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( Decker ) “I hate this place,” I muttered as I leaned closer to Seff. “How long do we have to stay here?” I then asked him. I was so uncomfortable, and this wasn’t my kind of scene. “I don’t know,” Seff said, while he continued to stare at Robin. I rolled my eyes and reached out for the sickly-sweet drink, but I didn’t dare take a sip. I just wanted something to do. Once again, I glanced around at King’s Apple and sighed loudly. No one noticed my discomfort or my irritation. Seff was too busy eyeing Robin, who was too busy talking to Jessica, and Jason was showing Luca something on his phone. I was bored. King’s Apple was supposedly some type of café slash nightclub, but as I took in the interior of red brick and wooden furnishings, I couldn’t imagine how this place could possibly allow anyone to do any kind of dancing. “Where is the dance floor?” I asked curiously. “Oh, they open that at around sevenish,” Jason said as he turned in his seat. “See that over there?” he pointed at something inside and I once again turned my gaze to the interior. I didn’t see whatever it was that he was pointing at. “The metal gate silly,” he offered, and my eyes finally fell on the metal gate he was referring to, and I nodded. I wasn’t really interested, to be honest. “They open that area and this whole place becomes a dance party,” I groaned softly as the thought of it made me feel sick. However, as I turned my gaze away from the gate, I spotted someone in the crowd. “Hey…look,” I said as I nudged my foot against Seff’s. I did the worst thing I could do, as I pointed out the girl, who looked the way I felt. “Who am I looking at?” Seff asked. “That new girl,” I said as I frowned. “I can’t remember her name, ah…they moved in about two months ago…I think?” I was desperately trying to remember her name but for the life of me, I couldn’t. “I don’t think I met them…did I?” Seff questioned softly, but I picked up the shame in his voice. “Her name is Kayley,” Robin suddenly offered, and I smiled. Kayley, that’s right. “And no, I don’t think you’ve officially met her yet,” she said to Seff. I turned my attention to Robin. “How do you know her?” I asked. “She is in three of my classes and her brother…ah…Wyatt – I think – works here,” she explained as she leaned toward Seff. “You should know Wyatt though, he moved to the pack about four years ago. He is one of the patrolmen,” “Oh yeah,” Seff and I said as we nodded in acknowledgment. I did remember seeing Wyatt around although I wasn’t aware that he had an outside job and I had to wonder if he was here tonight. “I can’t remember the details though, unfortunately. I just remember my dad talking about them when they moved in. She’s very shy and quiet. I’m surprised to see her here if I’m being honest,” I couldn’t understand why she was here either. Kayley looked unbelievably uncomfortable and out of place. She looked tiny and frail with her brown hair swept up in a low ponytail. Maybe I should make sure she is ok. Without saying anything, I got up and made my way over to her. No one seemed to be paying any attention to me as I moved through the crowd. How was it that this place was so packed already? “Kayley?” I called out as I stopped just behind her. The girl tilted her head curiously before she slowly turned to face me and, holy hell, she blushed a bright shade of pink that gave her otherwise pale complexion some color. “Hmm?” she hummed out awkwardly and I smiled. “Are you alright?” I asked and she looked stunned as her brown eyes darted around, almost as if she couldn’t believe that I was asking her such a question. “You look like you don’t want to be here,” I added. “Well…no, I don’t,” she admitted, and the sound of her voice made me feel weak in the knees. “But my brother insisted that I get out more,” she added as she pointed to the other side of the room and I looked up to see some guy standing behind the coffee bar, watching us. I recognized him as Wyatt. We held eye contact and he must’ve realized who I was because then he smiled and threw me a thumbs up before attending to another customer. “Do you know him?” Kayley softly questioned and I looked down at the small girl. “Um yeah…you don’t recognize me?” I asked curiously and she tilted her head to the other side as she contemplated my question. “I’m Decker Kenway,” I offered in hopes that my name alone would ring a bell. However, she still didn’t seem to know who I was. “I’m Reed’s son,” finally her eyes lit up and her cheeks flushed even more so, and I could feel her body heat vibrating right through me and I frowned. “I’m Kayley Thorin, but you probably already knew that,” she said shyly, and I smiled. Kayley Thorin was absolutely adorable. “Nice to meet you,” I said as I leaned closer. “Yeah, same,” she whispered, and I suddenly wanted to protect this girl, even though I didn’t know her. “Are you here with friends?” I then questioned as I looked at the small group she had been conversing with earlier. “Um…sort of,” she said, and I noticed her gaze flicker to something behind me and I turned to look over my shoulder. Was she looking at Seff? Luca? Jason? A wave of jealousy hit me so hard that I gasped in surprise. What was it about this girl? “Are you here with Luca?” she then asked, and I