“Lily! I was so afraid!” A woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy ran straight to the girl, whose name was obviously Lily, and immediately took her in her arms.

“I'm sorry mom.” Lily started to cry again, but not from sadness this time. While they were hugging, I quickly picked myself up off the ground to leave before they noticed me. The girl was no longer in danger, but judging by the smell of the woman, I might be if I didn't leave as soon as possible.

“Wait!” It was obviously too late. I had no choice but to rely on the spray and not do anything suspicious.

“I heard what you were saying to her. Thank you for trying to help my daughter.” She smiled at me through the tears in her eyes, and I smiled back.

“It was nothing. Everyone would react the same way. I'm just glad you found each other,” I answered honestly.

“Still. Thank you for making sure she's safe. She's my everything, and I don't understand how I could lose her.” Her look turned guilty, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"It was my fault. I'm sorry," said daughter in her arms lifted her head from her chest to look at her mom. I never thought I could watch a pair of hunters and be happy for them, but these two made me reconsider.

"Next time we'll make sure that doesn't happen, okay?" She smiled at her. “Uncle Tobias and I were worried about you.” The safety light in my head went on. Although the little girl and her pregnant mother were not a danger to me, their uncle or whoever it was might.

"I'm glad everything is fine. I should be going," I alerted them to my presence and tried to remove myself from the conversation. Not that it would work.

"Thanks again. My name is Liliana, but they call me Annie." She fixed the little girl in her arms so she could shake my hand. I hesitated. Was it safe for me to tell her my real name? I didn't have much time to think, so I chose a compromise.

"I'm Cole, it's my pleasure." I shook her outstretched hand and attempted a sincere smile.

"Actually, it's my pleasure since you saved my Lily. I don't know what I would do without her." She briefly looked at the little girl in her arms, and there was nothing but love in her gaze.

"I already knew that from her name," I laughed weakly as the atmosphere between us relaxed. At least the atmosphere, since my senses were still on full blast expecting danger at any moment.

“It's my husband's fault. He knew I didn't like my name, so he decided to give it to our daughter. I'm not going to lie, his plan is totally working, but now everyone is confused when we both come to the call,” she chuckled, causing Lily in her arms to laugh as well. The corners of my mouth lifted in a smile but quickly fell back as I smelled the most enticing smell I had ever smelled. My mate was here.

“Tobias!” Annie shouted, looking somewhere behind me. As if in slow motion, I turned around and my eyes met the brown ones that had been haunting me in my dreams for days. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, and the only thing left for me was to stand and watch my mate approach me directly.

“Lily, I was so scared!” The world suddenly returned to its original speed and the hunter ran to the pair in front of me. My mate stretched out his arms and took the little girl from her mother.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Tobias. I didn't mean to get lost. I was scared and Cole found me." And it was this exact sentence that caused my mate's attention to suddenly be on me.

“Cole, I suppose,” was the first thing my mate said to me. His attention on me, his words to me, his eyes following me, it was too much. I had trouble not revealing myself to him. I wasn't sure, but he seemed unaffected by my presence. He wasn't a wolf, so that was understandable, but the first sight had an effect on him, so I couldn't be sure.

“Yeah, I'm Cole," I replied like the biggest idiot.

“Well Cole, thanks for helping my niece. If you ever need anything, we'll be happy to return the favour.” He gave me a sincere smile. My mate just smiled at me! I was on cloud nine. The wolves' purpose in life was to ensure that their soul mates were happy. Right now, I was more than happy, and my mate didn't even know he was my chosen one.

“Yes! If you need anything, we’re here for you,” Annie overtook me before I could even draw breath for an answer. As soon as she said that, she took her phone out of her pocket. “Here, give me your number.” She handed me the phone with a new contact ready.

I stiffened. Not only was she a stranger and human, but she was a hunter. Saving her daughter or not, everything would be forgotten the moment she knew who I really was. Plus, my phone would allow her to track my pack.

Annie and Tobias noticed my hesitation. As if not when Annie's hand was still in the air without me taking the phone from her.

"Oh shit, sorry. Mom always said we’re too direct.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners, and she suppressed a nervous laugh. Her brother was immediately ready to save the day.

“And she also always told us that it was polite to introduce yourself.” My mate laughed and I just hoped he wasn't going to shake my hand like his sister had before. Although he didn't recognize me by sight or smell (which was non-existent at the moment), if he touched me he would definitely know something was wrong. Or rather right. There was nothing wrong with our bond except that we were not of the same species.

