*Lena*
“We’re going to find this thing,” Xander said as he stood with his back to in the warehouse. I couldn’t see exactly what he was holding, but I knew it was a blade of so kind. He was sharpening it, his words broken up by the sound of tal gliding over tal. “And then we’re done with it, do you understand?”
I nodded, the corners of my mouth tightening as I tried to hide my smile. He looked over his shoulder at , glaring in my direction.
“I understand–”
“We won’t speak another word of it after tonight,” he said with finality. He continued to stare at until I nodded.
I rolled my eyes as he turned back around to complete his task.
It was almost ten o’clock. I leaned against one of the tractors as I looked over at the open garage door of the warehouse. The bunkhouse was in full view, only a single light on in the room that housed the female farm workers. A shadow passed the window, then the light turned off.
This was it. We were doing this.
I heard the crunch of footsteps outside the warehouse, followed by a sheepish looking Bethany. She was dressed for the chill in the air, and she had her tool belt around her waist. She looked ready to face whatever was out there, but her eyes betrayed her composer. She exhaled deeply as she walked through the threshold.
“I changed my mind,” she said sharply, swallowing hard.
“Too late for that,” Xander breathed, turning around as he examined his blade.
I narrowed my eyes at him as he ran his finger over the edge of the knife, which was huge.
“Do you really think we’re going to need that?” I asked, but he ignored , tucking his knife into the holster that was hooked on his jeans.
“I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Bethany pressed.
Xander gave her an incredulous look, then shook his head as he bent at the waist to tighten his boots.
“et us at the fire pit in an hour, Bethany,” he grumbled.
He had a one-track mind at the mont. We’d spent the day bickering back and forth about how to handle the situation. We couldn’t go out in broad daylight, that was for certain. Bethany had co back to our cottage shortly after leaving with Maxwell, telling us he’d threatened so type of punishnt if he heard word that’d we’d gone after Elaine and Henry. He’d been irrationally angry, from what Bethany said.
“Maxwell isn’t going to know, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Xander said casually as he walked past Bethany and flipped the switch on the wall that caused the garage door to begin to close. “Lena, co on.”
Xander ducked under the garage door and walked out of the sight. I let out my breath, glancing over at Bethany, whose cheeks were pink with frustration.
“I trust him–”
“He’s going to get himself killed!” Bethany hissed as she took a few steps in my direction.
“Do you want to wait and see if they co back on their own, then?” I asked, trying to hide the bite in my voice. I was ready to get this over with as well. My field study had been totally marred by the beastly mystery that was plaguing the farm. Now that Xander was finally fired up about it, I finally felt like we were closing in on a resolution for the situation.
Bethany closed her eyes for a mont as she considered my question.
“We’re not going to find them.”
“Yes, we are. And if we don’t, we’ll find whatever it is that’s out there. Trust . Xander has a plan, and I trust him. Okay?”
Bethany blinked, then looked up and down.
“What kind of plan?”
***
Xander was walking in and out of the bedroom of our cottage, gathering things and tucking them in a backpack sitting on the kitchenette counter. I’d never seen him act like this before. He was hyper focused, determined, and all and all total void of expression or emotion.
“Are you a warrior?” I asked.
Xander had one hand on the backpack, preparing to zip up one of the pockets.
“What?”
“Are you... a warrior, of so kind? You just have... a certain look in your eyes right now,” I stamred, feeling suddenly ridiculous. I slouched into the armchair.
“No,” he replied, zipping the backpack and turning to . “I’m just taking this seriously.”
“I understand–”
“Do you understand? Really, Lena. Do you have any idea what we’re about to do?”
“No, actually, I don’t.” I felt the heat rising to my cheeks as I peered at him through my lashes. This was starting to beco a repeat of our conversation from earlier in the day when I’d thrown a mug at his head after he told I wasn’t coming with him, and we’d fought about it. “You said it yourself we didn’t know what we were walking into–”
“I don’t want you to co,” he said flatly. “It’s a terrible idea–”
“Well, you need bait. That’s where I co in.” I crossed my legs, tapping my foot as Xander’s face began to redden with frustration.
“That wasn’t the plan,” he growled.
“I’m a female of childbearing age,” I breathed, twisting a lock of my hair around my finger, “and I’ll be out, after dark, alone... while you and Bethany wait in the woods–”
“If it’s Henry,” he said with conviction, “then it won’t matter. I’m going to flush him out by calling out your na like we’re looking for you, but you’ll be right next to the entire ti. I’ll put you in a tree, if I have to–”
“A tree? Xander, be serious!”
