6.

I hate surprises.

And certainly do hate it when I'm being wretched from my gut with two different surprises. Or when Robyn was all hysterical in my head. Glad to know I wasn't the only one shocked to the bones.

Mav was truly here. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself that I was dreaming, that this wasn't real, I knew it was. What I didn't want to accept was the fact that my mate, may perhaps be the escort I had booked.

"You filthy piece of shit!" He snarled angrily, his voice echoing throughout the diner, causing people to turn their attention towards us. He was still gripping Bukar's hand. And it wasn't a simple grip, because I knew, deep within me, I knew he had broken that wrist. "The next time I see you close to what's mine, I'm going to rip you limb by limb, then scatter your remains to the dogs on the streets. Get out of here," he finished, his voice holding a tinge of promise in it.

Bukar gasped as Mav let go of his hand, and without sparing me a single glance, he sprinted away.

I didn't know what to say. My head was fuzzy. So fuzzy that I could feel my panicking wheel begin to spin. I had no idea what to make of the situation, what to make of the whole issue. Plus, I didn't dare allow myself to think about the possibility of Mav being the escort I booked.

Then there was the pull. The irresistible pull drawing me to the huge man towering above me. The pull I hadn't felt for the past two years. Nerve wrecking. Gripping. A forceful emotion to deal with, and one I certainly couldn't control. And that made this a lot harder to understand. A lot harder to manage.

Realizing I couldn't control myself. Couldn't control my raging nerves. Couldn't handle the shock this surprise had knocked into me, so I decided to do one thing. Call me a coward, but that was the only thing I could think about at that moment. Not when he was looking at me like that. Not when I could see the rage he was trying so hard to control. So, as he opened his mouth to speak again, I gathered my phone and bag. And I ran. Not in the literal sense though. And it wasn't helping that Robyn was quiet, too quiet for my liking. Too quiet for her nature.

There wasn't a line for the bathroom, so I didn't need to wait to lock myself in one of the stalls. Sitting on the toilet and hugging my phone and purse to my chest, I rocked back and forth. I tapped my teeth together, comforted by the feel of it. My face burned. There's a roaring in my ears. And no matter how fast I counted, or how many times I twirled the ring on my finger, nothing was working. This wasn't something I was expecting, because surprises always leave me with a feeling of being too loose. No control. I need a firm grip on my life, I need to know I have a firm grip on things happening around me. Not this.

Not with the possibility that the escort I booked was my mate.

I could hear voices around, but I didn't look. I didn't want to do anything. I simply want this to end, or perhaps, be a dream. I just want him to go away so I can return to my hotel room and pretend this never happened. I need to find a different way to solve Robyn's horny state, but I'll do it later, when I can think.

So I simply sat, and counted and counted and counted till I lost track of time. Till nothing mattered. Till the thundering beating of my heart quieted a bit. But I still didn't stop. I continued counting to 7 over and over.

'This changes everything,' Robyn finally spoke, her voice had a slight crackly sound to it. 'I mean, who wants to have a one night stand with their mate?'

I sighed, counting to 7 again before I finally answered. 'He's the escort, right?'

'Isn't that obvious already? There's the mask, and then the eyes you were drawn to. The familiarity of them.'

Right. I nodded. I booked my mate for a one night stand. Great. 'So what should we do here? Rob, I can't understand how I feel about this. I don't even know what I should feel regarding this. I want to be mad so badly but I can't, because I would seem pathetic, seem like I care about a man that doesn't care about me,' I murmured, burying my face in my palm.

'I'm so mad I want to take over. How dare he become an escort? Even if that was what he did before we were mated, shouldn't he have stopped? This clearly shows that he does not care about the sacred bond between us!' Robyn snapped, pacing around with her eyes blazing with an unfathomable kind of rage.

'Maybe I shouldn't have run away like a coward. Now he'll think I'm in here crying because of him and...' the words cut off as a thought crossed my mind. 'Robyn, if he is an escort, aren't we supposed to feel uncomfortable when he's with someone else? I mean, isn't that how the mating bond works?'

