Monster of the Night (Book 1 of Monster Series) (AU)

Chapter 23

Xavier stared at me with wide eyes and opened mouth before he was able to compose himself and put a mask over his feelings. He slowly blinked and stared at me with a cold gaze, masking his shock.

I bit back a scowl and rolled my eyes before I handed a cookie over to him. "Why do you do that?" I asked while he looked at the cookie in my hand before he looked at me. "But go ahead and take the cookie. It's not poisonous."

Xavier looked at the cookie and hesitantly took the cookie from me before he looked at me again with furrowed brows. "Do what?" he asked while he looked at the cookie again. "What do I do?"

I rolled my eyes and scowled. "Hide your emotions from me, Xavier." I stuffed a cookie into my mouth before I started to make my way to my room and gestured for him to follow me. "Why do you hide your emotions from me?"

He blinked and stayed silent while he started to follow me not knowing where we were going. He still didn't eat the cookie, but he kept it in his hand, not crumbling it up or tossing it away.

"Are you going to eat the cookie?" I asked and glanced at him, a little surprised that I was able to figure out that he didn't know where we were going.

Xavier didn't say a word and looked at the cookie again before he looked at me and slowly blinked, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, annoyed but also amused.

"It's not poisoned, Xavier," I said and stuffed another cookie into my mouth while I looked away from him. "I wouldn't be eating them like this if they were."

Xavier hesitated and looked at the cookie again before he took a small bite of it at the corner.

I gave him a weird look with my mouth full of another cookie, not knowing if I should be impressed or annoyed that he wasn't giving my aunt's cookie a chance. "Really?" I asked with my mouth full of cookies, and he looked at me through cold, hard, blue eyes. "Stop being stupid, and eat the damn thing."

He didn't respond and looked at the cookie, and I could tell that his mind was whirring about something other than the cookie.

I rolled my eyes and finished chewing my cookie before I cleared my throat and covered my mouth. "You're still under my protection, Xavier," I said, and he looked at me again with his eyes of glass. "No one will lay a hand on you for as long as you are here when I am here and by your side."

He slowly blinked and grabbed the cookie a little tighter, and I breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't break. He set his jaw while he studied me, and I could tell that he didn't trust me, for some reason.

"The king won't allow it either," I said and shook my head. "He knows that I'm protective of you for some reason and trusts my judgment."

"Why?" he asked, coldly, and I shrugged and grimaced.

"I don't really know the real reason," I said with another shrug, "but he knows that I'm good at reading people and knowing their intentions. I don't know what your intentions are, but I have a feeling that they are good."

He stayed silent and slowly blinked.

"You're scared of me," I pointed out, and he raised an eyebrow in question. I rolled my eyes and scowled. "Don't do that, Alpha," I said. "You are scared of me, in a sense that you are scared of getting close to me for some reason."

"If I were scared of you, then why am I following you?" Xavier asked, and I shrugged.

"Because you don't want to be in that hell hole and have people judging you," I replied. "I'm the "lesser threat" in your eyes, but that doesn't mean you aren't scared of me."

He stayed silent and took a bigger bite of his cookie. His eyes grew wide while he stared at it, and I bit back a small smirk while my group snickered. "Mmmmm."