The Lion's Cat | Completed

15 ⚡ Crimson Pack

Chapter 15

A week has passed since that night. I thought we would start avoiding each other, but instead, Xavier woke up acting as if it never happened in the first place. I couldn't bring myself to speak up about it, so I ended up following his nonchalance behavior.

What was I supposed to say? Hey, you made me cry yesterday because you refused to mark me even though I was the one who pushed you away first.
No way.

Knowing him, he would have said that it was the effect of the full moon and proceed to curse out the Moon Goddess for playing 'weird tricks' on him.

Leaving that aside, nothing changed. In fact, my routine is still the same. I wake up finding myself hugging Xavier from behind followed by our training, lunch, a relaxing shower, and then my lovely free time in the afternoon that gets interrupted as usual.

I was lying down on the fluffy pillows of the living room that the clowder considers as a couch. My eyes were glued onto the story about lions' pride until they eventually grew heavy. I covered my face with the open book, giving in to the nap when I heard someone's footsteps walking inside.

With one deep inhale, a strong cologne enters in my system, making me scrunch my nose. Only one person uses such a spicy fragrance.

"What is it, Xavier?" I ask, keeping my eyes closed.

Soon, I feel the book's lightweight disappear. I blink my eyes open, staring at the lion's glowing gaze with his face hovering over mine. His brownish complexion makes the color of his eyes pop out even more, and I can't help but quietly admire him.

Ah, my heart is acting up again.
I can hear my heart pounding on my chest.

"Richard is looking for us, and why are you reading about lions' pride? You know, I can explain it to you," he says, straightening his back and aimlessly flipping the pages around.

I quickly blink, disregarding my primal organ attitude. "I don't trust your version. You tend to make everything about yourself." I put my arms out, waiting for Xavier to help me get on my feet.

He closes the book before doing so. "I can be objective for you," he says, giving me a soft smile.

My heart skips a beat at the sight. Alright, maybe something has changed. Xavier has become sweeter. I don't think he realized it yet. "We'll see, now, tell me, what does Richard want?" I change the subject as we walk out of the living room and head upstairs. Richard's office is the only black colored wooden door down the hallway.

"He found something about the Crimson Pack. Looks like we'll be off sooner than expected," he says, clasping his hand behind his back.

I smile. "Took him long enough, I've been dying to get out of the house for a while." I glance at Xavier, finding his face looking... sad? What? "Why the sad face?" I ask.

Xavier stops in front of the door before facing me. "Promise me one thing. Whatever happens out there, don't shut me out, alright?"

I chuckle, my hand closing around the knob of the door. "Why would I do that?"

"Just promise me." His eyes glow a shining goldish color as he waits for my reply.

I nod, opening the door. "I promise," I say before we step inside Richard's office.

My eyes quickly wander around. It's as messy as his mind. His L-shaped wooden desk has papers and open files everywhere, and right under it, there's a tiny garbage bin with overflowing balls of papers.

Richard is connecting his laptop to his mounted TV with a cable. "You're late," he says, motioning for me and Xavier to take a seat on the two leather dark chairs located in front of his desk.