Sleuth

Date

"I think we need this" Rory Daggart replied to Kyrrian.

"No, I agreed to that before everything became complicated. Absolutely not" Kyrrian was determined, but not as determined as Rory was.

"And yet you admit that you agreed. I think one evening away could be monumental for our coping ability" he pressed.

Kyrrian sighed, frustrated at his persistence. Rory Daggart had been trying for two days now to get her to honor her word of a date. She turned and looked toward his Alpha, and said "did you know that you have the most annoying bear in history in your Sleuth?"

"He is stubborn" Scottlin Reik acknowledged with a small smile and nod.

"Can you tell him to leave me alone?" she asked as she dried a plate.

"No, but if you went on the date he would probably leave you alone after that" the Alpha admitted.

Kyrrian put the plate up and sighed, hanging her head, "fine".

And that is how Kyrrian ended up with Rory Daggart in a dimly lit Italian restaurant eating bread sticks and sipping Italian margaritas.

"You look beautiful" Rory complimented.

Kyrrian looked down at her blue jeans and black top.

"Really, this is pretty much how I always look" she replied with an eye roll.

"And you always look beautiful" was his smooth reply.

"Your sweetness almost makes me nauseous" she sneered.

He laughed and took another sip of his drink, "flinging insults at me won't disuade me from the fact that I think you are an impressive were-being".

"Alright, I'll bite. What's your deal?" Kyrrian replied after searching his face for some sign of a sleazy interior, but Rory Daggart came off as a nice, albeit flirtatious, man who spoke his mind with brutal honestly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're attractive, nice, and a little on the older side. You should be mated or at least married? Why are you single, is it because you like to be a lecturous man-whore?" Kyrrian was not pulling any punches.

Rory Daggart smiled, but this time it was a sad smile, something Kyrrian wasn't expecting.

"I found my mate when I was seventeen years old, of course I didn't know she was until I was ninteen, but I had a feeling. She died when I was twenty-two. I've been relatively single since then" he admitted, looking in her eyes to gauge her reaction.

"I... am sorry you lost your mate" Kyrrian awkwardly took a bite of a breadstick.

"She was an amazing person, much like yourself, and the world has a tendency to snuff out radiance like that. That's why I feel it's important to worship the gems you find in life" he continued.

Feeling uncomfortable with the depth he was exhibiting, Kyrrian blurted out, "When I was twenty I was dating a man who turned out to be a Hunter in training. He tried to hand me over and have me skinned but my brother saved me."

"Is that where the scar on your leg is from?" Daggart's blond head tilted curiously.

"You noticed that? I-yes. They cut my leg before Kaddian could get there" she answered, recalling the night.

"I'm sure that made him even more furious"

"You have no idea" Kyrrian whispered.

"You two are very close" Rory pointed out.