Chapter 87 : A Clash of Claims 1

Xavier

Their peace and quiet were interrupted when a dark-haired man ran towards them with a cocky grin plastered on his face. He didn't stop until he was standing in front of Karen, his muscular arms wrapping tightly around her.

"Karenina! How's my woman doing? Did you miss me?"

"Uh, hello, Kayden," she replied in a low voice, her face pressed against his chest.

Seeing this scene, his eyes narrowed dangerously, his hands clenched as he imagined tearing off the man's limbs for daring to touch what belonged to him.

"Let go of Karenina right now," he ordered, his tone of voice mixed with irritation.

He almost called her his mate, but quickly refrained, not wanting to upset her again by claiming her, a claim she had denied. At that thought, Xavier forced himself not to physically remove the brash man, knowing he had no right to do so in her eyes.

As he gritted his teeth, Xavier was agitated again, eager to show her, to prove to everyone that she was his...but was she? Even though she admitted to wanting to try their 'relationship' — whatever that meant — he still wasn't sure what she thought of his attitude.

Still, he felt that he would hate to be confused about how to act in front of her, in front of people.

However, she surprised him by not only moving away from the man, but also by saying in a clear voice, "I'm here with Xavier, Kayden."

Suddenly, he had to resist smirking at her statement, although the urge to tear Kayden apart was still there.

It was then that Kayden's nose scrunched up and he finally noticed the change in her scent. Instead of realizing that she was more than just a hybrid of her scent and aura, which was obvious from the man's gasp of disbelief, Kayden only noticed — only realized — one thing.

"Why do you smell like that nasty wolf scent, Karen? Is that... is that the scent of betrothal?"

What a slow-witted fool, Xavier thought, though he enjoyed the man's surprise.

His face quickly turned from puzzled to scowling, his eyebrows knitted together, a snarl curling his lips in obvious anger at finding Xavier's scent on her. His blue eyes, filled with rage, glared back at Xavier, and when Xavier merely raised his eyebrows in silent response, it only seemed to fuel his anger even more.

It seemed like Xavier didn't care. This man was no threat, too weak to be in the same class as him.

When Xavier pushed her aside gently, seemingly steadily, to keep her out of between them, Kayden roared at Xavier.

"She's mine! How dare you steal my woman when I'm not here, you bastard!"

"Calm down, Kayden," she interjected, sounding more annoyed than ever.

Xavier could only wonder about their relationship. A claim from the mutt wolf that brought back his anger and made his blood boil even more.

"I am not your woman," she argued, running between them, forcing Kayden to pay attention to her instead of glaring hatefully at Xavier. "I was never your woman! I've said it many times in the past, but you never listened."

"You don't really want to be with that shitty wolf, do you, Karen?"

"I can be with anyone I choose, and I choose to be with Xavier."

With a look of disbelief on his face, Kayden said, "You can't really mean that..."

The sound of her little cough caught his attention. His gaze narrowed on the blush he saw forming on her cheeks, and Xavier caught the quick glance she gave him out of the corner of her eye.

"I am going out with Xavier... kinda."

It was obvious that Kayden didn't get the point.

"What does that mean?" He demanded agitatedly.

In a slightly annoyed voice, she explained.

"It means we're a couple. It's some kind of courtship."

Hearing this news made Kayden angry, as evidenced by his stuttering and displeased expression, while Xavier felt his heart pounding in his chest in a strange way. Still, he was far from upset by her words. Could this 'date' be compared to their mating relationship?

"Why, Karen? Did you think I wouldn't come back for you? I even gave you a gemstone as a betrothal gift and you accepted it, do you remember that?"

******

Karenina

She blinked at Kayden, her mind going back to a few months ago when Kayden had burst into her and her friend's house and given her the gem. He had said the gemstone was his betrothal gift... But at the time, she didn't care about the significance of his 'gift', in fact, she didn't really believe it.

Now, after she had been involved in the mating competition held by Xavier and had successfully won, and after she knew what it meant to be betrothed to an Alpha, she only realized that it was possible that Kayden's past attitude and her acceptance of it had a greater meaning than she had realized.

She gazed into those blue eyes and felt trapped, out of her depth.

What should she do? She couldn't give the gemstone back to Kayden because it wasn't his, and she needed it to protect the Sacred Moonstone.

Unable to answer, and unable to deny the hopeful look in Kayden's eyes, Xavier came to her aid when she heard his voice interrupt their conversation.

"You're forgetting, moron, that it's not a betrothal gift if the item in this case already belongs to the person for whom it's supposed to be."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Kayden.

She turned to Xavier, who was just as curious as Kayden.

"Karen is the guardian of the Sacred Moonstone, guarding and protecting the heirloom gems of the Wolf Lords. The gemstone you 'gave' her is not really yours. Therefore, you are only returning her belongings, not giving her a betrothal gift."

For an instant, she breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that she had made a mistake in the past by accepting Kayden's gemstone. She was already troubled enough by Xavier's mating proposal. She didn't need the added stress of being forced to seriously accept Kayden's mating proposal.

With a red face, Kayden blurted out before finally promising, "I'm going to give you another gift, Karen, a real gift. Something much better than that gemstone."

She shook her head and smiled sadly at her friend.

"I'm sorry, Kayden, but I have to say no. You're my friend. I don't want things to change between us, so I can't accept your betrothed's gift."

As much as she didn't want to hurt his feelings, as much as she felt bad for the blow she might have dealt him, she had to follow her heart, and even though she was in confusion about Xavier at the moment, she knew for sure that she would never consider him anything more than a valued friend, and it was time he realized that.

"Karen-" He started, and she could see that Kayden was going to argue with her.

She was just preparing herself for the argument that was about to ensue when Xavier stepped forward and stood next to her. Then she felt his familiar hand on her waist, his big hand grabbing her hip, pulling her towards him until she was in the crook of his side.

She blushed at the public display of possession and affection but didn't pull away.

Xavier wasn't doing anything wrong, just showing that her words were true, that they were together. She couldn't blame Xavier for having to physically assert his claim, because the other men would have done the same if another man invaded their territory.

When he hugged her, he was trying to show Kayden that she belonged to him.

"Are you deaf, asshole? Karen not only rejected your proposal, she publicly stated that we were 'dating'. She doesn't want you as a mate, so get out."

She winced at his harsh words, wanting to lessen the impact of the blow, but before she could decide whether to remain silent or speak, Kayden had already spoken, his body language and tone of voice aggressive.

"I have no intention of handing Karenina over to an asshole like you. If you want her, then you will fight me for her!"

"Fight-" she started, surprised. "No, wait, there's no need for that, Kayden. I thought this was over. I'm with Xavier right now. I don't want you fighting for me!"

"Take it easy, Karenina," Xavier said, removing his hands from her waist.