Beastly novel Chapter 50

She paced in front of his office, rubbing her hands together as she practised what she would say when she saw him. It had taken a long time for her to convince herself to even go look for him and now that she was here, she was very hesitant about going in. At moments like these, she wished her relationship with Xander was normal like the others. If they both had been born somewhere else, in another time, maybe they'd have escaped having this turbulent relationship.

Ava took a final deep breath before raising her hand to knock on the door. It came as a surprise to her when the smooth wooden surface of the oak door was suddenly replaced by a face. The face of the man that had her insides in ruins.

"You've been pacing for almost an hour. I thought you'd never knock." he said to her, opening the door wider as she lowered her hand to her side "Are you okay?"

"Yes." she responded lowly, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat before speaking again "I needed to talk to you about something. Are you busy?"

Ava wasn't so scatterbrained at the moment that she didn't sense Cole's presence as well as Sterling's behind the door. They didn't surprise her. The one that did was the scent of the woman that hated her more than anything. As he stood back to let her come in, her eyes zeroed in on the woman sitting cross-legged on one of the sofas. She rose and bowed mockingly, before directing a wicked grin Ava's way. Ava heard Xander close the door behind her before he moved to take a seat right across from where Peyton was.

"Good morning Luna Ava. It's quite a surprise seeing you here. I was just telling Alpha Xander to extend my greetings." her tone of voice was high and filled with enthusiasm. So much that it made Ava want to throw up on her shoes

"Peyton." Ava replied simply, not really having the strength nor the patience to deal with her so early "Good morning."

"You look absolutely beautiful this morning. Is that a new shampoo I smell? Your hair looks gorgeous." Peyton came forward, her hips moving sensuously and raised her hand, but Ava shifted back, totally not wanting her hands on her

'Touch me and you die.' Keira's voice rang loudly through her head, unexpectedly and with so much promise, it would take a miracle not to let her have her go at the woman's face

"Peyton." she began, "I'm not under the impression that you like me very much. Neither am I under the impression that you being nice to me isn't a ploy for you to get closer with the man you're so obsessed with." Her face showed that she was obviously taken aback and her eyes quickly scanned around the room before settling back on Ava's face

"Let us, by all means, cut the bullshit. You hate me. This pretence isn't necessary so I would really appreciate it if you would excuse me and these gentlemen for the time being. I have something urgent to discuss." The finality in her tone left Ava's temple throbbing. Her body felt warmer now.

She had to take time to calm down, but if Peyton kept throwing her fake love in her face, she wouldn't be able to stop what would happen. She wouldn't even try to. Not today.

"Um, I guess I'll let myself out." Peyton said, her voice low and her cheeks bright pink. She turned to bow and excuse herself but when her eyes met Ava's again, they burned with scorn "Have a good day Luna Ava."

Peyton walked past her and Ava didn't bother to turn back, even when the door was shut a little louder than usual. Her eyes closed for a moment and she took a deep breath.

'Keira?' she called out softly

'Yes, honey. I'm here. I know. We'll talk when you're out of here.' she responded. Ava smiled slightly and opened her eyes. She was grateful to her wolf for always being the one who would understand when others would not

Xander stayed relaxed on the chair, leaning back and staring like he was waiting for her. Cole was with a stupid grin on his face while Sterling was looking through some papers in his hands.

"Good morning." she said, moving to take a seat next to Sterling

"Good morning Luna." Sterling said, looking up and offering her a small smile

"Good morning Power Puff! That was some show. Top-tier early morning entertainment." Cole said, chuckling

"It's not my fault you guys don't know how to put a leash on some of your pack members."

"Ohhhh, burn!" Cole's loud laughter filled the room and her lips tugged upwards

"How is your family doing?" I asked Sterling

"Very good. Jamie can't wait for when next you'd come around. He's piled up a lot of stuff to show to you." Sterling said, obviously happy to talk about it "Alvin asks about you too. You're basically a part of the family now."

"I'm flattered." And she was. There was no greater joy than knowing they liked her for who she was and that she didn't have to hold back on behaving as she wanted with them. It was probably a good thing that Sterling also now had a soft spot for her.

Her eyes finally settled on Xander again. He stared back at her patiently, his chin cradled in his palm. His face didn't have any ounce of emotion but his eyes were shining so brightly today. She couldn't think of any time when she had seen them so alive. Then again, now that she thought about it, it was probably only when he was looking at her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked slowly, not bothering to shift from his position "Do you need them to leave?"

"Well..." she started, "It's about Marcus. I think they should stay since they'd get to find out anyway and it has to involve everyone."

"The man that got into the pack undetected yesterday?" Cole asked

"Yes. Well, how do I put this?" she thought of how to explain that wouldn't sound outrageous or strange. Although, her existence was already outrageous and strange so would they really be surprised if she told them some of the things she already knew "Before I came into this pack as a child, I used to live in a foster home with my brother."

Why did it feel like she was about to pour out her whole sob story to these three men? Well, it didn't really matter. Ava began to tell them of how she had grown up with her brother, how they had gotten separated and how he had spent his time during the time they were apart. She chose to leave out that he wasn't normal and had powers completely different from hers. These details, she felt, would have to come from Marcus himself. At the end of her story, all three men were fully attentive and had looks of contemplation on their faces.

"So basically, I think it would be of the interest to listen to what he was to say. He has more knowledge of these guys than anyone else. It's the only link we have right now and I want you to speak with him." She gave Xander a pointed look and was taken aback slightly when he seemed to roll his eyes

"I don't like him." Xander said, straight to the point