Chapter 2 #3
“Sure.” She was walking away when it occurred to him that she was his mate.
Turning back around to find her, she was headed into the kitchen area with a bus tub.
He wanted to go and find her right now, but knew that his timing would be off.
She was his mate, and he knew everything there was to know about her, other than anything personal.
He looked at his brother when he said his name. “You were right.”
“I’m always right. What is it this time?” He was joking, of course, but he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his mate was here and that he couldn’t do too much about it. “Devlin? What’s wrong?”
“Lisa is my mate. She is my other half.” He laughed. Edmond threw back his head and laughed so hard that people were staring at the two of them. Just as he was going to pop him in the head, he hugged him. “What am I supposed to do now? I don’t have shit ready for a mate. Not even a decent house.”
“You pick one out together.” He said he wasn’t helping. “I’m just happy that you’re going to be happy now, too. Having a mate is the best thing that could happen to us. And I’m glad I was with you when she found you.”
“She’s not going to be happy. I have no idea why I think that, but that’s what I’m thinking.” He said it would work out. “How do you know? You don’t know anything about her other than her name.”
“She’s my sister-in-law now, and that’s what I’m going to be happy for.
You’ll see, it’ll all work out.” He knew that it would, but he wasn’t ready.
He supposed that none of them were as ready as they wanted to be when they found their mates, so he wasn’t going to stress over it.
He found himself in his car waiting until he could talk to her.
And he was. “What are your plans? I’m headed home. ”
“I don’t know. I have to talk to her, of course.
I’m not going to beat around the bush about it either.
I’m just going to tell her flat out that I’m her mate and that I will love her for all time.
” He suggested that he not go that far just yet, but to tell her about mates.
“I find myself wanting to find the guy who hit her and take him to task. Like ripping his throat out.”
“Again, I’d not go that far just yet. You might want to ease into that part.
” He nodded and tried to remember the man’s name that had hurt his mate.
“Devlin, you’re not listening to me. I said that you can’t do that.
Ease into the protective mode for now, and that’ll make things easier with her.
If you go spouting off that you’re going to kill someone right off the bat, she’s not going to be happy with you. ”
“I know that. You don’t think that I know that?
Christ, this isn’t what I wanted when I came here for food.
” He said that mates come at you when you least expect them.
“No shit. I was planning on being the favorite bachelor uncle for at least a little while. Now, not a month after Ivan and Sen met, I find my other half. What am I supposed to do?”
“Chill for one thing.” He said he could do that after he spoke to her. “Be calm. That’s the only advice I can give you. For all you know, she might have been looking for you all her life, too. I mean, she does work in the food service area.”
“That made no sense. I hope that it did in your head.” He said he was just worried about him. “I am too. I just don’t want to fuck this up with her and end up in jail because I didn’t know what to do with her. Or for her.”
“Just do what comes naturally to you. You’re charming.
Not as charming as I am, but you’ll get there.
” They both laughed again. “I have to get back. I have about a million things that I need to get done before Sen gets home. She’s working the business now, and she said that it’s stressful because it seems like everyone wants her to fail. ”
Sen was to inherit nearly a hundred billion dollars if she were to work in the business that her father had left her for a year.
She’d been doing it for a week now, and things on the outside looked good.
She only had to show a profit in the first quarter, and with her at the front of the business, she was sure that it would be a piece of cake for her.
They all had her back, too, especially Brandy, who was helping her run the business.
“You go. I’ll be fine. I’ll have a nice talk with myself before I talk to her, and things will work out.
At least that’s what I’m going to hope for.
” He hugged his brother and got out of the car.
Things were slowing down at the restaurant, so he made his way into the place to find himself a place at the bar.
Ordering a sweet roll and coffee, he decided to practice what he was going to say to her.
She was standing in front of him when he told her what he was to her. She just stared at him for several seconds while he tried hard not to fidget. She was staring at him like he had his dick on his forehead, and everyone knew it. Not the best way to put things, but he was nervous.
“I don’t need a mate.” He told her that he’d been thinking the same thing. “Then how about we forget about this and go on with our lives?”
“I’m afraid that it doesn’t work like that. Once I’ve found you, I have to stay with you, or I’ll go rogue. They’ll have to put me down and not in a nice way either.” She said she didn’t have time for this. “Neither do I. I have my life the way that I wanted it. I don’t even have a house.”
“Good for you. What do we do now so that you don’t have to be put down? I’m assuming that means that you’ll have to be killed.” He said that was right. “I don’t need any more pressure on me. Just so you know.”
“I understand.” She nodded and moved away. “Is there someplace we can talk? I mean, we have a lot to discuss. Like, where would you like to live?”
“I think that could be put on the table for later. Right now, I think we have more important things to talk about. Like, how do we go from here? I’m assuming that there are rules that I’m going to have to follow?”
“No rules. Other than the fact that I want you to be happy, there aren’t any rules that you have to follow.” She said that she’d been around other shifters, and they all had rules. “I’m not sure what kind of shifters you’ve been around, you smell a little like bear and a cat, tiger, I’m thinking.”
“The cook is a bear shifter. The tiger? I’m not sure. There are a few shifters that come in here all the time.” She told him that she got off in an hour. “We can talk then. I’m finished here as of today. I’ve done what was required of me, and now I need to get to work somewhere else.”
“All right. I don’t live close to here. Can we meet at your place?” She shrugged, and he told her that he didn’t know what that meant. “We can meet someplace more out in the open if you’re afraid of me.”
“I’m not. I don’t know why, but I’m not afraid of you at all.
” She looked around the diner before speaking to him again.
“We can meet at my place. It’s not much.
I’ve been saving my money for a place that’s bigger.
I’ll meet you there when I get off. Or you can follow me there. That would probably be better.”
“All right.” He ate another sweet roll and drank a glass of iced tea.
He was thinking that he could really come here to eat daily, but he’d be a fat wolf if he did.
As he was going out to his car again, he decided that he was going to let her do all the talking.
He’d have to confess to having a background check done on her, but that was business.
He didn’t want to leave anything to chance when they were getting along so well.
At least that’s what it felt like to him.
He had a mate and was just about homeless, too.
He had a house that he didn’t care for, but that could be remedied easily enough.
While waiting for her to finish her shift, he used his phone to look up houses.
He didn’t know what she wanted in a house, so he marked a lot of them to be seen.
After today, he was going to know a bit more about her and was looking forward to it.
He only hoped that they could get along as well as they were now.