sixty one

sixty one
Haylee's POV

The atmosphere in Aiden’s living room is so tense one could cut it with a knife and by the time we see Xavier’s convoy approaching through the front windows, I’m beyond antsy. Three black SUVs pull into the driveway, their engines growling like metal wolves, and I discern before they emerge from the autos — at least a dozen enforcers, who step out of them in step.

“He brought an army,” Marcus murmurs, his hand going to the weapon that rests on his hip.

He is sending a message,” Aiden responds darkly. “Symbolic flexing to scare off us.”

Xavier gets out of the front car, and he looks so… different. That composed, charming front I have known for five years is gone. He moves like a predator, his face is hard, cold, and calculating, and there's something in his eyes I don't like; something that frightens my wolf on sheer instinct.

‘Haylee,’ he shouts; you can hear him from a long ways off. "Come out here. We need to talk."

“Like hell,” Aiden snarls, standing as a shield in front of me.
I’m not going alone out there,” I say firmly, but my voice trembles a bit. Even at this range, Xavier's presence is oppressive on my brain, and I guess Dr Sarah wasn't lying about possession magic getting more potent the closer I got to Xavier.

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” Aiden comforts me. “This is my space, and you are my protectorate.”

But Xavier is not waiting on that invitation. He walks across the yard with enforcers at his side, stopping just short of the front porch. His voice changes the second time he says something, taking on the unswerving authority of an Alpha that gets its orders followed.

“Haylee Wolf-Carters,” he says my full married name on purpose. "Your husband and head of your pack is giving you a direct command to return home. This insurrection has been tolerated long enough.”

“She’s not leaving with you,” Aiden answers, stepping outside to confront Xavier. I trail along behind him, unwilling to hide inside while they face off.

“Alpha Fenrir,” Xavier says with simulated politeness. How generous of you to take my wife in during her small... spell. But playtime is over. Haylee deserves to be with her family.”

“My family is right here,” I say, finding that force that has always been inside me, that force that currently feels like someone is shoving a screwdriver into my skull. “My kids are safe and I am right where I want to be.

Xavier’s eyes flash in a dangerous way. "Our children, you mean. And they’re not safe — they’re exposed to things that are harming their development. Kael and Lior need stability, not this thing.

“What this is,” Aiden says, “is Haylee actually making her own decisions for the first time in five years.

"Choices?" Xavier laughs, though there is nothing humorous in the sound. “Is that what you call it when you turn someone’s mind against their family? And when you fill their head with lies and delusions?”

"The only lies here are the ones you've told, " I say, some anger giving me a shield against his unnatural charm. "I know what you did, Xavier. I know about Master Elias, about the possession magic, about your being a link to the Shadow Faction.

If only for an instant, Xavier’s stoic façade shatters entirely. His face twists with anger and something almost like panic before he gets himself back under control. But that short glimpse is all it takes to confirm what we’ve all been suspecting.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, with none of the usual assurance he infuses in his voice. ''Master Elias vanished years ago, and whatever cockamamie conspiracy bunkum you've been raised on here seems to be clouding your thinking.

"Really?" Aiden comes in, taking a notebook of Master Elias’s out of his pocket. "Well then, would you care to elucidate why your pack seal is on the note which was found with his body?"

Xavier is completely still, his eyes boring through the notebook. "Where did you get that?"

"Does it matter?" I ask. "The evidence speaks for itself. You murdered Master Elias to keep your secret and you’ve been controlling me with dark magic ever since."

“You can make up evidence,” Xavier says, and his enforcers are beginning to look doubtful. "Seals can be forged. You’re just, you’re desperate because you can’t handle the fact that your Sacred Mate Bond isn’t worth a damn thing to you after all.”

“Well I’m sure you wouldn’t have any objections if we took this evidence to the Pack Council,” Aiden proposes. “Let them figure out if it’s real or not.”

“I won’t have to do that,” Xavier responds, his tone dangerous. "Because I’m bringing Haylee home with me right now, and this shit investigation ends at this very moment.
"I told you," I say firmly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Xavier ́s hold on himself finnaly snaps all the way. “You ungrateful bitch,” he snarls, his Alpha rolling off him so thick I can feel it like a wall. "Do you know what I've given up for you? Do you know what I’ve been through to protect you and those brats?”

Slight tremors move through several of Aiden's pack, who have come out of the house behind us, in response to the foreign threat in their Alphas territory. The stakes are raised for both sides as everyone gears up for possible violence.

