The Unwanted Mate Rewrite Sneak peek

He's Impossible Part 2

When we got to the school, I left the money I owed him on the seat after getting out before heading straight to Krissy's classroom like the teacher wanted.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"Going with you on this class field trip," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, good luck with that," I said, shaking my head. I knew Mrs. Champeny and she was not about to let some random teen hang around her class's trip.

Mrs. Champeny had blonde hair and green eyes with thin framed glasses. She had to be in her early thirties and it was obvious she was fairly new to the teacher scene. She was cautious and a stickler for rules and easily triggered when it came to stress, but I didn't have any complaints about her as Krissy really seemed to love her and she seemed to have a good relationship with all the kids from what I could see. I also loved the human factor. That was a definite bonus.

"Oh good, you're here," Mrs. Champeny smiled at me. "We're doing two adults to a larger group as it seems many volunteers had to cancel." As she finished talking, she seemed to notice Eric standing behind me. "Oh, who's this?" I turned to look at Eric, then Mrs. Champeny.

"Oh, sorry, I don't know him," I said raising my hands together, "we just arrived at the same time." I looked over at Eric who looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Sorry, how can I help you?" Mrs. Champeny asked him, looking at him confused. He seemed to focus on someone behind her.

"I'm actually Daniel, Brandon's brother," Eric said, "my mom said she couldn't make it today and asked me to take her place."

"Oh, can I see your I.D.?" Mrs. Champeny smiled and I covered my mouth as I wanted to laugh, "any kind. Driver's license or school I.D. doesn't matter. It's just proof to see that you are who you say you are. I can't just believe anybody who walks in." He thought he was so smart.

"No, I understand that," Eric said as he pulled out his wallet. "I appreciate you looking after my little brother." I looked at him surprised. Does he really have an I.D. with Daniel's name on it? He let out a groan. "I can't believe this. I left my license on the counter."

"You don't have your school I.D.?" She asked.

"Actually, I haven't gotten mine this year," he said before looking at me, "have you gotten yours?" I narrowed my eyes at him glaring as he used me to credit him.

"No, we don't have one," I agreed.

"I do have the temporary one, but it doesn't have a photo and I'm sure that's not what you want," Eric shrugged holding out the card.

"No, it's alright," Mrs. Champeny sighed, "I got another solution." I watched her turn around. "Brandon, Brandon, come here." Brandon looked over from where he was sitting. She seemed to have them working on a warmup at their desks. He walked over as his eyes narrowed in on Eric.

"Do you know him?" Mrs. Champeny asked. Brandon looked over at Eric and as Mrs. Champeny had her focus on Brandon, I saw Eric raise up his hand in a five formation. Brandon frowned at Eric and Mrs. Champeny turned to look at Eric, who quickly ran that hand over his hair inconspicuously. Brandon rose both hands up in ten.

After studying Eric a moment longer, she turned back to Brandon.

"Honey, do you know him or not?" Mrs. Champeny asked as Eric raised his hand up in five in a final kind of motion. Brandon raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, I don't know-"

'Fine!' Eric mouthed before flashing him a ten.

"Why you would think he is not my brother, Daniel," Brandon finished quickly before running over to Eric's side. "We look so much alike." The two smiled at her as Mrs. Champeny studied the two of them. "Although, I am the better looking one." Brandon gave her a wink.

"Okay, go sit down," Eric said, shoving him away.

"Don't forget your promise," Brandon whispered as he walked away.

"I guess that's that," Mrs. Champeny said, "I'll pair you two up and give you a list of your group."

"Sure, is it alright if I go with Krissy?" I asked now that I wasn't going to interrupt.

"Go ahead," She said walking away. I turned to Eric snatching the temporary card in his hand. Did he really have Daniel's...My mouth fell open. No, this was his...

"I knew she was going to reject it without looking because of the no picture, so it just helped make me look more credible offering something up," Eric smiled at me as he took the card back and slipped it back in his wallet.

"You think you're so smart, but when Mrs. Brianna walks through that door, good luck fooling her," I smirked before walking over to Krissy. I kneeled beside her looking at the paper where she was practicing writing words of plants and animals she might see on the trip.

"Hey, shortcake," I smiled before holding up the bag. "I bought you lunch."

"What'd you get?" She asked as she focused on finishing her work.

"I got you, a turkey sandwich from..." I said

"Al's Convenience," Krissy faked a gasp, making me laugh.

"Yup, and I got you..." I said.

"Nacho cheese chips," She said as I held up the bag. "You love me so much." She leaned her head against mine. I smiled.

"Wait, but there's more," I said.

"There's more," Krissy said, pulling away and looking into the bag. "Crackers and Gatorade! Nice!" She grabbed the hat and put it on her head.

"Of course, you overlook the water," I said.

"I thought that was for you," she said, "I can't have all of that. You can take the water."

"Wow, so sweet, how did I deserve to get such a sweet one, huh?" I said as I playfully pinched Krissy's nose and moved her head side to side. She laughed and I let her free.

