Beastly novel Chapter 54

The car ride was slow. Way too slow.

At intervals, I glanced at Xander who sat at the driver's seat. His focus was fully on where we were going, his two hands firmly on the steering wheel. We drove through the forest and into the town and I took my time to observe just how lively and beautiful everywhere was. I had never been to the town at night and even during the day, I hardly had enough time to look at it all. Everywhere was thriving.

I had learnt a whole lot from the short time I had been here. Xander had found ways to generate jobs and income for the pack members in various ways. This pack was one of the few in the world that had trade ties with human habitations. They grew cotton and sold it off to manufacturers. Each person was encouraged to get a degree and had the opportunity to further their education through scholarships that Xander also managed to secure through his connection with the Canadian government. In exchange, the pack would have skilled manpower that could solve problems and was sometimes sent to other parts of the country. It was all purely choice though. Most decided to stay and opened up their own businesses but did business with humans still.

The pack had a history of great leaders, maybe except Richard, but honestly, I believed Xander had done much more in the short time he was alpha than anyone else had. He picked up every broken piece that he came across and made it excellent once again. Apart from that, he had eradicated 'omega stands' in the pack. Everyone was on equal standing and got equal opportunities, regardless of how they had been born and what pack they had migrated from.

Now that I thought about it, Xander, despite his reputation as heartless and cold was outstanding. He was multitalented, ready to put his life on the line for the ones he swore to protect and a force to be reckoned with. He genuinely cared.

My eyes turned to look at his expressionless face, the passing lights illuminating his features. You could never know just what he was thinking and he was somewhat of a brute when dealing with some things. If I had stayed and rejected him instead, what would have become of this place? What would have become of him? The people he had saved, what would have become of them?

His eyes suddenly met mine and warmed up as I stared into them but his face remained the same. I tore my eyes away, embarrassed that I had been caught looking at him.

"You've been avoiding me." he said and from the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw a quick smirk appear on his face

"I haven't." I responded

"So why won't you look at me?"

"Because your face isn't as attractive as you think it is." I was no good at lying and I'm sure he knew that. His small chuckle was evidence enough.

"I'm not going to bite little mate." I felt his hand brush lightly on my thigh, the move jolting me so much I had to look at him "At least not yet."

"You're annoying."

One of his hands reached up to brush my hair and his lips lifted in a small smile.

That's right. There would be no chance to think of these things if I had the courage to stay and reject him, this pack would have no longer existed and I would have spent the last years of my life without knowing those I knew now. They would be gone and maybe, so would I.

I'd have spent the last few years of my life not knowing how Xander could look at me.

"We're here." he said simply. I looked out and saw that we had driven to the front of a cabin, nestled in between trees but not totally away from the rest of the town. It was private and accessible. The front was lit up properly, but there were no other cars parked in the driveway.

"Oh, okay." I said and made a move to open the door

"Wait." he said

I watched him as he got out and walked to the door. My eyes widened gradually as he pulled my door open and held out a hand for me.

"Are you trying to be romantic?" I asked him, taking his hand

"I am. I was told I might get brownie points for this." he said and I scoffed "Do I?"

I bet it was either Cole or Sterling that had given him that sort of advice.