My Taken Mate

Chapter 12

Niall's POV:

I glance at my phone for the 96th time in the last 10 minutes. It seems dead set on annoying me. Motionless, that's all it is. I've been waiting for a text from Maeva ever since I left her at the Starbucks. How much time does it take for two girls to eat a sandwich, down a couple of coffees and gossip about school and dresses? I thought they'd be finished within an hour.. At least I've had the time to think of excuses to stay a bit longer with her. I glance out my rear view mirror. Call me a creep. I'm still in the mall car lot so that I am near the girls' coffee shop. Maybe they'll come out and I can say I was passing by?

I drop my phone in shock when it suddenly starts ringing. I scramble to grab it from the floorboard and fixate my eyes on the screen. My whole body slumps when I see Vanessa's face on the screen. With a groan, I answer the line.

"What?" I snap irritably, annoyed that she got my hopes up.

I hear her laugh lightly before responding.

"Love you too Niall," she giggles again. "How's the stalking going?"

"Just fine thank you very much," I huff. "But honestly, V. How long does coffee take!?"

"Oh please! You know how Maeva is. I say at least another hour," she answers. I can hear the smirk in her voice and I respond with a growl, only encouraging her laughter. Why does everyone enjoy making me suffer?

"You know you could've just come home. The time might've gone by faster if you weren't sitting alone in the dark," She teases again, giving me more than enough reason to hang up on her.

Instead of that, though, I, like the mature person I am, continue listening to her light-hearted teasing because I know she has felt pretty down since she feels like both Maeva and I are leaving her behind. Both to our mates, and on top of that, Maeva is now befriending my mate without any input from V.

'We should be befriending Kaylie!! Get your ass in there right this instant!' My wolf growls at me.

'You know... It's not always about us!' I respond with a huff.

'That's mate you're talking about,' Xander pauses, 'Of course it's supposed to be about us!!'

I hear him mutter a small 'dumbass' but decide to blatantly ignore him and zone back in to what Vanessa is saying about my creepiness.

"What is this girl going to say if she happens to walk outside and see you just staring intently at her?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping it would happen." I admit, sheepishly.

She gasps. "You stalker!! That's even creepier when you say it!"

Why are girls so complicated?

"It's not like I'm some axe murderer plotting to kill her! I'm her mate. I'm supposed to protect her!"

"Yeah cause I'm sure she'll see it like that while she's running from your big bad wolf." I cringe outwardly, hoping she won't ever run from Xander... He likes to chase too much for that to end well...

Before I can respond, my phone starts beeping with a notification that another call is coming in. I look down at the screen, instantly becoming excited at the sight of Maeva's face on the screen.

"It'll be fine!" I try to reassure her and myself. "Look Vanessa, I gotta go. May is calling. We'll see you at home, yeah?" I blurt out as adrenaline goes through my veins.

She mumbles a miserable sounding 'yeah right', her playfulness gone now with my departure. "Have fun," she finally answers softly before hanging up.