Chapter 15

I spend my time at pharmacy helping Mrs. Stone. She didn’t like me, which wasn’t that surprising. I did everything she told me. And she still found where to point her fingers.

I needed to recheck the delivery papers. They were at the lowest shelves. I squatted down. And since the slit in my dress my whole leg was exposed. There were only two of us here and not like I was showing anything.

She hurried up to me and pulled me up by my elbow while she took the papers herself. “What if someone comes? Can’t you dress appropriate?” she scolded me angrily.

“What’s so inappropriate about this?” I questioned.

She looked at me as if I was dumb. But I didn’t say anything. “It’s not about the dress is it?” I asked. “You just look for reasons to hate me.”

She didn’t like that I was talking back. “You hold yourself way up there to be talking like that.”

I let out a surprised laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean? ’I asked.

“There is a reason why Moon Goddess didn’t give you a mate, and now you are trapping a good man into marriage.” She knew… that meant everybody already knew of our arrangement.

Maybe it was heaven sent that Xavier entered the pharmacy. This wouldn’t turn out pretty.

“I don’t think you need my help.” I snapped at her while she masked her feelings with a great smile for Xavier.

He headed straight to Mrs. Stone and asked for fever medicine for his mother, he looked calm so I assume it wasn’t anything serious...

She passed me by going into the storage room. And Xavier walked up to me. “Hi,” he said.

“Hey,” I greeted him back.

“Leaving already?” he questioned, noticing how I was on my way out.

“What brings you here? I don’t think I have ever seen you here. Your mother is always the one who picks up the needed medicine.” I pointed out the unlikeliness of him being here.

I noticed him scratching the back of his neck like he was nervous or something. “Yea I offered to go this time, because I knew you would be here.” He said. “she’s a little ill but could have gone herself.”

I tilted my head a little to my side. “How did you know I would be here?”

“I have noticed you before in the pack. I have noticed you a lot. And I have noticed you coming here and you go a lot to that daycare where pups are being left, you like helping and I know about you and Vincent...” he said but I needed to ask him if he thought like all the others..

“What about us?” I asked half offended.

He quickly shook his head. “I mean I know about your friendship, how you are so close with him and visit him even when he is... dying... All those who are saying otherwise about your relationships are just a bunch of idiots.” He said supporting me.

“You have noticed more about me than even my parents.” I said.

“Is that a good thing?” He asked, unsure raising his eyebrow.

“I don’t know... but I guess it’s nice knowing that someone doesn’t think I am a total failure.” I said but got to the point of him being here. I pointed my finger back to where Mrs. Stone went. “she thinks I’m trapping you into a marriage.”

“Miss Meredith Boswell, how dare you!” he said a little too loud when I shushed him but laughed it off.

He leaned into the counter. “If we are going to get married... we need to go out in public... together,” he said whispering and it made complete sense. That will make others and our parents think that we are doing this for love and not just getting them off our backs and setting us free.

“That would probably be a smart idea,” I said, agreeing with him.

He straightened up noticing her returning. “What do you say about tonight?” He asked loud enough.

I smirked under my nose. “Okay. But let’s meet earlier in the evening because I kind of have somewhere to be,” I explained, ready for his questioning.

I was surprised he didn’t, he just nodded and that’s when Mrs. Stone came back with pill boxes in her hands. I was thankful that he didn’t have time to question me because then I would need to make some kind of lie again.

Taking all he needed, Xavier looked at me, smiled. “See you later, Meredith,” he said on purpose of letting Mrs. Stone know. And to understand Xavier’s genius you must know that she was the epicenter of gossip in this town, maybe that’s why nobody liked to invite her anywhere, but of course everybody liked drama, that’s why everyone was interested to talk to her but they needed to keep caution when doing so, to not say something worth gossiping about.

Mrs. Stone looked between the two of us and watched him close doors from the outside. She didn’t say anything to me but just glared over her round glasses.

I left right after him, not saying anything to her… clearly she didn’t want to breathe the same air as me.

To be honest I couldn’t wait till the evening would come, it was nice going out with a friendly person again, reminding me how I was with Adrian. He had always been my friend but nothing lasts forever, what was my partner in crime was now my sister’s mate, and we will never be friends again like that, he will always be just my sister’s mate.

When the evening finally came I waited in the front of my house for Xavier, I had been waiting for some time and I started to lose hope if he would come at all but to my surprise he actually came. “Sorry so late, my mother kept me busy,” he explained.

“It’s okay,” I said and walked up to him.

He reached his hand forward for me to take and I took it. “Let’s start the show,” he chuckled and we headed for the packs center because that’s where most of the people would be. We walked around and people were staring, they tried to be discreet about it, but how discreet it could look when they glanced at us shocked and then looked away to their friend whispering something. The life in this pack was so ordinary that every little thing that was happening out of ordinary was being talked about like the most important thing ever. Will there ever be time when people will only mind their own business and stop caring so much for strangers holding hands?

His hand was comfortably warm… cozy to hold. It didn’t feel weird or out of the ordinary.

“You do know that I will give you a bad reputation?” I asked beside him and he just chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” I asked because it was a completely appropriate question to ask in this situation when I have the reputation I have around here.

“I don’t care about that for a long time now. I know that you won’t think badly and that’s enough,” he was always talking so lovely. He really deserved a mate… I knew he would treat her the best. But sometimes people didn’t get what they deserved.

“Xavier, why are you so nice to me?” I asked him not holding that question back.

“There are other women who are without a mate... why not them?” he looked at me amused. “Don’t take this the wrong way. I am not fishing for compliments. I just want to know.” I added.

Still holding my hand. He turned towards me, stopping. “I don’t love you,” he said with a smirk. Most of the time that would make me feel hurt but this time it didn’t make me feel like that, it made me feel neutral maybe even pleasant that he was only a friend and nothing more and nothing less.

“I like you as a person, and I want you to be my friend. Why not marry your best friend?” he joked and even that made me laugh.

“I don’t love you either,” I said. “But...”

“But I am too darn pretty to stay away?” He giggled and I hit his shoulder playfully.

He was pretty… handsome.

“I do want kids of my own someday.” I said, waiting for his reaction. I wanted a family for me, I wanted to raise kids… I wanted to be a better parent than my parents were, I wanted to make my kids feel loved for who they were.

I won’t live in fear thinking that I could be like them, I will be a good mother and I wanted to show them how they needed to raise me. I wanted someone I could love, someone to hold when the nights were cold. I wanted to protect someone even if the world was flawed, I wanted to make them feel loved like they should.

“I too want kids someday... good that you don’t need to be in love to have kids,” he joked again.

It still bothered me… “but we would still need to… you know…” I had trouble putting together my words. “…friends don’t do that.”

He looked around to see if no one was eavesdropping and leaned in a little closer, taking hold of my both hands. “I wouldn’t be against being more than friends. If only for the times we feel like it,” he threw his hand back in surrender. “ I don’t expect anything from you.” I quickly saw how out of place I reacted.

So he did find me attractive, and I found him to be my type. What if we did become more? Would it be so wrong?

I nodded, shaking out my thoughts. “Let’s see where life takes us.” I said and he answered me with sweet smile.” I was looking him in the eyes but right behind him. In the far distance I noticed someone... Death was watching us but as soon as I spotted him he turned to walk away in the forest… it was the same direction where that lake was. Was he waiting for me? It was too early.

“What are you staring at?” Xavier asked looking back. There was nothing I could tell him to make him understand, he would just think I was out of my mind.

I looked back at him and smirked. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said and let go of his hands. “See you sometime,” I said and walked to follow death...