Queen of Rogues

Calm Down

Dehlia POV

"ARE YOU F**KEN KIDDING ME!" Her voice screeched as she screamed. "How could you!" Dehlia couldn't even look at Tavia at that moment. This woman who had been her best friend now felt like an enemy. She couldn't bare to look at the woman before her. The one pleading with her to meet this man. This person who was supposed to be her mate. She felt so confused. Lost even. She wrapped her arms around herself. She felt so vulnerable right now. Her head shook slowly back and forth as she tried to swallow her anger whole, but seemed to be failing miserably.

"Please listen!" Tavia pleaded. Begging.

The screaming and yelling had carried on for an hour. Both were crying but she could see her friend was fixed on this happening. It was one thing if Tavia was determined to do something but she was being downright stubborn. How could she have changed so quickly? Two days ago she was siding with her and now Tavia was acting like some hopeless romantic. "No! I can't do it Tavia! I can't deal with the rejections." She was in tears while her voice gave way to a whisper. It hurt to know that her friend would jump to such lengths. She found herself kneeling on the ground. Her body crumbled under the pain that her best friend was putting her through.

"Please... Please just hear me out." Tavia moved to touch Dehlia as the woman folded into herself. She hesitated, afraid that if she placed a hand on her the girl would just shatter. "He's nothing like my mate was." She whispered. She felt as if she would break as she continued, "He isn't like Liam. He's different."

Dehlia grew quiet from her silent sobbing. Her eyes opened. Tavia had never told her the name of her mate. She had just told her that her mate rejected her and seemed almost shattered to talk anymore beyond that. She stared at the ground quietly gasping for air. Slowly trying to compose herself without falling apart at the seams. Why was Tavia talking about her mate? After all this time, why was she talking about that loser?

"He isn't like Liam... He won't reject you." Tavia said as her tears started to run again. "He won't do what Liam did to me. He's looking for you, Lia. He's been looking for you." She kneeled down to her friend's level. Her hand reached out to rest on her shoulder, "For the last few days he's searched for you. Liam didn't even try looking for me. I had to look for him, Lia. I had to look for him." Her voice broke as she spoke. Her sobs became loud as she broke down. "He didn't even look for me... But Matthias is looking for you!" It was her turn to scream now. "Please Lia. Please! Just meet with him and then decide from there."

Dehlia's eyes finally looked up at her best friend. The cracking in her voice showed every emotion she had hidden up until this point. "Why would he even look for me?" She felt as if her voice hadn't even spoken. She stared into her friend's eyes. They looked hauntingly at her. It had been a while since she had seen her friend look this hollow. Not since the day Tavia had been rejected and the thought tore Dehlia's heart to shreds. She worked day and night to get her to eat and even to get out of bed. Now Tavia was working again, but even she knew she would never return to the woman she knew before. The rejection changed her.

"Because Lia. He loves you." Tavia muttered softly. The back of her hand when to her dark brown eyes to clean the tears from her face. Her colorful makeup smeared on her face while she snuffled.

Dehlia was taken back by her words. She really didn't know how to react to something like that. She sat speechless looking at the woman. "I...I...I don't understand...." She let out, blinking back her tears that slowed down.

"He loves you. They found me. They talked to me. Dehlia, he said he loves you." Tavia said again.

" That's not possible. We haven't even talked to one another. How does he even know what I'm like? Will he still love me once he talks to me?" Dehlia couldn't comprehend how this man came to this conclusion so quickly. What if he hated her for the way she ate something or couldn't stand her for the way she spoke? She lacked elegance that was pretty obvious at this first meeting. She wouldn't be some tamed princess or some sweet girl. She looked away. "I'll meet him..." The words left her mouth before she could stop to think about it. She felt like she would regret this decision. All she could do was pull her friend into a hug. "I'm sorry for getting so angry." She started crying again while her best friend followed suit and apologized as well.

