Always Choose Dare

Chapter 10 - It's a Trap!

I watch my mate’s body tremble from head to toe at the sound of my lycan roar. My entire body is shaking, and it’s taking all of my strength to keep from shifting and hunting down her father so I can tear his head from his body. How dare he promise my mate in betrothal to that weasel on the screen! One look and I can tell he wouldn’t love her the way she deserves. In fact, he has the cocky appearance of a man who only loves himself.

“Alpha, we need to go. Now! I don’t know how many humans heard your roar, but I think it’s a good idea to not be here when the authorities arrive,” Marek whispers just behind my ear.

He’s right. I know he’s right, but the thought of leaving her in such distress does not feel right. The damnable fact is that she probably would want anyone but me to help her right now after what I did. f**k! Just another reminder of how wrong I was earlier.

“Come on. We’ll find her in the morning,” he coaxes.

Reluctantly, I begin moving my feet, and we try to walk casually once we are on the walkway beside the road.

“Did you hear that roar? Do you think a lion escaped from the zoo?” A woman asks her friend.

Marek laughs lightly. “She thinks you sound like a little lion!” he whispers to me.

I know he’ll tell the others back home about that! If we make it home, that is.

“It’s probably the loudest roaring animal here that she knows,” I hiss.

“Alpha Kitty! From now on, you are Alpha Kitty in my earpiece contacts! I can hear it now, ‘You are receiving a contact from Alpha Kitty. Do you wish to answer?’” Marek imitates the recording on all the earpieces in our realm.

I almost laugh, but choose to punch his shoulder instead.

“I could always change yours to ‘Former Beta Marek’,” I deadpanned.

I knew it would get under his skin, even if I was just joking.

He stops walking and stands still, rubbing his shoulder with the opposite hand. “Are you serious? I was just kidding. Trying to make you laugh. You know - stress relief.”

I give him a one-sided smile. “Yeah, I know. I was joking, too. But the stress is still present. What kind of father gives his daughter away in marriage for political gain?”

“Is that what made you lycan-out back there?”

“Yeah. From what I gathered, Star’s father is some kind of king or highly ranked person in the realm, and he has promised Star to the son of another - what did they call him? - ‘chancellor’. She was incensed! I got the feeling her betrothed isn’t desirable to her. His picture was on the screen, and I have to say, he didn’t look like he was worthy of her,” I pour it all out to Marek.

“Of course he isn’t! He isn’t her mate!”

I stood there a moment, thinking about Marek’s words. The Moon Goddess is supposed to give us our perfect match for our mate. Could Remi realize that he’s not her match? Could she somehow feel the mate bond? Our history books clearly state that sometimes the gods gifted humans as mates for magical beings, but they insinuated that humans didn’t feel the bond; only the magical beings did. Maybe she isn’t attracted to that scoundrel because she felt the bond with me! Of course, it could also just be because he’s obviously not worthy of her. Maybe she is wise enough to see that.

“I’ve got to do something, Marek, but I’m torn. Do I continue to research a way back to our realm and stop a possible apocalypse from destroying all the realms, therefore saving my mate’s life? Or do I win my mate over and bring her in on our need to find a way home?”

I’m honestly hoping Marek has an easier answer than either of these options. We continue our walk silently for a few minutes.

“Alpha, ever since we were little, we were told that the greatest gift bestowed to magical beings was a mate. We were told the greatest gift given to humans when the realms were one was to be gifted a magical being as a mate. Additionally, we were told about the dangers of trying to control all the realms the way Sid is,” Marek states, as if these thoughts aren’t already bouncing about in my own mind. “I think, if I were in your shoes, I would go try to make amends with my mate. After all, if we are going to try to stop the wizard, we’ll need as much help as we can get, and we’ll both need to be of a rational mind. If we left here, would you be able to keep your mind focused on the task at hand? Or would you be constantly wondering if your mate was being bedded by some creep her father promised her to?”

Fu(k, he’s right. The thought makes me sick, and I know that I would be too distracted by worrying about Star to be successful. I look over at Marek, and the assh0le’s smug expression shows that he knows he’s right.

“I guess we need to figure out how to get your mate to forgive you and accept you as soon as possible,” Marek says, his voice saturated with pride.

“You know, I made you my beta because I valued your loyalty and intelligence. Sometimes, though, it can make you a real assh0le,” I say, shoving him to the side.

“Ah, but an assh0le you love, no doubt!” He grins, showing every tooth in his mouth.

“Well, I did kiss you this morning…” I tease.

Marek instantly shudders and bristles.

“Goddess! Don’t remind me! I’m going to wash my mouth twice before bed tonight!”