"No, but if all this is for me, where's your lunch?" She asked and I froze. Crap, I'm not going to hear the end of it from Aleu. I completely forgot.

"I had such a big breakfast," I said motioning with my hands, "I won't be hungry till dinner."

"But you didn't eat breakfast," Krissy frowned.

"I did," I replied, "I did. You know I'm actually late because I couldn't even finish my big breakfast."

"You ate pancakes, huh?" Krissy said, "pancakes are good."

"Yeah, they are good," I smiled. "Do you want pancakes for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"We'll have pancakes tomorrow," I smiled as I looked at her paper. "You're doing really good, shortcake."

It was the pleasant warmth in this moment that made me notice the one missing. The one who would be yelling and growling at me for not having any plans to eat till dinner. I looked around until I spotted her. She was hanging from Eric's head trying to gain his attention by waving her paws in front of his face, but he didn't seem bothered by it at all meaning he probably couldn't feel her.

It wasn't long before Mrs. Champeny gathered all of us together and gave the chaperone pairs with a list of kids with photos attached to the names. I didn't know how Eric did it, but Mrs. Brianna never arrived to call him out on his BS.

When we got to the hiking trail and got off the bus, I sprayed Krissy with sunscreen while Eric argued with Brandon, who hated the idea of having the Rogues in his group. I tried to distract Krissy from the not so quiet fight by asking about her friend Emily, but she said she was sick today. If it weren't for Aleu's assurance, I would have worried that Emily was an imaginary friend like her friend, M.

"If I knew this was going to happen, I would have charged more," I heard Brandon grumble as he walked passed. Little Shit...

We were separated into our groups. I kept my focus on the kids in my responsibility as they got excited about finding something in their scavenger hunt. As I noticed the other kids interact with each other, I realized I wasn't the only one treated like an outcast, but Krissy didn't complain or seem to mind as she ran up showing me what she had found so far. I watched her as she watched a little hummingbird sucking nectar from a flower.

"So this is definitely not what I would have pictured my first date with my mate to be," Eric said, keeping up with me no matter how much I tried to keep distance or space between us. Aleu being so close and so open to it made it hard to resist and fight it too.

"He said date!" Aleu said excited.

"This is definitely not a date," I retorted.

"Isn't it though?" Eric said, "me, you, in the nice peaceful woods."

"With a bunch of children," I replied, "chaperones. We're chaperones."

"You're right," He said, "you're the dating expert. How about you take me out on Saturday and show me how it's done?-"

"Yeah, I know I'm right-" it wasn't till he laughed that I fully registered what he said, "I'm not doing that." I crossed my arms and looked over to the kids. "That was sneaky."

"Aw, come on, Kat," Aleu whined, "lets go on a date!"

'No! Stop acting like this!' I growled at her. I looked up at Eric smiling at me and I looked away quickly as I felt my cheeks heat up. I hate this stupid bond.

"You are such a buzzkill!" Aleu growled, "why can't we?!"

"Mommy, look," Krissy said suddenly running up to me and taking my hand and pulling me in the direction.

"Mommy?" I heard Eric mutter as Krissy took me away. I kneeled beside her as she pointed up at the tree where she spotted the nest.

"Good find, Kris," I replied as I stood up amazed that she could see it from that far up.

"What? Where?" The kids began to surround me and her looking up, "I don't see anything!"

"It's right up there!" Krissy tried to point it out. It was times like these that reminded me how much sharper Krissy's senses were compared to an average kid and the only two reasons for it worried me because neither were good.

"Let's not focus on that," I told the children, "let's see what else we could find." The children groaned but did as I said.

As I was leading them on, I was suddenly grabbed by the hand and held back. The sparks thrumming from my skin made it clear who it was.

"Look, I don't know why you came, but even if I were to want you, my attention is not available," I argued feeling like I was doing double the work on the chaperoning, "it's for the children-" I cut off with the look on his face. My immediate thought went to the kids. Oh my God! We lost one?! "Who'd we lose?" I turned ready to call the kids so I could do a headcount when I was pulled back to turn around. I looked at Eric.

"What is she to you?" He said, "really?"

I looked at him confused for a moment.

"Krissy?" I asked for clarification.

"What is she to you?" He asked again. I looked at him confused by the seriousness on his face.

"Tell him she's your sister!" Aleu growled. I looked at Aleu shocked. It was the first time she didn't refer to Krissy as our pup. Then I realized that's what the problem was. He wanted to know if Krissy was mine. Could this be it? My way out?

"Would that matter?" I asked.

"That wasn't really an answer to my question," he frowned.

"Well, that wasn't an answer to mine," I retorted as I pulled my hand free.

"I asked first," he replied calmly.

"And who says I have to answer?" I argued.

"Just tell him!" Aleu growled.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" He frowned, "it's a simple yes or no answer!"

"And so is mine," I replied. He stood there quietly staring at me and his silence said it all. A heavy dreading feeling filled my chest and I was sure a lot of it was coming from Aleu as we both realized that this was it. My answer would set us back on track. I opened my mouth to respond.

"Katerina! No!" Aleu whined, "Don't do this!"