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ELEVEN

Alexia

I left Xander’s room while he was off on his morning run. He thought I was asleep, but I was faking it. When he returned to bed last night after his shower, I could feel the tension rolling off him. There was no questioning it. He regretted what we had done. Even though he has only had bare minimum contact with the pack over the last ten years, the traditions we follow are ingrained into us from birth. It’s hard to shake the feeling of guilt that comes with inserting oneself into our most sacred of bonds. In Xander’s eyes, he fooled around with his brother’s mate. Full stop.

A rapid knock on the door to Kai’s bedroom has me jumping in place. I drop the shirt I’m folding onto the bed, my heart pounding in my chest and crack the door open. When I see Carrington standing on the other side, I am tempted to just slam it in her face. But I don’t. I’m too exhausted to start a fight.

“What do you need, Carrington?” I say, turning on my heel and heading back to the pile of clothes on the bed.

She pushes the door open with a huff and comes over to sit on the mattress. “You’re still mad at me for the way I reacted the other day.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, letting her know that is a vast understatement.

“Look, Lex, I’m sorry. Really. This entire thing with Kai is crazy, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. That wasn’t fair. Let me make it up to you. Go shopping with me.”

“My mate has pretty much rejected me, and you want to go shopping ?”

“What better therapy? And he didn’t reject you. Give him a moment to get his life together. In the meantime, I have a black AmEx that is waiting to be swiped.”

I thought I had a therapeutic way of dealing with everything last night, but I doubt it will happen again. But I also can’t just lock myself in here and keep moping about these guys. “Okay, okay, let me get dressed. I’ll be down in twenty minutes.”

She cheers and rushes out of the room. I grab my purse after getting washed up and dressed, and before I reach the stairs, I can’t help but peek into Xander’s room. He’s sitting at his desk, and I swear he’s sketching something. I’m dying to know what it is, but instead of asking, I start to back away. I’m not quick enough, and he looks up, shutting the notebook as he meets my gaze.

“Hey,” I say sheepishly, feeling like a creep for lurking outside his door.

He takes me in from head to toe. My outfit is nothing spectacular, just a knitted sweater and jeans. He pauses on my shoes before meeting my eyes again. “Where are you going?”

“Shopping with Carrington. Do I need permission?”

“No, but after yesterday...”

The moments I wasn’t thinking about Xander and Kai last night, I spent thinking about that Jeep. The only thing that finally settled my nerves was the guess that my driving pissed them off. I’ve never driven something as big as Xander’s truck before. And I have to admit that I was totally zoned out, thinking about the conversation I was about to have with my parents.

“I probably cut him off and he was just road raging,” I say.

Xander sets his pencil down on top of his closed notebook and stands. “He road raged from the minute you drove down the mountain until you got home? Come on, Alexia.”

“Well, how else would you explain it? Why would someone follow me like that? It doesn’t make any sense. I’m no one special. I?—”

“No one special?” Xander interrupts, his voice rising. “There’s so many things wrong with that sentence, but let’s start with the objective thing first. As far as anyone else knows, you are the future queen of our pack. No one else knows that Kai has disappeared or that there’s anything weird about your bond. So yeah, I’d say you are something special.”

My brows furrow as I wring my hands at my waist. “I didn’t think of it that way. But regardless, I’m going out. It’s the middle of the day and I’m not going alone. Not to mention, I’m probably going to end up moving back home anyway, so...”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why? My parents have security, and they are capable of taking care of me.”

“Because the future king is MIA, and we don’t need the kingdom jumping to conclusions. This isn’t only about you. When word gets out, I’ll be suspect number one—the shifter with the biggest loss because of Kai’s new bond. It doesn’t matter that I don’t want the crown; people will suspect me immediately. I know it’s unfair to ask of you, but I need you to lay low until we find him.”

He’s right. But I have to admit—I am a little pissed and a little more hurt that he still hasn’t said the words I want him to say.

I want you to stay here... with me, Alexia. Or I don’t regret what happened last night.

“Fine,” I say, my tone clipped. “I get it. I’ll stay. But I’m still going shopping today. I need to get out of the house.”

“Just promise you won’t let Carrington wander off without you. And stay alert, all right?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I’ll see you later.”

I push off the doorframe and head back toward the stairs. How is it possible that just last night, I was in his bed, coming apart all over his hand? And now, he’s treating me like I’m some kind of annoying family obligation, and he won’t even take a second to talk to me about what happened between us.

Granted, I could broach the subject myself, but I don’t know if I could stand to actually hear him say he wants to pretend it never happened. That single thought eats away at me. It runs through my head as I follow my best friend out the door and while we are driving to the shops in the center of town. Carrington and I have walked through half a dozen stores. She spends money, and I hyperfixate on the shit show that’s become my life.

She pulls me into a high-end boutique with racks full of frilly party dresses. It’s more her style than mine, but I humor her as she rummages through the racks.

“You should try something on. A sexy dress has a way of cheering a girl up,” she says.

“I don’t know. I don’t really feel much like trying on clothes. The full moon is coming, and I always feel a little out of sorts right before the shift.” I don’t bother mentioning that getting rejected sort of puts a damper on your self-esteem. It won’t do any good.

“Come on, Alexia. I promise it’ll make you feel better,” she says, her signature persuasive tone creeping into her voice.

“Fine, fine,” I say, stepping up next to her and flipping through the other end of the rack where my size is. Carrington and I are built completely different, so sharing clothes has never been an option.

She chuckles. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to pass up these dresses. They’re too cute.”

She’s right. This place does have some nice clothes, and I find several things to try on. When we head back to the fitting area, the attendant places us on opposite ends.

