She stared at me. "I am not asking you not to worry now". She placed her hand on my face and smiled. "But I want to know why you are worried". I stared at her but said nothing. "Come on, tell me why you are worried," she said and I sighed.
"I am worried that you will choose him over me"
She stared at me. "Yo-you are joking right?"
"I am not" I replied. "I have tried not to think about it but I can't help it"
"Why would you think of such? Do you think I am going to leave you for Gilbert?" she asked and I sighed. "Do you not trust me?"
"I trust you" I muttered. "But I do not trust the mate bond"
"What do you mean?"
"He is your mate..."
"Was my mate" she corrected. "He rejected me, remember?"
I sighed. "I know he rejected you but what..."
"Axel, can you stop worrying about nothing?"
I held her hand. "I have every reason to be worried. He is your mate and you belong to him too"
"I do not belong to him. I already told you that he rejected me"
"I know he did. But what if he changes his mind? What if he doesn't want to reject you anymore"
"Then I will reject him". I sighed. 
Xavia doesn't understand what is at stake for me and I am not willing to tell her. My fear is him marking her before I do.
I see Gilbert as a cunning person who will make sure to get what he wants by all means.
"Xavia, you will not understand my fear. Can you stop talking to him whenever he visits? I can't stop him from coming to the company because that will not make any sense but you can stop him from speaking to you"
She sighed. "I will not speak to him again if that will put your mind at rest"
I nodded. "It will"
She smiled. "Can we at least go out now?"
I nodded. "Sure"
**
My mom visited me in my room to tell me about the wedding. She said she wanted to talk to me about the preparation. 
"Mom, the wedding is coming up in a few months. Isn't it too early to begin to plan?" I asked.
"If we want a successful and beautiful wedding, we have to start planning now"
"Mom, we can start planning a month before the wedding" I replied and she scoffed. 
"Why should we start planning a month before the wedding when we can start planning now?"
"There isn't much to plan for. It's a simple wedding. Why..."
"You are my only son and you expect me to allow you to do a simple wedding? That is not possible. You are going to have a wedding that will be the talk of the town"
"I am not going to have an elaborate wedding"
"You are not going to have just an elaborate wedding, you will be having an elegant one. I want my friends from other Packs to..."
I groaned. "Mom, can you stop..."
"I will not let you have a simple wedding and I am not going to change my mind about that. You better get that"
I sighed. "Mom..."
"I came here to let you know that I will be writing the wedding list. Do you have anything in mind or I should make the list?"
I scoffed. Why is she asking me when we both know she will plan the wedding according to the way she wants it? 
"Mom, we both know that my opinion doesn't count here"
"How could you say that? It's your wedding, son. You should have a say"
"Are you going to allow me to have a wedding of not more than fifty guests?"
"Never. There are so many people to invite. We have to invite your distant uncles and aunties from those faraway Packs. I will be inviting the Luna of... let me see..."
I groaned. "Please, you don't have to tell me the Pack names because I know if you do, we will not be leaving this place today"
She scoffed. "You asked a question and I was trying to answer you"
I nodded. "I know"
"Is there anything else you want?"
"Mom, please, go on with the wedding plans. We both know my opinion means nothing in this wedding"
"Can you stop saying that? Do you want others to think I am forcing you to have the kind of wedding you do not want"
I scoffed slightly. "Of course you are" I mumbled. 
"What did you say?"
"I said you can go on with the list. If you need my opinion, you can show it to me when you are done"
She smiled. "I heard what you said the first time but since you have given me the go-ahead to make the wedding list, I will pretend I did not hear those words"
I sighed. "You can be in charge of the wedding but can you not drag me into it? I might grow grey hairs if you keep coming to me"
"Are saying that I..."
"I am saying that I am already stressed out with the companies' affairs. I do not wish to add others. I trust you to do a good job. You don't have to report to me for anything"
She smiled. "You are putting me in charge of everything?"
I nodded. "I am"
"Good," she said, standing up. "I will get the list ready and I will send it to you"
I groaned. "Do you have to?"
"Are you trying to leave everything concerning your wedding to me?"