frowned. Did she like Luca? “And Robin?” “Yeah,” “That’s nice. I have a few classes with them,” she said before she took a step back, but someone bumped into her which made her fall forward and I automatically reached out to stop her from falling. “S-sorry,” she mumbled and slowly I released her. For that split second, it had felt amazing to hold her in my arms. I seriously needed to get a grip. “Well, have fun,” I said before I abruptly turned and left her with her friends. Robin and Seff had moved their chairs to watch the sunset together and I sighed loudly. I did not want to be here. I sat down on the chair I had vacated earlier and pulled out my phone. I used that as an excuse to think about Kayley. Why did I feel so protective over the small girl? She was probably around our age, but it was clear that she was an omega. Although I knew I shouldn’t be making any assumptions. Just because she was small and frail, didn’t mean she was weak. I took another peek at her and she still looked awkward and out of place. I wanted to go back over there and continue our conversation, but I shook my head at that ridiculous idea and sighed. I had just gotten over my crush on Carla, I didn’t need to form another crush on someone. Besides, it wouldn’t be long, and I would transition and then, hopefully, I would find my mate. I glanced back over at Seff and Robin. I could only hope that I didn’t have to deal with something as complicated as that. I knew that it wasn’t uncommon, but I did hope that by the time I found my mate, she or he would have also transitioned. I didn’t want to have to wait or anything. Even though I understood Seff’s predicament, I didn’t agree with it. He should have just told her the truth from the get-go. Then again, being the Alpha’s son…I shook my head once again as the tempo changed slightly. The sound of the metal being rolled caught my attention and I slowly stood up as I pocketed my phone. They were opening the dance floor section and the crowd was eager to get the next part of their evening going. I had lost sight of Kayley, but when I looked over at the bar where Wyatt had been earlier, I caught sight of her, and I smiled. She looked absolutely unsure of herself and as Wyatt’s lips moved as he talked to her, I imagined that he was reassuring her and hopefully giving her some encouraging words and, suddenly, the dance floor didn’t look like a bad idea. “I can’t wait to see your moves,” I heard Robin whisper from behind me, and I turned around in time to see Seff blushing like a clown. I rolled my eyes as we moved inside as a group. I lost Kayley again, but I wasn’t too worried. Hopefully, I would be able to see her out on the dance floor and join her. However, as I danced along with the music, I soon realized that Kayley wasn’t around. I searched through the crowd for her face, but she wasn’t dancing. I then searched the sidelines to see if she was watching but still, I didn’t see her. Had she left? A wave of disappointment hit me as I went over and sat down next to Seff. Luca had quickly taken over my spot with Robin and I could feel the wave of jealousy coming from my best friend. “Dude…relax,” I yelled out as I watched him closely. “They are just dancing,” I then pointed out. I had to wonder how long it would take for him to get annoyed enough to act and when he finally stopped up and headed over to Luca and Robin, I smiled. However, the moment didn’t last long for me as I frowned and scanned the faces around me. I was now under the impression that Kayley had in fact left and then my mind went even further as I wondered how she had gotten home as I could clearly see that Wyatt was still here. Had one of her friends taken her home? Did she have her own car? I realized that I didn’t know anything about this girl and that I shouldn’t let it bother me and yet, it did. I missed something while I had been stuck with my own thoughts as I spotted Seff making a mad dash out of King’s Apple. I noticed that Robin looked quite upset and so I pushed off the couch and hurried after my buddy. I had no idea what I had missed, but I could only hope that whatever it was, wasn’t too bad. However, as I breathed in the fresh evening air, I not only spotted Seff running across the road toward the beach, but I also spotted Kayley standing under one of the lamp posts. I felt torn between the girl and my best friend. However, whatever decision I had been about to make was taken out of my hands when a car pulled up alongside Kayley. I could see that it was an older female in the driver’s seat and Kayley seemed comfortable – and relieved – to get into the vehicle, which made me think it was probably her mother. That left me open to run after Seff. I found him sitting on the sand, staring out at the ocean, and, since I didn’t want to get covered in sand, I simply stood over him. “Please make sure she gets home safely,” he whispered as he held out the rangers' keys, which I took from him. “Once she is at home you can come and get me,” he added. “Are…I mean…are you alright?” I asked, even though it was clear that he wasn’t. “No,” he said, and once again, all I could hope for was that when my time came…well, I could only hope that I wouldn’t find myself in a similar position with my mate.
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