Always Choose Dare

Chapter 12 - Opportunity

I don’t know how I did it, but I was able to hold my lycan nature back when Star was flirting with the server and checking out his lack of an ass. Poor guy suffers from No-Assatall Syndrome! Marek’s encouragement helped, but really, the only thing that got me through it was knowing that if I acted like a d**k, I’d give up any chance of having a future with my mate. That sobered me right up!

And now…now I’m digging my fingertips into my knees trying to not mate-call Star in the restaurant. When I listened to Star’s story about my mother, I realized that my mother had most likely known that I would find her yesterday at her book release. The thought brought me such joy and contentment that I let out a little bit of my lycan’s call in my voice. It was unintentional, but Star’s immediate response to it wafted into my nostrils, and now I’m scraping the underside of the table with my own wood.

“My mother was always gifted with knowing how things would work out in the future; it gave her words and actions purpose and intention. It was a wonderful gift in many ways. I’m glad she blessed your life with it.”

Marek’s elbow in my side gently cuts me off from speaking. He knows that my vibrato is calling my mate. He’s right. I really need to stop using it for now.

“You said that - ahem - you might be able to assist me with my current challenge with my father?”

I watch as Star takes another swig of her coffee, trying to hide the fact that she has squirmed in her seat multiple times in the last few minutes.

“Yes. If you can think of a way that I could possibly help you, I’m willing to do so,” I say with a broad smile as I continue looking into her eyes.

Haunting in hue, her eyes are grey with tiny specks of green, blue, gold, black, violet, and brown in them, almost like a heathered fabric. They are mesmerizing!

“Is something wrong?” Star asks, after catching me staring at her eyes.

“Not at all. I’ve just never seen eyes colored like yours. They are breathtaking,” I say easily.

“They are just ordinary hazel-grey. Nothing special,” she dismisses, looking down to avoid my gaze.

“Personally, I think they’re perfect. As I said, I’ve never seen eyes like yours,” I assure her. Seeing that she is uncomfortable, I change the subject. “So, back to our discussion. What can we do to assist you, Star?”

“Well, there is this thing next weekend - a ball in the capital. My father has worked out a business arrangement that has included me as payment. I know how that sounds, unbelievable really, but it’s true! My father has agreed for me to marry the son of Uralia’s chancellor as some sort of payment for whatever he’s getting out of this deal. Would you both be willing to go with me? One of you could pose as my ‘boyfriend’ while the other could be acting as his bodyguard. You’ve already pulled off posing as security guards," she pauses as her slight jab settles on Marek and me. “It would just be for that one evening. In return, I’ll sneak into my father’s office and see if I can find Dora’s contact information in his old files. If nothing else, it would tell us where she was so we can search online records for where she is.”

She rushed her words out, then took a deep breath.

“What do you think?”

“Considering Daire is an actual prince, and I am his bodyguard in a way, it would certainly make this much more convincing,” Marek offers.

I side-eye him. There is no need to throw my birthright out in the open like that!

“Wait. A prince? Like a real prince?” Star’s face twists in confusion as she thinks things through. “That would mean that Dora -”

“Was the true and rightful queen of Wulftshire. Yes. And yes, I am a prince by birthright, but I don’t choose to live as such. I have an honest job in…law enforcement. Thankfully, my father has been supportive of my stepping away from royal duties to pursue my career.”

Star blinks a few times, then scrunches her forehead in thought.

“But if Dora was a queen, why didn’t she go back to her home? It’s not like my father held her hostage — she was free to come and go as she pleased.”

“Our kingdom is, for lack of a better term, hidden. There’s no transportation available from here to get someone there. In fact, we can only go abroad with special permission from our rulers. When my mother was taken, it was by someone who snuck into our lands and took her. I imagine she escaped them, but has not found a way to get back home.”

“Hidden? Like, no one outside of your country has ever been there, seen it, or contacted any of your people through the internet?” Star asks incredulously.

“Internet?”

“Yeah. I mean, you do have cell phones there, don’t you?”

She lifts her device and waves it in front of Marek and me.

“No,” Marek says, looking closer at her device.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe you. I am sure you have it on silent mode in one of your pockets.”

I stand and go around the table.

“Check every pocket.”

Looking forward to feeling my mate’s hands on my body, I raise my arms and stand wide open. Star gives me a wary look, then stands and begins stroking her hands across and down my body while I sing children’s nursery rhymes in my head to keep from getting another erection. At this rate, I’ll be bricked up for the rest of our time in this realm — unless she decides to accept me and help me unload what’s waiting for her.

“How have none of the other countries not found you through satellite imagery?”

“We have electronic shielding. It works like a webbed canopy, deflecting such devices,” Marek explains calmly.

I hold my stoic face, knowing damn well that he pulled some random sh!t from his ass. It’s a little unnerving how easily he just lied to my mate!