It felt like hours before they both calmed down into a puddled mess on the floor. They stared up at the ceiling speechless for some time. No one said anything for fear of shattering the peace. Finally, Dehlia sighed out and said, "When is this meeting supposed to happen?" She felt weak as she spoke. The fight had taken everything out of her. Their screaming match caused her to be meek. She slowly worked to rise up and sit on the carpeted floor. Her hands moved back the waves of black and blue hair. Her eyes looking over the dye job from the night her and Khai had returned home. They had felt that it would brighten up her spirits. It worked a little but, to say the least, it was short-lived. Normally, she would have been excited about dyeing her hair, but that night had been so exhausting that she lacked the ability to even feel excited after crying so much.

"Soon..." Tavia said weakly. She continued to lie on the ground and look up at the ceiling. She had been lost in thought.

"Get up. We need to fix your make-up..." Dehlia said. She hated seeing Tavia's make-up messed up. It was Tavia to have such bright colors on her. It reminded her so much of her personality that she loved it. "We can't have you looking like me. That's my job. Your job is to out do me like you've always done. And, to make side comments about me needing color in my life." Dehlia tried to smile. To get a reaction out of Tavia. It seemed as if her friend didn't want to move. "Tavia... Are you hurting?" Her voice came out softly as she looked down at the ground. The guilt of what had happened was still eating at her.

A sigh passed with brightly painted lips, "Yeah... Admitting that seemed to reopen a wound I'd been trying to force closed for a long time." Tavia finally moved from her spot on the floor and rose up slowly. "I told myself for so long that I would never say his name after what happened. I promised myself that I wouldn't think about him or what happened. That he didn't deserve my time of day." She bit her lip before finally looking at Dehlia and continued, "I never really took a moment to mourn what happened. I just...I just shut down after it happened. If it hadn't been for you I probably would have died because of starvation." She smiled weakly.

"I wouldn't let that happen. You're my best friend. I would do it again even now. You're the closest thing I'll ever get to my family, Tavia. No matter what you are my family." Dehlia spoke honestly as she looked at her friend and smiled back. "Come on." She stood up and held out her hand to her best friend who took it. "Lets get ready and see what becomes of tonight." Dehlia could feel the black hole in her stomach grow worse.

********

Matthias POV

They waited patiently but Atlas was restless. A worry laced in every movement he made with the worry that she wouldn't show up. That his mate and her friend had disappeared into the night. His fingers fidgeted with the paper from the straw until it started to break apart. His green eyes looking around through the windows for any sight of either of them.

"Matthias, calm down," Fitz said while he looked over the newspaper he was reading. "It will be fine. They'll come and if they don't we'll keep looking for them."

Fitz was right but Matthias was still worried. The last two days had him on edge. All he wanted to do was meet his mate but he wasn't quite sure how she would react to him. His only hope was that she would accept him. He looked down and continued to tear the paper apart. His eyes looked at his friend while he put his hand on top of his. "I know...Its just...."

"They're here." Fitz announced while stopping his friend.

Matthias's eyes shot up to the two figures at the door. Rainbow's had returned with her shadow in return. He stood up abruptly, nearly throwing the table over. He muttered to himself as Fitz cursed him for nearly tossing the table and drinks on him. "Sorry. I'm sorry." He found himself fumbling to speak. He helped his friend fix the table before looking up at the grayest eyes he had ever seen. "Ummmm... Uhhhh..." He wasn't going smoothly with this but this wasn't a friend. This was his mate. He didn't know how to react in this situation before he held his hand out to her. "Matthias Bridge." He managed to get out. He could feel himself fighting for breath. His face turned red as he held his breath.

"Its okay to breathe..." The girl with the gray eyes said. "Dehlia Seren." She said while looking down at his hand. She was afraid to take his hand. The fear of just touching him left her chewing on her bottom lip.

Matthias raised his hands up and smiled, "Sorry... I can be a little eager at times." He scratched at his curls and looked around before looking at her. Her beauty captivated him at that moment. She looked as amazing as the first day he set eyes on her. "Ummm... You can call me Matt. Would you like to get something to drink?" He asked, feeling flustered with the moment at hand before calming down. He felt himself fly over the moon when she gave a small smile. That smile seemed to mean the world to him in that very moment. It was one of the tiniest victories in his life and he cherished just that moment.

