Chapter Nine

Xavier

Xavier had known that Colby was after him, thanks to Isabelle’s warning a couple of days ago, but his involving Madelyn was crossing the line, and he wasn’t going to stand for it. The moment he realized that Colby was inside, he lost it. He didn’t even bother trying to figure out what was going on before he stormed through the door as if he had every right to be there.

In his mind, he did. The house belonged to his mate, and his mate belonged to him. The fact that Colby had dared to approach his mate meant he may as well have signed his own death certificate. The guy was lucky he had only hit him when he really wanted to tear him limb from limb.

Colby laughed and spat more blood from his mouth while Xavier flexed his fists, readying himself to deck the guy for a third time should the need arise.

“Obviously, that’s a touchy subject,” Colby stated, wiping his chin.

“What are you doing here, Colby?” he growled dangerously. “Your issue is with me, not Madelyn.”

“Oh, relax, Xavier. I’m not here to kill you. Yet. I just wanted to meet the girl who seems to have tamed the great assassin.”

His jaw clenched, but he otherwise hadn’t reacted. He hadn’t gotten around to telling Madelyn about his past yet, at least, not much of it anyway. He had wanted her to be more comfortable with him, wanted her to be more accepting. But judging by her lack of reaction behind him, Colby had already told her and probably gave more detail than was necessary.

Xavier watched as Colby scanned Madelyn’s body slowly, his eyes darkening as he pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth. The guy was a sleazeball and wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was checking her out. And right in front of him, no less.

“I can definitely see the appeal,” Colby commented before focusing on Madelyn. “You know, sweetheart, I can take care of you too. Once this asshole’s out of the picture, of course. I think we can have a lot of fun together.”

“Fuck you,” Madelyn sneered at the same time Xavier growled in warning.

Madelyn was braver than he gave her credit for. She had to know that Colby was a killer just like he was, and she still had the balls to speak to him that way.

“Oh, I’d love to. Just give me a time and a place,” Colby said with a smirk, blowing a kiss in her direction.

“Yeah, that’s never going to happen,” Madelyn spat.

Colby shrugged in response, the determination in his eyes only pissing off Xavier’s wolf that much more. “We will see about that.”

“That’s your problem,” Xavier stated, taking a step back so that he was closer to his mate and in between her and Colby. He wanted to keep Colby’s attention on him and not on Madelyn. She wasn’t supposed to be a part of this. “You always seem to want what you can’t have.”

“That’s just it though! I can have it because you aren’t going to be around long enough to stop me, are you?” Colby exclaimed excitedly.

“That has yet to be determined.”

Colby cocked his head to the side, ignoring his remark. “Did you even tell your little girlfriend that you’ve been marked for death?”

“No. I didn’t think it was necessary. You’ve never been able to beat me before, Colby. I don’t see how this time is going to be any different.”

Madelyn’s nerves were coming off of her in waves, and he felt every shift in the air when she shifted behind him. It was distracting, and the need to reassure her consumed him, but his focus was needed elsewhere. It wasn’t smart to drop his guard when it came to Colby, and those instincts once again proved to be true.

“I’ve learned a few things in your absence though,” the guy replied before suddenly pulling out a gun and pointing it at him. “Like how to lull my target into a false sense of security.”

Behind him, Madelyn gasped, and he discreetly gripped her thigh with his hand, silently telling her it was okay. He wasn’t even remotely surprised that Colby would try something like this. It was just like him—always quick to action and very little thought. That was why he didn’t get the attention he wanted within the family. They were tired of having to constantly clean up his messes.

Xavier’s job now was to figure out how to get them out of this situation with both him and Madelyn unharmed.

“Except it didn’t work on me, did it?” he asked as he carefully took another step back, forcing Madelyn to do the same to put some more distance between her and the gun. “I knew you were going to try something. I am always two steps ahead of you, Colby.”

“Maybe,” Colby shrugged. “But that’s still not going to stop me. I know you are unarmed, and if you move to try to take my gun, I’ll just shoot Madelyn. Which you obviously don’t want to happen either. So, you see, I win. There’s no way for you to get out of this.”

