by Tay T
He paused in his steps and his lips thinned into a line at her mocking tone of voice and hostile behavior.
When he had left the room this morning, she was peaceful and cuddly like a little kitten, yet now that he had returned, she was back into being a feral tigress with honed claws ready to dig his heart out.
And regardless of the form she took, Xavier found himself attracted nonetheless.
“You are more than welcome to know my every thought, little sorceress. It’ll make getting to know each other a lot easier,” he announced, a teasing smirk hanging on the edges of his sensual lips.
“Like I implied, I’m not interested in getting to know you or your thoughts.” Maya brushed off his words faster than she had brushed off the imaginary dust on her shirt.
But Xavier didn’t back down. “Why? Because you don’t like me? Or because I’m a werewolf?”
The hidden meaning in his words made Maya’s chest tighten with a surfacing memory she wanted to forget. It clouded her vision and made her head ache, like someone was pinching her temples with icy fingers.
The corners of Maya’s mouth fell into a frown, and her eyes lowered.
She refused to utter another word.
“You’re prejudiced against my kind,” he remarked casually, like he wasn’t offended by such a notion. And he wasn’t. Because Xavier could see the gruesome images frantically procured by her whirling mind.
He could see a young face, barely eight years old, covered in dried tears and fresh wounds that were still bleeding.
Her disheveled red hair was veiled by thick layers of maroon, while bones surfaced from underneath her pale flesh. The despair radiating off of her in fluctuating waves spoke of her agony and her suffocating fear.
He watched as Maya was beaten and thrown around like a ragdoll, all because she had a deadly run-in with a group of wild and crazed rogue werewolves. They beat her within an inch of her life and would have continued if she hadn’t pretended to play dead.
His heart clenched.
From the memory, he gathered Maya had been staking out around the Coven’s territory and starving for days, waiting for the chance to save her mother.
When she came upon the deranged wolves’ campsite and discovered a persimmon tree, she had eaten a couple to stave off her hunger.
They noticed and accused her of stealing from them. No matter what she said or how she apologized, they continued to beat her.
That was the first time she had ever spilled blood and starved the way she had.
Before all this, Maya had never known pain or death. She’d lived a carefree life while under the wings of her loving parents. But her perfect family fell apart when Aldrich White and the witches infiltrated her home.
They took her mother and killed her father right before her eyes, and they would have killed her too had it not been for Druid. He had taken her away before Aldrich could end her existence.
Within a day, Maya lost the two most important people in her life.
“I would never hurt you that way, Maya.” His voice lowered, softened.
For a minute there, Maya thought she could hear sincerity laced in his words, but she bitterly laughed off the thought. “Anyway, how long will this bond take to…‘settle’?”
Maya stood to full height in front of him, suppressing the gloomy memory, while foraging for different spells in her mind.
At this point, the dark sorceress was no longer afraid of the lethal Alpha. Since he couldn’t kill her, she was left with a lot of room to play—to exact her revenge.
For all the trouble he’d given her, she was more than excited to return the favor. But this time, Maya wasn’t going to be the mouse cornered to the wall and forced to go in the direction he led her. This time, she was going to be the predator. And he…he was going to be her prey.
“It could be today. It could be tomorrow. Who knows?” he replied in a rather dubious way, uncaring of the darkening expression on her lovely face.
After hearing her thoughts, he decided if his little mate wanted to “play,” then he would “play” with her. And if she wanted him to be the “prey,” he would be her “prey.”
“I have a battle to fight soon—” she started.
“Against the Coven of Light.” The Alpha finished her sentence for her.
Maya startled at his words, then a scowl appeared on her face. “Stop prowling through my thoughts. If I can’t read yours, then you shouldn’t be reading mine.”
In a matter of minutes, her thoughts were completely blocked from him with a fortified mental shield he didn’t even know she was capable of. And emptiness resounded where her husky voice had once occupied.
The little sorceress is always full of surprises, he thought, the corner of his mouth lifting roguishly.
“I’m new to this too, Maya. I really don’t know how long it will take,” he admitted, mulling over the words longer than Maya would have liked.
She coldly stared at him.
“Perhaps, a couple of days, if you are lucky. If not, a couple of weeks,” he chuckled in amusement, shrugging his shoulders to show he didn’t really mind. “Now, would you like to eat? The food will get cold if we wait any longer.”
Maya breathed out in frustration but didn’t object to the food. She followed the tall male out of his bedroom and down a flight of stairs to a dining room big enough to host at least twenty guests.
The walls were the same creamy colors as the rest of the house, and the ceiling was embellished with a lavish chandelier.
In the center of the room was a mahogany dining table. It was exceedingly long, yet only two chairs were available, lying opposite of each other. And on the table were two sets of meals, one on each side.
On the left side, Maya could see her favorite shrimp pasta decorated neatly on top of a round white plate and little breadsticks in its own basket. On the other side laid the same kind of plate with a large heaping of perfectly seasoned lamb chops and roasted asparagus.
The food looked quite mouthwatering to her empty stomach.