“If we are going to pose as these roles for you, would you be willing to help us with something as well? My mother always said that she wanted to search the world for an ancient temple once built for the Moon Goddess. I could use some assistance in finding where one might be, just in case that’s near where she’s now living,” I state calmly, though my heart feels like it might explode, detesting the fact that I cannot be completely honest with my mate yet!

“Oh! Yes, Dora often spoke to me about the Moon Goddess and how the werewolves in her fairytales worshiped her. Different cultures have different goddesses, several are goddesses of the moon. Was there one in particular for which you were looking?”

“I don’t remember her ever saying a specific name. Maybe we could just track down all the temples and then Marek and I could start with the closest one first,” I suggest.

“I have to get a new cell phone, then we can go to the university and use their library,” she says hurriedly.

“Does that cell phone not function properly?” I ask.

She laughs lightly. “This old thing is seriously outdated. Besides, I need the network to load everything from my last phone’s card into the new phone. This one doesn’t have the memory needed to store everything.”

I glance at Marek, who seems just as confused as I am.

“Why don’t you both come with me? If you are going to be here for a while, you’ll need to get your own phones. I can’t imagine living without mine,” she says as she taps her finger on the glass of the device.

Once I paid for our breakfast, we left the café and walked back to Star’s home to retrieve her vehicle. Apparently, the store that has cell phones is on the other side of the city, and in order for us to have time to accomplish everything today, the vehicle is necessary. Marek asked her numerous questions about her vehicle during our ride, which seemed to amuse Star. She was shocked that our “country” also has its own vehicles and does not import any from anywhere else.

The cell phone store was another highlight of our day for Marek. We learned that they function as a palm reader and an earpiece all in one, and if we wanted, we could get earpieces to “go hands-free”. The assistants and Star showed us the primary features of the phone, and Marek was delighted to find out all of its capabilities. For the most part, it doesn’t scan as accurately as a palm reader, but it has more capabilities overall. It’s nice to see that the human realm is equally advanced as ours.

Afterward, Star brought us to the university. She explained that their library would have more texts available for historical research. Her friend from the book release was there and gave me a few angry looks, but helped us nonetheless. We each flipped through texts and jotted down notes, eventually confirming six temples that were built for a god or goddess of the moon at some point in time. One of the six temples is actually in the capital of the country, so we decided to go there the day after Star’s father’s ball next weekend. Star agreed to accompany us in hopes of seeing my mother, which made me glad that my mate has such a fondness for my family already.

“I think that is all we’re going to find here today,” Star says as she stands, yawns, and stretches her body, which lifts her shirt just enough for me to get a little peek at her waist.

“If you give us directions to where we are staying, we can walk back so you can go directly home,” I suggest.

“Oh, yeah. Where are you staying?”

“The Grande Sun,” I say.

“Oh my! That place costs a fortune! How long do you plan on staying?” She asks.

“As long as needed,” I reply.

“Well, first of all, that is over an hour's walk from here, so I’ll drive. Second, if you both want, you can stay at my house this week. I figure we’ll need to get to know each other really well to convince others that we’re dating before next Saturday. With Marek being security, it would also make me feel a bit after. I heard that a lion got loose from a nearby zoo last night, and I swear I heard the damn thing outside my back window! They still haven’t caught it, either!”

Marek elbows me discreetly and stifles his laughter. I chuckle quietly, and Star gives me a look before crossing her arms over her chest.

“It was real! Seriously. It sounded like it was about to tear through my window!”

Star raises an eyebrow and pops her hip to the side sassily in an attempt to convince us that she was telling the truth.

“Oh, I believe you heard the roar! I’m just not convinced it was a lion. From the reports I heard, they think it was something much larger,” I say, doing my best to come across as serious rather than amused by the fact that she had heard me.

“I don’t know, Daire. I mean, what could possibly be bigger than a lion?” Marek asks, and I seriously consider junk-punching him right here in front of everyone.

“Oh, maybe you’re right! Maybe it was a grizzly bear!” Star exclaims, her hand coming up to her cheek as if the thought shocked her.

“I guarantee Marek and I can handle any stray beasts lurking around your home so you can sleep soundly,” I assure her.

“Then we can swing by and get your belongings from the hotel before heading to my house,” Star says as she slings her bag over her shoulder and walks toward the door.

When she is a few feet away, I hear her whisper to herself, “Sure thing, Rem, just invite two male strangers to stay with you for a week like it’s a normal thing or something!”

Briefly, I wonder why she calls herself "Rem" and try to tuck that away as a question to ask her later. I watch her shake her head at herself, and it amuses me. I feel like this week will be fun as we prepare for next weekend’s ball. If nothing else, I’ll get to learn more about who my mate is and what kind of life she lives. One thing is for sure though, my mate has given me an opportunity to be what she needs me to be, and I sure as sh!t am not going to disappoint her!