A smile graced Xander’s lips, lighting up his entire face. It was an expression I’d never seen on him before and it made my heart melt.
“If that’s too hard for you to say,” Xander went on, “you can also say cougar, or puma. They’re all the same thing.”
“Cougaw,” Leveret said, trying out the word.
Ashe and Lupa giggled. “Poo-ma.” After saying it, they giggled even harder.
“Maybelionis the easiest,” Xander conceded, still smiling.
I could have stood there and watched them for an eternity. I was seeing a completely different side of Xander, one that didn’t fit his solitary-stoic-bad-boy image at all. Around kids, he was a total softie. He got called apoo-ma, for gods’ sake. If anyone else had called him that, he probably would’ve bit their head off.
But now, interacting with the kids, his eyes lit up despite the pain. There was a handsome and adorable smile on his face that never faded. He was… so gorgeous.
A twinge inside my ribs made me put a hand over my chest. It felt weird.
My brother’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“Well, pack?” Hugo asked with a smile. “What’s our final say about Xander?”
Everyone had seen Xander and the kids now. Xander’s kindness was undeniable. Theyhadto know that now. Hope fluttered inside me.
“Please let him stay,” I blurted out.
Everyone exchanged a glance, one I couldn’t entirely read. I felt like they all knew something I didn’t.
I didn’t know if it was because I begged, or because the pack had seen that Xander was a good guy and the kids loved him, but the vote was unanimous, even from a grudging Remington.
Xander was staying.