"Isn't that what you want?"
She scoffed. "Who told you that? It's your wedding, and I am in charge but you must be aware of everything going on"
I sighed. "Fine. I will check out the list when it's ready"
**
"What do you plan to do, tonight?" Jason asked me.
"What do you mean?"
"You said you have been having nightmares about Gilbert marking Xavia. Though I am sure that is a result of you thinking so much about it"
"What do you mean?"
"I know how worried you have been. I also know how worked up you always are whenever Xavia talks to Gilbert. I am also aware that you are worried that he will have a stronger mate bond since he was her first mate"
I sighed. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"So you can know that I knew about it and you can be comfortable talking to me about it"
"What does talking to you as to do in this situation? Does it change the fact that Gilbert is Xavia's first mate? Or that he might mark her against her will?"
"It doesn't change it but it might proffer a solution"
I folded my arms. "What solution if I may ask?"
"Can I ask you some questions first?"
"Will the question help me..."
"It will if you answer them correctly"
I sighed. "I will try my best to. But Jason if at the end you can not provide any solution, I am going to rip off your tongue and your eyes"
"Why would you rip off my tongue and eyes and not other parts of my body"
"I am ripping off the tongue you used in speaking to me and the eyes you used in staring boldly at me when you have no solution"
He chuckled "And if I proffer a solution, what do I get in return?"
"What do you want to get in return?" I asked.
"You have to promise me something nice. Promise me that..."
"I am not going to promise you anything until I am sure there is a solution"
He scoffed. "Do you not trust me?"
"I never said I did not. This is business, I need to know what my profit will be before I venture into it"
"I am also a businessman. I need to know what is in for me before I offer my service"
I scoffed. "Are you going to ask your question or not?"
"I will. But we have to make a deal. Do you agree to that?"
"What is the deal?"
"I will tell you what I want as payment for my service and you in turn will promise to give it to me if the solution I proffer works out"
I nodded. "Fine, I agree to that but you must not ask me something ridiculous"
"I will never do that," he said and I sighed. 
"Tell me what do you want?"
He chuckled. "One of your islands"
I frowned. "You want a complete island?"
He nodded. "Are you not going to have Xavia completely to yourself too"
I scoffed. "That's different. Why do you need an island? You never had interest in it"
"My wife's wish is to own an island and I want to make that wish come true on our wedding day"
I sighed. If he is asking for an island for his wife I am going to give it to him, even if the plan doesn't fall through because he deserves more than that.
"Ask your question" I muttered.
"Do you agree to the deal?" he asked and I said nothing. "I take that as a yes" he muttered. "To my question. Why have you not marked her?"
"I do not want to mark her against her will"
"Have you tried speaking to her about it? You know sooner or later you will need to mark her"
I sighed. "I know but... I... I do not want her to be scared when she hears that I will have to dip my fangs into her skin. Do you not remember how long it took before she finally spoke to me?"
"Axel" he cooed. "If you keep worrying about all of these, you will not be able to mark her and Gilbert will have a greater chance. She will belong to him completely"
I sighed. "So what is your solution?"
"Mark her tonight"
I furrowed my brows. "What are you saying?"
"This night is the full moon. You know it is the time when werewolves and Lycan wolves feel their mate bond strongly". I nodded. "It will be easy for you to mark her"
"I am not going to mark her against her will"
"Are you going to allow Gilbert to have her?"
I sighed. "What if she wants him? What..."
"You can't make that choice for her. You have to make her do that herself". I stared at him and he smiled. "I have an idea"
**
I followed Jason's suggestion and spoke to Xavia. I made her understand I wasn't going to hold her back if she did not want to stay with me. I told her I wished to mark her as mine but I will not be doing it against her will. I explained what it is to mark one's mate.
"You can choose whomever you want, Xavia," I told her. "This night is going to be the full moon when werewolves and Lycan wolves feel stronger mate bonds. I would like to mark you tonight but I want you to make the choice. I will be waiting in my room for you. If you show up, then you have chosen me and I will mark you but if you don't, I will accept that you chose Gilbert instead of me"