The Contrary Mate

39 Jack

I searched the room, looking for the face that matched the scent in my memory but I couldn't find her. It couldn't be a good sign that Charlie was here again even after I'd so obviously rejected her advances. I wasn't going to let her come between me and my mate, no matter what she was planning. My wolf, who had been calmly revelling in our mate, stirred in anger at the potential threat towards Aura.

This threat needed to be dealt with before it got out of hand. I glanced at her as they began to bring out the food. Surely Charlie wouldn't cause a scene during the meal.

Aura's eyes met mine. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Do you trust me?" I whispered back against her ear.

"Yes," she said, looking at me with eyes wide with confusion.

"There's someone here who I believe is going to try to cause trouble."

"What sort of trouble?"

I breathed in deeply. "Trouble of the female variety."

Her brows narrowed. "Oh?"

"I could ignore the problem, but I'd prefer to confront her now and avoid a scene. I'll explain everything later."

Aura searched my eyes for a long moment and nodded. "But I want to come with you."

I lowered my voice even lower. "It's not safe. The problem isn't human."

She didn't look convinced, but she nodded. "Okay. Go then."

I took her words as permission, apologetically weaving my way through the servers who had begun streaming into the room. As I stepped out into the hallway, someone began speaking, and I continued searched for the problematic scent. It would have been easier if I could have transformed and used my more sensitive wolf senses.

I finally found the trail, and I followed my nose to the kitchen. It took me only a moment to locate her inside, wearing a white kitchen uniform and moving plated food to trays that the servers were taking out. She seemed to be working, but the coincidence of running into her again seemed too much.

I watched for a moment, debating what to do, when a woman who appeared to be the head chef noticed me. "Can I help you?" she asked in a distinctly irritated voice.

"Yeah, just got turned around on my way to the washroom, and spotted an old friend of mine working here." I smiled at her and she defrosted just a degree. "Could I borrow Charlie for just a moment to get me turned around."

At the sound of her name, the werewolf perked up. I wondered how she could be so deluded to imagine that I would be here for any good reason.

The chef glanced between the two of us and crossed her arms. "If you go, don't come back. Every moment is critical."

"It's not that important," I said quickly. If she was too busy to cause trouble I could deal with her later.

Charlie smiled. "Sounds good to me." She pulled off her apron and dropped it on the counter and strode across the room, the chef's mouth hanging open as she passed, clearly not having expected to lose a helper right then.

"You shouldn't have done that," I told her as she met me in the hallway.

"Why not?" she smirked.

"I'm not here for you. I wanted to know what you're doing here."

Her smile faded. "I thought—"

"Come on," I said, gripping her arm and pulling her along until I found a deserted supply room. The deluded werewolf licked her lips.