Chapter 7 Seven

• *****Xena's POV*****
• The rain began to fall in torrents again the moment Valkyrie left. She had been totally speechless when I told her that Ryder was my mate. Just like I was the first time I found out, I was speechless and dumbfounded.
• She left for the packhouse because she needed to be there on time as she worked in the packhouse and needed to also be available for the party.
• I just tidied up the entire living room, ate a little dinner because of Layla, then took my laptop and went upstairs to my bedroom.
• The entire time I tried not to think, but each time I tried to relax, I'm always assaulted by the memory of Ryder's hand on my shoulder. I was supposed to go to the packhouse for the coronation, at least to show my happiness for my favorite student who was turning Alpha, but I turned out to be that favorite student's mate.
• Such an embarrassing thing if the public found out.
• I would find a way to make him reject me before the news got out, because even if I avoided him today, there's still tomorrow when I have to go to school and I'll definitely meet him.
• He would also become Alpha and lay out commands which I couldn't disobey.
• I strutted into the bathroom for a quick shower as the weather was extremely cold. Stepping out of the bathroom wrapped in my towel, I made my way into the room to get dressed and ready to sleep.
• Tomorrow, I would've gotten the courage to finally face him in school, but for now I better stay home and enjoy the cozy atmosphere.
• Once I got dressed, I settled in my bed to read through the lessons I had for the next day. I turned off the light in my room, leaving only my reading lights on.
• Just when I settled in to begin my reading on my laptop, Layla suddenly posed a question.
• "You feel nervous?" She asked and my hand on the keyboard froze.
• "Mm." I hummed in reply and she sighed.
• "It's normal for you to feel that way." She said to me, but I said nothing in response to that.
• I proceeded to type on the laptop, also posing my own question to her, "What do you think about all these?" I asked.
• She chuckled at my words, "what I think?" She sighed, "I find it crazy that we're mated to a kid! But we don't have a choice do we?" She returned and I let out a tired sigh.
• "That's the thing! We're mated to a kid!"
• "But you know, it can't be that bad." She argued, "if you ask me, I'll say we should give it a try."
• I froze at her words, give what a try?
• Mate with Ryder?
• "Hell no!" I yelled out and she just chuckled. "Don't even suggest that. I just can't do that."
• I said and she kept mute.
• I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, there was just no way I could accept this.
• Leaning back on the headboard, I shut my eyes for a brief second, just to catch my breath.
• "You know you could do this, we've waited our whole life for this." She started again and rolled my eyes.
• "So what? We waited our whole life for a kid." I added and she laughed.
• "You make it sound like it's a taboo"
• "Because it is a taboo. It's so embarrassing that I can't even picture it in my head. Yes, Ryder doesn't look his age at all and he looks older than me, but I just can't see myself having any relationship with him aside student and teacher."
• Layla was trying so hard to make me see the other side of this weird combination, but I just didn't want to accept it. I just didn't want to see it, I just wanted to wake up from the dream I felt I was having.
• Maybe my mate was a tall handsome man who is very much older than I was and was bigger too. It was definitely not Ryder, but again, it wasn't a dream.
• It was all real!
• "You have to calm down, Xena. Over thinking this way wouldn't even go anywhere in helping the situation." Layla said and I hummed. Unfortunately, she was right. Overthinking and stress wouldn't help me at all.
• Just as I settled into the covers, the door bell rang startling me from my sitting position.
• I glanced at the bedside alarm to see it was already very late and the time was already 10 pm.
• Who would visit someone at this hour?
• My heart beat accelerated as I climbed out of bed to go check on the anonymous visitor.
• "Just relax, if anything goes wrong you let me take over, got it?" Layla assured and I nodded.
• I went downstairs to the living room and directly to the front door.
• The person only rang the doorbell once, and it scared shit out of me.
• Though the city had been very peaceful and quiet, there weren't any cases of murder or stalkers stalking people, so I was 90 percent sure it wasn't a murderer at my doorstep.
• But the rain was still falling very heavily, how in the goddess' name would anyone visit another person at such hour and under the rain?
• What if it was a stalker, like I had feared at first? I'd be in serious trouble if that were the case. But, as I mentioned, it couldn't be a stalker. I've lived alone for so long and never had a stalker, so it couldn't be one.
• I gulped down my saliva as I reached out to unlock the door, my heart thumping so loud I couldn't hear anything else. The rain, along with the mysterious person at my door, made it feel like a scene from a horror movie.
• I crept on tiptoes to peek through the peephole, and that's when I spotted the outline of a man. A man was standing at my doorstep.
• I still proceeded to reach for the door handle.
• Just as I pulled the door open, I came face to face with no other person but Ryder.