***

The sun will rise soon. Having failed to get any proper sleep, I’ve given up and am now getting ready for my day. Brainstorming ideas last night brought Marek and me to the conclusion that it would be best to get to Star’s building early and wait for her to leave so that we can “accidentally” run into her on the sidewalk, giving me the opportunity to apologize profusely. If that doesn’t get me any closer to forgiveness, we’ll regroup and come up with another plan.

“Don’t wear that shirt. Wear the grey one. It makes your eyes look brighter,” Marek says from across the room, his toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

I chuckle a little.

“Thanks for noticing,” I say with a suggestive wink.

Marek rolls his eyes at me and spits out his toothpaste.

“The quicker she forgives you, the sooner we can all work together to find a way home. I’m doing my duty as a Balance Keeper and a Beta to help you win over your mate.”

“And I thank you wholeheartedly. So, are my eyes sparkling?” I ask, batting my eyelashes like a girl with high hopes.

“Like fu(king orange diamonds. Let’s go,” he says, using his hand to throw a little water at me from the sink, which I dodge.

We walk through the streets of the city and find our way back to Star’s building. Every ounce of my being wants to go knock on that door until she opens it, but the single-finger salute she gave me when I was begging her to stop yesterday leads me to believe she’d just slam it in my face. It’s safer to catch her out in the open. Marek and I casually walk up and down her street, pretending to be in casual conversation with each other, hoping that we blend in with the other foot traffic. Soon enough, though, Star throws her door open, then slams it shut as she begins walking toward us and talking into some kind of device.

“Well, you are going to have to deal with the fact that I just can’t do that today. My cell phone broke last night, and I’m on my old one right now until I can get a replacement, and you know how long they take at the store. After that, I have to do damage control for my father’s actions and the fact that they plastered my face all over the news,” she snaps into the device, not even looking at the surrounding people.

Just as she dodges a tree and its ornate iron cage that is planted in the walkway, she runs directly into Marek, sending her device flying into the air as her body falls backward. I quickly lunge forward and scoop her up into my arms, doing my best to appear chivalrous. With her eyes squeezed shut, she needlessly braces herself for impact, only to open them to see me looking at her with concern.

“Are you alright, miss?” I ask, smiling kindly.

Her eyes narrow as recognition hits.

“You…” she growls. “Put me down! I would rather my ass bite the sidewalk than land in your arms!”

“Ms. Knightly? How fortuitous! I’m actually glad to see you. We got off to a very wrong start, which is entirely my fault. I would like to formally apologize for my lack of manners yesterday, as well as any pain my words may have caused. Truly, I’m ashamed of my behavior and beg your forgiveness,” I say quickly and pointedly.

Praying to the Moon Goddess that Star accepts my apology, I slowly begin putting her down, hoping the delay helps give me enough time to make a difference.

“You were just step one of a sh!t day! I don’t need you ruining this one, too,” she seethes.

“Then how about you allow me to be step one of a great day? We were just headed to find some breakfast and coffee and have yet to figure out where to get it. Would you like to accompany us? Allow me to buy your morning meal as an apology for my poor wording yesterday.”

I try to give her my brightest smile, the one that has never failed to get a positive response from ladies.

“How about ‘no’? I have too much to do, and I’ve come to believe you are a bad omen,” she bites out.

She looks down at her clothing and starts to brush wrinkles from them after being held by me.

“I promise to do everything I can to change that. Besides, I know you don’t believe me, but the ring you are wearing belonged to my mother. Her name was Dora. Dora Ó Faoláin. She disappeared when I was a young child, but one thing I remember most vividly was her ring. It’s the only one in the world like it because she made it herself, along with the charm on my necklace.” I try my best to convey my honesty.

“Why should I believe you?” She asks warily, taking her ringed hand into her other hand protectively.

“Because it’s the truth; and above all else, I value truth,” I declare.

She snorts lightly, “Above kindness and love?”

“Yes. Because without truth, how can we give kindness or love appropriately or fully?” I pause, then ask, “Would you dare to take a chance of finding out the truth about that ring?”

The word ‘dare' seems to capture her thoughts, igniting fire in her gaze. Star looks into my eyes, holding them captive as she thinks about my words. She glances at Marek, then looks back into my eyes as if she is searching for a sign signaling whether or not I’m deceiving her. I give her all the time she needs to see that I am in earnest.

She fiddles with my mother’s ring and whispers to herself, “Always choose dare,” then takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders.

“Just breakfast; but if you act like an ass again, I will leave and not look back.”

Marek huffs out a breath in an attempt to stifle a laugh, probably at the fact that someone has called me an ass to my face, and I didn’t flatten her.

“I am forever indebted to you for giving me this chance, for daring to choose Daire,” I say, making eye contact with my soul’s partner.

She rolls her eyes and groans in frustration.

“Come with me,” she commands. “There’s a restaurant with great coffee just up the road. I’m warning you, though - if you lie to me or say anything about Dora that upsets me, I will castrate you with my coffee spoon. Understood?”