-: Ashton's POV:-

Xavier refused to say anything. He didn't comment when I woke up early to train with the warriors, he had no remarks when I was being sloppy with my technique, he didn't even snap at me with all the mate bullshit when I flirted with Brianna.

I gave up after my last attempt to get a rise out of him failed. I jogged home after training. I showered and got dressed - a pair of blue jeans and a plain white tee shirt. I put on my leather jacket and let my hair air dry. I grabbed my bag and keys, lacing up my sneakers. I walked out to see mom cooking breakfast.

"Good morning, mom," I kissed her cheek. She smiled at me as she flipped my pancakes. Once she was satisfied, she piled them high on my plate and poured honey and syrup all over it. She pushed the plate towards me. 

"More," I whined, pointing at honey. I could never have enough of that stuff. She chuckled while doing as I asked. She ruffled my hair affectionately as I devoured my breakfast.  

"Thanks," I said as I chugged down a glass of milk.

"Are you full?" She asked. "I could make you more."

"I'm full," I assured her distractedly.

"What is it, Ash?" She asked, her gaze penetrating my soul. 

"Xavier is acting weird today," I confessed. She smiled lightly. "What?" I asked, confused by her reaction.

"Maybe you'll finally find your mate today," she said dreamily. I looked at her in amusement. Even though she was my Luna, she was only my mother when we were here at home, always wishing weird stuff, dreaming and fantasizing about how well my life would turn out. She liked to involve herself in my life.

"Maybe," I sighed. I glanced at the time and realized I was late. I bid her bye, she kissed my forehead and wished me a good day. I gave her a blinding smile.

Hayden and Noel were patiently waiting for me in front of my house. They were freshly showered and ready to go. We climbed into my jeep and I drove us to our new school - a last attempt to find our mates. They conversed the entire way, but I couldn't bring myself to be attentive and join in. 

I parked in an empty space in the parking lot and climbed out. A hand on my shoulder brought me back to the land of the living. My friends had apparently asked me a question.

"Hun?" I asked and Hayden gave me a knowing look.

"We said, are you up for patrolling tonight?" Noel repeated his question.

"Sure," I shrugged. "When am I not?"

"What's up with you, Ash?" Hayden asked. I sighed.

"I don't know," I ran a hand through my hair. "Xavier won't speak to me." As many differences, my wolf and I had his silence bothered me. Hayden quirked an eyebrow.

"At all?" He asked.

"Nothing. Even when I flirted with Bree," I nodded. 

"That's weird, man," Noel chimed in.

"I know," I dragged a hand down my face and walked into the building. We located the office, got our timetables, and walked to our first class, which we happened to have together. I remembered that Bree had the same class so I mind-linked her to save me a seat.

Somewhere in the hallways, Xavier started stirring. I almost stopped when a scent made my mouth water. The smell of honey and citrus with undertones of spice in it. The way Xavier suddenly perked up, I knew it was my mate. 

It got stronger as we reached our classroom. Noel pushed the door open and her scent hit me like a truck, much stronger than before. My eyes connected with her green ones. I was instantly lost in them. An extremely bad move because as soon as I let my guard down, Xavier started battling me for control. I struggled weakly, still in the trance of our beautiful mate. Her short brunette hair was framing her strong, oval face. She was perfect, down to her high cheekbones, and her alert gaze. Her lips were slightly parted, as if in disbelief.

We caught her ogling us and smirked. Mate liked us.

That very instant, Xavier beat me and took control of my body, unmindful of all the humans around. He growled a possessive 'mine' under his breath almost as if it was a necessity. It was too low, for even the werewolves in the class to hear, but judging by the way our mate's eyes widened fractionally, I'd say she caught us. The mate bond. She was a werewolf too. Her eyes went back to their normal size and they softened, full of warmth.

I was brought out of the trance when Hayden yanked at my arm roughly. Xavier growled at him. 

'You're acting weird. The humans will notice, Xavier,'  he mind-linked us. 'Ash you need to take back control. Now.' I took a deep breath to calm myself down as I regained control. I looked back at my mate to see her staring out of the window with a frown on her face. I let out an involuntary growl. Why did she look away? Why was she frowning? Was she not happy? The thought made Xavier snarl in my head.

I barely listened as the teacher pointed us to the empty seats. I was pleased to see Bree had saved me a seat that happened to be near my mate. Behind her, to be precise. The entire lecture, I didn't pay attention to the teacher at all. My concentration was solely focused on the girl in front of me. Even though her face was turned to the window facing the parking lot, her face was hidden behind the curtain of her hair. I leaned forward unconsciously, breathing her scent in.

'What the hell, Ashton?' Brianna mind-liked me, a scowl audible even in her voice. I didn't bother turning and acknowledging her.

'What?' I snapped back.

'She's a Crescent Moon,' she informed me. My eyes widened. The Crescent Moon pack. The pack who wronged mine. The pack because of which my ancestors suffered. Anger flared in my being before it was gone with a lungful of her scent, replaced with calmness.

'She's my mate, hence your future Luna. That makes her a Silver Moon. Watch it.' I replied, wanting to give her a chance. Just because her Alpha's ancestors had a feud with my family didn't mean she and I had to too.

'But-' Bree began protesting.

