Awkward

Kian gently brushes his thumb over my bottom lip as he releases me and stands up straight. I awkwardly cover my mouth with wide eyes as he brings his thumb up to his lips and intentionally rubs the bottom of his lips with the very same thumb. He gives Xander a dark, knowing smirk as he says "What if she doesn't want me to?"

My jaw nearly hits the floor as rage, unlike anything I've ever seen before rolls through Xander. Xander's eyes begin to glow a bright amber color as he storms over and yells "Go back to hell where you belong!"

I quickly get up and stand between the two as I awkwardly clear my throat and say "Not in my house! Also... this whole situation is screwed up and for the record... I'm not dating either one of you so calm down." Guilt swims through me as the house becomes silent again. Technically not dating either one but I have feelings for both of them...

Crunching has all of us turning to find Binx back on the counter eating his food with excited eyes. Seriously? Again!? He blinks and says "What? If you actually gave me wet cat food I wouldn't make so much noise." I want to roll my eyes but instead, I turn back to them and say "If you can't keep your cool, you can leave now."

Kian gives Xander a dark smirk and winks at him as he says "Don't worry dollface, I have no problem controlling my emotions. I have better ways of channeling them." He says the last part while looking at me, instantly making Xander growl again.

I sigh and walk back to the table as I say "While you two have fun doing... whatever this is. I'm going to find out who wants me and who wants me dead. Then I'll kill them all." Xander looks over to me with concern as he asks "What do you mean?"

As I pour myself another cup, Kian leans against the wall and says "Our girl here is incredibly popular and many people in power either want her dead or want her for other reasons." Kian suddenly makes a black apple appear in his hand, surprising all of us.

He bites into the apple as Xander asks "And you? Why are you here?" Kain takes another bite of the apple and I can't help but stare at it. It's shiny black on the outside and blood red on the inside... "Me?" Kain asks with a smirk.

Kain's eyes lock onto me as he says "Do you want to tell him, dollface or should I?" I snap back and shake my head as I say "I will tell him later. For now, I need to come up with a plan." I turn to Xander and ask "Do you remember the witch hunter that showed up at my house the other day?"

Xander frowns and wants to ask about what Kian's talking about but he slowly nods his head and says "Yeah, what about him?" I take a sip of my coffee as I lean back against the counter and say "Someone removed the ward on my living room window, effectively allowing those things to come in my house and kill my mother."

"I've had a lot of people in my house lately, yourself included, but I have a hunch it's him. The council can't get in touch with the Church Of Order but yet an agent is here and investigating? The only thing I could get from him was that he was human and hostile."

Xander stares at me for several silent seconds before saying "I'll notify the council and have everyone on the lookout for him. The council has sent a few individuals to the Church Of Order so I guess we will find out for sure here soon."

"I also had my pack members track the destruction from the fight that night as far as they possibly could but it's come to a dead end. Either your father and brother were swept up and taken away in an aircraft... or magic was used to hide everything."

I nod my head as I say "It's most likely magic. Someone with powerful magic is behind this. Not only were they able to break into my house and kill my mother, but they were also able to take my father and brother... that's not an easy task."

Xander nods his head in agreement as he says "I think you'd be safer on pack land. I can keep an eye on you and ensure your safety. I can arrange a better room for you if you didn't like the last one."

Kian snorts and throws his half-eaten apple up in the air. It disappears in mid-air as I smile at Xander and say "We've had this talk before. I appreciate you trying to keep me safe and all but I'll be going headfirst into this. Someone killed my mother in order to get to me... they're gonna die by my hands and I'll stop at nothing for that to happen."

Xander wants to argue with me but he bites his tongue and runs his hands through his hair as Kian says "Sounds like a plan to me. Don't worry, Loverboy. I'll stay with her and help her." Xander snaps at Kian and says "She doesn't need help! She needs to be protected! Something dangerous is currently out there and it's looking for HER. Don't you get that!?"

My eyes widen in shock as Kian pushes off the wall and walks over with a knowing smirk before leaning into Xander's face saying "Instead of shoving her in a room to keep her safe, which by the way, wouldn't, in fact, keep her safe. I'm going to be right behind her every step of the way. I'll watch her back, sides, and everything else of hers so she can kill the fucker who killed her mother."

"Hell, I'll even help drag the bastard back from the pits of hell, over and over again just so she can kill them as many times as her little heart desires. Besides... I like the view from behind..." He winks at Xander again causing Xander to snap and reach for Kian's throat.