What Could Go Wrong?
900 Words
**Darren's PoV**
"I... Erm... I need to... Yes. I'll..."
I stood and watched as my Goddess given mate looked at me with what seemed to be utter shock, and possibly a little terror. I was trying very hard to hide the laugh that threatened to rise to the surface as she tripped over her words. She backed up slowly, made an arc around me while facing me… and then bolted for the door as quickly as she could without all out running.
I blinked. All in all, I thought our meeting was rather humorous. As young pups we always heard about mates that met, instantly fell in love and then swooned all over each other. For the most part, this seemed to be true. Although, more often than not the mates had grown up together. If not then they had at least gone to school together.
Usually, when you’re somewhere around 20-22 and the Goddess deems you… Well, I don’t really know what the deciding factor was but that was the general age range it would see. Not everyone had a fated mate. Some married for prestige or money. Some rejected their mates. Truthfully? The whole soul-bond business was confusing as h*ll. Although I admit, I was now intrigued to know more.
“Darren?”
The voice walked up behind me. I turned my head to see Rylen, my beta, with his hands shoved into his pockets and slightly leaning back into the air in that way that most confident men did. Maybe, just maybe, a small touch of arrogance there two.
“Hm?” I turned back to look at the door as the last of the family stragglers made their way out. A she-wolf in her mid-twenties trying to juggle holding one young pup in a one armed cradle while holding the other toddling pups hand. She turned just enough to bow her head at me as she made it out the door. I returned the gesture with a nod.
“Never seen you bolt from a meeting like that. Really out of character. Pretty sure everyone noticed.” Rylen shook his head as he walked up to stand next to me, almost shoulder to shoulder. “It’s like you saw the Goddess or something. I don’t even think you heard anyone in there.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his statement. The irony it held was just too perfect. “Actually-“
“No. Who?!” His voice was incredulous. “Don’t tell me it was that girl—”
“Well….”
Rylen groaned. “Little Orphan Emma.”
Some innate part of me couldn’t help the growl that was building in my chest at the name. Which made zero sense to me. I hadn’t even gone to the public schools in town, save for high school. My mother thought it would be good for me as future alpha to get acquainted with the others my age, as they would be assisting me when we got older. Still, the tone he said it in was derogatory enough to tell me that she’d likely been bullied with it.
“What do you know about her?” I asked, holding back that itch of protectiveness over a woman I’d never met before today.
“Not much. Choir kid. Given her family name it’s not hard to see why. I always remember her being a bookworm. She’d hide in the library at lunch or in some teacher’s room and just read.”
I arched a brow. “Hid?”
Darren shrugged with his hands still in his pockets. “Never interacted with her. H*ll, I wouldn’t have even known she existed the way she kept to herself. I had a class with her, but she sat towards the back.”
“See what you can find out. Put a small detail on her. I want her protected, but I also want to find out her schedule, and whatever we can.”
It was Darren’s turn to return to brow arch. “You want us to stalk your mate?”
“No. It’s not stalking… it’s---”
“We’re to post a guard and an informant around her at all times so that we can find out everything about her possible.”
“Yes.”
“Stalking, Darren. In the current ages, that’s called stalking.”
I sighed and leaned my head forward while pinching the bridge of my nose. “What am I supposed to do, go knock on her door and ask her these things?”
Rylen gave me the most outlandish look. “You’re hearing yourself right now, right?” His left hand came out of his pocket to gesture at me. “You just said everything right, but with a question at the end.”
“Just…” I sighed, still pinching the bridge of my nose. “The guard. At least, put the guard.”
“Mhm… And what are you going to do now?”
“I guess I’m going to go knock on her door.” After all… What could go wrong?
- Writer