'Oh, I do hope his heart broke and shattered into pieces when we were with those wolves. I hope he spent weeks raging and nursing a damaged heart!' Robyn cursed, panting heavily. Then after a few moments, she settled on her paws and stared at me. 'But you are right. We should've at least felt a reaction. But it is no surprise we didn't, because if I remember correctly, we met him first at the king's house, and he was clearly mad about it that day before he left. But neither you nor I felt the bond until he visited us a few days later. Do you think the lack of feeling a reaction has something to do with that?'

I mulled over her words, which seems to be true. 'I think something is wrong with us then.'

Robyn scoffed. 'Excuse you, I am a very fine and healthy shewolf, thank you very much. I can very well keep my emotions in check. If anyone isn't okay, then it is that bastard. Oh dearest me! I want to gauge his eyes out or rip him limb by limb like he threatened to do to that cute human.'

I felt my lips stretching in a closed lipped smile. Robyn is truly angry. But I can't feel that. Heck, I can't even seem to think straight enough to draw a reaction. All I know is that this is going to mess me up for a few days and it isn't something I am looking forward to.

'I know I pushed you into doing this, Sher. And I am so sorry about that. As horny as this bitch is, I think it is over for us tonight. Let's go back to the hotel and perhaps, sleep? Ugh! This is going to be a very long night. But we can manage, or I guess I can manage...'

'We're doing this,' I heard myself say. 'We have no reason to ruin our night because of him. When we decided to do this, we didn't care about him, nor about the fact that we are mated. Because we already knew he doesn't care. This changes nothing. We are going ahead with our plan and we are having a one night stand.' I finished, surprised to hear how clear and confident I sounded despite the daze my mind was in.

'Are you sure? We can totally skip it. I know it's not something you wanted to...'

'Now I want to. I want to do it now,' and it was true. For some very odd feeling, I wanted to do this now more than ever.

'Are we booking another one? Isn't that too late? Or...'

'Why book another one when we already have one booked?' I said sweetly.

That seemed to shut Robyn off as I twirled my ring and counted again. Counting till I lost track of time once more, till I couldn't think of anything but the numbers in my head, till I felt my nerves slowly easing. If he has no problem doing this, why should I?

'We have booked him already, we might as well get this over with,' I added as I patted my ankara gown to ease the squeezing on the side. There was a certain rush of adrenaline kicking my gut, a sense of excitement I hadn't felt in a while. If the thought of doing this could make me this excited, then I'm doing this. 'I wanted something different. I wanted to try something new, and I think this is the best option right now.'

Robyn grinned like a lovesick puppy. 'I freaking love you, Sherneil!'

I smiled. So easy. No stress. And then walked from the bathroom. The knowledge that I have control over this now, made my strides a lot more confident. But then, I collided with something hard as soon as I rounded the corner from the bathroom. A firm chest. Solid body. Warm. Alive. Real. This is horrible. Absolutely horrible. And for some very weird reason, I knew it was him. Maverick. My mate.

His hands wrap around my upper arms for an instant as he puts space between us, and the shock of his touch reverberates through me.

"Hey," he says, his expression blank, but I could still see the subtle hint of anger. He wasn't holding the mask anymore, and I wondered if he had thrown it somewhere. The mask was part of what we agreed to use for identification.

My lips form the word hi, but my vocal chords refuse to make a sound. His throat is directly at my eye level, and I'm staring straight at the swirling calligraphy inked into his skin. Tattoos. On his neck. Neck tattoos. And it looked a bit raw. There wasn't a neck tattoo when I booked him two nights ago. On closer look though, the tattoo doesn't look new. I knew about the butterfly tattoo on his chest, but somehow it's different seeing him...them—in person. Seeing the one on his neck.

Okay. This doesn't feel like an adventure anymore.

This feels terrifying.