“I’ll have someone change out the table tomorrow,” Xavier announced, pulling out the chair on the left for her to take a seat.
“Why?” she asked, as if it really mattered to her.
“Don’t you think there’s too much space between us?” His hand waved at the large table and the wasted expanse in between.
Maya took a seat on the chair and proceeded to ignore his flirty words. Her eyes were trained solely on the delicious-looking food.
Xavier took a seat opposite of her, watching his little sorceress pick up the fork with her left hand and place a forkful of pasta into her mouth.
She carefully chewed and swallowed a mouthful before saying, “Who cooked this?”
The pasta tasted like how she usually cooked it, but different, better. Almost ten times better. It tasted like a little bit of heaven each time she took a bite.
Perhaps, this was because Maya wasn’t a very good cook, to begin with.
Poison-making was more her specialty.
The Alpha took a sip of water before he picked up his fork and knife. “Guess.”
“It’s not you, is it?” She carefully eyed him and shook her head at the absurd idea.
The thought of the Alpha cooking for her was absolutely ludicrous and almost comical. She could barely imagine someone as manly and dominating as him in an apron, cooking the meal for his family every day, in the role of a housewife.
Why would an Alpha of his stature cook for her when he had more important things to do, more Alpha-like things?
Not that she really knew what all an Alpha was supposed to do.
Maya scrunched her nose.
But if it was him, she would have to admit he had a talent worth praising; although, she would never do that herself.
Why would she make an effort to over-inflate his gargantuan ego?
It would only make her life that much harder.
The Alpha took a bite of buttered asparag
us. The corner of his mouth lifted, and his golden eyes gleamed with mild amusement at the look of disbelief shimmering in her beautiful green eyes. “Is it really that hard to believe?”
“It really is you?” she asked again, incredulously.
“I wouldn’t lie to you, little sorceress. And even if I did, you would be able to smell it.”
Just like how he could smell her lies, Maya now had the same ability. She could smell every emotion he emitted.
Although he wasn’t too sure what a lie from him smelled like, he doubted Maya would ever have to smell the scent.
Hopefully, she would feel more secure and less threatened now that she knew this tidbit of information. Xavier had only revealed it to soothe her worries and abate her fears.
Why was it so hard for her to see that?
“Wow. I feel so honored.” Maya stabbed a grilled shrimp with her fork and popped it into her mouth before slowly chewing.
The Alpha’s eyebrow raised. He could hear the bit of sarcasm mixed in with her voice.
It didn’t take a genius to know the dark sorceress wanted to be elsewhere, regardless of how good the food was.
What could he possibly do to make her want to stay, on her own will?
“You’re the second person I’ve cooked for,” he admitted, taking a drink out of his glass cup.
Maya glanced at him through the thick veil of her lashes, considering the truth in his words, before realizing she didn’t smell any fluctuation in his scent.
He wasn’t lying.
“Who’s the first?” Her eyes narrowed into slits, unsure of why she even cared.
With a distant look in his eyes, he voiced, “My mother.”
It went quiet after that.
And for some reason, Maya knew there was a very sad story he didn’t verbalize.
But she didn’t ask.
CHAPTER 20
Yellowed leaves crunched under Maya’s boot-clad feet as she trekked her way across the pack land, following the trail left by Xavier’s calming scent.
After they had lunch together—she blanched—the Alpha left to check on his pack warriors and their training progress. He had asked if she wanted a tour of the lands, but Maya had declined, thinking she didn’t need to know her way around. After all, she wasn’t going to be staying for very long.
Although Maya was very interested in the training of his pack warriors and how much she could learn from it, she didn’t want to go with him. She felt as if that would validate whatever it was they had and all his pack members would start calling her his—
“Alpha Female,” someone called from behind the dark sorceress, obviously talking to her because there was no other person in sight.
Maya closed her eyes for a split second and sighed. There was really no helping it.
“My name is Maya,” she corrected, turning her head to look at the approaching female.
“I’m Samorn, one of the pack Gammas,” the ebony-haired female introduced. She had a wide, friendly grin imprinted on her lips and thin bangs Maya could never pull off.
Just one glance at her beautiful sun-kissed skin and warm coffee-colored eyes made Maya feel like a white piece of paper.
She’d never felt as in need of a tan as she did now, not that she’d ever tanned before.
“Are you looking for Alpha Xavier?” Samorn paused, “I can take you to him since I’m headed right that way.”
Maya meant to refuse, but decided otherwise. What was the point? They were walking in the same direction anyway.
“Sure,” Maya replied.
The two females walked side by side in complete silence.
After a minute had passed, Samorn proceeded to give Maya a slight tour of the pack lands, unable to withstand the urge to strike a conversation.
In return, the dark sorceress replied here and there, keeping the conversation constant on the dark-haired woman’s behalf.
“The training grounds are up ahead.” Samorn pointed a finger to the north of them. Her curly black hair bounced with each grounded step.
As soon as Maya stepped foot into the training grounds, everyone had become hyperaware of her presence. Some looked at her curiously, assessing her, while others were just defensive and not very friendly. After their appraisal to determine her level of potency, they dismissed her and went back to what they were doing.