“Show me anything that looks good!” Carrington demands as we close the doors.

“I will,” I say, hanging everything up and getting undressed.

After stepping out and showing each other two dresses, one of which I hated, but both she was adorable in, I’ve had just about enough. I had to take my bra off for this last one because it was a halter top. With the size of my boobs, I should’ve known that wasn’t going to work. Grumbling to myself, I pull it over my head, ready to be finished with this shopping trip. I hang it back on the hanger and stare at the next dress, trying to decide whether or not I even want to attempt it.

I decide I’m done. Time to put my clothes back on and drag Carrington out of here and back home. Now where did my socks go? With one look at the floor, I jump out of my skin when I notice a pair of combat boot-clad feet standing directly outside my door.

“What the fuck?” I say, never one to mince my words or shy away from asking someone what in hell they’re doing in my space. And this feels inappropriate.

They don’t answer. And when I lift my eyes, I’m horrified to see their head turned so they’re looking through the tiny crack... right at me in nothing but my thong underwear. I can tell by the build and the way he’s standing it’s a man. Since he has a sweatshirt on, the hood pulled down low over his face, I can’t see anything at all, but I know he can see me. Even without seeing his eyes, I can feel his gaze boring into my bare skin. There’s no telling how long he’d been standing there staring at me while I stood there, nearly nude, debating my next move.

Grabbing a random piece of clothing off a hanger, I hold it against my body. “What the hell, dude? What are you doing?!” I yell. At that, the asshole finally moves away from the door and vacates the area. “Excuse me! Can someone please get a good look at the creep leaving the dressing room right now?”

No one answers but Carrington’s muffled voice from the other side of the room. “What did you say?”

I ignore her and hastily throw on my clothes. Ripping the door open, I sprint down the corridor of dressing rooms and out into the main shopping area. People carry on with their business like they didn’t see a suspicious man creeping around. To be honest, the only person looking out of sorts here is me. And I’ve caught the eye of a sales associate. “Do you need help?” she asks, tilting her head to the side so her slick black ponytail sways behind her.

“No.” I turn back to the dressing room and tap on Carrington’s door. “I’m ready to go.”

She steps out with three dresses in hand. “Did none of that work out? I thought the second one was cute.”

If I weren’t so freaked out by the Peeping Tom standing outside my door, I would have laughed in her face. That second dress was horrendous. I swear to the goddess, sometimes Carrington just does not understand what it means to be a curvy woman.

“No, and I’m ready to leave, like now. So can you hurry up, please?” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Uh, okay, chill out, Your Royal Highness. You aren’t queen yet.”

Well, that was kind of a low blow, but all right, if that’s how we’re going to be.

“I’m going to be at the front of the store, okay?” I say, and before she can say another word, I head for the door and wait at the exit.

I can’t shake the creepy feeling. My eyes dart around, looking for any sign of the hooded figure. I have a couple of false alarms. It turns out teenage boys have a thing for black hoodies. Every second that ticks by sets me on edge, and I swear Carrington is chatting it up with the cashier like she doesn’t have a care in the world. And honestly, aside from Kai being gone, does she really?

Every bizarre thing that is happening is my problem. It feels like my bad luck began the minute I felt that tug toward Kai. If I knew it would lead to all of this, I would have never reacted. At this point, I wish I had never found my mate.

“Are you ready to go?”

My body jerks with fright and I clench my hand over my heart. I push past the sinking feeling and force a smile. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

“What happened in there?” Carrington says as we walk through the open-air mall. “You were yelling something in the fitting room then all of a sudden you were ready to go.”

When we step out from under the awning and into the parking lot, the sunlight washes over me, and I immediately feel a little better. Still, the sensation doesn’t go away completely.

“There was someone watching me. In the dressing room,” I say, my voice low as if anyone around us could hear over the purring engines and talking mall goers.

“What?” she screeches, nearly tripping over her feet.

“Shh,” I say, placing my finger over her lips. “Not so loud.”

“Sorry. Someone was watching you ?” she hisses. “What do you mean?”

“There’s like, the tiniest crack in those doors in the fitting room and I guess if you stand just right you can see in. And this guy was looking in at me. And I was practically naked ,” I say, my face burning red.

“For fuck’s sake, Alexia! Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“I tried! No one saw anything and by the time I got out there, he was gone. I don’t know?—”

But I stop talking and freeze mid-step when I see the vehicle parked just a few spots away from us.

A jacked up red Jeep. One that looks way too familiar.

“Fuck,” I whisper, my voice choked.

“What?” When I don’t answer, Carrington tugs on my arm. “Alexia, please. You’re scaring me. What is it?”

I grab her hand and pull her back toward the shops, but in such a way that I’ll be able to see exactly what I'm looking for. The telltale sign if this is the same Jeep from yesterday.

We reach the spot where I can see the back of the Jeep and sure enough, one of the rear tail lights is busted.

As if it has been shot.

“Carrington. We have to go. Now,” I say, and she must take me seriously because we are back to her car in fifteen seconds flat and speeding back toward home before the owner of the Jeep can even realize we’re gone. I don’t speak for the entire ride, no matter how many concerned glances Carrington throws my way.

“Alexia, please tell me what’s going on,” she says when we’re almost to our driveway and my breathing has finally evened out.

I take a deep breath and tell her everything that happened yesterday, including Xander shooting at the Jeep when I spun into our driveway and his trepidation about us leaving the house today.

“I blew him off like it wasn’t a big deal, but...” I blow a breath out that rattles my lips. “He was right. Someone doesn’t want me as our future queen.”