My True Self

Chapter 7

Xavier's P.O.V.

We walked around the town for what seemed like a while before finally finding a clothes store that Gwen seemed to like. We walked in and she picked out a few clothes and took them to the dressing room. I picked out some shirts, pants, and a sweater while waiting for her to try things on. As I was looking at the racks of clothes, I noticed someone from the corner of my eye walking up to me and stood next to me.

"Have you figured out a plan yet?" I could tell it was Ryan's voice. "Your father is waiting for a response." A bad feeling sunk into my gut as I thought of it. My mind has been in such a haze since finding out that Gwen is my mate, that I had nearly forgotten why I was here in the first place. I pretended to keep looking at the clothes.

"Not yet, it's only been one f*****g night. I can't get close to the daughter that quickly." I snapped towards Ryan and he chuckled a little.

"Don't tell me you have a soft spot or are reconsidering. You know what your father would do if I told him his only son was going to betray him?" He said to me sternly. I looked at him and he smiled. "Awe, don't tell me."

"Tell you what?" I snapped again. This time he began to laugh.

"You found your mate, didn't you?" Ryan gave me a look that would make some people buckle at the knees. He leaned towards my ear. "If it's Gwen and you can't kill her, I'll do it for you and take the Alpha crown of Ravenstone for myself." Ryan chuckled again as he walked away and back out of the store. I turned around and looked to see if Gwen had finished, and I saw her finally walking out of the women's tryout room. She was wearing a long, black dress with silver lining at the bottom and top. Her body was very slim, but she had beautiful curves and I doubt she had ever worn something showing so much cleavage. Her hair and eyes shinned with the dress as she walked over to me, holding all the clothes that she had chosen. She smiled at me as she noticed that I couldn't take my eyes off of her, making her feel shy again as she blushed and looked down at the ground.

"You look beautiful, Gwenniver." I said without hesitation. She looked up at me, her eyes as big as ever.

"No one has ever said that to me," Gwen said to me, quietly. I smiled at her. She nodded for us to go check out and I followed her.

"We have to protect her. We can never let her out of our sight." Tray said to me as we were checking out the clothes at the register.

"I cannot let Ryan or anyone from Ravenstone come anywhere near her. I can't protect her and stay with her constantly unless I get closer to her and she lets me in." I said to Tray. He is right, we have to protect her. She is my mate, and I don't want to lose that and neither does Tray. I could tell that Tray was thinking of a way to get closer to Gwen, and so was I.

We left the store and began walking around again. Only this time, I was more alert than ever about everything around us. I was worried about Ryan trying something. I don't think he knows entirely yet that it was Gwen who is my mate, but that doesn't mean that he still isn't going to try. I may not know Ryan very well, but I knew that he always wanted the title of being an alpha, especially if it was for Ravenstone. Ryan has done everything my father asked of him, anywhere from killing someone, to kidnappings and bringing them to my father.

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked me, breaking me from my thoughts and realizing that I had spaced off thinking about Ryan. I looked at her and gave her a smile.

"I was just thinking of what we should do next." I reassured her, trying to stay calm and alert. She stops in her tracks and looks around the town. She then pointed to an ice cream shop just a couple blocks down.

"We can go get some ice cream!" she said, excited. I agreed with her and we headed that way. When we get there, it's like Gwen has never had any ice cream before in her life. She stood there in awe as she looked at all the flavors and requested to try them all. She looked back and smiled at me the whole time. I stood back and admired her. She may be a shy and quiet person, but it was amazing seeing her laugh and smile. She finally chose to have 3 different flavored scoops; cookies and cream, toffee nut, and paralines and cream. I chose 2 chocolate scoops and we sat down together again at a table. Gwen was excited about her ice cream, but careful to eat it so that she didn't get any on her new dress.

"Have you ever had ice cream before?" I giggled with her. She looked at me and back at her food.

"I have. I've just never been to an actual ice cream store. I didn't know they had so many kinds or that you could try them." She paused for a minute before looking at me. "I didn't get to go out and do much, but I have snuck a few bites of different food here and there when Carol wasn't around to notice or if she was too intoxicated to care." She paused for a minute and looked to me again. "My childhood living among humans wasn't the best. For as long as I can remember, I was abused, beaten, thrown like an outcast even at school," She drifted off in the memories and I felt guilty. I didn't want to bring her down or upset her. I wanted to get to know her, but not like this. Without thinking, I reached over and held her hand. The sparks from just touching her were intense, and I didn't want to let go. She looked at me again when she realized that her hand was in mine and began to blush.

"I'll protect you from all those things from ever happening to you again," I said to her. "I promise, Gwenniver." With that, Gwen looked into my eyes as in awe. I realized then that she only protected herself in the past with no one by her side to help. She was, in a way, like me. I have a f****d up past too, with no one to help me through it, but I felt that I could save and protect her. I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed her hand gently. She smiled at me again and held onto my hand while finishing her ice cream. Once we were done, she wanted to go back to the pack house and show her parents what she had got. As we rode in the car on the way back, our hands were interlinked the entire time.

"I want to get to know more about you." Gwen said, breaking the silence of the car ride. I looked at her confused.

"Get to know me how?" I asked her. She giggled a little at my response.

"I mean, I want to know who Xavier is. I want to be able to know how you grew up, how you were raised, what it was like to grow up knowing that you were a werewolf your entire life. I want to know where you grew up and what it was like." She brought my hand up to her chest and held it there. "If you're my mate, and we are meant to be together in some way, I want to know who you are before I make any decisions like that in my life. I want to know the person that I am to love." I looked at her, both in awe and scared. If I tell her about who I truly am, and why I am here, what will happen between us? I don't want to lose having a mate already. I'm still trying to process the fact that she is my mate, let alone that I promised to protect her, even though I was the one sent to kill her.

