Chapter 4

Lauren

Was I okay? No. I definitely was not okay.

I expected her to run to me, but then she rolled her eyes. It was a sight I was used to seeing a lot of, but for once it wasn't directed at me.

The one person who wasn't gawking at me after my outburst was signing something to my sister. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing.

I'd assured the staff here that for orientation she would not require a translator because I would be here with her. Yet, they'd gone and done it anyway. I didn't know if I was angry or thrilled by it. Mostly, I was just confused.

Then he whipped around like he’d suddenly realized everyone was looking past him.

Our eyes met, my heart raced, and my mouth went dry.

Mine , some inner voice in my head said.

It was him. The man speaking to my sister through sign language was my mate, and he seemed every bit as confused by this realization as I was.

“Is everything okay?” one of the men with him asked.

He shook his head and then nodded.

“Yeah. Of course.”

He turned back to Kylie then and said something to her. I couldn't tell what with his back toward me, but she nodded and then came to get me while he tried to regain control of the group.

“ Why are you embarrassing me? ” she emphatically signed.

“ I'm not. Or I’m not trying to. Who is that? ”

“ D-E-N-N-Y. My guide. ”

Denny. My mate's name was Denny.

I wasn't even sure how I knew it was him, but I was a thousand percent certain of it.

Mate.

Shit! Stop saying that, I chastised myself.

He was staring at me awkwardly again as someone tried to get his attention.

It was clear he was as shocked as I was, but he cleared his throat and tried to get back to whatever he was doing.

My inner wolf growled when he turned his back on me.

“I think we're all here, so let's get this party started,” Denny said.

He gathered everyone together and gave some instructions like everything was perfectly normal.

I didn't know what was happening. My feet felt like they were stuck in concrete. The rest of the group started walking away, including Kylie, but I just stood there staring, shocked, completely out of my element. I literally couldn't make my feet move.

Kylie turned back and stomped over to me. Her hands flew through the air as she animatedly fussed at me.

I couldn't even respond, but I did let her pull me along as we caught up to the group.

At some point he stopped and turned back to address the group, but he wouldn't even look in my direction. My wolf was furious. He spoke to every person in the group except me. Kylie was too excited about everything to even notice.

And if I wasn't so agitated I would have seen just how happy she was. For the girl who never wanted to come here for college, she seemed to be making friends quickly. Not that I even realized it. I was too caught up in my own emotional turmoil.

Without noticing what I was doing, I took a step closer to Denny—my mate. So, when he deliberately turned his back on me and walked away, it felt like a dagger had just been thrust into my chest and was hard to breathe.

I just stood there, on the verge of hyperventilating, until Kylie grabbed my hand and dragged me along with her.

Denny showed us around campus, but I couldn't tell the gym from the cafeteria. It felt like I was walking around in a stupor until, at last, we came to a halt in front of a white house with big Greek letters: Delta Omega Gamma.

“I know a few of you in this group are probably considering rushing, so I thought we'd stop here for a bit, and if you have any questions about Greek life, I'm happy to answer them.”

“Welcome to the doghouse,” one of the guys in the group said.

“ Maybe I'll rush a sorority, ” Kylie turned and signed, surprising me.

“ Really? ” I responded.

She nodded.

The girl in the group waved her hand to get Kylie's attention.

“It feels weird to do this, but Denny says it's okay and Kylie seems to have agreed with him,” she said.

“It's not rude, if that's what you think. It just lets her know to look at you. She's very good at reading lips if you can get her attention like that.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

The others had already gone inside, but I was acutely aware of the fact that Denny was hanging back. When Autumn linked her arm through Kylie's and led my sister inside, I was stranded all alone with him.

“So it's Lauren then,” he said once we were all alone.

He wasn't going to get off that easily. I faked innocence and looked around, then put my hand over my chest. “Oh, you're acknowledging me now?”

His forehead wrinkled in frustration.

Being a bitch was better than letting him know how much it hurt me that he ignored me. It was so stupid. I knew I was still in shock and not thinking rationally. I didn't even know this guy. He shouldn't have the ability to hurt me. I was tougher than this.

“You really wanted me to single you out and let everyone know in the middle of our tour? That's what you wanted? I had to ignore you, or I couldn't have gotten through this.”

