RISK

15

Isabella stares at her homework, trying to find the energy to calculate the next problem. Instead she finds herself doodling on the corner of the page. Hours have passed since Xander dropped her off and she is still waiting for that call. She took a nap, the sun went down, she showered, the Moon came up, she ate dinner, and still no call. Now homework is supposed to be a distraction but it's draining her.

Her mind wanders to everything and anything but statistics when her doorbell rings. She stays sitting waiting for her dad to get it, but then remembers he's not home. Isabella groans, her laziness being at an all time high as she gets up. After slowly making her way to the door, she looks through the peep hole and suddenly all laziness vanishes. She quickly opens the door and greets her mate with a smile.

"Hi Iz." Xander smiles, reflecting hers. He admires her in her cute matching pajama set.

"Hi. I was expecting a call but this is definitely better." She moves out of the door way, gesturing for him to come in.

"Yeah I thought it would be better if we had this talk in person." Xander says, and Isabella closes the door behind him.

She scrunches her eyebrows together, in confusion. "What talk?"

Xander sighs. He grabs Isabella's hand and walks her to the couch. He sits down and sits her on his lap. Isabella makes herself comfortable and cuddles into Xander's body. He tightly wraps his arms around her waist, and pulls her in.

"Remember the first time I kissed you? At my house?" Xander ask.

A small smile sneaks it's way onto Isabella's lips. But as she remembers more, her smile fades.

Xander frowns, "Yeah...the night I kissed you but then said I shouldn't have."

Isabella nods.

"You've asked me why I did a full 180 that night. And it's time you get some answers."

Isabella reads Xander's face. He looks so serious, so nervous.

"But can you promise me you'll try to keep an open mind?"

Xander is just confusing her, so all she can do is nod.

"Promise?" He ask again.

Isabella nods again, this time more convincing. "I promise, Alexander."

Xander thinks about where to start.
"Do you believe in the supernatural?"

Isabella looks at Xander like he's stupid. What does this have to do with anything? Nonetheless, as Isabella is a movie fanatic she knows of every fictional being there is.

"Like vampires and werewolves?" She ask.

Xander nods.

"I mean as cool as that would be...no. Also, it just wouldn't be fair for me to not be anything. Like being human, in a world full of supernatural creatures, that's lame. Wait, why am I answering this question?"

Isabella's witty response makes Xander forget, for a split second, the serious matter of this conversation.

"Because they're real." Xander states.

Xander gets absolutely no response from Isabella, as she just stares at him. Not in shock,  not in confusion, just a blank stare. He honestly does not know what to do next. So he continues talking.

"And I'm a werewolf."

Isabella gives Xander an annoyed look.

"You're messing with me. I mean I know I'm gullible but come on Alexander."

"Iz, I said keep an open mind." Xander reminds her, but he can't blame her for thinking he's joking.

Isabella sighs. "Ok, for the sake of my entertainment...prove it."

Xander thinks of a way he can prove it, without fully shifting. He looks into Isabella's eyes, and she looks down a little. He remembers that eye contact makes her nervous, and this makes him think of a way. Xander puts his finger underneath her chin, so she can't look down. He closes his eyes and slowly gets in touch with his wolf. Xander opens his eyes and Isabella gasps when she sees Xander's usual brown eyes, are pitch black.

While Isabella is studying Xander, Xander's wolf is studying Isabella. It is the first time his wolf is seeing his mate through his eyes. Xander's eyes see everything physical about Isabella. They see appearance. Xander's wolf sees something more. When Xander's wolf looks into Isabella's eyes, he can see into her soul. He sees the soul of the woman the Moon Goddess paired with his soul...and it's a beautiful one.

As Isabella stares into the eyes of Xander's wolf, something in her sparks. A foreign feeling. As if something in her body is trying to surface. Isabella hates the feeling. As seconds go by, she feels she has less and less control. Almost as if a stranger has taken over her whole body. Without realizing, tears start forming in her eyes.

"Isabella." Xander states her name firmly, trying to figure out what is going on.

Isabella closes her eyes and tries to force this feeling out of her.

Xander almost begins to panic. He doesn't know what to do or what's happening. All he sees are tears streaming out of his mate's eyes, and her chest going in and out as her breathing gets heavier. She's having a panic attack.

"Isabella. Isabella! Look at me."

But she can't. She can barely speak.

Xander's wolf recognized something when he was looking into Isabella's soul. He realized there is not just one soul...there's two.

An Alpha wolf has the ability to vocally command his werewolf mate, to do almost anything. Just like in any supernatural world, there's light and dark magic. Power that is used for good and power that is used for bad. It's very rare for an Alpha wolf to know how to do this. It cannot be taught, and only the most powerful Alphas in the world are strong enough to perform it. Alphas don't use it because it's dark magic and they would never demand their mates to do anything they did not want to do.

Xander can't control it when his wolf takes full control. He lightly grabs Isabella's face in his hands, and Xander speaks in a voice he does not even recognize.

"Look at me."

Instantly, Isabella's eyes snap open and Xander is in shock when her usual brown eyes, are pitch black.

"Mate." Isabella whispers, right before she faints into Xander's arms.