The Beta's Redemption.

3.

Ivy ~~

“Mate.”

“What did you say, Gertie?” I asked my wolf once again, wanting to hear that she’d been joking and she hadn’t really meant that there was someone in the crowd who’d unfortunately been mated to me.

Unfortunately, Gertie being a royal wolf meant that she was very much averse to jokes and stand up comedy, which in turn meant that there was actually someone in the crowd who’d unfortunately been mated to me.

So, I did the next best thing to do since I was just confronted with the fact that I was on the verge of having a mental breakdown.

I ran back to Maria.

Snatching the glass of wine from her hand just as she was about to knock the liquid down her throat, I sat on the chair beside hers.

“Hey!”

“This is an emergency, Maria!” I growled over the noise. “A huge emergency!”

She glared at me. “No matter how serious an emergency is, it gives you no right to take my spirit wine away from me.”

“Actually, this one does,” I mumbled quietly, and although I knew she hadn’t heard me, her annoyed expression dissolved into one of concern.

“Ivy…what’s going on?”

I looked around for a while before turning back to her. “I…I think I found my mate.”

For a few seconds she was frozen, just staring at me. Then her eyes widened, and she yelled, “What in the name of Gaia did you just say?!”

I was about to repeat myself when I noticed people staring at us in confusion, so I cringed and dragged her off her seat and out the back door with me. It was a serious struggle, believe me, considering the fact that there was quite a number of people engaging in several acts around there.

Ugh. The witches were going to have their hands full with creating contraceptive brews tomorrow morning.

“You found your mate?!” she whisper-yelled into the night sky as soon as I shut the door behind us.

“I think so,” I replied, rubbing my arms as the chilly air hit me.

“You think so?” she repeated incredulously as we sat on a bench she’d conjured up. “I thought y’all have your ways to know.”

“We do, we do. I just,” I hesitated when I thought of the fact that Darrel might be the one. “I’m just not sure.”

She blinked twice at me before groaning and face-palming herself. “Alright, you know what? I’m not doing this with you. Give me a rundown of what happened between the time when you ran away from me and when you snatched my precious wine from me. Now.”

So I did. In just five minutes, I’d reiterated the whole story to her, and she’d switched from friendly Maria to Maria, witch extraordinaire.

“But you and Darrel have known each other for a long time now. Surely the two of you would have known if you were mates.”

“Not really,” I replied. “Knowing who one’s mate is usually happens after the werewolf has turned eighteen. It’s rare for someone to find out before then. Sixteen, at most.”

“Ah. And you just clocked eighteen.” Her eyes shone with understanding.

“Exactly.”

“Damn,” she said, stroking her chin. “What about him? Is he eighteen?”

I blinked. “And how am I supposed to know that?”

“Oh, come on, you she-wolf. I know you keep tabs on everything Darrel Woods does, Ivy. How old is he now?”

I kept the blush from tainting my face as I answered. “Eighteen. He clocked eighteen four months ago.”

“So…the two of you are compatible, age wise. But- that still doesn’t prove that he’s the one, yeah?”

“Yes, it doesn’t. It’s just- how come it was at that exact moment that someone yelled his name? And I’ve been around since, but I hadn’t felt that connection with anyone in our group, or with any of the wolves sitting around. Just at that moment. With him. With his presence, at least.”

She stroked her chin. “Well, I can’t deny, that’s highly suspicious.”

We sat there in silence, both of us with our individual thoughts. My thoughts were obviously focused on the possibility of Darrel being my mate, and how the two events happened too closely for it to be a coincidence.

“I know what we can do,” Maria yelled all of a sudden, and my wolf snarled as I jumped.

“Ah. Well…what is it?” I asked, wrenching Gertie into her cage at the back of my mind.

“We’ll get you to Darrel right this instant, make sure you touch him, and if you feel any sparks, then we’re sure he’s the one. How does that sound?”

“Extremely weird, giving somewhat stalker vibes. Heck, I’d freak out if I was the one,” I stood up. “But I have no other idea, so yes please.”

We got back into the hall, and I almost retched when I saw one of the Minotaurs wiggling butt n***d on the floor, others dancing around him and yelling obscenities.

Maria dragged me through the sea of people and to the bar counter, where she told me to stay. I sat there quietly, my ears partially hurting from the loudness of the music as it permeated the air, and tried my best to look as though my mind wasn’t working in overdrive about this mate thing.

Soon, I perceived that scent again, and my wolf once again whimpered in pleasure.

Shit.

I should have lifted my head to check around and see who it was that was causing all this, but my timid self decided to lower my head and block everyone from my point of view.

“Darrel, come over here!”

Maria’s voice caused my head to snap up almost as fast as it had gone down, and I briefly wondered how I hadn’t died yet before focusing on my friend as she laughed and talked with…Darrel.

He always looked heavenly, with his dirty blonde hair flopping over his face and his light laugh that never failed to send shivers down my spine every time I saw him in the school halls.

Except tonight, he looked even hotter, the edges of his hair dyed black and his Zorro costume highlighting those perfect abs of his.

I couldn’t help but thank the Goddess Selene for blessing all her offspring with good looks and even more phenomenal auras. His had this natural feeling of calm, but with an undercurrent of mystery that made many of the female werewolves in our school pant after him like deers for the brook.

“Hi, Darrel,” I said when he and Maria arrived at the bar counter where I was, extending a hand to him. He smiled warmly, turning my already mushed up insides into even more mushed up insides and took my hand.

I waited. And waited.

There weren’t any sparks.

“We rarely see in the pack house, Ivy,” he said. “Where are you always running off to?”

“Oh, you know,” I replied, trying to come off as cool but knowing I was failing miserably. “I’m a busy girl.”

“Mm-hmm.” His teasing tone told me he didn’t believe me one bit. “I hope to see you around though.”

“I’m sure you will,” I replied in a small voice, devoid of my previous energy.

“A Scotch, Jasper,” he said when he released my hand and turned to the bar man, not noticing my internal turmoil.

“Well?” Maria asked when he’d bid us goodbye and slinked into the crowd.

I sat down once again, all my hope gone. “No sparks.”

Whoever my mate was in this hall had to be five times better than Darrel, or else.