Triumph was evident in Colby’s voice as he spoke. He really did believe that he had won; he thought he had the upper hand solely because he had gotten Madelyn involved. If anything, it had put him at even more of a disadvantage because Colby had gone after the one thing in the entire world that Xavier would give up his life for.

Colby was right about the fact that he wasn’t armed. He didn’t usually pack heat when he came to visit Madelyn because there was no need for it. However, that didn’t mean he was completely defenseless. He had a trick up his sleeve that very few people knew about. Something that was always with him, simmering just below the surface and waiting to be set free. The question was whether or not he was ready to expose it.

Xavier had always intended to tell Madelyn the truth about what he was and introduce her to his wolf. He had just wanted to wait until she was ready to hear it. She was always going to find out about that side of him. The problem was that he wasn’t sure he wanted Colby to know his secret. Who knew what he would do with that kind of information? If he revealed what he was, he was going to have to kill Colby. There was no getting around it, and that would mean another mess to clean up.

“Maybe I’ll just kill Madelyn too,” Colby continued thoughtfully when no one said anything else. “That’s probably the smartest idea, right? No witnesses and all that. So, I guess the real question is: Which one of you wants to die first?”

“We don’t kill innocents, Colby,” Xavier warned. “Those are the rules. What would Rodrigo say if he?—”

“Rodrigo isn’t here, is he?” Colby snapped angrily, making Madelyn jump behind him. “I marked you because I want to destroy you, Xavier. And what better way to do that than by killing the woman you so obviously love.”

The air became heavy with the truth of Colby’s words. His hurting Madelyn was the best way to destroy Xavier solely because of the fact that she was his fated mate. He did love her, he always had. That love may not be reciprocated yet, but it would happen over time. Of that, he was sure. He just needed to make sure they got that time.

As much as he hated to admit it, it looked as though the decision on whether or not to expose his wolf had been made for him. He couldn’t let Colby hurt Madelyn, and he, himself, wasn’t ready to die yet either. Not now that he had her. He wanted the chance to further explore the bond between them, the bond that had only gotten stronger since last night when he had finally buried himself inside of her.

“Madelyn,” he said softly. “You are going to need to step back for me, little dove.”

“What?” she whispered.

He squeezed her thigh again, never taking his eyes off Colby. “I need you to back up, baby girl. Give me some room.”

Even though he could feel her confusion, Madelyn did as she was told. Usually, she fought him tooth and nail on everything, but she must have sensed the severity of the situation and decided against it. He was grateful for that because, with her out of the way, he could do what needed to be done.

She took several slow steps away from him, and he hated the distance, but it was for the best. He didn’t want to risk hurting her with what he was about to do.

“Yeah, that would have been my choice too,” Colby chuckled, moving to aim the gun right between his eyes. “Any last words?”

Xavier cracked his neck and then lifted his chin. “Yeah. You fucked up. You never should have come after Madelyn.”

Colby’s brows furrowed in confusion as Xavier made his move and lunged forward. The sudden movement startled Colby, and the gun ended up going off in his hand, the sound deafening in such a confined space to his overly sensitive ears. The bullet splintered the wall behind Madelyn, causing her to scream and drop to the floor. But at least, she was unharmed from what his quick glance in her direction could tell.

Xavier’s clothes fell in tatters as he leaped over Colby’s head, the material unable to fit his new form. He stretched the claws on his right paw and dragged them along the guy’s cheek before he landed on all fours just behind him. Colby screamed a blood-curdling scream as blood began to pour out of the jagged wounds, and he turned his attention to Xavier, which was exactly what he had wanted. If he was focused on him, then his focus wasn’t on Madelyn, and that gave her the chance to get away. Xavier stood up straight and shook out his fur before snarling and swiping his massive paw at Colby, his eyes blazing.

The acrid stench of fear filled the room, burning his nostrils, as everyone went still. Xavier chanced a look over in Madelyn’s direction, to see how she was fairing with the discovery. The terror and confusion in her eyes cut him down to his very soul but also pissed him off. He had never given her any reason not to trust him, no matter how shocked she might be.

