In a Heartbeat (MxM)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Simon's POV

With striking gold eyes boring into mine, Xavier's pitch black wolf form covered my view of any chance of fleeing. Despite being two years younger, he exuded a confident and intimidating presence, nearly as powerful as an alpha. As far as I remembered, he was groomed to be a top ranking beta and serve as the second in line for the alpha position. If I hadn't known any better, I would have assumed he was an alpha with the way he carried himself.

He stared for a while, nostrils flaring as if smelling something, while I tried my best to expose my stomach and neck in the cramped crevice in the cave. However, he didn't seem at all concerned about it as much as he was trying to smell something. He leaned closer, sniffing my face and toward my neck, before pulling back.

The way he seemed to be investigating was unnerving, to say the least, I had no idea why he had approached me, let alone venture out this far from the pack. Something was definitely off, and even though I hadn't seen him for ten years, this behavior seemed out of character for him.

I tilted my head as if to question his presence. He let out a low whine before huffing and sitting down.

It was a few agonizing minutes before he finally spoke, "I don't understand"

I didn't dare respond, lest he gets angry.

"They said this is what it's supposed to smell like, but you're not-you can't be," he mumbled. "I don't get it"

Ah. I knew what he meant now. He was searching for his mate, and subsequently found the only person alive closest to her. Sadly, he must have been searching for his mate for the past 8 years, only to realize that her scent was no longer here.

Thanks to me, he would never grow old with his mate. Thanks to me he could never experience what it was like to have someone by your side, not like I would know what's it like. Although my mate was alive, I would never get to experience that either. I would never get to stand by his side and be the pack's Luna, considering I was banned from ever returning, and Vince already had a Luna, Sarah, who despite not being his mate, was someone worthy of his choosing.

It was an unspoken rule that alphas of packs needed a Luna mate to run in order to be a legitimate pack. And in the event Vince was to step down or perish, Xavier was to take over. However, without Nicole, Xavier could never fulfill his role as second in line if it were to come down to it.

Even after Nicole died, I refused to tell anyone about her secret, especially to Xavier. It was better that he didn't know his mate died before he turned 16, the age wolves start discovering who their mates were.

It would be devastating, and I didn't want Xavier or the rest of the pack to suffer any further than it already has for my actions. If I hadn't let Vince know and kept it a secret, my parents, my younger siblings, and Nicole could have lived, and I wouldn't have to live as a rogue.

And there's the fact that Xavier probably had changed in the last ten years. All those years of searching without any lead could have made him more volatile and irritable. If I were to explain to him that Nicole was his mate, there was a chance that he could lash out and become as angry as Vince when I told him about our predicament.

Xavier shocked me out of my thoughts when he nudged my paw. "You alright?"

I tilted my head in confusion, tucking my paws closer to my body.

"I must've scared you, barging in here," he explained while he laid his head down as if an attempt to make himself smaller and less intimidating. He rambled on, "sorry, it's just I've been going crazy, because every time I'm out here, I catch a whiff of what I think is their scent, but it always leads me to this cave. It was the first time I saw a wolf in here, and I overreacted. I promise I meant no harm"