THE SORTING

THE NEXT DAY

"Keep the bandage on this time, Lyle. I'm serious," Hunter scolded the grown man. I snickered at the interaction. Lyle was a groundskeeper at the castle, and he obviously had a crush on Hunter, but she had been in denial. His puppy dog eyes followed her everywhere and it was no coincidence a hard working outdoorsman was all of a sudden injured every day. Lyle gave Hunter a smirk and tossed her a 'yes ma'am' on his way out of the medical room. Hunter walked over to me with his paperwork for me to file.

"Someone is not impressed with her admirer's antics today," I joked, holding in a laugh. I took the paperwork and started looking it over. Hunter let out a sigh.

"Well, someone is too tired to deal with it. I had to pull a 10 hour shift yesterday because you had off," Hunter shot back. I winced a bit.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't know Dom was going to call the King Alpha personally to ask for a day off. He kind of just did it," I explained. Hunter leaned into me.

"I'll forgive you if you tell me all the juicy details. I heard from staff that you two didn't leave that room all day," Hunter whispered, nudging me a bit. She stared at me while raising her eyebrows suggestively. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"There's nothing to tell. We watched movies and talked, that's it," I told her, dismissively. I took Lyle's paperwork over to the file cabinet and Hunter followed. She looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. "What?" I asked, confused.

"What do you mean 'there's nothing to tell'. You two didn't-you know-?" Hunter asked incredulously. I shook my head.

"No, we're taking things slow." I answered her. A sudden panic filled my stomach. "Why? Is that bad?" I demanded. I hadn't been well versed in the world of relationships. Was waiting not normal? Hunter shook her head quickly, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"No! Not at all! I'm just surprised. I mean, if I had a mate that looked like Dom," Hunter started, letting out a heavy exhale. I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Let's just say I would lock the bedroom door and hide all his clothes," she finished, giving me mischievous smile. I gasped at her, pushing her lightly. We both laughed. Hunter wiped a few tears before I continued with a shrug.

"I guess I don't really know what I'm doing. We talk a lot and kiss and cuddle. We go on cute dates. I obviously think he's so attractive and I think he feels the same about me? And Dom is super patient. I never feel pressured. I just- I don't know how to take it to the next level and I'm scared I'm either going to do it wrong or say something stupid. Or what if I wait too long and Dom gets frustrated and doesn't want to be with me anymore?" I rambled, letting out a sigh. Hunter puts her hands on my shoulders, making me look at her. My shoulders were tense with sudden worry.

"Look, number one, Dom definitely feels the same way about you as you do him. He stares at you like a hungry lion, its insane. Second, Dom is your mate. Short of trying to kill him in his sleep, there's really nothing you can do that would make him not want to be with you. And even then, he'd probably think you trying to kill him is hot or something," Hunter stated casually. I gave her a pointed look. Hunter held up her hands in mock surrender. "What? This whole mate thing is kind of weird, okay? Especially for the guys," Hunter defended. I shook my head, exhaling a breathy chuckle. "I'm serious, though. You can't really mess it up. Just talk to him about it. I'm sure he'll understand," Hunter continued. She gave me a reassuring smile. I returned it.

"Hey, why don't you take off a little early. I can handle intake for a bit, schedule people to see you tomorrow if anyone comes in," I offered, feeling a bit bad that she had been working so much because of me. Hunter looked at me graciously.

"You're a life saver, Viv," Hunter cried, her shoulders slumping in relief. I felt a sense of pride. Hunter had started calling me Viv. No one had ever given me a nickname before. It felt like I had a real friend for once, like I finally belonged. Hunter threw me a wave as she grabbed her things and walked out. With a grin on my face, I returned to looking through papers left unfiled. There had been a rush of people at one point and I set these ones down to be filed later. As I'm working through the paperwork, a noise comes from my pocket. Dom had gotten me my first phone this morning. We didn't really have phones in the human colonies. For one, they were expensive and two, our colonies were small enough where we could just talk to each other in person. I reach into my pocket, pulling out the small black device. I hadn't learned a lot about how to use the thing but it only had two numbers in it. The one just walked out of here so that meant the other was calling. A smirk landed on my lips as I answered the call.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" I teased the person on the other end. I could practically hear his smile through the phone.

"This is the head of security, ma'am. I'm afraid you're in danger and the only way to keep you safe is to go on a date with me," Dom joked. I let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, really? Can I ask what this date would entail?" I inquired, setting my papers down that I would finish filing tomorrow. I grabbed my things, locking the door to the medical room.

"I think you know the answer to that, little one," Dom replied. A comforting smile came over my face. I did know the answer.

"It's a surprise," I answered him, knowing it always would be.