Dusk & Dawn

Part IV

Kira squatted in the middle of the room, trying to catch her breath. The lung-crushing intensity she felt with that man in room hadn't completely left yet, but she wanted to use these few minutes to compose herself whilst he went to pay the extra time fee.

It was rare that anyone would choose to have extra time with any performer, especially a double booked one. The clubs policy stated that if you wanted to have extra time, you pay ten percent extra per extended session. The normal session cut was sixty-forty, with sixty going to the club, forty going to the performer. Any money thrown in the room was completely for the performer, same as the stage money. Extra time money however was thirty-seventy, with seventy going to the performer. But if that performer had another session, you had to pay double. 'Reputational damage tax' is what the owner called it, simply because in that case, it looks bad for the club to cancel bookings and could hurt the customer base. Normally, an alternative performer is offered in that case, but a full refund could be issued if the customer chooses so.

Xavier left the bookings room, almost running back to the private room, but was stopped by a hand clutching his forearm. His excitement turned immediately to anger and he turned, eyes glaring at the perpetrator. It was Grant.

"Sorry." Grant said, inching back almost instinctually. Xavier saw it was him and reeled himself back. He hasn't been able to regulate his emotions very well since he'd been in the club. He took deep breath.

"No, I'm sorry. I left you alone." Grant shook his head, understanding that this circumstance warranted Xavier's actions.

Finding a mate was a huge deal, and for Alpha's it usually happened during their Under the Moon ceremony, or at the very least, within a year of it. It had been six years since Xavier's ceremony, and it was causing tensions not only within the pack, but with how other packs viewed his legitimacy as an Alpha.

"Mikaela is furious, but she's making arrangements to get me so we can go to the meeting of the packs together." Xavier nodded, refusing to lift his mental disconnection from the pack.

"You didn't tell her anything yet, did you?" Grant shook his head in response, and Xavier sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was his sister prematurely meddling in this entire situation before he got his mate properly introduced to everything.

He knew she wasn't a wolf, so he wanted to pace himself. He'd already seen how this entire situation overwhelmed her, and how ready she was to run, so he didn't want to do something that would make things any harder for her.

"Tell Ash I'll reimburse the pack fund later. I left my card at home. Here are the car keys, the documents needed for the meeting are-"

"In the back seat, I know. I'll leave the keys on the inside of the back left tire." Xavier subtly smiled, offering up a fist bump. Grant smiled widely, hugging him tightly instead. Xavier grunted, the smile on his face wiped off immediately, fighting against the hug.

"Off. Get off." He said, trying to peel Grant's arms away, which caused him to only tighten his grip, lifting a leg to make it harder for Xavier.

"One more minute." Grant barely managed to get out before Xavier's grabbed his waist, pushing against his ribcage, trying to get him off that way.

"She's waiting for me." Xavier grunted just before Grant yelped from his torso being pinched, getting off of him.

"Fine." He said, fixing his shirt. "How long are you going to be here?"

"I'll reconnect to the pack soon." Xavier said, turning from him. Grant watched his retreating figure for a moment before he sighed, a small smile forming on his lips. His heart finally could let go of all the anxieties surrounding Xavier and his mate debacle. Prior to this, he'd been privy to the gossip surrounding Xavier, and was constantly in fights defending his Alpha, but he knew Xavier wasn't naive. He knew what was being said about him.

Kira quickly stood up hearing the door open again. At this point she'd tried counting to twenty and singing herself her mom's favourite song but nothing worked. She was still overwhelmed, except this time she was hit with an unexpected emotion: separation anxiety. How could she simultaneously want to be around someone so bad but also feel the need to run away?

"You're back." She said, watching him close the door, and automatically wanted to face-palm. Ever since she'd come into contact with this man, all levels of professionalism were out of the window. She was acting as if this was her first night and she hadn't received any training.

"I'm back." Xavier responded, unconsciously smiling due to the subtle anxiety he picked up on in Kira's tone. That smile warmed Kira's heart so much she couldn't help but return it. They stayed like that for a moment before she caught herself and broke eye-contact.

"Uh, sit." She said and cleared her throat, gesturing to the couch. Xavier hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

"Actually, can you not do that?" Kira's eyes shot to him, wide open. "Dance. Can you not dance." He said as more of a statement. Her eyes squinted quizzically.

"Then what do you-"

"I just want to talk. Nothing more."

A/N: I know I spent a while on just the first night and this part is shorter, but we will be moving on from this night soon. Things that don't make sense in this chapter I promise will make sense later (lest I forget lol)