From what she knew, werewolves weren’t very fond of witches and their haughty behavior. Although Maya didn’t consider herself a witch, she was still a magic-user, and that probably didn’t settle well with these werewolves.
But to be honest, their opinion didn’t really matter to her. She was going to be off their pack land pretty soon, so there was no point in trying to change how they feel about her.
The dark sorceress shifted her gaze, watching a group of competent werewolves gather into semi-organic clusters and spar with one another. Be it short or tall, male or female, everyone trained with a vicious tenacity. Yet no weapons were to be seen, just bare hands and deadly claws slashing across resilient flesh.
The uniform and strategic way by which they trained was a clear indicator of just how proficient their leader was.
Maya was impressed.
Very much so.
Her eyes flickered from the crowd of people to the tall male exuding the familiar scent of fresh wood and forest rain.
He stood with his back to her, half-naked from the waist up, sparing with a big, bald-headed man.
The Alpha’s muscled back flexed as droplets of crystalline sweat trickled down and disappeared at the waistband of his black pants.
For a split second, Maya found her mouth drier than the Sahara Desert as her eyes devoured his broad shoulders, sinewy muscles, and strong arms.
She quickly averted her gaze and swallowed the strange reaction, trying to suppress the sweltering heat accompanied by it. “Do you guys rigorously train like this every day?”
“Not really. Our training was strict before, but now it’s even stricter because of the coming war with the Hunters,” Samorn answered.
Hunters.
Maya had heard of them and had met them before.
She considered them to be a sort of abomination created by the human government to kill anything not human.
With genetically modified body parts, they were a lot stronger and deadlier than the average human. They were probably the only beings she knew strong enough to combat the supernaturals.
In the past, Maya had met a vicious group of Hunters who were in the middle of raiding the Wiccan Temple of Asala and preying on the white witches.
After she had seen the vile creatures and the horror and death they created, she had escaped.
From then on, Maya made sure to never cross paths with the Hunters again. They were a lot stronger and scarier than any of the witches and wizards at the Coven of Light.
“How long have they been at this?” Maya asked, hinting at the group of training werewolves whose unity she really admired.
“Since seven. That’s the usual training time for everyone.”
Maya’s nose scrunched.
She watched the handsome Alpha’s muscles bunch and release, coil and uncoil, as he blocked a deadly claw from his sparring partner.
With a deft kick from the Alpha, the bulky, bald male was sent sailing back several feet before slamming heavily on the ground. Dust shot up into the air and swirled around his fallen form like a mini-tornado.
“Anyone else?” the Cardinal Alpha called, looking over the group of muscled men and women in front of him.
Samorn nudged Maya with her shoulder. “Maybe you should give it a go.”
“Not a good idea,” Maya responded, shaking her flamboyant head of red hair.
Although the dark sorceress really wanted to test the full might of his powers on him, she didn’t have as much knowledge as he did in hand to hand combat. Her level of fighting was only enough to keep the white witches at bay.
Fighting with someone as skilled as him wo
uld only lead to failure. She’d already been there and done that. And she didn’t need a repeat.
Just when Maya thought no one would stand out, a lanky, auburn-haired male stepped up and said, “I’d like to volunteer our Alpha Female.”
The entire crowd of people went silent, and everyone’s eyes shot to Maya. They gauged her value again, like they had when they first saw her. But from the look on their faces, it was obvious they didn’t consider her a threat to their Alpha.
Maya’s jade-like eyes lowered, and a minuscule curve extended on her glossy lips.
Xavier turned his head in her direction. His opalescent orbs stared into her viridescent ones, sending some type of liquid heat through Maya’s tense body.
There was a relaxed smile etched on his lips, making her feel as if he were lounging on a sofa in front of a TV, not sparring with a group of lethal werewolves.
It felt as if he were trying to tell her, with his eyes, that she didn’t have to accept if she didn’t want to.
Unknowingly, her shoulders relaxed.
“Actually, I would like to ‘spar’ with you, instead.” Maya’s icy green eyes glared down the lanky male whose self-importance was starting to leak out in nauseating waves.
Her request had surprised him because his earthy-green eyes had widened a fraction in response.
“It’ll be my pleasure, Alpha Female,” he grinned, walking with a cocky little swagger in his steps.
At the moment, Maya was glad she wore pants instead of a dress, it would make kicking the lanky male’s ass a lot easier, without flashing her underwear to the entire pack.
“Of course it is,” she replied, ruby red lips stretching into a Cheshire grin, imbued with mockery and deceit.
Maya wanted to see how fast she could make him grovel and beg at her feet; she didn’t think it would take very long.
Hopefully, this would teach him a lesson about volunteering anyone—other than himself—again.
Xavier chuckled under his breath. His golden orbs securely fastened on his little mate’s form. He’d always found Maya extremely attractive when she exerted so much confidence and darkness.
Everyone around cleared the way and created a circled around Maya and the lanky male named Wilbur.
