Taking the Leap

Chapter 21

~Achilles ~

"Are we celebrating Christmas together?" Xander asked me the next morning. We'd opened the blinds to see that there was thick snow falling in the area. It was only a few days away from Christmas but I'd been so wrapped up in preparing to come out and this new thing with Xander I'd barely noticed.

"Wow, Christmas. That's still a thing, huh?" I said, suddenly worried about the fact my tree wasn't up, how I hadn't even thought of a gift for Xander and I wasn't even sure if he celebrated it.

Xander was fidgeting with his hair, somehow when I woke up at night I noticed he was wearing a silk headwrap to bed wrapped in a bonnet. I wasn't even sure where he'd gotten those things but then he said he always had hair care items in his trusty fanny pack. "I normally go to Germany to visit my extended family. It's like a family thing but it's not a huge tradition. If I go, I'll probably leave Christmas Eve and come back after New Years." He replied while taking off his silk wrap and bonnet, fluffing out his hair with his fingers.

"Do you want to do Christmas together?" I said as I rifled through my duffel for something that wasn't wrinkled.

"Maybe we'll do it together next year." He said softly. His tone was odd and I looked up to say something. But, then someone knocked on the door.

Xander went to open it and I got a bad feeling when I saw a few men from the pack standing outdoors. Their faces were set hard and grim and I got the sudden desire to shield Xander.

By the time I got to the door, a few tense words seemed to have been said. Xander made space for me to stand beside him but his body was on edge.

The three men on my doorstep had always been trouble, wannabe alphas since we were all just pups. I remembered how they could be bullies when they banded together. Rick, Jake and Kolby. They were all unremarkable looking, Rick developing a beer belly, Jake with his receding hairline and Kolby more average than anything else. From what I remembered, one was a high school teacher, the other an attorney and then an engineer.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be." Kolby was saying, staring hard at me, and completely disregarding Xander.

Xander spoke up, voice dripping acid, "Don't make what harder than it has to be?"

Kolby looked at Xander for a quick moment, the disgust plain on his face. "There were children here last night when you decided to tell everyone you're gay, Lee. That was wrong on so many levels. The pack is the one place us shifters can be our honest selves and you just...Ruined that."

"I didn't ruin anything." I ground out between clenched teeth.

Rick's arms were crossed over his chest, "We have the right to ask you to leave the pack, or at least to stop flaunting your lifestyle. We've decided having your friend around makes the pack uncomfortable."

It was strange. This is exactly what I had been afraid of, the lack of acceptance, the judgement, being made an outcast. But, standing there, I was only angry. My nice relaxing morning with Xander had been spoiled because of their lack of acceptance.

"Get the fuck off my porch." I said, moving past Xander to stand in front of him. "Don't be a dick in front of my mate." I gave each of them a hard glare before slamming the door in front of their faces. Fuck, I'd wanted to do that since forever.

Xander's reaction was just a delicately arched brow and an amused quirk of his lips. "Wanna come to my place later? Sunny said she wants to come over. We can take it easy and watch a movie."