On the other hand, Colby was staring at him with wide, fearful eyes and his whole body trembling. Xavier snarled at him again and took a step forward, judging the distance between them in his head. He could be on the man in just two strides. It would be easy to take him down, and he deserved it. Not only had Colby marked him, but he had threatened Madelyn, who was innocent in all this. He had to pay for that.

However, Colby shrieked before turning and scrambling toward the front door. Xavier bounded after him, not wanting him to get away, but Madelyn’s squeal of fear, as he got close to her, caused his steps to stumble, and he knew then that he couldn’t kill Colby now. At least, not in front of her.

Xavier watched with disdain as Colby stumbled down the stairs. He hit the gravel face first, breaking his nose again, and his gun went flying somewhere into the grass. However, he wasted no time scrambling back to his feet and bolting toward his car, leaving his gun behind.

Colby peeled out of the driveway just as Xavier reached the bottom of the porch. He let out a roar of frustration as well as a warning. He wouldn’t let Colby get away again. The next time he saw the guy, he was a dead man.

When Colby was finally gone, Xavier returned to his human form on the porch. He was naked, but he paid that no mind as he stepped into the grass and picked up Colby’s discarded gun. Carrying it back into the house, he set it on the entry table before closing the door and heading back into the living room.

The moment he entered, he spotted Madelyn in the same place she was before, sitting on the floor with her knees clutched to her chest and tears rolling down her cheeks. He moved toward her. However, she flinched away from him, which stopped him in his tracks. Even after she had witnessed him kill a guy the night before, she hadn’t reacted that way to him.

This was solely because she had seen his wolf, and the reaction angered the beast inside of him. He had just saved her life, again, exposing his biggest secret to protect her, and she was still afraid of him. All he had ever done was protect her and love her.

“W-what are you?” she stammered, slowly pushing herself to her feet and taking a step away from him.

He folded his arms across his chest if only to keep himself from reaching for her again. “I’m a shifter.”

“A… a shifter?” she gasped, her eyes going wide.

He nodded once curtly.

After a moment, a strained laugh bubbled from her lips. “An assassin, a stalker, and a shifter. Jesus Christ, is there anything good about you?”

“Hey! I just saved your fucking life, Madelyn! Again!” he snapped at her. It wasn’t intentional. He was just still struggling to calm the beast inside of him. So, his reaction was to lash out.

“And my life wouldn’t have even been in danger if it weren’t for you!” she screamed back at him.

Her words rang true, and he hated that, but it didn’t change anything either. She was his mate. They were destined to be together. She may be struggling to accept what he was right now, but that would change. It had to. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to pair him with someone who was incapable of accepting him.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked him pointedly.

“Which part?”

“Any of it! All of it! You are the one who keeps saying that we are destined to be together. How can you even say that if you keep all this shit from me?”

“I was planning on telling you, Madelyn. But only after you accepted me, when you were ready to hear it,” he admitted truthfully. “What I am is not something I can broadcast.”

“Who the fuck are you to tell me when I’m ready to hear anything?” she exclaimed.

Xavier sighed and rolled his neck. Once again, arguing and screaming at one another wasn’t going to get them anywhere. He needed to diffuse the situation before either one of them said something they were going to regret. Keeping all of this from her had hurt her, and he could understand that. But they needed to talk to one another, not yell, scream, or argue.

“Madelyn—” he began carefully.

“Get out,” she interrupted.

He blinked. “What?”

She sneered at him, baring her teeth like a feral animal, and pointed toward the door. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

As much as he didn’t want to, he nodded, though mostly to himself. Trying to talk to her about all this wasn’t going to work out the way he hoped while she was still angry and hurt. She needed time, and he had recently learned that he could be a very patient man where she was concerned. His wolf, on the other hand…

Closing the distance between them quickly, and before she could get away, he gripped the back of her neck and pulled her to him before pressing a rough kiss to her lips. “I’ll be here when you need me.”

“I don’t need you, Xavier,” she hissed.

He brushed his fingers down her cheek, wiping away some of her tears. “You do. You’ll see. I’ll see you soon, little dove.”

With that, he turned and left the house. It looked like he was going to be driving home naked, but he had been in worse situations. Madelyn would contact him again. She couldn’t stay away from him any more than he could stay away from her. In the meantime, he was going to hunt down Colby so that they could finish what they started.