Page 8 of Xander
Chapter Three
Xander
Xander broke the kiss and held Frost close.His heart nearly beat out of his chest when he realized how close he was to having her walk out of his life.He could feel his body shaking because of it.The next time he saw Reaper, he was going to hug the man.
The transition had been just as harrowing as Reaper described, but what Xander dismissed was the pure helplessness he would feel at not being able to help your mate through the most painful experience of their life.And like Ara’s transition, Frost was taken by surprise when she had begun her transition, without him having released his venom into her bloodstream or knowing that transitioning was a possibility.
It had been pure torture to watch Frost writhe in pain, especially considering her gunshot wound hadn’t healed until the transition had been completed.And he watched her like a hawk for three days and three nights, trying to lessen the pain and prevent her from tearing the wound in her shoulder, as he tried to get her to sleep comfortably.Reaper’s trick worked, setting the alarm for every half an hour to replace the wet towels he had surrounding her body.The first time he removed the towels, he had cursed at the heat that radiated from her skin, before making quick work of switching out the towels.
And because he refused to sleep during this, he had stupidly fallen asleep when he had been too exhausted to keep going, a few hours before she woke.When he had caught her scent mixed with his soap, he had shot up in bed and looked around for her.Panic set in when he couldn’t spot her, but he heard her speaking softly to herself as she made her way downstairs, and shot out of bed to go after her.
When she turned to face him, his breath caught in his throat as he spotted the minor changes that the transition to shifter had made in her appearance.She was as beautiful as when he first spotted her in the clearing, and the transition had only enhanced her features.She stood straighter and looked stronger, with more defined muscles, as if she were ready to pounce at any moment.She was his mate and he’d finally found her after all this time.
He found that he couldn’t stay away from her.When she tilted her head, he devoured her lips and lost himself in her touch for several long minutes.But a rash thought came to mind and he pulled away from the kiss.
“Have you shifted yet?”
She blinked once, and then again, before the question had sunk in and confusion became etched on her face.“No.I felt the need for a shower and all these thoughts bombarded me, but the only one I could pick out was finding my boss and kicking the little fucker in the balls.Why should I be able to shift now, when I wasn’t able to before?”
“The only thing I can think of is that you transitioned with just a touch from your mate, so it could be that your ability to shift is repressed.Liv and the rest of the immortals don’t really know the ins and outs of becoming an immortal.Why we are in a stasis and we are unable to age, or why some of us can shift quickly while others can’t.There is so much unknown about us, and Liv had come to a standstill in her research before she tested your blood.All I know is that unless an immortal is trained to mind link with another immortal, which takes years to learn even if you’ve done it successfully before, an immortal can mind link with their mate if one of them accepts their connection.I knew the first time I heard your thoughts that you were my mate.”
He watched as Frost’s nose scrunched at his last statement.But before he could question it, she asked him a question.
“My shoulder wound healed because I transitioned?”
He nodded but he couldn’t help but glance down at her side.He watched as her face twisted in horror.
“You…you saw?”
Xander was confused by her panic and pulled her closer.“It doesn’t matter what it looks like.It shows everyone how strong you are and what you’ve gone through in your life.It’s nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart.I felt guilty when I saw it because you were shot due to my inability to protect you.I added to your pain.I know I should have protected you, gotten you to safety before the mercenary had a chance to take the shot, but my ego wouldn’t allow me to walk away from the fight.You had to get hurt for me to realize how impulsive and stupid I was.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
He shook his head and held onto her tighter.“I don’t think you’ll ever win that argument with me.”
She scoffed but relaxed in his arms.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.I’m a lucky man.”
“Yeah, right.The wound healed in a way that makes it look grotesque and even then, the rest of me isn’t anything to look at either.”
His lips slammed into hers and he growled as she opened for him.He slid his tongue inside, tasting her sweetness and loving the moans that he drew from her.He knew without a doubt that he was falling for this woman.“Never doubt my need and desire for you.You are gorgeous and you fit perfectly against me, and I will always want you.And I know that you were hoping that your old injury would heal because of the transition, but Liv and I think that transitions only heals fresh wounds.”
He paused and her blue-green eyes were wide as she looked at him for an explanation.
“When Liv met Kai, her life had been in danger because she found out the company she worked for had created a deadly virus that killed immortals, which is next to impossible.She asked Kai for help, and he took her in and protected her.He knew long before he’d actually spoken to her that she was his mate, but he was in denial.So while she worked on the antidote, they got to know each other and fell in love.But Liv was kidnapped and beaten within an inch of her life—several broken bones, a head injury, and a stab wound to her side.Kai’s venom healed her from her newly-inflicted wounds.
“Liv believes that your body had awhile to adapt to the old injury, and became part of you just as much as the color of your hair and eyes.This is just a theory on why your wound didn’t heal during your transition.But, at this point, it’s all a guessing game.Before you, it was unheard to transition without having venom in your system.”
Xander had watched her as he explained and noticed that tears had welled in her eyes, and he pulled her close.
“Who would want to hurt Liv?”
“The scientist wanted to become an immortal and take over Dark Company, but Liv ruined that chance when she discovered his experiment and put a stop to it.He was also bat-shit crazy.Liv used the same bio-weapon he created against him, but in humans they just disintegrate until there’s nothing left.But now Liv is happy, in love and married to her mate, and she keeps researching in case someone else develops a plan to come after us.”
For a long moment, they were silent as Frost processed this new information.But he came to the sudden realization that he was still naked when he could feel the heat and smell the arousal coming from Frost.He reined in his desire and allowed himself a small kiss.
“You must be famished after not eating for close to four days.I’ll go get dressed and cook us breakfast.”
