Paws of Fire - A Wolfs Aura

Chapter Five - Watch Dog

When it was finally 3:30 p.m. and Chandrya was about to head for the exit, she could already clearly feel Tobi's presence. Not that his aura was as strong as that of an alpha who could shake an entire building with his presence, even if their only relation to it was Draco.

However, it wasn't normal that she could feel him at this distance, but what was normal for Chany anyway. At first, she had thought she was imagining it, that she could sense other people's presences. But Draco had given her the all-clear. It hadn't happened to everyone, just certain ones, because what she sensed weren't people, they were shapeshifters like her. People with a second, different soul fragment. Their soul was not only human, but also a fraction of that of a beast.

Draco had often mentioned that it was only for the strongest among them to have such a clear sense and that she was lucky to be so special, but Chany didn't want to be special. As much as she liked her other side, she also loathed this one. It brought her nothing but trouble so many times and today would be no different. If she were like everyone else, she could have had ice cream with her friends without having to worry about a pesky babysitter.

Chany took a few careful steps with her thin legs and finally sighed with relief as she stepped onto the rough ground just before the exit. It was really only Tobi that she could sense; she should have noticed Francis much earlier if he had been here. His aura was much stronger. Suddenly, Mona bumped into her from behind again and happily pushed Chany out. She couldn't wait to do something with her best friend. Girls' evenings with Chany had been impossible and small outings for the three of them were very rare.

“Mona…” Chany sighed. But the little girl didn't pay any attention.

She was so determined to leave quickly before Chandrya changed her mind that she didn't pay attention to anything. Not even Tate, who had been waiting for them outside as promised. Chandrya hit his toned upper body with her right shoulder and threatened to fall as he gripped her tightly.

“Oh sh*t.” Mona put her hand over her mouth in surprise. Chany felt a sharp pain and her body and froze briefly.

“Sorry, Tate,” Mona apologized. And Chany carelessly rolled her eyes. After all, Mona had pushed her onto him.

“I'm sorry, Tate,” Chany said, releasing her tight grip on his shirt. She smoothed out the wrinkles with her left hand, while the other was still paralyzed by the impact.

“It’s all good,” Tate laughed, but he didn’t loosen his hug.

Chany's cheeks glowed red as she saw that this action had not gone unnoticed by some of the onlookers around her and certainly not by Tobi either. A loud throat-clearing noise sounded in her ears, but neither Mona nor Tate could hear it. Tobi seemed anything but enthusiastic. Chandrya quickly took a few steps back after she had elegantly wriggled out of Tate's arms and looked sheepishly in Tobi's direction. Tate followed her gaze while Mona bounced innocently from one foot to the other, seemingly oblivious to it all. In Chandrya's opinion, she even seemed a little too uninvolved, almost as if she had deliberately wanted to embarrass her with her behavior earlier. Chany dismissed that thought at the same moment. Mona wouldn't do something like that, she was just a clumsy girl. Surely it was just Chany's excitement playing with her thoughts.

Tobi's gaze hardened, and she knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“Your guard dog?” Tate joked in a serious tone and it almost made Chany jump. He didn't know how right he was with that statement.

Now Mona also caught a brief glimpse of Tobi and her smile immediately disappeared from her face.

“I'll clarify this briefly,” Chandrya assured her, and was just about to turn around when Mona replied with a dissatisfied: “Sure.” Of course, she was tense and her hopes of a meeting with her friends were fading. Normally, when one of Chandrya's pick-ups showed up at the door, it meant she had to leave quickly. And today would certainly be no different. Why was Mona even looking forward to all of this?

For now, Chandrya ignored Mona's statement, even though she understood where it came from. Today it would be different. Chany had decided that.

Since Tobis had already seen her, running away was no longer an option and communication was her only option.

“Tobi,” she greeted him carefully as she stood barely two meters away from him.

“You're taking a lot of time with these people,” he grumbled, his brown eyes almost looking black.

Great, today of all days he's in a bad mood.

