As soon as Leila left the tearoom, Xavier reappeared in the room with an incredulous expression on his puzzled face. He did not even pay attention to his snickering friends who looked at him with a little less fear and respect than usual.
While the three of them were friends, Xavier had a higher position and was much more powerful than the two of them. Therefore, they treated him well but with some caution and even a bit of fear.
Now, it looked like hiding when Leila came into the room had lowered his mighty and fearful image.
But Xavier did not care.
He was more confused than anything else concerning the incident that had just occurred. He could not figure out how Leila had discovered his existence. He was always careful about being followed because of his dangerous shadow responsibilities.
He had a lot of enemies, both human and supernatural.
Therefore, he concealed his scent to avoid being tracked, and his supernatural energy was sealed with sigils to prevent a psychic trail. Moreover, he never allowed his human and supernatural identities to overlap.
However, Leila seemed to have found a way to detect him even though she did not know who he was. It was clear that she was following his scent. She must have noticed that he had been in her private spaces.
His frown got deeper.
"Are you going to tell us about the little spitfire you are running from?" Callum asked with a laugh. "I have never seen you move so fast. I could not see even your afterimage."
Sterling also looked at him with questioning eyes.
"None of your business." Xavier snapped at him.
He did not want to talk about Leila. It was not that he was embarrassed about his interest in her. But for some reason, he felt like he would be breaking her trust and privacy if he said anything about her.
Which was completely stupid…
The two of them were not in a relationship. They had not even met yet, but he was possessive of even the idea of her. He knew it was a little crazy and unhealthy to think of her as his when she did not know him.
But he could not help it.
His mind drifted back to the problem at hand. How had Leila discovered his existence and even found him? But even as the question was in his mind, he could not help the bloom of pride in his heart.
His Leila was not an ordinary woman.
'She is not yours,' His inner voice reminded him.
'But she will be.' He replied to himself like a delusional madman.
"Can you detect my scent?" Xavier sat down and asked.
Callum and Sterling did not take his earlier snappish tone to heart. They were used to his psychopathic behaviour, but they were both thinking the same thing. If Xavier was interested in that doll-like girl, he had a long path to actualise his love.
Based on her anger earlier, Xavier had probably already done something to make her want to beat him up.
"I am not getting anything," Sterling said, lifting his nose in the air.
As a werewolf, his sense of smell was top-notch, but he could not get any scent from Xavier. It was always a little unsettling to be around a creature that did not have a scent because his inner wolf felt like there was a wrongness to Xavier.
Luckily, his wolf instincts were not as finely tuned as a normal one.
"Neither can I," Callum said. "Why the sudden question?"
Xavier did not say anything. He was asking because he wanted to know if he had exposed his scent, allowing Leila to find him. He did not mind Leila looking for him, but it would be a threat if anyone else did.
Luckily, it seemed like he was overthinking it.
"Oh, you think that the little spitfire followed your scent?" Callum asked his face dawning in understanding.
"Don't call her that," Xavier snapped at him.
"If you told us her name, we would know how to address her properly." Callum countered, ignoring the anger.
Xavier's eyes flashed with a deep red colour as he looked at Callum. His fangs lengthened and a bloodthirst seemed to surround him like a tangible thing. For a moment, it looked like he was going to attack Callum.
But he did not.
"You will not address her. Keep away from her." He said before his face returned to its usual wickedly handsome look.
With that, he exited the room.
"He is more of a d!ck than usual," Callum commented once he was gone.
"You are the one who insists on antagonising him." Sterling looked at him flatly. "But you are right. He seems a little unstable. I have not seen him like this since he beat up his brother when he was ten."
Sterling frowned when he remembered the incident. Xavier's brother did deserve the beating, but it was Xavier who got punished by being more or less imprisoned for three full years.
When he came out, he did not have an excitable childish temper like before. His time in whatever place he had been changed him. He became cold and controlled with a layer of cruelty which did not match his young age.
"We should find out more about that girl," Callum said with a crafty look in his eyes, unlike his usual lazy and indulgent manner.
Sterling scoffed. "If you want to die, you can go ahead. I am not going to interfere in the business of a feral Xavier."
"Is that any way to speak to your date?" Callum leaned closer to look at Sterling with an amorous look in his eyes.
"You are creeping me out." Sterling leaned away from the vampire.
Callum laughed before sitting back in his chair. "You should be a little nicer to me. Maybe, I can show you how to expand your social circle to include non-vampires. You should get to know some humans."
"I know humans." Sterling retorted.
"Your lab nerds do not count." Callum exposed him. "You have been in Lake City for so long, but you do not interact with other people apart from me and the nerd squad. You will never find a mate if you keep going like this. Aren't you wolves into that?"