We finally arrived at the pack house, yet no one was there to greet us. As we got out of the car, Gwen began grabbing her shopping bags and I helped her grab them all. As we walked into the house, it was almost too quiet.

"Something's not right, X." Tray said to me, as he began to search around to find something.

"Mom? Dad?" Gwen called out in the large, open house. No one answered, and I put down all the bags by the entrance. Gwen began to walk further into the house, but I stepped in front of her and walked ahead. She followed me closely as we walked up the stairs.

"Which room is your parents'?" I asked her quietly. She pointed to a door that was right next to hers. We walked quietly over to the door and knocked. We listened, yet again, no answer. I opened the door, and the sight shocked me. Blood was everywhere, and the Alpha laid on the bed with a silver stake in his chest. Luna was crouched next to the bed, her head on the bed and her hand was in his. I couldn't tell if she was alive or not. Gwen was still behind me, yet she couldn't see the room.

"Are they in there?" She whispered to me. I turned around, trying to cover the sight behind the door. I tried not to show any fear or anger, and stayed calm for her.

"Wait out here for a second, do not look in the room." I said to her and kissed her forehead. She looked at me, worried. Before I walked into the room, Gwen grabbed my hand.

"I don't care what it is, I am going with you." She sternly said to me. I hesitantly nodded at her, taking her hand in mine and opening the door enough for her to see. I lowered my head as she looked, before wrapping her arms around me and holding onto me. I held her close as she wept in my arms. That's when I noticed Luna moving her hand and trying to turn her head towards us. Gwen must have heard her shifting, and turned around.

"Mom!" She cried as she rushed over to Luna to help her. I ran over to the other side of Luna and tried to see what damage she had. There was a silver stake in her abdomen, but it looked as if it could be treated if we got her help in time. Luna looked over to me, grabbing me close and bringing her lips to my ear to whisper to me.

"Protect my daughter. She is the only one that can save the Silverthorne pack. Break the curse before-" Luna tried saying before falling limp. Gwen held her, trying to find a way to help her mother.

"Quick, where is the pack doctor?" I said to Gwen, getting up quickly.

"There should have been a doctor here. On the ground floor, I think." She said to me quietly, holding her mother's head in her lap. I began to go towards the door when Gwen grabbed my hand. I looked at her and tears were filling her eyes. "Don't leave me." She whispered to me, quietly. "Please." I knelt down next to her.

"We have to get someone to help before it's too late." I quietly said to her. She nodded.

"I'm going with you." She then got up and started running out the door. I followed her down the stairs and down many different corridors and hallways until we reached the doctor's room. The doctor was sitting at his desk, looking at a laptop with his glasses. He looked above his glasses and smiled at the sight of Gwen and I. Gwen quickly told him about what we had seen and he rushed back to the room with us, checking the Luna and Alpha.

"We might be able to save Luna, but we have to hurry. The Alpha, I'm afraid," the doctor trailed off as he lifted the Luna from the ground and began carrying her back to the office. "Have the omega's come at once to prepare the Alpha." he yelled over his shoulder as he then ran the Luna back.

That night, I sat on the edge of the bed in the room that Luna had given me the night before. Tomorrow was when they planned the funeral for Alpha. Luna was stable but hasn't woken up yet. Gwen insisted on staying by her side until she woke up. There were no signs of who killed him and injured Luna, but I had a feeling I knew who did it. Before I could put anymore thought into it, the back-up cellphone that was to directly contact my father, began to ring. I got up and grabbed the phone from my backpack and answered.

"I heard Ryan take matters into his own hands and get some of the job done for you." My father's booming voice said. "With the Alpha and Luna dead, you should have no problem killing the girl." I began to grow furious.

"Did you tell him to kill them?" I asked him. My voice was close to yelling, but I kept my composure.

"That was his job, to follow my f*****g orders. To which you have failed to do!" He yelled. We sat in silence for a moment before he sighed and continued. "Ryan has also informed me that you have found your mate possibly, but he isn't sure of who yet. Is this true?" I couldn't tell him that the person who he wants dead most of all is my mate. If I did, I felt he would do anything and everything possible to try and hurt both of us.

"No, I haven't yet. He brought it up, thinking that I had." I lied to him. "Ryan is getting in the way of my mission. Killing the Alpha and Luna of the Silverpack has put things on lockdown and hold. I'm working on getting closer to the daughter, but I can't with Ryan breathing down my f*****g neck!" I tell my father, hoping that it could be a way to get them off my back for a while, until I figure out how to help and save Gwen before it's too late. I didn't tell my father that Luna was still alive, because that would make her more of a target now, more than ever.

"What are you suggesting then, Xavier?" My father calmly replied.

"Give me some time, it's going to be more difficult now, but I could manage to get closer to her. You need to get Ryan out of the pack and back to Ravenstone. He could be a potential target, depending on if anyone saw anything." I try to keep my composure again, hoping that my father will take Ryan out of here, and get me enough space to save Gwen and Luna Tisha. My father sat in silence, thinking about what I had said.

"Fine, I'll give you two weeks. I'm going to send Gamma Brent to pick up Ryan and finally take him home again. But remember, Xavier," my father paused.

"Yes, father?"

"Do not fail me again." With that, my father hung up the phone. I put the phone back into my backpack and sat on the bed again, holding my head and trying to figure out how the hell I was going to save Gwen.