Fated

Chapter 24: Secrets

Addie POV:

I watched Xander walk out the door and didn't believe for one second he just had to go to the bathroom. Something was wrong and he wasn't telling me what. Why would he lie to me? He told me to be open with him but here he was, very clearly hiding something from me.

It shouldn't hurt as much as it did. I didn't know him that well. We weren't together. So why was it so painful to know he was lying to me? I tried to ignore him and go back to the wedding but I couldn't do it.

This was ridiculous. I was staying at his house and following his rules while he was keeping secrets from me. I wasn't going to have it.

I ended up going out and waiting outside the bathroom but he never came out. Several minutes went by and there was nothing. I started back to the reception when I saw someone. A woman. A woman that looked awfully familiar. Hadn't I seen her at the restaurant last night? I looked at her carefully and her eyes went to mine briefly before she moved on, walking down the hall. It was definitely the same woman, so why was she here again?

She didn't look like a vampire but my paranoia kicked in. I pulled out my phone and tried to call Xander but there was no answer. I sent him a text and after several minutes of no reply decided I'd have to find him myself. I walked up and down the hallways but most were deserted. I was about to give up when I saw him round a corner and head towards another bathroom. Except something was wrong. He was incredibly tense and... was that blood I saw on his hands? I jogged to catch him before he reached the bathroom.

"Xander?" I said.

He froze and turned towards me slowly. I looked down at his hands and yes, there was blood. I sucked in a breath and brought my eyes to his.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, crossing my arms.

He frowned and inclined his head to the bathroom before going inside. Was he implying I follow him into the men's restroom? I frowned at the closed door and decided the hell with it, I was going into the men's restroom.

I walked in and he had just opened the last stall, checking the inside. He walked past me to the sink and started rinsing off his hands.

"The vamps were here tonight. Wolves too. Trying to get to you. Someone got hurt," he explained, scrubbing his hands.

"Someone from your pack?" I asked, setting a hand on my chest. Was that why I felt so bad, too? He did say I was connected to them. "Who?"

"Felipe."

Felipe. The one that drove me yesterday.

"Is he okay?" I asked, frowning.

"He will be," Xander answered, turning off the sink and grabbing a paper towel before turning to face me. "There were a lot of them, Addie."

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked, throwing my arms up.

"I was planning on telling you after the wedding," he sighed.

"You shouldn't wait until after the wedding for something like this," I sighed. "God, Xander, what the hell?"

"What would you have me do?" He said, narrowing his eyes. "Tell you no, you can't go to the wedding you're in, have you trust me even less by making you miss out on a friend's important day?"

"Someone got hurt!"

"Yes, someone got hurt," he growled. "And what would you have done if I brought you home yesterday and didn't let you go to rehearsal or to this wedding? Would you have stayed at the house with me or tried to run away again?"