“Denny, we have some new recruits interested in hearing about the doghouse. Get your ass in here,” some guy yelled from inside.

“Just a minute, Remy.”

“Now!”

He growled. “We'll talk later.”

Then he walked away from me again.

I stood there watching his retreating back with my jaw slack. I couldn't believe he'd just walked away from me . . . again.

Tears pricked my eyes, pissing me off even more.

I had to get out of here, but I couldn't just leave Kylie. I was torn on what to do next. There was no way in hell I was going inside that house.

Before I could make a decision one way or the other, my sister found me.

The second she saw me standing out there all alone, she ran down the porch steps and was quickly by my side.

“ What happened? ” she demanded, exaggerating the signs letting me know she was truly concerned.

“ Nothing, ” I insisted.

“ Lauren, why are you lying to me? ”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down and smile. “ Are you enjoying yourself here? ”

“ You're changing the subject. ”

“ Autumn seems nice, ” I signed, completely ignoring her accusation.

She sighed. “ Yes, she is. ”

“ You're going to be okay, Kylie. ”

“ I know, but will you be? ”

I couldn't answer her because I honestly didn't know.

“ Are you ready to go? ” I asked her instead.

Worry was evident on her face.

“ There's a party tonight. I was invited. ”

“ I don't think that’s a good idea. ”

She glared at me angrily. “ You're leaving and I have to figure this all out on my own. ”

“You're leaving?” Denny said from behind me.

I jumped but didn't turn to face him. My whole body was vibrating from his closeness. I had no idea how I hadn't felt it before. He never should have been able to sneak up on me like this.

Kylie started to sign to him, and I hated how my traitorous heart did a little flip.

He knew enough sign language to actually communicate with my sister. It was something I never even knew I would need in a mate someday.

“ My sister is going back to the hotel. I'm going to stay, ” Kylie stubbornly signed to him.

I glared at her in warning.

But she just smirked at me.

It was hard for me to remember that in just a few days I was going to drive home, leaving an entire nation between us. My anxiety grew just thinking about it.

Much to my surprise, Kylie left the two of us and walked back into the house with all the confidence that I'd been praying for yet wasn't ready to witness firsthand.

One lone tear escaped and silently slid down my cheek.

“Are you okay?” Denny asked. He even genuinely sounded concerned.

I quickly wiped it away. “I'm fine. It's just been a long day.”

“Kind of a crazy one, huh?”

“You could say that again.”

I wasn't ready to meet his gaze, so I stared down at the ground as I kicked a rock around with my toe. It wasn't like me to be so meek but having spent most of my life fighting for my sister, I simply didn't have any fight left for myself.

“Are you sure you don't want to stay? It's not going to be anything crazy. I won't let it get out of hand. I promise.”

The stupid thing was I believed him.

“Thanks,” I managed.

“She means a lot to you.”

“She's my entire world,” I admitted.

“She'll be safe here.”

“That's easy to say, but it's not so easy to ensure. Trust me on that.”

“She's really lucky to have you. When they asked me to step in and take her group just because I took a few ASL classes, I really didn't know what to expect. She's a great girl. You've done well.”

“How do you know it was me?” I asked.

This time I did look up, needing to know his answer.

He shrugged. “Because you're here.”

It was really that simple.

Emotions welled up within me. I had to get out of here. It was all too much.

He must have sensed me pulling away because he took out his phone and asked for my number. Without thinking, I rattled it off to him.

“Are you staying at one of the hotels in town?”

I nodded and told him which one.

“I'll call if anything happens, but don't worry, I'll be watching out for her.”

I wanted to hug him. He had no way of knowing how much that small gesture meant to me. We'd driven through much of the night, arriving just after midnight after days on the road. I was exhausted and the mating bond was making me feel everything stronger than usual.

I yawned.

He smiled.

“Get some sleep, Lauren. It's all going to be okay. I'll see you tomorrow.”

It wasn't a request. He stated it like a fact, and I was too vulnerable to argue with him.

“Okay,” I whispered.

My feet started moving as I walked away from the one person I cared about in this world and the one person I was meant to find, but somehow knowing they were together made it all okay.