Page 13 of Beginning Fate

Lauren

Chapter 4

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.

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