I feel someone gently touching my hand, making me look down at my hand and notice the little girl with the teddy bear trying to hold my hand. She must have noticed my nerves growing more haywire by the second.
"Thank you," I whisper with a soft smile, crouching down to reach her eye level and interlocking our hands.
She offers me her own smile, letting her blonde hair fall over her face as she shyly glances down.
Tasia exclaims something under her breath and before I can even look up she rushes to the front door while yelling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back!"
Her words caught me off guard and before I could even process what happened, she was already out of sight.
Too afraid to look out the window again, I stay on my spot on the ground and lean back against the wall.
I slightly adjust my posture to let the little girl take a seat beside me. She makes herself comfortable by leaning into my side, so I remove my hand interlocked with hers and pull her into a lax side hug.
The atmosphere feels calm despite the loud children not having a care in the world, unaware of the danger outside the house.
But that all comes to a halt when the house's front door bursts open. The loud bang makes all the children fall silent while I jump to my feet, ready for the unexpected.
Xavion's panicked face enters my vision and I immediately calm down. A smile slips on my face as I step forward to reassure him that I'm okay. I can see he needs it, he needs to hold me to calm himself down, so I let him.
He almost picks me up from the floor as he engulfs me in a bear hug. I can't really hug him back as my arms are trapped in between the two of us.
"It's okay. I'm okay," I whisper, hoping he can hear my muffled voice. I snuggle my head deeper into his shoulder as I can't do anything else in my predicament.
A few seconds pass by and the giggles of the children make me realise we are still in front of all of them.
"Xavion?" I whisper, lifting my head a little to reach his ear.
"Mm?" is his only response and I know for a fact this must be a werewolf thing.
"How about we go back to your house, or the pack house as you call it," I try to reason with him, hoping we can move away from all the children's curious eyes.
"She's right," Tasia's voice catches me off guard. I try to look for her over Xavion's shoulder but without much success.
One moment I'm still being squeezed to death and the next I'm in the air. Xavion carries me bridal style out of the house, leaving Tasia and the children behind.
"Hey, I can walk on my own," I playfully glare at him and give him a small nudge. That doesn't affect him at all as he continues walking with determination.
"I know," he answers and I give up, letting myself be carried to the pack house.
In public much less.
So in order to hide my shame, I bury my face into Xavion's shoulder.
For a second, it seems like he is slowing down and I'm about to look up to see what's going on when I hear Royce calling out to Xavion.
"Alpha, what- My apologies, go right ahead," his voice fades as Xavion doesn't stop. It takes me a good second to realise that Royce only spoke halfway before changing his words. Like Xavion said something.
This makes me slightly pull back and glance up to see Xavion's expression.
He immediately notices, switching from a scowl to a softer gaze. "Telepathy," he whispers, a barely noticeable smile playing in the corner of his lips.
"Oh," I react out loud, thinking about the time he explained these things to me.
I don't hear his chuckle, but the rumbling in his chest tells me he finds my predicament amusing.
He falls quiet again as his feet hit the wood of the steps and he carries me directly into the house and on the way to his room. The two or three people wandering around inside don't dare ask any questions as they stare at us with curiosity.
"I'm sorry, Eliah," Xavion growls lowly in my ear and I don't have time to think about his voice because of his apology.
I open my mouth to ask him what he means when he twists his body to open the doors to his bedroom with his backside. The gesture makes me think that that's what he wanted to apologise for as he strides directly to his bed with maroon sheets.
The position doesn't give me much of a view, but the dim lighting and dark red accents really wasn't what I thought Xavion's room would look like.
"I really am sorry," he apologises again and it throws me into a turmoil of confusion.
"Talk to me," I finally get out my voice as he ever so gently lays me down on the bed. His touch doesn't leave me as he follows me closely to lie down.
"I just want to stay like this for a while," he grumbles into my side, shifting his body so he can cling to me with his arms wrapped around my stomach.
"That's okay. Take your time," I whisper with a reassuring smile even though Xavion can't see anything due to his face being buried in my stomach just above his arms.
Not really understanding what is going on, I decide to play along for the time being so he can calm down before I bombard him with questions. I lift my arm and my hand grazes Xavion's dark hair, the feeling it gives me is so real that I can't help but dig my fingers deeper into his smooth locks.
Xavion's chest starts rumbling like a purr and I know he is also feeling the connection between us growing more secure by the second.
The bond.