3. Stephen
STEPHEN
“Is this real?”
Yes, answer it. My beast was urging me to meet my fate. It might be him.
I didn’t bother to calculate how likely it was that I was in the office when I shouldn’t have been and the phone rang. The house was quiet with no one home, and I’d turned off the light, so it was dark.
With my hand on the receiver, I picked it up and put it to my ear. “Hello. This is Stephen.” I wanted to get the introductions out of the way so we could plan a meet-up. This would be a mating story to match my grandparents’.
There was a small sound at the end of the line. I’d put so much hope on the person at the other end being the one, I hadn’t prepared myself for them to say, “Sorry, wrong number.”
There was a sniff, followed by a sob and a child crying. “Can… can you find… my daddy? She hiccuped and resumed crying. I couldn’t guess her age, but she was quite young. “I can’t find him. He should be here.”
Oh my gods. Any thoughts of mating, the universe, and fate vanished, though it was fate that I just happened to be here. The poor darling. She was terrified.
That’s not your mate, my beast observed.
“Okay, sweetheart. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” I took a breath because I didn't want her to hang up. “Can you tell me your name?”
“P-Posy,” she stammered.
“Hi, Posy, I’m Stephen.” I had the receiver tucked under my ear as I pulled my phone from my hip pocket. “You’re so clever to be able to phone me. I’m proud of you. Now I need you to stay on the line. Don’t hang up, okay. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” Her voice was stronger than when she first spoke.
“Good girl.” I was texting my friend, Harvey. Need you now, Harvey. Now! Urgent.
“Posy, when did you last see Daddy?”
“A while ago.” She sniffed, and there was a thunk. My heart sped up thinking we were going to get cut off. But she must have dropped the receiver. “Stephen?”
“I’m still here, Posy.”
What do you need? Harvey responded. Though it wasn’t late, he stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, and I was worried he might just be waking up.
I’m on a landline. Kid’s on the line. Dad’s vanished. Need you to trace the call. I gave him her number.
Give me 60 seconds. Keep the kid on the line.
“Posy, is there anyone else at home? A friend? An uncle? Anyone?”
“No. Micah’s brother dropped me off. I thought Daddy would be here. He should be here, but he’s not.”
Posy was too young to be left in the house alone, so I hoped her father still had a pulse wherever he was.
“And he promised we’d make pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. He promised.”
“I love pancakes too.” My eyes misted over thinking Posy’s dad might never get to make her pancakes again.
She sort of laughed and said I could come over for breakfast and taste the pancakes too. Awww, what an angel. I checked the time and the minute was up. What was Harvey doing?
Got it! I almost cheered when the text came in. It’s nine minutes from you, seven if you break the speed limit. He sent me the location.
“Posy, I’m coming to get you. Do you know any songs you can sing while I’m on the way?”
“Uh-huh. Daddy taught me some.”
I can patch the call through to your phone, but there might be a gap of a few seconds.
Oh gods, that’d be scary for her. I at least knew where she was.
“Sweetheart, I'm on my way. Stay on the phone, please. You might hear a funny click and then nothing for a little bit. But I’ll still be right here.”
“I can count.”
“Okay, ready, go.”
I left the receiver on the desk and dashed out the door. One, two, three. I was in the car and turned the ignition before I heard her voice again.
“Seven, eight, nine.” Her little voice didn’t waver. She was so brave.
“I’m here, I’m here.”
“Stephen.”
“I’m in the car, and I’m coming to your house. I’ll beep the horn when I get there so when I get to the door, I hope you can open it.”
My heart was hammering against my ribs. If the police caught me talking and driving, I could explain, but that would take ages and they’d need to check, and all of that would leave Posy waiting at home. I slapped the phone onto the magnet mount and took off with a screech.
I caught all the green lights, but it felt as though I was on a treadmill and designed to never reach my goal. The world was in slow motion, and I told the universe to speed it up.
Hurry, hurry. My fox was as anxious as I was to reach Posy and find out what happened to her father.
“Where are you, Stephen? I can’t see you and it’s dark outside.”
“Almost there.” I needed to think of something to distract her. “Ummm, I collect buttons. Do you collect anything, Posy?’
“Buttons.” She giggled. “That’s funny.”
“Yeah, it is. I love all the different colors and shapes.”
“I have some teddy bears. They’re lined up against the wall.”
“What color are they?”
“Brown and, ummm, not as brown, pink, and there’s a white one that Daddy says needs a wash.”
I careened around a corner and pulled up at the house. There was a car in the driveway which wasn’t a good sign and one light on at the back. But as I charged up the path, a man got out of the car, and the pair of us rushed to the little girl who was outlined on the porch by the guy’s headlights.
