Page 8 of The Wolf’s Bullied Mate (Moondust Hollow Wolves #2)

Over the next two weeks, our conversation continued with light flirting. Slowly, she started responding to my advances with careful flirtations of her own. She was so unsure in her advances that I couldn’t help but find her cute.

I’d had special women in my life before.

Much like RedRuby had commented, as a beta, I had my pick of women from my pack.

None of them, however, had ever been as easy to talk to as my dating app conversation partner.

None of them had ever made me so excited to tease and flirt with them.

None of them had ever made my heartbeat quicken like RedRuby did.

Slowly, I realized that RedRuby could be a potential mate of mine, perhaps my fated mate. I felt a connection to her, the likes I’d never experienced with anybody else.

I wanted to meet her.

If we saw each other in person, learned how the other looked, would we be even more attracted to each other? Would the chemistry between us be as smoldering as it was through texts?

Would RedRuby be as cute as I had made her out to be in my head?

The need to know more about her grew stronger in me every day for weeks, driving my desire. I enjoyed learning her secrets, like Christmas presents I had waited years to unwrap.

I wanted more of her.

So, one day, I asked her the simple but poignant question, Would you consider marrying me?

She didn’t reply for half a minute, but I wasn’t concerned at all. Asking her to become mine felt as natural as breathing.

Are you proposing to me? she finally wrote back.

I am, I replied.

There was another pause. Then she wrote, I didn’t think you’d ask so soon.

Why wait? You want to get out of your toxic pack, don’t you?

But… we don’t know each other that well.

We talk every day. I even know what your favorite pair of socks looks like. They were white with a pink ribbon pattern. You shared your dreams with me. She wanted a good future for her kid. Her son meant the world to her.

That’s… true, but…

Let’s meet up. Once we do, I’m sure we’ll want to spend more time together in person.

But… what if we meet up and don’t like each other in person?

Then we’ll go our separate ways, but I hope you would consider at least being friends with me.

There was another pause, then, An arranged marriage between us… maybe it’s a good idea.

I wasn’t sure if I would still call a marriage with her ‘arranged’ considering my deep emotions about RedRuby.

My feelings for her were genuine. I didn’t have the courage to correct her, though.

If she wanted to consider being with me an ‘arranged marriage’ at first, a contract agreement she could use to get away from her abusive environment, then I was happy to be that lifeline to her.

I would accept her and her son with open arms. I would do anything in my power to help them. I would keep them safe from harm.

And if anybody dared to threaten them, there would be hell to pay.

I no longer told RedRuby that I would kill anybody who abused her— she didn’t like me acting so violently. As a strong wolf, my nature was to protect and defend my potential mate, but if she wanted me to be gentler, then I would do my best to reign in my instincts.

Still, when I thought about her abusers, it was hard not to wish to hurt them.

Alright, I’m going to tell the agency to arrange a meeting for us ; I wrote to her. I’m looking forward to seeing you.

Likewise.

***

Three days later, the sun had already set as I sat in the living room, waiting for the Twin Tails agent to arrive with RedRuby and her son.

I tapped my left leg nervously while my right hand drummed the same rhythm on my right knee.

I put my left hand on my right one to stop it from moving.

Tapping was a nervous habit I had whenever I was forced to wait for something for an excruciatingly long time.

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into half an hour.

Where were they?

RedRuby was from another pack, but I didn’t know which one.

How far away did she live from me? We had decided that our meeting would take place here, at my house, which she would soon call her home.

Our home. I looked around the living room.

It was filled with light wooden furniture and a normal brown leather sofa; nothing much to write home about.

The place sure needed a woman’s touch. If RedRuby agreed to marry me, I would let her decorate the house however she wished.

If she wanted to paint the walls pink, I would paint them myself.

Was there anything I wouldn’t do for this woman I’d never met in person?

My crush on her was almost silly. I felt like a schoolboy again, dreaming of holding hands with Pauline Anderson.

I remembered her shy smile from underneath her long lashes the freckles on her face that gleamed in the sun.

For some reason, I imagined that RedRuby looked like my crush from high school.

I knew equating the two was wrong, but in the absence of any idea about how my new potential partner looked, the image of someone I had likewise known and loved couldn’t help but come to me.

Pauline Anderson had moved to another pack long ago, and I would never see her again. Now, it was time for new love.

Just as I was reprimanding myself, a car stopped outside my house. I rose from my seat. My wolf pronounced in my soul. He, too, anticipated finally getting to see the woman we longed to marry.

I took one final look in the tall mirror next to the coat rack.

I had dressed up for the occasion. I wore a black dress shirt and simple black pants; not dressy enough to appear out of place but more elegant than my usual attire.

I had tried my best to make sure my unruly, curly blonde hair was somewhat tidy.

I really had done all I could to make myself presentable, hadn’t I?

There was no room here for uncertainty. I had to present myself as the rock RedRuby could depend on for support since she desperately needed something stable in her sorrowful life.

I wanted to be someone on whom she could rely.

I couldn’t let her see that inside, I was afraid she wouldn’t choose me as her husband; she would see me and be disappointed.

No, I was the beta of Moondust Hollow, a respected member of my pack, someone people looked up to and admired. I had a lot to offer RedRuby. I had the strength to protect her, to be at her side, and to guide us through life.

She would choose me.

When the doorbell rang, I smiled the most charming smile I could muster and opened the door.

On the other side I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever encountered in my life. She was tall, though not as tall as me. She was slim but with enough curves for my liking. Long, straight red hair fell in a waterfall down her back. Freckles adorned her face - they were even on her nose. How cute.

When my gaze met her big green eyes, though, what I saw there made me shudder.

Confusion mixed with fear.

I frowned, unsure of what was distressing her. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, ready to bolt at any moment. She tightened the grip on her son’s hand—he was the spitting image of her, with the same red hair and large green eyes—and pulled him closer.

The agent, whom I only now noticed—an older woman with large glasses barely supported by her small nose—chose this moment to speak up. “May I introduce Pauline Anderson of the Lone Bite pack along with Roy Anderson, her son?”

My eyes widened when I heard her name. Pauline. My crush from my high school years. She now stood here on my porch in the flesh, ready to start talking about… marrying me.

Pauline was RedRuby.

I had begun to fall in love with the same woman my heart had chosen all those years ago.

The girl I had thought I’d never see again had returned to me, and now she was a full-grown and beautiful woman.

Realizing that RedRuby and Pauline were the same person made me look at her even more fondly.

“Pauline, this is Oliver Norton, the Beta of the Moondust Hollow pack,” the agent introduced me.

Pauline opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then closed it. Much like when we texted, I waited patiently for her to speak.

With every passing second though, she only looked more and more panicked.

Then, before I realized what was happening, she took her son in her arms and bolted.

My first thought was that she was no weak wolf if she had enough strength to carry a five-year-old so easily.

Only when she was already a few paces away from me did my mind catch up to what was happening.

Pauline had recognized me, learned my name, and… she had run away from me.