Chapter 17 ~ Christmas Bonus Part 6
"Hey guys," Iris tries to sound as innocent as possible. Her friends just stare at her blankly. The first to move is Kanan, who looks exceptionally angry as he stomps off into the hotel.
Noah and Zander give her a disappointed look before following their friend inside. Hannah and Daniel look equally as disappointed and Hannah flashes Iris a hurt scowl as they also head inside. Finally, only her and Mr Kingsley are left outside.
"They're upset," he states, as if Iris hadn't caught onto that herself. She wants to roll her eyes at the remark, but refrains in fear of upsetting him. Besides, he's the only one who doesn't seem mad at her.
"I realise," she sighs, looking down at her shoes. She doesn't know exactly why they would be this upset, but she still feels bad. Even though she didn't listen to Hannah, she can't figure out why that would be such a big deal.
"Let's head inside. You'll freeze to death out here," Mr Kingsley opens the door of the hotel, not waiting for her reaction as he walks inside. She frowns at the apparent concern that might come with what he said.
Despite how it might sound, there was no genuineness in his voice. He was being sarcastic if anything. He's mocking her, and she feels annoyed at that, but she doesn't confront him, still remembering the last time they had a 'disagreement'.
Iris follows him inside, happy to step out of the cold in any case.
"You know why they're mad?" she asks as they walk past the front desk. It's more of a statement, actually, because she knows he does. His nod confirms it.
"They feel betrayed," he explains as they get on the elevator. He pushes the button for the nineteenth floor and the doors slide shut. Elevator music starts playing softly in the background.
"Why?" Iris asks, confused to why they would feel betrayed. She literally just went to a fair for a few hours while they were gone and, even though Hannah had told her not to, she just expected a mild scolding at worst. She's an adult who can make her own decisions, after all.
"You'll have to ask them yourself," he answers simply, making Iris' irritation elevate. The elevator door opens with a ding. "This is your stop."
She steps into the hallway, muttering a thanks as she practically stomps over to the room her and Hannah share. Not surprisingly, when she opens the door, her friend isn't there. She flops down on the bed with a heavy sigh.
As soon as Iris is out of the elevator, Xavier travels down a floor to where he can hear the group arguing. He steps out into the hallway, faintly hearing Iris shut the door behind her on the floor above him.
He makes his way to the room Noah and Zander are residing in since that's where their voices are coming from. He doesn't bother to knock on the door, pushing it open and stepping inside.
They are immediately hushed when he steps inside. He closes the door behind him before turning to face them. They all bow their heads in a sign of respect, but mainly in an attempt to avoid his silently seething gaze.
"What was that?" Xavier asks, his voice as eerily calm as ever. There's an underlying tone of fury only his pack members would catch. They practically wince as he waits for an answer.
"We just... we don't know, sir," Daniel admits. Xavier nods slowly. He knows exactly why they did it, but also knows they wouldn't admit that they trust a human to such an extent.
"You feel like she's a part of the pack, and seeing her with a dragon upset you," he voices his theory when no one says anything else. The group in front of him lower their heads even more in shame, knowing that he was right. All except one, of course.
"With all due respect, I have to say that you are completely wrong," Kanan says, looking up at Xavier with a challenge in his eyes.
"Well then, you must have a better reason then. Please, I think we would all love to hear it," Xavier offers him a humourless smile in return. Sensing the blatant intimidation, Kanan rises to his feet.
"I can't speak for everyone else, but Iris is my girlfriend. She was clearly flirting with another man, that's why I'm mad. Not because of anything else," he clarifies, pushing out his chest and standing up as straight as possible in a silent challenge.
At exactly five feet and ten inches, Kanan knows he's no match for the Alpha, even if he was a normal werewolf like him. Xavier is a good 6'4 and a lot more muscular than he would ever be. Still, his arrogance gets him into more trouble than he'd like.
Xavier has to fight every ounce of his instinct to prevent himself from taking Kanan up on his offer. His werewolf side itches to show the lesser male who's in charge, but his human side realises that they're in a public building and shouldn't cause a scene in front of humans.
"Flirting?" He taunts him instead. Kanan's eyes grow a shade darker, but Xavier doesn't relent. "You're very possessive over her, aren't you? She obviously isn't your mate, so why go through the trouble of having a relationship with her if you'll end up leaving her like you did last time?"
Of course, Xavier knows every detail of his pack member's past in the human world. It's his duty, after all, to keep both his pack and the humans around it safe. He doesn't takeit lightly, so a male werewolf running around with a human is clearly a potential threat to security.
