Chapter 27 - Love, Love - And You Guessed It - Love

"I am unaware of what you're trying to say," Xavier feigned ignorance.

"It came naturally," he admitted.

Adrian was astounded by Xavier's words.

'It came naturally'?

Seriously?

Confused as to whether to burst into laughter or start glaring at Xavier, Adrian blinked.

"Are you to tell me your entire explanation for this is..."

He gulped.

"'It came naturally'?" Adrian made air quotations while quoting Xavier's words.

Xavier narrowed his eyes, "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, of course not," Adrian dismissed it, knowing Xavier wouldn't take the hint.

He wasn't exactly the brightest when it came to taking things trivially. He was always all serious and broody.

One wouldn't understand why he and Madeline were paired together.

One side, cheery and a ray of sunshine. The other... darkness. Just darkness. They were opposites.

And some people claimed that opposites attract… just as magnets do… but it leads one to ask the question, would a werewolf and a human actually be compatible as… friends?

Briar and Madeline were friends, but their friendship had began with one party thinking the other was their kind. That they were human, just like them.

However, now that Madeline had learnt of the truth, she didn't see or treat Briar in a different way.

She treated Briar like she did before. Sure, she had some learning to do when it came to werewolves, but… otherwise, not much had changed.

Speaking of Madeline, she was telling Briar all about her first encounter with a feral werewolf - and a werewolf in general.

Madeline hadn't expected to encounter one so soon - especially when it hadn't been a day since she returned.

"What happened next?" Briar questioned, Madeline's news sparking her interest.

Of course, she'd been worried once she heard of what happened, but once she ensured Madeline was completely alright and had no lasting injuries… She let her curiosity get the best of her.

"Xavier saved me."

"He came to your rescue?"

"After I called for help," Madeline said sheepishly, trying not to blush thinking about it.

Being saved twice by Xavier… Why was he always at the right place at the right time?

"Then he did."

"Did you get to see him…"

Madeline shook her head. She hadn't got to see Xavier kill the feral. He'd brought her somewhere far away before doing it - or so she assumed, what with the howls she heard in the distance.

Thinking of what Xavier could've done to the feral, Madeline couldn't help but feel pity.

'Pity? For a creature that nearly killed you? You've gone insane,' she thought in her mind.

"I didn't."

"Did he say anything to you afterwards?"

"Do you always ask this much questions when someone gets attacked by a feral?" Madeline asked, the part where the feral had nearly scratched her beginning to hurt.

"No, I don't."

"So why ask me?"

"Because usually, when someone's attacked by a feral, they don't get to tell the tale. That is, because they were either turned into ferals or died from the attack," Briar explained.

"Ah," Madeline spoke, a light hue of rose covering her porcelain cheeks.

"And usually, the ones that do survive don't get saved by Xavier."

Madeline kept quiet, knowing it'd be best if she just stayed quiet. She didn't know that before.

"And you're the first human I know to have been in close proximity with a feral. And the only human I know to have been attacked by a feral werewolf and nearly transformed into one," Briar added.

Madeline - in an attempt to change the topic to something more convenient for her to comprehend - blurted aloud, "Xavier called me his friend after he saved me."

Briar couldn't believe her ears.

"…what did you just say?"

There was an evident stutter to her voice - it'd successfully shocked her.

"He called you his…"

"His…"

Briar cleared her throat, although still unable to say the word aloud.

"Briar, you alright?"

Madeline looked over at her concernedly.

"I am, I just…"

"Xavier called you his friend."

"He did," Madeline confirmed.

"He called you his friend," Briar repeated.

"I called him my friend first," Madeline pouted.

Briar had a look that made Madeline assume she understood something she herself didn't.

She and Adrian shared a mutual understanding of something that both Xavier and Madeline couldn't fathom.

"This isn't a competition, you know," Briar pointed out.

"I know that," Madeline creased her brow.

Briar looked out the wall clock in Madeline's room. It was already extremely late.

"I should go now, let you sleep in peace," Briar decided, not wanting to leave Madeline's room despite knowing Madeline needed sleep after her ordeal.

Actually, the word room wouldn't be the right way to describe her accommodations. She'd been given one of the largest rooms in Eudora - another perk of being the alpha's soulmate and friend. Briar was fortunate to have been welcomed in Madeline's quarters whenever she pleased - at least that was the sentiment Briar had.

Briar returned to her room, leaving Madeline to allow her to finally get some rest.

'Wouldn't want to bother her,' she said, before sighing.

Looking at her pinky, she wondered if she had a soulmate out there.

She was happy for her friend - she truly was, but with Madeline being soulmates with the alpha…

Who was she meant to be with?

Never had Briar found herself interested in men, even after more than a hundred years of roaming Alaric.

No one had managed to catch her attention, or prove to her they were worth her affection.

But, as time passed, she grew to want to find love, and the man she was destined to spend the rest of her life with.

It all started when she decided to leave the pack to go to university and feel what it was like to be a human for once. When she met Madeline, who showed her the world of romance novels and movies and how love could be a beautiful thing.

'Love,' Briar muttered under her breath while looking up at the ocean of stars which was the velvety night sky.

'When will I be able to feel the pleasure of experiencing it?'