"I'm sorry. I was a bit uncomfortable because you have visitors and I am not sure if it is okay for me to be seen by them." He awkwardly smiled towards her. The visitors were obviously werewolves but him being human, might make them uncomfortable so he decided to stay away from their sight for the time being.
Amber flinched at his statement and it made her realize that she had been a little bit inconsiderate about the matter. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm the one who should apologize for not realizing it a bit too late. Don't worry most of them already returned to their accommodations. Why don't we go and eat dinner?"
Xander breathe a sigh of relief and followed Amber to the dining area where food was already prepared for them. Just like what Amber told him, most of the guests were already gone, there were a few who remained and were having a conversation with Zael and Zayier. Following the Alpha's command, they gave them a nod while passing by which they politely returned.
"Who is that, he doesn't smell like a wolf?" one of the three men who were talking with the beta and gamma asked after the Alpha and her companion disappeared into the dining room.
Zael and Zayier looked at each other briefly before Zael contacted the Alpha through the mind link. 'Is it okay for us to tell them that Xander is your mate?'
'It's fine since they will eventually find out. Although I'm a bit reluctant to let them know because they are not one of us but we can't forever hide it from them. If I knew that this would happen, I should have declined their proposal now even Xander was feeling uncomfortable because of them. As a precaution though, I'll be asking you to assign someone to watch Xander, coordinate it with Zayier.' Amber looked at Xander in the corner of her eyes who was already seated down. It cannot be avoided since he was her mate. She'll try talking to them to keep it a secret for now but there was still no guarantee that the other Alphas will learn of it.
After consulting with her, Zael told them about Xander being the Alpha's mate as for the other details, they remained silent. He had also relayed the Alpha's order to Zayier when they were done talking with the others.
"What's the matter?" Xander asked after he noticed that Amber was not eating.
"Nothing. By the way, I asked Zayier to assign someone to be your sort of bodyguard," she remembered to inform him so that he won't be surprised when the werewolf they would send will approach him.
Xander stopped eating then he looked at the woman, "Why would I need a bodyguard?"
"Don't worry it's not to monitor you but to keep you safe. Currently Ceurian accepted some werewolves from the other packs as part of what we talked about during the conference and I don't want them bothering you for any matter. Unlike Ceurian, some other packs are not that accepting of humans, so some of them might not like you." Her explanation made sense, since it was also the reason why he was not sure if he should return to the pack house a while ago. He just got used to the other members of Ceurian and now there were additional werewolves which do not belong to Ceurian so he did not know how to act when he sees them in the future.
"Alright," he nodded. "Thank you for telling me." Since she was thinking for his good, he did not see anything wrong in accepting her good will.
Amber was glad that he did not get angry after hearing that someone would be following him. "If anything happens, just report to me or let the person report to me."
The news about the Alpha's mate spread amongst the guests which forced Amber to call them for a meeting. "I have called all of you here for one reason only, I know that the information about my mate is already known amongst you. I hope that you keep this to yourselves for as long as you can. This matter had no connection to your packs or to the investigation you are doing so please, mind what you are saying once you report to your packs. I'll say this to all of you, I'm not a forgiving person, if you ever crossed my bottom line expect that I will require a just compensation from you. Please keep that in mind."
This was a clear warning for them and they could feel the weight of those words because of the pressure that she was releasing while talking to them. The werewolves who were sitting down had nothing to say so they could only agree silently.
Xander knocked on the door of Amber's office and was permitted entry. He greeted the busy woman with a smile and have the other person in the room a warm smile. He had already met the man in the training ground since he was the one who challenged him to a friendly duel.
"Xander he is Edrei, you already met him and from today onwards he will be accompanying you." Amber was satisfied with Zayier's choice.
Xander was glad that someone he was familiar with will be his bodyguard. "I'm counting on you then."
Edrei gave the man a nod. When the gamma approached him and told him about the bodyguard duty, he frowned because he had thought that it was not unbecoming of a werewolf warrior but when he heard that the person, he would be guarding was Xander, his mind changed. In the end, he agreed and smilingly went to see the Alpha to officially take on his post. After seeing his charge, he went out to stand in wait for Xander.
"Do you have something to tell me?" Amber asked after seeing that her mate did not leave.
"It's, can I go home?" he asked tentatively. "Even for just a few days," he added. Xander had been nervous the night before after he decided that he would ask Amber for permission. As the saying goes, there's no harm in trying and how would he know if he did not try, so with that he resolved himself to face her and tell her his request.
"Can you let me think about it for a while?" was her answer. Indeed, she wanted to talk about this matter with Xander but she did not want to talk about it this soon. Now that he had brought out the topic, she can no longer put it on hold.
He stared at Amber and saw that she was not willing to talk about it any longer. "Alright, thank you for considering it." He then let it go. It was already good that she was willing to think about it. "I'll stop disturbing you then." Xander bid her goodbye.
Amber watched Xander leave but she could not do anything, she said that she would think about it but she had already decided that she would let him though she was still a bit reluctant. A sigh escaped her mouth before she resigned herself into finishing her works and organizing the first batch of information given to her. Since she was assigned to oversee the team, she was also responsible for reviewing the information if they were relevant or if these reports were useful to them. She would think about it again later.
Xander and Edrei left to join the pups, they only arrived when they saw that the aunties were busy packing food and other necessary things for a picnic. "Good morning," he called out which caught the attention of the aunties and the pups.
"Ah, Xander, you are here! I'm glad that you came in time before we left." One of the aunties approached them with a warm smile. "We forgot to tell you that we will be having a day out today. If you had not come earlier then you would have been left behind."
Xander laughed, "Then I am glad that I came at the right time. Let me help you pack then since I'll be coming with you. Edrei will also join us." He pointed at the man who had followed him.
"Papa!" one of the pups came running to them when he saw who came with Xander. He did not hesitate to launch himself into his father's arms and giggled when he caught him and threw him in the air. "Why are you here?" he asked his father after he was once again settled in his father's embrace.
"I came with Xander and from now on I'll be seeing you whenever he comes here to play with you all," his father explained which made the child's eyes widened.
"Is that true?" his eyes then moved to where Xander was standing with his still wide eyes.
Xander let out another laugh at the pup's anticipating gaze, "Yes, your father is correct. He will be joining us today and, in the future, too."
The pup cheered followed by the others as they ran to surround the warrior and asked him to carry them. He indulged them then took that chance to play with them too while the aunties and Xander finished packing.
After everything was prepared, the aunties led the way towards the crystal river inside the Ceurian Territory. It was located a few kilometers away from the Lurea Woods since they were not yet allowed to go near the woods since the Alpha declared that the place was dangerous.
While on the way the children were happily singing and they would pull the adults to answer their questions when they saw something that was new to their eyes. The adults indulged them and without rest they answered them patiently. It was a relaxed and happy walk where everyone was enjoying.
Seeing all of this playing out in front of her, Shiey was the only one who was not happy. She was dissatisfied with what was happening. She had been thinking of ways on how to get closer to Xander but with the appearance of a bodyguard, it would be difficult to do so. She gritted her teeth and glared at the man who was following behind Xander. She barely managed to get his attention that one time and now she was losing every chance. She was frustrated and most of all she felt angry and hate towards the woman who was staking her claim on Xander.
Then she heard that guttural voice speaking in her mind once again, 'We can get rid of him if you want to. I can do it for you.'