A Jealous Ximun

XIMUN

Ximun crossed his legs and after a gulp from the beer bottle in his grasp, he wondered if he had stayed away from Aysu for too long. Ever since he walked out of her hospital room the other day, he stayed away from her. But that wasn’t easy at all. And to make things worse, the more he tried to stay away, the more his soul fell into jeopardy because he desired her.

If he knew that was how things were going to turn out, he wouldn’t have heeded Aysu’s request to mate at all. But he did. He didn’t regret it, but the huge mess his soul was in ever since he mated with her made him question things.

“What are you thinking about?” Andrew asked, his buttocks settling on the hanging chair next to Ximun.

The men were seated on the porch that faced the vast vegetation perched behind the palace. To Ximun, that view was the best in The Night Crimson Pack and as he admired the natural greenness of the contours a portion of the land possessed, he wondered if Aysu had seen the view.

“You are thinking about Miss Aysu, aren’t you?” Andrew asked further, with a certain smugness in his voice.

“No, I am not.”

Andrew chuckled. “Just so you know, your ears turn red whenever you lie.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Ximun retorted.

“If you say so,” Andrew chuckled some more. “I spoke to her the other day and it seems she is as torn as you are. But she is fighting the mate bond and I don’t see that as a good sign.”

“Yeah, I messed up. Big time. Now, it is hard to fix things.”

Andrew got up and leaned against the rail. “How come you have time to be sitting with me? I hate to use this phrase, but you need to be kissing her ass right now. She’s pregnant and if she doesn’t have the right people around her, she might have it difficult a little and-”

“She doesn’t want me next to her, Andrew. I have to respect that.”

“Sure.” Whenever Andrew punctuated his arguments with one word and puckered lips, he was indirectly telling him that he was being foolish with his thoughts. “How’s been the Alpha King so far? I heard some members are planning something vicious.”

“Well, whatever they are planning, they won’t get to see the light of day. I don’t allow nonsense.”

“Alright,” Andrew hailed. “I trust you anyway. For the past years you have been on the throne, you always maintained peace in and out of the council. I think that’s why no one has given you the shit for always getting rejected.”

“You say that as though its my fault.” Ximun got up as well. “But thank you for the compliment, I rarely get it from you.”

“Yeah, right. Anyway-”

A feminine laugh that was unfamiliar to Ximun filled the space and that sound piqued his interest. So, after a few steps closer to the rail, he looked down and the sight of Aysu smiling grandly made his heart skip a few beats. He never thought that seeing her smile would be a reason for his soul to fall into more beautiful chaos.

“Who are the men she’s walking with?” Andrew asked, his attention not dwindling off Aysu and the men who were walking side by side, engrossed in whatever discussion they were having.

“One is her help. The other,” Ximun adjusted his stance, “I have no idea who he is. He is new. Why does Aysu walk with so many men?”

“You ask as though she is with hundreds of them.”

“I need to speak to the Head Court Lady. There’s a lot of men around her these days. I don’t understand why they keep sending men to her. Is there a lack of female helps in the palace?”

“Are you being jealous right now?” Andrew sounded amused.

And that question brought Ximun out of the intensity of the questions he was posing. He cleared his throat and replied, “No, I am not.”

“Right.” His friend nodded. “You are gripping the rail so hard only because you wish to metal bend it.”

“Whatever. I am not jealous. I am just concerned about my wife. It is not nice that she has that many men walking with her when she could be walking with me.” Ximun’s frown enlarged at the end of his sentence and that made him realise that his friend was right. He was jealous.

He really didn’t want to watch Aysu walk with others, he wanted her next to him. But the fact that she was not allowing him a chance to show her how good a walk with him would be, was so nerving that he sighed.

“You should call her,” Andrew suggested, his elbow nudging Ximun’s side.

“No, I-”

“No? Really?”

Ximun found it ridiculous that he said no as well, so with a certain volume to his voice, he called, saying “Aysu, hi.”

Andrew snickered but Ximun ignored him and maintained focus on the woman whose hair was packed into a ponytail that highlighted the roundness of her face.

So when Aysu looked up, their eyes met immediately.

She acknowledged his call with a brief wave, but since she did that with a very serious expression, it was clear that she was yet to find him pleasing.

But, was he going to back down at that moment?

No.

So, he asked, “Who is the third man?”

“He is Gideon,” she replied, her tone really unfriendly. “My father sent him to take care of me.”

Ximun leaned further on the rail, his heart now yearning in a way that contradicted the tension of that moment. After he briefly inspected the features of the man she called Gideon, he asked, “How come I wasn’t informed?”

“I-”

“Magnetino, are you sure you are doing your job well?”

“Don’t drag Magnetino into this,” Aysu retorted and though her response made him tired of her constant defiance and resistance, he maintained his firmness.

“I have to. If your father will be sending a he-wolf I have no prior knowledge of , I need to be aware. Aysu, I understand that you wish to do things your way, but it can’t always be that way now that you are in The Night Crimson Pack.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me right now?”

“Of course not, I am just-”

“Well understood.” Clearly, that moment wasn’t going the way Ximun wished. And his attempt to pull her back to the fact that he was just being concerned failed immensely when he uttered her name. Aysu, after a furious flutter of her lashes, then said, “We will leave you two to your conversation.”

And after that, she walked away, the men with her looking sober as though they were the ones directly involved in the mini-argument the Ximun and Aysu just had.

Then, after seconds of silence and watching her back disappear with every little step she took, Andrew broke the quietude and said, “I hate to say this, but Miss Aysu seems to be a little problematic.”

“What?”

Andrew quickly added to his response. “Not in a terrible way. But in a sad way. It seems she is deliberately acting that way to block out a certain truth.”

Ximun relaxed. “Do you think she likes me?”

“There is a possibility. You have been feeling the strings of your bond lately, yeah?”

“Yes, in a way I don’t sometimes like.”

“It probably is the same for her. So, you have to fix the mess you created.”

“It’s not easy to do that. She’s built a crazy wall and she now has two bodyguards of some sort.”

Andrew patted him. “Sometimes, you have to fight a hard battle to get what you truly want. So, I am sure you will figure it out.”

Ximun sighed and looked ahead at the falling sun ahead. “Your shift is soon, right?”

“It is. Another ride I am not sure I am ready for.”

“Oh please,” Ximun shook his head, his hair flying in a way that managed to gently slap Andrew’s hairy chin, “you are one of the best Healers in the entire Pack, what do you mean you are not ready?”

“Are you pulling my leg, Alpha Ximun? I have the worst days as a Healer.”

“If that’s the case,” the duo began to walk out of that area, “I need to boost your bonuses to lure you to stay.”

“If that bonus is money, keep it.”

“Oh, good. I need money to take care of my wife and unborn child.” A chuckle was shared between the two men who silently appreciated each other for that chance to hang out even if for a few minutes.

Soon, they parted ways.

Andrew headed for his quarters.

And, Ximun, with a troop behind him, headed for the throne room where unexpected guests were waiting.