25.1: Dinner

Xavier's POV

Her lips are softer than I'd imagined they'd be. I thought there would be a slight roughness to them from how much she bites her lips but there was no such feeling. Her movements were hesitant initially but once I began to kiss her back she responded fully. She pushed herself closer to me, not letting any air between us. I tightened my hold on her, not letting her pull away even if she wanted to. My other hand found its way into her hair, gripping it softly. My tongue swipes the seam of her lips, asking for entrance as our legs shift to tangle into one another. Her little tongue peaks out and meets mine briefly before she gasps at the feeling. I tighten my hand in her hair as my tongue makes its way past her lips, feeling every corner of her mouth. Her hands make their way from my shoulders to my hair, both hands gripping the sides of my hair shakily. I pull back after another moment, leaning my forehead against hers. She's blushing and panting, it's the sexiest thing I've ever seen and I groan before returning my lips to hers. Her hands return to my shoulders in shock before slowly returning to my hair. This kiss is less urgent and softer. Our lips mold together perfectly and I am once again astonished at this gift the Moon Goddess has granted upon me. We pull apart again, Celeste still red.

"That was my first kiss," her voice is so soft it's almost a whisper. My wolf swells with pride while I briefly regret shoving my tongue down her throat.

"Thank you," I say lamely. I feel the bridge of my nose burn in embarrassment as I try to laugh it off with a slight chuckle. She leans up and briefly pecks my lips.

"Thank you," she says while only sounding like the sweetest creature on the planet and not some lame loser who just said 'thank you' after shoving his tongue down a virginal girl's throat.

"So," Jacob says, the next day at our defense meeting. I'd been distracted the entire time, thinking of the previous night and Celeste. We had finished our dessert and gone back to the pack house. I had given her a sweet kiss goodnight before she returned to her room. "You don't smell enough like her to have mated yet you have that cheesy look on your face."

"She kissed me," I said openly and honestly to my usually grumpy friend.

"Congratulations," he says earnestly. "So you chickened out of kissing her first?" I glare at him as he chuckles.

"I wanted her to make the first move," I explain. "If I had chosen when to kiss her it would have been the first day I saw her."

"You wanted your incredibly shy mate to decide when to make the first move?"

"Yes." He sits down, abandoning the map he had been referencing to not two minutes ago. "Celeste has a delicate past, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable or come on too soon. It would only push her further away." He nods in understanding.

"Well I'm happy for you but you must know that the pack is becoming restless. There's a girl in your pack house who you claim to be our Luna yet no ceremony has been performed. Hell, your parents haven't even come back to meet her yet and she's been here for almost a few months now."

"I know. I invited my parents to come over this weekend to meet her. I wanted to deal with the rogues first but that seems to be ongoing," I gesture towards the map full of red and yellow dots where rogues have been spotted. The red were normal rogues and seemed to be in a medium high amount but, of even more concern, was the yellow dots. Rogues seen but not smelled in terms of detection. There was no pattern to it, spread out across America like stars across the sky, high clusters around seemingly random packs. "And as for the pack, I don't want to do the Welcoming Ceremony and potentially set them off at her lack of marking. They'll be expecting the Luna Ceremony shortly after and that can't happen until Celeste and I are fully mated."

"The pack can handle that shock, but let her have her Welcoming Ceremony as a normal pack member. Explain to them that you'll be taking things slowly but surely, not that it's any of their business anyways," he scoffs. "They can really be nosy fucks if they want to be." I frown at his choice of words for my pack members but let it go anyways. If Jacob doesn't say a curse word every other sentence, I'm worried he'll combust.

"Besides, everyone who's met her says she's the sweetest thing on Earth and word has spread about her docile demeanor." My thoughts are abuzz and I barely process his kind words about my mate. "Xavier," he says firmly. I snap my attention to him. "Do her Welcoming Ceremony, they'll love her." My shoulders stay tense, full of insecurities that I'll never fulfill the Alpha role like this pack needs. "If they can accept a moody runaway teenager become Third in Command, then they can accept the girl who is fated to rule beside you." I breathe deeply, knowing he's absolutely right.

"Alright, then I guess we'll have some planning to do. After this though."

"Let Josh and Zay be part of the planning, they've both taken a liking to her."

I smile, knowing he's speaking the truth. Celeste is fond of them too, often going out for coffee with one or both of them after her lessons. I find her taste in friends much better than her taste in coffee.

"Will do." I mind link both of them to meet me in my office in twenty minutes, giving Jacob and I enough time to wrap up our meeting.

"Have you contacted the council about the rogues?"

"Yes and they say that rogues don't band together in mass amounts."

"Did you tell them about the lack of scents?"

I roll my eyes at his question. "Of course I did."

"And?"

"And they think there's a witch out there causing havoc for the rogues," I scoff. "They said that only a witch could hide a wolf's scent but I can't seem to think of what witch would be out there doing silly experiments that won't benefit them. They'd be better off working with a pack if they had any interest there at all."

"I get where they're coming from but this is mass reports across the country," he says pointing to the map. "I've been on the phone with packs all over the country having the same issues. We seem to have a higher concentration as of late," he furrows his brows.

"Other packs have been having decreases of these rogues?" He nods.

"This past week alone we've had six sightings and it's only Thursday." I feel tension rise behind my eyes as the realization hit me.

"It's Celeste, isn't it. . ."

"You don't know that," he says, sitting down in front of my desk. "We don't know what they're looking for."

"I want more guards around her." He nods.

"And begin her training again. We can decrease her lessons if need be." Another nod.

"Anything else?" I shake my head.

"I have a meeting with Jared tomorrow to discuss relations with other packs. We should begin forming a plan in case we have to take on a large group of rogues. Who knows how many of them are in on this."

He begins putting the map in its designated spot just as a knock hits the door. I shake the tension from my shoulders and let in my friends to have them help me plan a Welcoming Ceremony for the love of my life, my future Luna.