The Lesser of 2 Evils

XAVIER, ANNOYING AND AWKWARD

“Forgive me for asking and believe me when I say – I don’t want to be but…” he hesitates, looking down at his feet. Unsure of what’s coming next, I lean forward in my chair, waiting breathlessly. He inhales deeply and his eyes meet mine.

“Have you been experiencing… unpleasantness while being, uh, intimate, with your uh, partners, lately?” He stutters over his words due to the awkwardness of the topic and the conversation. I can’t believe my bestfriend and Beta is asking me about my sex life! Stunned, I lean back in my chair with a look of disgust on my face.

“And this would be your business, why?” I ask him with annoyance in my voice. Clearly, he knows more than I do and it is pissing me off – how did he know about the burning?

“It isn’t my business, not really but as your bestfriend I want to help and as your Beta, I have an obligation to the pack,” he says with defiance in his voice. Now I’m really confused – what in the hell does my sex life have to do with the damn pack?!

“There’s nothing to help, Scott – thanks anyways. A quick trip to the doctor and I’ll be right as rain,” I boast confidently. Inside, Gunner rolls his eyes at me, clearly not believing anything I have to say. It is becoming more apparent to me that something is going on here and I’m the only one not in on it. Externally, I watch Scott pull the same move, rolling his eyes as well before turning his gaze back to me.

“As stunning as it is that you haven’t caught something before now, I don’t think you have a STD, Xave,” he says, sounding surprised I could be so dense. I choose to take the high road and ignore the judgment I hear in both his words and his tone, opting to try to keep this a conversation and not an argument.

“What are you not saying, Scott?” I ask grumpily, already irritated with this conversation. Talking with my bestfriend about my sex life is not high on my list of activities to partake in. He looks at me carefully, as though unsure of how or what to say next.

“When did you notice that ‘nothing’ first started?” He asks, putting the word ‘nothing’ in quotation marks, clearly mocking me. Annoyed at first with the question, I’m then confused by it – what does the time frame have to do with anything?

“I don’t know, in the past few days I guess…” I answer truthfully, trying to pinpoint the precise moment I first noticed the burning. It only happens when I’m being intimate with someone – clearly something sexually related, right? Scott nods slightly, as if my answer tells him everything he needs to know.

“Ever since you met the rogue, right?” He asks and at first, I dismiss it but then genuinely think about it… the timing is about right, I guess. Not sure what one has to do with the other unless the rogue is contagious with something? Oh shit – is that what this is about?! Worriedly I look at him, about to freak out except when I look at Scott, he isn’t reacting like I would expect if I were sick with something – he is still calm. If anything, he is still annoyed with me, exasperated almost.

What am I missing here!?

“I suppose that’s about right – ever since I met the rogue. What of it?” I go on the defensive for some reason, my inability to read the situation both frustrating and frightening me. Scott’s facial expression changes to one of amusement – as if he can’t believe I’m not getting this.

“You didn’t scent anything when you met her? Gunner didn’t pick up on anything?” Hearing his name, my wolf begins to pay attention to the conversation, as interested as I am in what Scott’s theory is. Unlike me, Gunner has always said something odd was going on when it came to the rogue but didn’t know what it was – turns out he may have been right after all.

“Other than the reek of rogue – no. Why?” He nods, both entertained and bewildered at the same time. I’m equally as bewildered but not in the least entertained.

“I can’t believe it…” he mutters to himself. He gets up and starts pacing again.

“Damnit Scott, what is going on?!” At the peak of my frustration level, I demand answers from him. He continues to pace and mumble for another minute or two before stopping in front of my desk. He leans forward against it, his hands resting on the surface.

“I think the rogue is your mate.”

Stunned, I lean back in my chair. In my mind I can see Gunner pacing, unable to determine for himself the validity of Scott’s words and that inability causing him great levels of distress. A wolf’s true bond mate is a special thing and the thought that I found mine without even knowing it… unthinkable.

“Is it possible? Could I have missed it?!” Gunner batters himself mentally for his failures as a wolf, unable to accept such an obvious fault. Stupefied, I’m unable to comfort him as I’m brought to my own levels of disbelief.

This can’t be happening.

“Why do you say that? What makes you think that?” Convinced he has to be wrong – Gunner would have known if she was our mate, I try to pin him down on details. Resigned, Scott sits back down in his chair.

“Because she’s been suffering too – you’re causing her physical pain with your nighttime activities,” he tells me. Doubting the validity of his words, I start to protest but he cuts me off.

“I witnessed it, she admitted it to me and I believe her,” he says. His eyes meet mine, there is sympathy in them now.

“The question is, what are you going to do about it?” No, that isn’t the biggest question actually – at least, it isn’t the first one that pops into my mind. The first problem that I think of is another matter altogether.

What am I going to do about Alpha Lincoln?