'Are you challenging me?'  Xavier growled through the mind link and I watched her shrink back in her seat with an evil sense of satisfaction. 

Nobody challenges us or our mate.

But Brianna was persistent. When I wouldn't look at her or hear her out, she passed me a piece of paper. I turned to glare at her but she gave me an innocent look, shrugging her shoulders and gesturing me to read it. 

I opened the note and my blood ran cold. It read:

"She's the Crescent Moon 'princess': Cecelia Rivers."

I looked back to glare at Bree.

'This is not funny.' I glared at her.

'I know, it's unfortunate,' she retorted. I crumpled the paper in my hand, my temper rising.

The bell rang and before I could even utter a word, Cecelia high-tailed out of the room. I quickly got up to follow her, Bree trailing behind me. I spotted her near a locker and realized it was hers when she hastily pulled it open. I focused on her as she pulled out her phone, frantically typing away. When she put her phone to her ear, I realized that she was dialing a number.

I saw as relief washed on her stressed-out face, her eyes fluttering close. She said something into the phone. I frowned and focused on her. I wanted to know what she was saying.

"You know who it is?" She whispered into the phone, her question obviously rhetorical. Her voice was the perfect melody. Smooth, fierce, soft, lovely, sweet . . . a perfect balance of everything. She looked pained. Her next words gave me more clarity.

"It's Ashton fucking Summers, Julian." That would be me. But who the fuck was Julian? Jealousy flared through my being, consuming every rational thought. I knew for a fact that it wasn't her brother. That piece of shit would be Aaron. So who was this Julian who she was so relieved to have reached? And . . . did she just call me Ashton fucking Summers? The last time I checked, my middle name was Kian. 

I was a little surprised that Xavier was totally calm about the disrespect she just regarded us with. He was usually ready to bite the offender's head off. But with her, I think he even smiled. He was already whipped. And we hadn't spoken to our mate. But not me. I was consumed by rage. Unbridled anger.

I realized I missed some of her conversation and forced myself to focus on her conversation again.

"-bad, Julian. I don't know what to do!" Her voice was full of desolation. Then it clicked. She didn't want us as her mate. That didn't help my anger. I didn't know what this Julian said to her, but suddenly her eyes were scanning the crowd in panic. That's how her gaze met mine for the second time that day.

I could feel all my irk dissolving as I stared into those cool green eyes. But I didn't want that to happen.

She's a Crescent Moon.

Julian.

She doesn't want us.

The thoughts crossed my mind as quickly as stars shooting through the sky. I did the only thing I could think of to snap out of the spell. I grabbed Bree's arm and pulled her to me. Her protests died in her throat when I put my lips on hers, not breaking eye contact with Cecelia at all.

'What are you playing at, Ashton?'  Bree snapped at me, frozen stiff against me. She was clearly annoyed.

'Just trust me. Give me a minute, she's watching.'

'Are you crazy?'

'Will you just give me a minute, Brianna?!'

'. . . Fine.'

It was not like we hadn't made out before. She was my father's Gamma's daughter. Her mate had died in a rogue attack over a year ago. I hadn't found my mate despite being almost eighteen even after searching. That was very unusual for a future Alpha. So, our parents decided it would be a great idea for us to date. Not that it worked out. We did the friends with benefits sort of thing but could never get past a heated make-out. We had eventually stopped that recently, too. Xavier was ecstatic when we had.

Speaking of, he growled savagely in my headspace, mad beyond words that I was touching someone who wasn't my mate. And doing it intimately in front of my mate.

My mate, who looked like she had been electrocuted. She was frozen, hurt, and horror the dominant emotions on her face. Her eyes shone with unshed tears as she flipped me off before she slammed her locker door shut and strode off in the opposite direction.

"Asht-" Noel stopped speaking, going a little red with suppressed irritation. I released Bree. She scowled at me, gave me a meaningful look, and walked away. I'd deal with her later. Right then, I needed to face two pissed friends. I noticed Hayden staring in the direction Cecelia just walked off in with a disapproving look on his face.

"Why did you do that?" He finally asked.

"None of your damned business," I replied smoothly. I blocked out a violent wolf from my brain.

"Of course it is!" Noel exclaimed. "That's our Luna you're talking about!"

"That's my mate, and I'm your Alpha," I snapped. "So, I wouldn't say it's your business, not exactly."

Hayden growled at the disrespect at his Luna and I growled back at his disrespect for me.

"Break it up," Noel pushed us away. He grabbed Hayden's hand and dragged him away without a second glance at me. When they were out of my sight, I remembered something.

'Brianna, Noel, and Hayden,' I said through the mind link. 'Do not mention anything about this incident to anyone, got it?'

'Ashton, fu-' Hayden began angrily but I cut him off.

'Not. One. Word. Understood?' I let my Alpha tone slip into my words. It became a command, not just an assertive request.

'Yes, Alpha.'  They chorused back bitterly, quickly blocking me out after that.

I had a feeling I lost more than just a mate in that hallway that day.

**********************

A/N

*wipes sweat off her brow* that was one heck of a chapter to write. I'm not a boy, so you can imagine. Hopefully, I didn't disappoint.

Tap that star on your way out if you liked the read.

QOTD: How many languages do you speak??

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.