I quickly shoved my hands into my pants pockets before he could react. Luckily, he understood the gesture and just smiled at me instead.

“I'm Tobias Raekan, Annie's brother and Lily's uncle,” he introduced himself. Tobias Raekan. I knew I would remember that name until the day I die.

Again, I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to lie to him but telling him my real name meant putting my family in danger. The mate was paramount to the wolves, but protecting the pack meant more than protecting the hunter. To protect the hunter, who knows if a wolf has ever said something like that before.

I paused again and this time the short silence began to turn into an awkward one.

"Sorry," I began cautiously, "speaking of mothers, mine always taught me to be cautious around strangers." I laughed, hoping it would break the awkward moment. I didn't want to mess things up with him, even though I didn't know if there was even a chance that we would ever be together.

“In that case, I hope we’ll have a chance to be more than strangers,” Tobias offered, and I felt my heart stop for a moment. Just his look had an incredible effect on me. He could look at me with those hickory eyes and I could melt on the spot. I hoped he would never find out what he was doing to me.

“I have an idea. I'll give you our numbers and we'll leave it up to you. Write to us or not. It's up to you,” Annie immediately caught on and offered an alternative. Finally, something I could nod to and not feel bad about.

“Okay, sounds good,” I agreed, and to confirm my words, I took my phone out of my pocket so that she could save their numbers. Luckily, I wasn't like most of my pack, and I didn't have a wolf as my background.  

Just as she finished typing the number, her own phone rang.

"Sorry, that's my husband. He already misses us." she giggled at her own words and picked up the call. With the phone to her ear, she moved away from us to have privacy, so Tobias and I were left alone. Well, Tobias, me, and Lily, who managed to fall asleep in his arms.

“Sorry if we're being too much. We live together, so we're used to our little madness, but we can be too much for a stranger.” Tobias gave an apologetic smile. A very cute smile, to be honest. I didn't have a chance to look at it up close in the meadow before, but now... He was gorgeous. From his short black hair that was messy sticking out in all directions and falling to his eyebrows to his intense eyes full of joy and fluffy lips that stole my attention every moment.

“I don't know about crazy, but you sure have a habit of apologizing,” I replied with a chuckle. And that was exactly the moment when I made my mate laugh for the first time. And not only a small, decent laugh, but sincere from the heart. To say I was proud of myself was an understatement.

“That sounds like an idea for a cool drinking game,” he suggested jokingly.

“Oh yeah, drink every time Raeken says sorry, has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” I immediately caught on the idea. I couldn't believe that I was having fun with my mate. Just yesterday it seemed impossible to me.

"Too long. More like Better drink than sorry,” he corrected me. I had to admit, he was creative. Not as creative as holograms, but still.  

“Have to admit that does sound like something I would play. All you need now is a few college students to test it out.” For a moment, images of my college days flashed through my mind. I have to admit, I wasn't exactly a wallflower. No wonder the packs had so many people who pay attention to the running and safety of the pack. If all wolves behaved like typical high school or college students, it would almost be an apocalypse. I spoke from my own experience. I don't even want to mention how many bushes I hugged on the way from the party because I couldn't get home.

"If you know any, contacts would be useful. I'm glad that I have a high school diploma,” he admitted not exactly willingly. I couldn't tell if he was ashamed or if there was something else behind it. His nervous attitude didn't reveal much, that is, except that the pleasant atmosphere between us suddenly disappeared. I tried to find suitable words to lighten the situation, or at least encourage him, but my mind suddenly went blank.

Before I could recover, Annie came back, no phone to her ear.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it looks like we have to go," she said, "well, if you want to stay you can, but I have to." She corrected herself and looked at her brother, expecting an answer. I didn't know what answer to hope for. Being close to him was dangerous, but at the same time, I felt my wolf screaming for me to go even closer to him.

"I'm coming with you. I won't let you drag my favourite niece along with the shopping bags alone," he decided in a second, and I felt disappointed like never before. It was stupid. I didn't even really know him.

Satisfied with his answer, Annie quickly turned to me. With a finger pointing at me and a stern expression, she said, "And you! I’ll wait patiently for you to text me. I even added an emoji to my name, so we are friends.” Despite whom she was, I had to laugh. In another world, I would love to be her friend. She seemed awesome.

"If it's the right emoji, I'll be in touch. It's a matter of fate," I stated in a serious voice.

Fate watching the whole situation just smiled. He had already done his part, now it was up to the two of them to decide how to handle such an opportunity. Fate had no doubt that they would make the right decision. After all, he did choose them.