“I am deathly serious, Lena. If you step out of line even once I’ll drag you back here. Do you understand? This is an incredible risk, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if–” He stopped talking abruptly and ran his hand over his face. I bit the inside of my cheek, my stomach doing a little, uncomfortable flip. “We’re getting Elaine back. That’s it. We’re going to sit in the woods and wait for this thing and follow it. Bethany says they’ve seen wolf tracks near the bridge leading into town. We’ll start there.”
“Okay,” I said, and it was all I had the wherewithal to muster.
Xander watched , his eyes searching my own as his shoulders fell. “I’m going to keep you safe,” he said softly. “I promise you.”
“I don’t need you to do that. I can look out for myself.”
“Just–” he held his hand out, motioning for to stop, but then curled it into a fist. “Just let ... just let do this, Lena. My way. Alright?”
“Alright,” I breathed as I brought my knees into my chest. I hugged my arms around my knees, balancing my chin on top of one knee as I watched a flurry of emotions cross over his face.
Xander and I had spent the day in close quarters. We’d been arguing, but there was an underlying feeling of electricity between us that was still coursing through the room as we waited for the clock on the wall to strike midnight.
For a mont, I felt like this situation was putting a distance between us. We could focus on sothing other than the fact that it was obvious we both had feelings for each other. I hadn’t ant to ask him if he was a warrior. I shouldn’t have even cared. But... I did. I wanted to know. I wanted to know about him, about his past. I wanted to know what he wanted in the future....
“We should go,” I said abruptly, practically jumping to my feet.
Xander followed with his gaze as I hurried around the room and pulled a sweatshirt and jacket on, and laced up my boots.
“Lena, wait–”
“We’re supposed to et Bethany in ten minutes–”
He reached out as I tried to walk by, his hand laying over my forearm. I looked up at him, my stomach tying in a knot as I t his eye.
He looked as though he was about to say sothing. His mouth opened, but then he shut it again, clearing his throat as he let go of my arm and stepped away from to grab his backpack.
“You’re right. Co on.”
He left the cottage before . I closed the door behind , watching as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder as he walked out into the night. He turned to look at over his shoulder, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. I chalked it up to nerves. I was nervous, too. We had no idea what we were dealing with.
But the knot in my stomach refused to let up as I took a deep breath, unable to tear myself away from his gaze. We’d be tip-toeing around what we both wanted to actually confront all day long, and neither of us–at least, I wasn’t brave enough to bring it up.
How many tis did I need to say I wanted him before I actually allowed myself to give in?
But he also hadn’t said anything about it, not about what was happening between us now or what he wanted this to be in the future. We had two more weeks of the field study, that was it. We’d go back to Morhan and go our separate ways, most likely. I was graduating a sester early, in just a few weeks. I didn’t know what Xander’s plans were.
We’d never even talked about it.
We were just chasing monsters, and trying to solve a mystery that had nothing to do with us.
I realized, quite suddenly, why.
I almost called out to him, to tell him to wait, just like he’d done so earlier. But I bit my lip, balling my hands into fists at my sides as I stepped off the porch and into the darkness that blanketed the entire area.
It was a starless, overcast night. It slled like rain. We’d have plenty of distractions to keep our minds, and our hearts, busy instead of spending another night only inches from each other, neither of us able to sleep with the fraction of a distance keeping us apart.
Was this love? I thought, swallowing against the pain of it. Was he... my mate?
I shouldn’t be able to feel this strongly for him. It was impossible, from what I understood. A mate wasn’t in the cards for . A normal life wasn’t attainable.
“Are you ready?” he asked, looking down at as I reached his side.
I gave him a tight nod, not looking up at him. He sighed deeply, shaking his head as he motioned for to start walking forward through the trail in the grain, toward the fire pit where we were eting up with Bethany.
What if sothing happened out there, and I ca to regret this mont for the rest of my life?
“Xander,” I said without thinking, my feet coming to a stop. He looked down at , no doubt expecting to say I changed my mind, and I wanted to go back.
“Yeah?”
“Do you... do you feel–”
“There you are,” Bethany said breathlessly as she appeared in front of us. She looked pale, her eyes shining in the moonlight. “I saw it. I know–I know where it went.”
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