Dusk & Dawn

Part X

By the time Kira got back to the apartment building it was about seven-thirty. She made her way upstairs, showered, and finally landed face first on the bed, almost immediately falling asleep.

Xavier himself at this point was also sleeping... Or at least attempting to. He lay awake in the hotel room, staring at the ceiling as the sun rays started peeking through the curtains. He sighed to himself, groaning as he covered his eyes. His restless heart could not let him sleep, and his anxiety just seemingly was worsening with every moment.

"Crap." He muttered to himself before reaching for his phone. He'd blocked Mikaela because he'd known she'd call him incessantly if she could get in touch. He was, however, getting updates from Grant through text.

Grant: We're in our rooms now. Alpha Moss was nice but she wasn't happy about you not being here

Xavier: What did you say to her?

Grant: We said you had an emergency pack situation to attend to that concerned government officials being attacked

Xavier: She's gonna think we're slacking on our end

Grant: I PANICKED AND KAE COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING

Xavier: Stop lying. I bet you spoke before she could

Grant: I'm not I swear. Have a little faith in me😭

Xavier: We'll see if Kae agrees with your version. Keep me updated on everything that goes down. Apologise on my behalf again before any proceedings

Grant: She will!

Grant: Yessir

Grant: Also, I don't mean to butt in but how are things going???

Xavier: None of your business

He flung his phone on the bed next to him and sat up, getting up to go shower, when his phone suddenly rang. His heart skipped a beat as he clamoured towards it. He jumped on the bed face first, grabbing the phone and answering without checking the ID.

"Hello?" He asked, unable to supress the anxiety and hopefulness in his voice. His face was already getting hot from excitement.

"At least one of us sounds happy." Mikaela's voice sounded less than satisfied. The sound immediately dampened any blooming hope Xavier felt. "You better have a good explanation for why your dumbass has Grant and I representing the pack at the most important meeting of the year. Do you have any idea how much offense we might have caused for Alpha Moss? Our packs are already not on the greatest of terms and you couldn't even show up? And to even block me. Xavier Alexander Woodmead speak." She said, seething even through her tone, but not raising her voice once. Xavier sighed, this is how he knew she was genuinely angry, she didn't scream.

"Do you trust me?" He asked. Mikaela immediately wanted to punch something, but she settled for squeezing the telephone in her hand.

"What are you getting at?" She asked, getting even more irked.

"Do you trust me?" He asked again, slower this time. Mikaela took a deep breath, nodding as she released it.

"I trust you." She said, closing her eyes. Xavier smiled.

"I need you to help Grant hold down the fort for the next two weeks. Forward any matters you can't decide or solve to my email."

"Why can't you reconnect to the pack?" She asked, suppressing her anger further.

"I don't want to alarm everyone." He said and Mikaela went silent. It was something that came along with the pack connection: the ability to identify if one had a mate, regardless of whether they went through the mate connection ceremony or not. Mikaela quickly put all the pieces together in her head, gasping audibly before she could control herself.

The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks, tears immediately welling up in her eyes. Just as Grant was aware of Xavier's legitimacy as Alpha being questioned, so was Mikaela. She was even aware of just how much harder he'd been working to quell the pack's anxieties and to ensure that other packs had no legitimate reason to undermine them. This reality had been worrying to her, as she was front and center witnessing the older brother she adored become a workaholic. It was part of why she chose to take on larger roles in helping manage the pack, she wanted to make things easier for him.

"You found them." She whispered as the tears fell and heard Xavier sigh from the other side.

"Do not tell anyone. Keep this between you and Grant, okay? Things are a bit complicated right now so I-"

"What's their name?! Where do they live?! How old-"

"Mikaela."

"I'm sorry." She replied, a big smile on her tear-streaked face. "I-I just-"

"It's okay. I know. I'll tell you everything at a later time. Contact me if anything goes wrong at the meeting or there's something of note. Get to know everyone. I already told Grant to apologise on my behalf again."

"And unblock me!" She was back to screaming, which caused Xavier to chuckle.

"I'm sorry for that. I didn't want to tell anyone yet."

"I'm not just anyone you ass! I'm your little sister!"

"I know. I'm sorry. Truce?" He asked and heard her sigh.

"Truce." She said, feeling a sense of relief she hadn't felt in years wash over her. "Also, teach Grant how to lie better. His excuse for you just made us look incompetent. He should've just let me speak first." Xavier chuckled.

"He is Beta so it would've looked weird if you spoke on my behalf first." He said and Mikaela groaned.

"I know. He should've asked for my opinion before we got here though." She said through a pout.

"What's done is done."

After he'd gone off the phone with Mikaela, he noted she'd called him using a landline. He just shook his head, unblocking her, leaving the phone on the bed and going to shower.

Kira's alarm woke her up at eleven-fifteen. She slowly raised her head, her back being the first part hit by a subtle wave of pain. She had to admit, however, that it was significantly less painful than usual, which was something to be attributed to the fact that she spent half of the night sitting and talking to Xavier.

Xavier Alexander Woodmead... Yours.

She crashed her warming face into her pillow, kicking her feet. Her heart immediately accelerated and she bit her lower lip. Immediately afterwards though, she mentally scolded herself. She had to stop and get to work.

Yours.

It was the look in his eyes that had captured her when he said it. She quickly sat up, releasing a breath before lightly slapping herself.

"Stop it. Shut up brain. He's weird." She muttered to herself, finally getting up. She made the bed, stretched and went to shower, quickly getting ready. Abi and Tara were still sleeping by the time she left, walking twenty minutes to the cafe.

A/N: Lowkey should have a characters page for myself cause at this point I'm completely raw dogging this story and I'm bound to lose track lol