganymedes and their powers, meh meh meh, was all there owing to their position as the rulers of this Pack."
• "I can't believe you are saying this," my mother says on a disappointed sigh. "You grew up with this girl. You knew Callisto for at least a decade."
• "Fourteen years," I correct her.
• "They are not the type to mess with," my mom and her newfound husband say in unison.
• Yes, yes. I know the stories about the Ganymedes, and I know how they can be very different from an average werewolf. Those fuckers claim decent from some god of the skies.
• They call themselves the 'Wolves of Jupiter'.
• But it's all a front, it's all bullshit that they say to make people fear and respect them. That is just a tactic. Coupled with the immunity they got from the Alpha position, I'd soon make Up my own stories.
• "I'm not messing with her," I finally say. "I can't be messing with my future Luna."
• My mom massages her forehead with her palm, probably feeling it to see if she was running a temperature, pure woman, I must be too much to bear.
• She moves closer to me and places her hand flat on my cheek, making me look straight into her brown eyes.
• "A Luna serves as the supporter of the Alpha," she began. "She's the second most important wolf after the Alpha," she stops to take a deep breath. "She can take the Alpha down easily."
• "Yes," Wade supports her from where he stood.
• "The Luna is the closest to the Alpha and Crescent will take advantage of this position if you give it to her!"
• Tired of them and their nagging, I take a deep breath and look at her square in the face. "I will think about it."
• "Xan—"
• "Enough," I cut my mother off. "You may take your leave now," I say, dismissing both of them.
• She stood there looking at me as though she was looking at a 'Rabid Wolf'.
• "Leave," she orders Wade.
• Wade bows lightly at me, then her turns to bow at her, after which he walks out of the room with a staggering gait, leaving only me and my dear mother to each other.
• "Xander," she pronounces my name ever so carefully.
• I yawn — totally intentionally — to indicate my boredom.
• She clenches her hands, switches her weight from one leg to the next, opens and closes her mouth without saying anything, walks towards me but stops before reaching me; then she resumes pacing the room.
• Not again!
• "What is it?" I ask out of pure annoyance.
• She stops. "What about her mate?"
• My jaws clench, and my hands form a fist ball involuntarily. "Which. Mate?" the two words roll independently out of my mouth like heavy rocks.
• "We are going to assume—"
• "No. You are the one assuming that she has a mate, so, there is no 'We'."
• "Ryder," she pronounces the name with caution and pain.
• Rest his soul.
• "I still remember the day he couldn't keep quiet about the strong mate-bond signs that Crescent possessed."
• "She was but six, or around that age at the time," I say on an exasperated sigh. "Nobody knows these things before fourteen!"
• "In some special cases there are exceptions," she continues to do what is now looking like rant to me. "Crescent has always been a special wolf."
• "Why? Because she's a 'Ganymede'?" I really don't think I can take anymore of this, I really don't think so.
• She sighs and takes a few steps closer to me. Once she is close enough, she grabs my hand and massages it softly. The ratio difference of my hand to hers is ridiculous huge.
• "I know you like her," she nods understandably. "And I know you want her to be your Luna, but this wouldn't work. Aside from the fact that she's an obvious threat, she might also have a mate."
• "As did you."
• I'm definitely a dick for mentioning that, but she's being an equally annoying cunt at the moment.
• I watch as her jaws move, tightening and relaxing. She had a mate-bond with another man, apparently she loved him, but she ended up with my father, if they were able to make it work — although the work was ugly — I can make this work too.
• "And besides," I snatch my hand away from her. "She doesn't have a mate."
• She relaxes on her feet, taking a moment to study her delusional son — because I really am a bit delusional right now.
• "What will happen to S—"
• "Don't speak his name!" my face immediately transforms into that of a wolf as I growl crazy at her.
• She steps away from me. Her eyes wide with shock.
• I probably shouldn't scare her like that.
• Relaxing, I return back to my usual self but keep the red eyes. "Leave."
• She doesn't hesitate this time around as she leaves immediately after I order her to.
• Allegations, allegations. That's all this mate-bond shit is. Nothing but allegations.
• Even if Crescent is bonded to anybody, I'm half sure that she doesn't know shit about it. Ryder was noi in his right senses when he announced that crazy bond thing — that's how I remember it.
• Aside from any of that, supposed mate is kept in check.
• I should probably kill him already.