The Perfect Rejection

Chapter Seven - New

If Xavier walked in, he would see everything. The steam slightly obscured the view through the glass shower door but I still found myself glancing over every few seconds.

He just turned on the water and then disappeared, leaving me to strip down and scrub the blood from my skin by myself.

I had no idea how to describe the feeling that had settled in my stomach. I was so worried he'd come back but I was also a little disappointed that he left so quickly.

What did you expect him to do?

I paused a little at the sound of my wolf's voice in my head. Well I don't know, he sounded like he was going to help me clean the blood off, I murmured.

If you didn't seem more frightened than a cornered rabbit, then he might have, he scoffed.

Ouch.

"Roxanne?" My head snapped up and I covered myself in panic but Xavier was still outside the bathroom.

"Yeah?" I called.

"You okay in there? It's been almost 40 minutes."

I bit my cheek. "I'm okay, the water just felt nice," I mumbled, earning a small chuckle.

"Okay well your bed is blood-free now, I'm going to finish up some more work so if you need anything just let me know. I'll leave my office door open."

I smiled to myself. "Thank you." I waited for my bedroom door to close and the sound of his footsteps to fade before turning off the water and drying off with a fluffy towel. I tugged on a clean set of pajamas before moving to the bed. There was a decorative little box on the fresh sheets.

I carefully picked it up, frowning when I realized it actually had some weight to it. I gasped after removing the top. There was a beautiful dagger resting on black velvet; it was very simple, decorated only with white leather wrapped around the handle and some delicate engravings etched into the silver blade. Also inside the box was a sheath that matched the handle along with a small note.

Come to me if you need anything little wolf.
~X

I couldn't help the grin that crept onto my face or the tears that sprung to my eyes.

***

My fingers ran gently over the spines of the books. Most were covered in dust but some looked like they'd been read fairly recently. And often. The bindings were worn and practically falling apart on some of the novels. I remembered reading a lot when I was younger, but I haven't had the motivation to sit down with a book in years. Everytime I tried, I got bored after the first chapter.

My mind was still racing after I put the dagger away and when I was still wide awake an hour later, I gave up any hope of sleeping. I started wandering the massive house and found myself in a small library. It was calming in here. Large windows on one wall let in the moonlight and the lamps were a soft yellow that gave it a cozy feel. It was silent now, aside from my footsteps, but I still could imagine just how magical it felt when the piano at the center of the room was being played.

I kept searching the library; none of the titles stood out to me so I gave up and grabbed the book that was sitting in a plush-looking chair. I plopped myself down and flipped through the first few pages. My eyebrows furrowed as I closed the book and reread the title. "The Origin of Shifters?" I murmured aloud. This book should be thousands of pages long with obnoxiously dense material, but the one in my hands was maybe a hundred pages and full of hand-drawn pictures.

It wasn't until the third chapter that I realized it was supposed to be a little love story: the legend of the Moon Goddess and how she created werewolves. She fell in love and after getting her heart broken, decided to create mates so her children wouldn't suffer the same as she had. She even gave herself a mate so she could get a second chance at happiness. It was actually very cute.