Chapter 2: Chapter 2

BETA XAVIER

“Oh…o…oh my god!” Jade kept screaming while I rammed deeper into her. “Oh! Faster, baby! Pl…please,” she mumbled as her hands wrapped around my biceps and squeezed.

Her eyes stayed closed as I moved faster, and slowly, I felt her forehead scrunch up before she tightened around my dick. I reached my climax shortly after and released my seed inside the condom. My shoulders slumped, and I deeply exhaled.

Jade slowly opened her eyes, her pupils still swirling with lust, and she sensually bit her lip. I quickly pulled out without a second glance at her naked body and got up from the bed.

“Where are you going, Beta Costa? Aren’t we going for a third round?” she asked me in a sexy tone, but I ignored her comment and pulled the condom off and threw it into the trash. “Beta Costa, I—” Jade was interrupted by Marquez’s voice at the door.

“Xavy! Xavy!” he said in a singsong voice, which only annoyed me more.

My bedroom door burst open, and the cheerful look on Marquez’s face faded once he saw Jade.

“Sam is waiting for you downstairs,” Marquez informed me before shuffling back out.

“I’ll call you later, Jade,” I told her and walked into the bathroom.

After putting on a pair of shorts and a black T-shirt, I walked out of my room and made my way downstairs to see Marquez waiting for me in the living room. He wasn’t alone; Samuel was with him too.

“How many times have I told you not to call me using that nickname,” I snapped at Marquez.

“When is this going to stop, Xavier?” Samuel asked the same question for what felt like the hundredth time, and I just shook my head.

“Just stay out of my personal life,” I said flatly before heading to the couch and sinking into it.

“I don’t like watching you waste your life like this, Xavier. I’m speaking as your alpha and your best friend,” Samuel said.

“I know my limit, Sam. So, chill. Why are you guys in my house at this hour, anyway?” I asked them both while looking at the time.

It was 2 a.m.—a time when people usually sleep, not start a fucking conversation.

“I came to speak to you about the Moon Ball, which, as you recall, is happening this evening.”

“I thought all the arrangements were done.”

Samuel nodded his head in response. “I’m not here for that,” Sam said. “I had some conversations with the alphas that are coming tonight to start discussions about potential alliances. I quickly found out that many are reluctant to form an alliance with us.”

“And why is that?” I asked him. I mean, we were the strongest pack in this country, and other packs should see themselves blessed to form an alliance with us.

“Well…you know our past isn’t exactly clean. And some expressed issue with your relationship status,” Samuel asserted, and I felt a frown appear on my face.

“So, what, exactly, is the problem?” I asked.

“It’s not like we’ve been very merciful when we destroyed those packs a few years back,” Sam started to say.

“I meant about me, Sam.”

Marquez backed up a couple of steps, and I could tell he didn’t want to be here for this conversation.

“You know as well as I do that male wolves eventually become reckless and ruthless the longer they stay mateless. And there are rumors that you have already started losing your grip on reality,” Sam hesitantly explained.

“Well, I don’t think we need anyone’s alliance then. We have thrived for this long, and we can continue that,” I told him, but Sam shook his head.

“You know the problem we are facing, Xavier. The rogues are getting out of hand. It doesn’t matter that we are the largest pack, we need to band together. Their attacks are getting more creative. And there was another kidnapping today,” Samuel told me.

“Another kidnapping?” I asked him.

“Yes.” Marquez finally joined the conversation now that we’d moved on from my personal life. “She was in the forest with a group of friends and her mate. By the time we got there, the rogues had killed everyone. Her mate was the one who told us she’d been taken—just before he died.”

The news hit hard. This was the fourth kidnapping in six months, and we still hadn’t been able to stop any of them.

“Fuck! Okay, so what do I need to do?”

“I want you to consider taking a chosen mate, Xavier. If the alphas see that you have a mate, there is a possibility that they might be willing to help us,” Sam said.

I let out a sigh. I didn’t plan to attend the ball, but it looked like I had no way out of this. I needed to find a suitable woman to be my chosen mate. We needed these alliances to get the rogues under control.

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do,” I said.

A smile formed on Sam’s face before they got up to leave.

“I’ll see you at the Moon Ball tonight, then?” he asked me, and I nodded my head.

***

After adjusting my tie, I left my house and made my way to the pack house for the Moon Ball. I had just arrived at the ball and was texting Sam to let him know when I started down an empty hallway inside the pack house. I was mid-message when a small body suddenly collided with mine. My hands reacted and I tried to catch her, but she fell to the floor.

Sparks shot through me, and my heart skipped a beat as I looked down at the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. In the back of my mind, my wolf screamed the one word I never thought I’d hear again.

~“Mate!”~