Tobi was wearing casual dark gray jeans, but a white shirt with a neat navy blue shirt over it, something he didn't wear often, which made Chany suspect that he certainly had something better to do than to pick her up. Maybe he would go on a date right after his shift.

“Well, first of all... these are my friends, Tobi,” Chany began, and Tobi remained silent.

Of course, he knew who they were, he obviously just didn't care.

“And then, I wanted to ask you for something,” she continued, putting on her puppy eyes and trying to concentrate all her strength inside. Tobi relaxed immediately and Chany knew she shouldn't have done that.

Francis had often said that she should have more control over herself and not abuse her power, but she had often noticed the effect she had on people like Tobi. But she wasn't always able to deal with all of that.

“What do you want?” he asked calmly.

“I just want to go out for ice cream with my friends like a normal person,” she explained, almost sadly. Tobi sighed and looked around worriedly.

“But you’re not a normal person,” he whispered, so only she could hear.

“Can I still? You can stay nearby, and it definitely won’t take long!” she replied, barely louder. Such conversations must have seemed strange to anyone in their immediate vicinity. Two people whispering to each other at such a distance. It wouldn't be the first time that they would get strange looks for this.

Draco had once told her that werewolves were also able to communicate with each other through thoughts, but this required a lot of practice that Chany simply didn't have and a connection that she was denied to most people. Not only did you have to contact the person you wanted, but the other person also had to let you in. She couldn't imagine how something like that could have worked and was often sure that it was just one of his stories that she loved to hear.

Tobi sighed again and looked at her with a pleading look. She couldn't do that to him. How could he say no to her like that?

“Okay...,” Tobi gave in. Chandrya smiled happily and thanked him several times.

Tate kept looking back and forth between Mona and Chany with this goofy guy. He didn't know what it was about Tobi that bothered him so much. Maybe his dark, perfectly falling curls, the soft facial features and the cocoa-brown eyes on his wanna-be pretty face or just the way he treated Chany? No, it was certainly because he was one of the obstacles that made spending time with Chany something that was mostly limited to school or college. It was a mystery to him how Chandrya's parents could allow all this or, even worse, how they could accept restricting their daughter like that.

Tate didn't hate Chany's parents and whenever he met them he was as nice to them as they were to him. They knew that Tate and Mona were an important part of their daughter's life, and they were happy that she had such good friends. But they were just too overprotective of him. For this reason, he had always been surprised when the Elouans had come to one of his mother's barbecue parties, which she hosted every summer in their huge garden.

They were probably one of those rich people who were afraid of being taken advantage of for their money, and especially with their daughter, Tate could understand how worried they were. But this was all something he didn't want for Chandrya.

“Are you okay?” Mona pressed out.

Tate's jaw clenched tightly, his jaw slackening as he realized how tense he was. However, he would never have admitted to himself that he was just as excited as Mona about whether Chany would be able to persuade Tobi.

“Well... he’s pretty,” she continued, whispering to herself when Tate didn’t say anything. It seemed as if the sight of her best friends and her minder had gotten Mona's full attention back.

Tate's mouth opened slightly. He wanted to say something, but none of the thoughts that had formed in his head seemed appropriate. It wasn't the first time that Mona had said something like that about Tobi. When she was 14, she also seemed to have had a crush on Tobi, although he was certainly ten years older and an i***t who separated her from her friend, even if it was probably just his job for which he was paid.

Tate sighed in exasperation and decided on the only right thing: “It’s okay. Chany will do it," he answered calmly, and at the same moment Mona's hand moved reassuringly to his shoulder.

"You're certainly right," she tried to be confident.

Chandrya had turned around with a broad grin that was now directed at her two friends. Mona jumped up and down excitedly and was almost clutching Tobi's shoulder as she shook him firmly in her joy. Without thinking too much, he tore himself away from Mona and hurried a few steps towards Chany. Mona tried to catch up quickly with her short legs and immediately hooked herself onto Chandrya. She wouldn't let go of her so quickly. Tate followed suit with Mona.

"Let's go," Chany laughed at her friends' silliness.