Chapter 2
Her eyes seemed sincere, yet her voice carrying a barely perceptible lilt.
“That message was meant for my Mate; I really sent it wrong, not on purpose.”
“Nora, please don’t misunderstand. If you two quarrel because of this, I’d feel terribly guilty.”
Xavier gave her a brief glance.
“You’re overthinking—we didn’t quarrel.”
Relieved, Lilian patted her chest.
“I’m really scared to death! I was so worried you’d fight because of that.”
“Girls are sensitive—I was afraid Nora might misunderstand.”
Xavier ignored her and packed up his things.
But the more she explained, the angrier I grew.
Her apology made me the oversensitive one.
Rage burned in my chest.
“Tsk! Aren’t you done yet?”
I urged Xavier; the air grew icy.
He paused, frowning slightly.
“Almost. Don’t rush.”
Lilian stood behind him, pitiful, showing no sign of leaving.
Anger surged again—
the wolf-soul inside me restless, straining to break free.
I caught my reflection in the glass: tense, rigid.
Then, suddenly calm—arguing with a man-pleaser was beneath my dignity.
Lilian’s eyes reddened; timidly she called,
“Xavier…”
He didn’t look at her.
Her pride wounded, she whispered,
“I really didn’t mean it.”
Then fled in disappointment.
Xavier had never once been angry with me.
He always knew how to handle my emotions—
never scolding me in public; even when I acted unreasonably, he would later talk to me gently in private.
“Why must you speak so bluntly, leaving others no way to step down?”
He took my hand.
“You weren’t like this before.”
I looked up.
“Before, it was you who said those words.”
As a senior researcher in the pack’s medical department, he surely knew the intention behind such a message.
He would never have tolerated it in the past.
But today, he permitted it—and even reproached me for it.
From high school till now, countless girls had liked Xavier.
He had never spared them a second glance.
He always knew others’ little schemes and never let them cross the line.
Smiling, he tucked a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.
“It’s my fault. You’ve worked hard tonight.”
He leaned in and kissed me—the familiar scent I had come to rely on after becoming Mates.
“Lilian is just my junior—someone unimportant.”
He brushed his cheek against mine, voice earnest.
“In Xavier’s heart there’s only Nora.”
But I could see it clearly: whether Lilian had a Mate or not, her gaze, her shy gestures, all showed her feelings for Xavier.
Girls like her had always existed—some public, some subtle—
but Xavier had never given any of them a chance and kept distance.