What the ever-loving… who the heck was he? I shoved him to the side as I reached the stairs and put my arms out. “Posy?”
She was wearing a white nightgown with a pink rabbit embroidered on the shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She nodded, but as I was about to hug her, the other guy wrenched my shoulder, and I toppled down the stairs.
“Posy, go back inside.” I had to deal with this guy and phone the police.
“Daddy.”
Huh? I wasn’t her dad, so why was she calling me that? I glanced up and the guy was hugging her. Oh shit. The guy I’d just manhandled was her father. Yikes. But where had he been and how did he leave a child home alone?
Posy looked at me over her dad’s shoulder. “Are you Stephen?”
“Yes.”
But her father stood while holding his daughter. “Who are you and how do you know my daughter’s name?”
There was venom in his voice, but now that my fury had decreased, I paid attention to his scent. I’d been so desperate and angry when I arrived, I’d pushed it away, thinking only of Posy.
“He helped me, Daddy, I phoned him and he came.”
The guy shook his head, and I understood his confusion trying to piece together how Posy knew me and why I was brawling with him.
I mumbled this and that, and Posy interjected, and we sort of got the story clear.
But my head was muddled by his scent. I’d had my head in the clouds, imagining my fated mate was going to be the one calling me.
Instead, he was this so-and-so, a wolf shifter by the sniff of it, who’d left his daughter home alone.
But was I his fated mate? He screwed up his face as if he caught a whiff of something bad.
Hey, what’s wrong with him? My fox was ready for a fight.
But I told him to calm down.
The father, who didn’t introduce himself, rambled on about running late, a flat tire, and his phone dying. He clutched Posy to his chest and thanked me for coming.
“Most people would have called 911 and let them deal with it.” But he wasn’t looking at me as he said it, as though he regretted that it was me and not someone else she’d called.
“So yeah, thanks.”
I winced because those words delivered with little emotion were like a punch to the chest. My fated mate not only didn’t like me, but I assumed there was another dad around somewhere.
One who was his mate but not fated? Not every shifter had one and most matings were for life, whether the universe had a hand in them meeting or not.
My folks were one example, but fate was cruel to my omega dad because my alpha father had met his one and only and it wasn’t my dad. He’d disappeared without a word, and it was only through whispered gossip that Dad had discovered what had happened.
I refused to do that to another family. Besides, this guy wasn’t overjoyed that I was his mate, assuming that was why he was sporting that sour expression.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll be going.” What else was there to say? ”Ummm, maybe make sure your phone’s charged and make sure her back-up rides don’t drop her and go next time.”
I might get a punch in the jaw for offering advice, but I couldn’t just leave. Perhaps I should call social services. I didn’t want to disrupt their lives, but there were so many stories on the news about people who should have, could have, or might have done something but it was too late.
The father narrowed his eyes, and in his headlights, I glimpsed his wolf in his gaze. It was almost as though he’d read my thoughts.
“How did you know where we lived?”
Now he was accusing me of something or nothing.
“A friend who’s a hacker in his spare time.” I couldn’t sugarcoat it because otherwise he might call the cops on me. “Sorry, no choice.”
“Okay.”
There was nothing else to say. Maybe I’d drive past this house on my way to and from work. And I had their phone number thanks to Harvey.
“Glad you’re safe, Posy.” I gave her a little wave.
“You like pancakes, so you could eat breakfast with us.” She put out her hand, but her dad was still holding her and it didn’t seem right to grab it.
“I tell you what. I’ll make myself pancakes tomorrow and you can think of me eating them while you have yours.” Her father gave a soft growl under his breath. “How about that?”
“Okay, Stephen.” She waved, and I gave a sort of wave back. Her dad was glaring at me, and I needed to leave. Me and my broken heart had to get out of there.
I got in the car, hoping the dad, my mate, wasn’t noting my license plate and calling 911. I had evidence because the calls to the landline were logged. But Harvey’s hacking might be hard to justify.
Driving home, I could barely see through my tears. Fate had given me hope but then taken it away.
He might be a good guy who just made a mistake. My beast was doing his best to console me.
Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to break up a family because my heart says he’s mine.
We’re here.
Huh?
Home.
I was parked on the street outside my apartment building. The car could stay out here tonight. I didn’t give a damn if thieves took a liking to it. Something precious had been stolen from me, and my life would never be the same.
Ummm, did you forget about the report?
Oh shit. I’d had it in my hand and then dumped it on the desk. I’d go in early before Remy was in the office and grab it. Reports, work, food, car, none of it was important now that my mate wasn’t mine and he didn’t even like me.
What was my life going to be like from this moment on?