Xander woke up with a start, he felt something inside the room but when he looked around, he found nothing. His brow wrinkled as he stood up to check the room but there was really nothing that was out of place. He sat down as he started to feel annoyed at everything inside the room, even the ticking clock on the wall became noise to him. His legs could not stop shaking as he started to bit his lips. His gaze did not stay at one spot, he was constantly looking around without focus. He knew that there was definitely wrong inside the room.
They stayed around Lurea Woods and scoured through the whole perimeter but they did not find the 'darkness' that the Alpha had discovered. She received reports that they had found nothing.
Amber was not happy. She was not comfortable in knowing that something dangerous was lurking inside her territory. Zayier suggested that they make another round of search but even after doing that they still came up with nothing.
"The 'darkness' might have disappeared already or it must have hidden itself," he looked towards Amber who was already in her human form.
"Tell them to continue with the search and expand the area, don't let anything slip past you," she firmly ordered.
Zayier immediately relayed the command. Annoyed by what had happened, Amber decided to let her Gamma handle the matter. The sun had started to set when she returned to the pack house.
To calm herself she decided to pay a visit to her mate even though she knew that the man was angry at her. She did not care though, her wolf wanted to see the man so she had no choice but to open the door and step inside once again.
Xander gritted his teeth after seeing the person who came. He was already anxious as it was so she was the least person he wanted to see but he can't really stop her from accessing any rooms in the house.
"What do you want?" he asked with a cold voice. It was better to get down to it than wait for later. He straightened his back and centered his gaze to the woman who did not answer his question.
Amber ignored him and instead walked to where the couches were and took a seat. Her wolf had finally calmed down so she was now ready to speak. She crossed her leg and sat on the chair with the aura of an alpha.
"Did you eat your dinner already?" she changed the topic while her gaze, just like his, stayed on his person but Xander frowned because he did not know what games the Alpha was playing.
"Yes," the answer was brief and quick but Amber brushed it off. Both of them will eventually get used to this kind of treatment the longer they interact with him.
"Alright," she only nodded and continued to stare at him like he was something amusing. He decided to ignore her so he moved to side of the bed and faced the door instead.
Uncomfortable was the only description he had to describe the situation they were in. He could still feel her eyes staring at him. Xander turned his back on her in hopes of lessening the prickling sensation from her intense gaze but after a while, this move was not enough.
Amber watched as his mate turned around to avoid her but even so she further relaxed and concentrated on staring at him. She frowned at the thought that this might become a habit of hers but her wolf was happy to have their mate within their line of sight.
It was a battle of silence. Amber was comfortable while Xander was becoming more and more uneasy because of her silent presence. Finally, he faced the woman and gave her a glare, "Stop staring, is it fun to look at me? Aren't you getting tired of it?" he asked annoyed.
"Why would I get tired of staring at you? Even if we do this all day, I'll still keep doing it," she smiled.
He could only stare at her, dumbfounded at her words. She even said it with confidence which further irritated Xander and the smile appeared to be mocking him. His anger was triggered and he was ready to explode anytime. He stood up from the bed and went to sit on the chair in front of her.
He did not know what came to him but he could not let this woman do whatever she likes. "Why don't you just tell me what you want instead of just sitting there without speaking? It's not befitting for a woman like you to be acting like this."
"Then what should be befitting of me?" she raised an eyebrow then leaned forward to look him the eyes.
Xander could see the sparkle on her eyes as she asked that question but chose to ignore it. "It's not appropriate for a woman to stare at a man and stay with him in the same room, especially if they are basically strangers."
Amber laughed at the answer before returning back to leaning on the couch. She clicked her tongue, "Alright, but sooner we will not be strangers anymore and if it is inappropriate for me to be staring at you, then I'm giving you the permission to stare at me."
Another shock and another sigh, Xander looked at the woman and shook his head as he could not understand why this woman was acting like this. She was angry then now she was 'flirting' with him? That's how he sees it but there was no way that he would actually fall for it.
"Is that the reason why you are keeping me here?" it was just a casual question but he did not expect her to really answer.
Amber nodded, "Yes, because I wanted to know everything about you."
"Are you actually a crazy woman? If you really want to know me, then there is no reason for you to keep me here," he was thoroughly confused. "And why do you want to know everything about me? If you want to sate your curiosity then find another human to imprison here and let me return to my family."
She took a deep sigh to calm herself before she gave him an answer, "That is because you are different," was her simple answer as she maintained the smile on her face.
Xander was taken aback by the smile, why did it suddenly appear to be beautiful and dazzling? It made the woman in front of her less fierce. Even the boiling in him started to simmer down. Amber saw him staring at him dazedly and her smile could not help but widen.
'It seems that he is being affected by the mate bond, smile more! Come on!' her wolf suddenly became excited when she saw that their mate was looking at them like they were the most beautiful people in the world. It was satisfying and it would be even better if he also smiled towards them.
"Am I beautiful?" the question came so sudden that he did not have time to process it and just answered it by instinct.
"Yes," after blurting the word, Xander returned to himself and avoided the dazzling woman's gaze before faking a cough to hide his embarrassment. "Of course, you are beautiful, there's no question about that and I'm sure that the other people in this place thinks so to."
She did not answer for a few seconds as she was currently savoring the sound of his voice as he affirmed his statement. "You're wrong," she was brimming with joy and it could not be hidden by the air around her.
Xander returned his gaze to her, "What do you mean?"
"No one would call me beautiful in this place because all of them only thinks that I am a good leader while the others would say that I am cold and difficult to approach and it's because they don't want to offend me. I do not like being called beautiful but if it comes from you then I will accept it."
He could not stop himself from being embarrassed at those words and he could feel his ears getting hot because of those simple words. Amber's smile turned into a grin and she felt satisfied that she could affect him.
"Haaa…" he ruffled his hair as he was lost. He had no idea how to answer her that he had just to give up. This kind of thing was not his strong suit. He would rather talk about business than have this kind of conversation with this woman. "Aren't you really letting me go?"
He changed the question since it seems that both of them had already calmed down and can have a decent conversation aside from what they had a while ago.
Amber shook her head, "I've told you already that you can't leave unless I say so."
"Then would you at least let me call my family because I'm worried about my sister, can you please do that for me?" his voice quietened at that. Amber saw the desperation in his eyes and her wolf started to give in.
"I can do that but you have to promise me one thing, you won't disclose where you are and who are you with. No information about us should be given to them. If you don't follow, you won't be able to call them any longer." The air around her changed with the change in her tone but Xander did not care and agreed to the condition. He was only focused on speaking with his sister.
"Thank you," he smiled in gratitude. It was the first genuine smile he had shown ever since he came to the pack house.
Amber's wolf howled in joy at that bright smile that Amber's eyes flashed gold. The change in her eye color did not escape Xander.