Lure To The Woods

XXXVIII

A combination of training and my fight with Jude had left me battered and bruised, covered from head to toe in small cuts and discoloured marks. Xavier had done a pretty good job at pretending not to notice after our conversation at the nurse's office, but I must look pretty bad because Gracie dropped a tray of drinks the second she saw me.

"I'm so sorry." Gracie stuttered, "I'm such a klutz today. How are you, Cam? Xavier's just through there." 

"It's okay." I shuffled awkwardly, "I know it looks bad, you don't have to pretend for my sake. It looks worse than it is, honestly."

"Xavier warned us, but I was still surprised." She admitted, "Noah? Can you come pick this up, I can't sort it because Bump's too big."

"Bump's almost ready to pop by the looks of it." I noted, "Surely they can't get much bigger?" 

"About two weeks to go." Gracie beamed, holding it happily.

"What happened?" Noah entered the room, dropping his own drink in shock when he saw me.

"Oh for god's sake, not you too?" I attempted a chuckle, looking at the shattered pieces of glass on the floor.

"You look like shit, Cam!" Noah exclaimed, not bothering to be as subtle as Gracie.

"Really? I looked in the mirror this morning and thought I looked bloody fantastic!" My voice was dripping with sarcasm, making a grin spread onto Noah's face. 

"It must have been a funhouse mirror." He teased, grabbing a dust pan and brush to brush up the broken glass. 

I rolled my eyes playfully at that, stepping over the glass and walking into Xavier's office with Gracie in tow. The room was as grand as ever, but it was significantly busier than usual- the room was so packed with people that an extra table had been brought in and placed alongside the usual, grand wooden one. 

Xavier was stood in the corner with a cup of tea, sipping it casually as he spoke to a woman I hadn't met before. She was pretty and quite tall, only a head smaller than Xavier (who was freakishly tall anyway). The mood of the room was quite downbeat, which was to be expected when somebody like Jude was on the prowl. 

"Cameron!" Xavier beamed, beckoning me over.

I sent him a small smile, feeling quite bashful as every set of eyes in the room turned to me- trying to get a look at who had made the Alpha so excited all of a sudden. A bruised and beaten, scrawny human isn't who they expected, but that made the reactions funny rather than daunting. 

"Alpha Andrea, this is my mate Cameron." Xavier introduced the two of us, wrapping his arm around my waist.

I extended my hand politely, shaking her hand. After the events of yesterday, Xavier had called the neighbouring pack and asked them to come sooner than planned just in case Jude decided to attack right at that moment. However, I still hadn't expected them to get here as quick as they had. 

"Xavier told me that you took on the leader of the rouges alone, hand to hand?" Alpha Andrea asked incredulously. 

"Clearly, not unscathed." I joked, gesturing to the marks all over me.

"Even still, that's very impressive. You must be quick on your feet to escape a rogue like that." She complimented me, "Even I've left run ins with a rogue in worse condition than you."

"I think I took him by surprise, so it might have just been a fluke." I shrugged, "He didn't expect me to fight back."

"Whose idea was it to introduce emergency drills?" Andrea asked, pointing to her copy of the drill plans.