Page 56 of Warwick

“It’s fascinating for certain,” Benjamin said. “I’d say that being mated is good for you. You seem much more approachable.”

I scowled. Sebastian pointed. “Yep, there’s the Warwick we know.”

“Leave him alone, you two,” Atticus said as he joined us in the hallway.

“I didn’t mean anything negative. I think it’s great Warwick found a mate. He actually smiled in there. Did you see? I can’t ever recall seeing him grin, let alone smile.”

Atticus sighed before he pushed on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Not everyone has a bubbly personality like you.”

Benjamin laughed at that.

“Benjamin, Sebastian, you’re with me,” Master Edison said. Immediately, the cousins followed Master Edison, who was already walking with Frederick. That left me in the hallway with Atticus and Damien.

I looked around for Dante but couldn’t find him anywhere. “Where did Dante go?”

“He walked that way with Augustus,” Damien said.

I looked behind me, wondering why he’d asked to talk and then walked off. “Thanks. He asked to talk. I need to go find out what he wanted.” I took off without waiting for any further response. If they had something to say, they’d follow. I found Dante and Augustus in their shared office, which made sense.

“Hey,” I said after I poked my head in. “You wanted to talk?”

Dante looked at me. “Yeah. Is now a good time?”

“Sure. I’m actually early today because Cecil has an appointment. Next week on, I’m on half days until he goes into labor.” I glanced at Augustus. “Did you want to talk here or somewhere else?”

“Can we go for a walk?”

I nodded. I hadn’t had any time with Dante. Not really. He definitely wasn’t in my pack in our realm, and since we’d found him in Colombia, he and Augustus had been glued to one another.

“Did you want me to go with you?” Augustus asked. He’d started to stand when Dante did.

“That’s not necessary. I won’t be long, but I do have some questions for Warwick.”

Augustus seemed as if he wanted to say something but instead sat back down. Dante stood next to me, and after I raised an eyebrow at him, he started down the hallway. I followed without saying a word until we were outside in the cold.

“You needed to come all the way out here?”

Dante shrugged. “It’s not like you will freeze. But I wanted to ask you a few questions about your mate.”

Immediately, I was suspicious. “What about him?” There was a growl to my voice that had Dante hold up his hands.

“Not yours in particular. Just mate in general.”

I relaxed some. “I can try to answer questions, but I’m probably not the best to ask when it comes to mates.” Neither were Atticus or Damien, really. But there were several others around that were happily mated. Not that Atticus or Damien weren’t happy with their mates. They were. But they had given me questionable advice.

“Your beast. He was drawn to your mate? Without really knowing why?”

I nodded. “Yes. He was becoming difficult to control. He kept pulling me toward where Cecil was.”

Dante nodded. “And if in a certain person’s presence and your beast calms. Does that possibly indicate they are your mate?”

“Probably. Do you think you’ve met your mate?”

Dante looked toward the left, a sadness washing over him. “I do, but he will never want me.”

“Why do you think that?”

Dante’s eyes told a story of someone completely broken. “Because I failed him. I couldn’t protect him.”

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