"I like what you did with her hair." He complimented her. The blue brought the tint of blue in her eyes. Something that he hadn't a chance to notice until this moment. "It looks stunning on you." He had to pull his eyes away from staring at her. His eyes were looking at the barista that stood behind the counter tonight. "Just a coffee. What about you Dehlia?" He asked. He had to feel her name roll over his tongue. The way it sounded as he spoke it. He liked it. He turned and could see a blush roll across her cheeks before she turned away from him to look at the menu.

"Just a peach tea." Dehlia spoke before looking around.

He could feel the pull this close to her. His need to hold her hand. The want of having to be so close to her. Did she feel the same way? If she did, then she hid it well. He looked down feeling just a touch hurt by the situation. Was this going to end badly for him? He hoped not. Prayed to the Moon Goddess that it wouldn't. "What is your favorite drink?" He asked her nervously. He tried to start some sort of small talk but wasn't sure how to start it. He lacked the ability to be comfortable in such a situation. He had been the introvert in his friends' group.

"Teas normally. What about you?" She asked quietly before looking up at him.

Now it was his turn to look away. He was growing captivated by this beauty beside him. He sucked in air to cool his thoughts and system from the chaos it was under. It didn't help with his wolf. The beast was doing everything from clawing his way out of his mind. His howling was giving him a headache. "Water and ice." He smiled at her. He laughed warmly when she stared at him awkwardly. "I'll drink coffee if it's there. But I only like water and ice." He explained, "It's something my father and grandfather drank and it's what I ended up drinking as well. It just sort of became my go to drink." He laughed and smiled. "Shall we?" He offered his arm to walk her back to the table and felt happy when she rested her delicate hand in the fold of his arm. He carried both of their drinks. "Your best friend said you helped run a type of center. I would love to hear about it." He spoke carefully. He wasn't quite sure how she would react to him knowing about what she did.

"I do..." Dehlia spoke carefully while pulling her hand free from his elbow as they took a seat with Fitz and Tavia. "I've only had it running for the past year in a half but it seems to be working." She paused to take a drink of her tea before nodding and continuing. "Its a place were rogues can go and get rest, get something to eat, clothes, or just to get injuries checked out and move on. For a few its a shelter for a short period of time while we help them transition into the human world and get working jobs. A place to help them start standing on their own two feet without being judged. Its work. I won't lie. It's a lot of hard work but every ounce of it pays off." She smiled at herself more then anyone else.

Matthias felt amazed by this woman. Every single second seemed to put him on the edge of an addiction. No one had ever described the mate bond being this way but it was for him. He had felt hurt when she had let go of his arm. The electricity that surges between them was amazing. Did she feel the same way? His hands rubbed against his cargo pants as she looked at Tavia who was talking, though truthfully it was hard. He couldn't follow her. He wanted to focus on Dehlia.

"We've done a lot of good." Tavia added and continued, "It takes most of the staff working a second job to keep it going, but its amazing because these are people that want to see this success. Its the first of its own kind."

" What's the hardest aspect of this place?" Fitz asked as he took another sip of his coffee. He had finally put his newspaper down.

"The injured that some in." Dehlia looked up to Fitz. "We've lost a few that didn't make it due to that. We've had to bury them and that's the roughest thing to deal with. To know that you tried everything to save them and the still didn't survive it because their wounds are worse than anticipated. It's knowing that they may have a family out there that we can never locate to let them know. That maybe they were from a pack and their parents will never know what happened to them." She sighed out deeply. "There are days you cry and are sad. Those are the hardest days. When we know that someone didn't make it. It dampers the mood of everyone because it's a deep reminder that that could have been us."

Matthias found himself looking back at her. His hands had searched out his coffee cup while she had been talking. He had taken a sip of the tar but didn't make an attempt to make a face at the taste. "What can I do to help you?" Matthias asked while knowing Fitz's eyes had just shot a glare at him.