Amanda started to choke on the food that she had just put into her mouth, coughing and nearly spitting it across the table toward Deak.
“I’m sorry.” She tried to tell him as she continued to take deep breaths and swallow the remaining food that was in her mouth.
She raised her index finger, asking for a minute, as she grabbed her drink and took a sip or two.
After another moment and Deak looking at her with a raised brow, she was finally able to respond.
“Did you just say that you think Vita is your mate?”
Deak sighed as he rolled his eyes.
“Yes.” That was all she responded with.
“Vita?” She asked again. “Spunky girl with short spiky hair and combat boots, Vita.”
He only nodded in confirmation.
Amanda started to laugh.
“What is funny?” he asked her.
Amanda sucked in a breath.
“I just find that a very interesting match. You couldn’t be any more opposite from each other,” she responded.
“Yet, you and little wolf seem just fine.”
Amanda tilted her head from side to side, fair point.
“No, I haven’t talked with Vita since the night I left her house. But in the little time that I talked with her, I actually really liked her and hoped to see her more often, but maybe she didn’t.” Amanda said as she shrugged. “You might want to talk with Zachary about her,” she continued.
Deak huffed, “I have. No one has heard from her.”
“Maybe we should go and check in on her at her place,” Amanda offered.
Deak gave her a wicked smile.
Amanda felt a shiver.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Amanda turned and saw Hudson standing not too far from the table behind her. She jumped up from her chair and walked over to him.
“Not at all,” she told him as she jumped up and kissed him on his cheek.
Amanda grabbed Hudson’s hand and pulled him toward the table to sit with them.
“Deak,” Hudson said with a low growl.
“Little wolf,” Deak responded.
Hudson’s hand clenched into a fist when he heard the demeaning nickname.
“Boys, that’s enough,” Amanda ordered.
Hudson pulled Amanda’s chair closer to him and wrapped his arm around her back, claiming what was his.
Amanda sighed.
Deak looked at them for a moment, smirked, and then got up.
“I’ll catch up with you later, small girl,” he told her.
Amanda gave Deak a small smile.
“Bye, Deak,” she said softly.
He looked at Hudson for a long moment, enjoying the fact that he could still annoy the little wolf without even trying.
Deak simply turned and walked out of the dining hall with an evil smirk.
Amanda could feel Hudson calm as soon as Deak was out of sight.
“Is it always going to be like this with the two of you?” she asked him as she picked at her plate again, no longer hungry for the food in front of her.
Hudson let out a growl.
“He started it,” he said loudly.
Students that were seated around them turned to see what the commotion was all about.
“Hudson, shh. You’re making a scene,” she said to him as she swatted at his chest.
She leaned closer to him.
“I don’t understand why you’re still jealous of him. You know that he is family and a friend. Nothing more.”
Hudson tried to push the jealousy that he was feeling away, but there was something that was stopping him. He knew that they were only friends and nothing more. But something was not allowing him to let the anger go. His wolf could feel it, too but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
“I’m sorry,” Hudson said softly as he leaned over and took in the scent of his mate. He could feel calm, but it was only a little. This seemed strange to him, normally, Amanda’s scent was able to calm him immediately.
He ran his fingers through her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear.
“Hey,” he said as he tucked his finger under her chin and turned her face to look at him.
“How about we go see a movie tonight? To make up for last night,” he suggested.
Amanda’s eyes lit up, and her body tingled with excitement.
“Okay,” she said as she nodded.
Hudson smiled.
He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.
Ruby was wiping down the counter when she heard the bell on the front door chime.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite lady…wolf,” he whispered into her ear.
Ruby smirked and chuckled when she looked up to find Deak standing at the counter.
“Deak, such a charmer. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked with a smile.
“Has Vita responded to you at all?” Deak asked as he leaned against her counter, making small circles with his fingers on her counter.
Ruby looked at him with sympathy.
She shook her head as she spoke, “No, she hasn’t.”
Deak looked at her with a bit of sadness in his eyes, he had hoped to hear someone had been in contact with the little witch. His Lycan wolf inside him was growing impatient. It took Deak a great amount of strength to keep his Lycan wolf at bay and not take over. His wolf was fierce and domineering, a side of him he didn’t like to show others. It reminded him too much of his father and his uncle. And he didn’t want to turn out to be like them.
“Amanda suggested we should go check out her place, just to make sure that she is okay,” he offered.
Ruby gave him a pointed look but smirked. She knew what he was doing. She couldn’t blame him. In fact, she had a high amount of respect for him since he hadn’t gone all Alpha on them, demanding to know where his mate was like most male wolves did when they knew their mate was close by.
“I’ll talk with Zachary and see if he has some time to go out there,” she told him.
Ruby turned to make Deak some coffee, she remembered how he liked it. She then turned and handed him the tall cup with no lid.
“Koszonom (thank you),” he told her.
He lifted them and looked at Ruby.
“Speaking of Zachary, how are you two doing?” he asked with a devilish grin before taking a sip of the hot coffee.
Ruby looked back down at the counter and continued to clean. She let out a sigh but refused to look back up at Deak. She could feel his stare upon her and didn’t want to talk about the sensitive subject. Since the kiss that day, she had been busy with the cafe and hadn’t really given them a chance to pick up where they left off. She was scared that Zachary was still in love with the girl she was when they were in High School, and she was no longer that girl.
“Are you two talking about me?” A voice spoke from behind them.
Mated to my Bully