Into The Woods (18+)

Promising

**Triple update cause why the fuck not? They officially meet next chapter!!**

Xavier's POV

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I released a deep sigh as I slammed my hand on the alarm clock, trying to turn the annoying piece of shit off. Growing increasingly frustrated, I ripped the small piece of plastic from the wall and chucked it across the room as hard as I could, effectively shattering it into a million tiny pieces.

Running my hands down my face, I groaned. Yet another sleepless night I thought to myself as I stared up at the plain white ceiling. The bed was warm and comfortable. The temperature in the room was perfect: not too warm, not too cold, and the room was silent enough. This was definitely favorable to the normal hard forest floor that I normally sleep on in wolf form. There was no reason I shouldn't have been able to fall asleep. But, there was one thing that had made it impossible to get more than a couple hours of undisturbed slumber at one time.

As cliché as it sounds, it's my thoughts that keep me up at night. The constant wondering of where she is, what she's possibly doing, if she's even still alive. What she might look like. Is her hair long or short? Are her eyes a dark, rich brown that glow in the sun? Or are they a crystal clear blue that could take my breath away and suck me in like a tidal wave. Will she have freckles? Is she tall or short?

My mind runs ramped with all the possibilities. I know that no matter what she looks like, I would love her with everything I have. The throbbing pain in my chest increased with every breath I took. My wolf was abnormally restless compared to what he normally is when we first wakeup. It was probably just because we weren't used to being in our skin form. It wasn't uncomfortable, just awkward. I often found it hard to communicate properly after not being in this form after extended periods of time.

I swiftly sat up and threw my legs over the side of my bed as I let out an annoyed growl for what seemed to be no particular reason; the wolf was just extra snarky today I guess. Showering quickly, I threw on my usual outfit when I took this form; a simple black T-shirt, dark wash jeans, and a pair of timberlands, which were a gift from Alpha Jerrod's kind mate. My wolf always took an extra liking to her in what I understood as a motherly sense.

Mornings like these were the worst. The incredible longing for my mate only got worse over time, and always brought back memories of my past with it. They weren't memories I ever wanted to relive. I wish I could just forget them all together, but I know that's impossible.

My wolf began growling in the back of my head at detour that my thoughts began to take. I missed my parents more than anything. They were strong, fierce leaders who never backed down from a fight. That was ultimately what got them killed. Our pack never saw the attack coming. It was in the middle of the night and came without warning. I'd never seen so many rogue wolves together in one place ever before in my life.

Everybody in our pack fought long and hard, but in the end it just wasn't enough. We'd managed to kill every single rogue, but all that was left of my pack was myself along with about twelve other pack members. All of which were unmated males, like myself. I was twenty-two at the time the attack took place and had only been leading for a little over a year. My members were all wary about me running the pack alone without my Luna by my side, of course, but I had proven myself to them numerous times and had easily gained their unwavering loyalty.

I blamed myself because they misplaced their trust in me and I failed them all. The constant burden hung on my shoulders ever since that night. I never wanted to be involved in pack life ever again because I didn't want to screw something up somehow and make someone else go through what I did. That's why I was so hesitant to Alpha Jerrod's offer to join his pack after first saving him, but he insisted. Once I got to know the man for more than the label he holds, we discovered that we had something major in common – we had both lost an extremely dear person in our lives. That was when I decided that this was going to be my way of redeeming myself and making my parents proud. I was going to watch over Jarrod's pack and make sure nothing ever harmed them ever again.