His words seem to trigger something in Kanan. The submissive, rational side, maybe. Whatever it is, the words make him deflate very suddenly. He lowers his head and takes a step back before sitting down on the bed.
"No, Alpha. I'm sorry, Alpha," he murmurs. Xavier nods slowly, satisfied. He may not take joy in intimidating his pack members, but it's sometimes necessary. For the safety of the entire pack.
"Good," he says finally. He looks at every one of them in turn.
"Iris is not one of us. I realise she might feel like a part of the pack, but she isn't. She's human. You shouldn't expect her to understand our values. You also can't let her get too close to you. She couldn't understand what we are, and if she found out, the entire pack would be in trouble."
Xavier fails to mention that he, too, feels a strange connection to the human girl. She intrigued him from the moment they met, yet he doesn't know why. Just as the rest of them fail to mention that she might be closer to finding out the truth than their Alpha thinks.
***
It's the next day, quite late in the afternoon when Iris is awoken very suddenly. She groans loudly, rolling over to find the TV remote. The television turns on by itself whenever there's an emergency announcement about the war, which is really annoying when people are jetlaged and tired.
She's about to turn it off when a familiar face on the screen catches her attention. Her blood runs cold as she turns up the volume instead. The reporter's voice is as clear as day as it rings through her head.
"Ethan Steyn, believed to be a leader in the Rebel organisation, was captured yesterday when a group of Rebels infiltrated a South African military base in an attempted attack. He currently awaits questioning..."
Iris breathes out in a heavy sigh. He's behind bars. That's the best news she's heard in years.
Feeling at ease, she switches the TV off, rolls over and immediately falls back into a deep sleep.
***
Iris sleeps through the whole of that night, too, without talking to any of her friends. They seem to be avoiding her, which she understands since they're mad. She doesn't attempt to make amends, either. She may have done something wrong, but until she fully knows what that is, she won't be apologising.
Around seven o'clock that morning, Iris hears a knock at the hotel room door. She stands up, a little groggy from sleep, and makes her way to the door.
When she opens it, she's surprised to see Kanan of all people. He offers her a half-hearted smile, scratching the back of his neck as he waits to be invited inside. The fact that he's here isn't what has Iris unable to function. It's the fact that he isn't wearing a shirt and his toned torso glistens with sweat.
"Good morning," he says when she just gapes at him. She finally snaps out of her daze and steps to the side, muttering her own greeting as she ushers him inside.
"You do realise it's rude to stare?" Kanan asks teasingly when they're sitting on the bed. Iris immediately looks up at his face to see him smirking. She feels heat rush to her cheeks as she blushes.
"You do realise it's, like, zero degrees outside?" She mocks him in an attempt to play it off, to which he responds with a laugh.
"I went for a jog," he explains, to which Iris nods in understanding. She still wouldn't recommend running outside in winter without a shirt, but if it floats his boat, then so be it. She definitely isn't complaining. Suddenly realising what he came to talk about in the first place, Kanan straightens and says, "I came to talk about recent... developments."
She almost finds his word choice funny, and she would have if she wasn't suddenly knocked into realisation herself.
"Okay," she says, gesturing for him to continue. He clears his throat, seeming nervous, before speaking.
"I know I haven't really been acting myself and I'm sorry for ignoring you. The truth is, I was jealous of you spending time with other men," he admits. Iris' eyes widen and she realises it makes sense.
She feels bad all of a sudden. She hadn't been the best girlfriend to him, so she understands where he's coming from. She wouldn't have liked it if her boyfriend was running around with other girls all the time, even if they were only his friends.
"I'm sorry for not noticing. I should've been a better girlfriend," she says, taking his hand in hers and offering him a smile. He grins back, squeezing her hand.
"We were both in the wrong, I guess. But it's sorted now, right?" He asks. Iris nods. As an afterthought, he adds, "Mr Kingsley invited us all to go to a new year's eve party the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go?"
"Sure," Iris shrugs. She doesn't really like parties, and the last one Mr Kingsley invited her to was a complete disaster, but it might be a good idea to go out with her friends. Maybe they could make amends.
"Great," Kanan smiles, standing up, "I'm going to go shower and get ready. We're heading to a meeting later. Hannah offered to stay here with you, though."
Surprised that Hannah would volunteer to stay with her while she's still mad at her, Iris just nods as Kanan leaves the room.
*ð*