“There’s the real Xavier,” I say, and now I feel oddly peaceful, even as all hell breaks loose. “Threatening and possessive if he doesn’t get his way.

You want to see menacing?” "What does it feel like now, my dear?" Xavier inquires, his eyes starting to gleam with an unholy shine. "I could end this right now. I tell you to get in my car, you would walk on over to it like the good little wifey you model.

"Do it," Aiden taunts, stepping in front of me. "Use your magic against her. Give them a show of what kind of Alpha you are.”
Xavier’s hands ball into fists and I sense the magical pressure weaving thicker, like a storm about the erupt. But before he can follow through with his threats, Aiden acts.

“Xavier Carters,” Aiden speaks the words loud enough back to the rest of the yard, “as Alpha of the Fenrir Pack and under the ancient laws of our people, I challenge you to ritual combat.”

A stunned silence descends on each side. Even Xavier’s enforcers are amazed by the oldbird invocation!

"On what grounds?" ‘’I’ve gotta go’’ Xavier says, though his tone sounds less sure then it did a few seconds earlier.

"For the reason that you've casted illegal magics, having tampered with and controlled one of our kind," Aiden announces. "Because you are a murderer, to hide your villainy. And because you have abused the holy relationship between our respective sexes through treachery and compulsion."

“Them’s some hot accusations,” one of Xavier’s tormentors says uncertainly.

“Then they’re also provable,” Aiden says. “That’s why, by the right of ritual combat, I wish to resolve this in accordance with our most ancient laws.”

Xavier's face changes rapidly – surprise, calculation, and finally a cold smile that reaches his eyes almost not at all.
 "Such a drama queen you are, Fenrir. And why would I agree to such an out-of-date challenge?”

“It’s because if I refuse, then it’s clear proof of my guilt,” Aiden says matter-of-factly. “And since members of both of our packs already saw the challenge. You can’t withdraw now without losing face with your own people.”

I can picture Xavier pondering, his mind racing through scenarios and ramifications. At last he stands to his full height, speaking to Aiden in the boulder-statement, chanted lardy-fairytale of Alpha-speak.

"Very well," he says. "I agree to your challenge, but you'll soon realize that you have taken on too much... you who are leading the way to destruction with your eyes wide open!"
“Three days time the fight shall be,” Aiden adds. “Neutral ground, witnesses from no less than five packs to guarantee fairness.

"Agreed," Xavier replies. "You might want a warning, but I won't be taking it easy on you just because you haven't yet come to your senses romantically."

"I don't either," Aiden says, with a somber tone.

A shudder of relief and terror courses through me as the formal challenge is accepted. We’re standing firm now, and we can’t very well flip-flop. But something in Xavier's face bothers me – he seems too self-assured, too ready for precisely this situation.

“There is something you need to know before we go any further,” Xavier says, his voice grows conversational. "Something about what really went on with Haylee's cherubic progeny."

My blood runs cold. "What are you talking about?"

Xavier’s smile turns full on predatory. What, you didn't expect me to spend five years playing house without a little… insurance? Some assurance that my money would not go down the drain?”

“Get to the point,” Aiden says.

“The thing is, Alpha, one of those kids upstairs has my blood in them as well as yours,” Xavier tells us watching our faces closely. "The one I did with Haylee five years ago didn't just bind her to me - it also bound one of her kids into my bloodline, too.

The world feels like it’s tipping under my feet. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" Xavier asks. When you collapsed, you were out for three days. The story’s long; we’ve time for intricate conjurings. And if you believe some ritual battle is gonna cut that bond, you are dead wrong. That Shipwreck will always be my child, no matter who wins our little game.”

Over the roaring in my ears, I can hear Aiden, his voice, tight with anger. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Xavier looks at his enforcers. "Prepare for departure. And alert our allies - it's time to switch to plan B."

Xavier and his crew return to their vehicles and his parting words resonate on the night air: “Enjoy your victory preparations, Fenrir. But just keep in mind: Even if you beat me, I will have what is most important.

The caravan pulls away into the night and as we stand in the driveway with our bad new insight into how far Xavier is reaching. It’s isn’t just that he has some kind of magical power over me — he has a claim on one of my children that may endure even if he’s defeated.

“Aiden,” I whisper, barely able to speak. “What if he’s being honest?”