Chapter 222

Randy’s POV

Despite all the time I’d spent reasoning with myself that Emily was someone else’s choice for me, I spent well over an hour poking around in shop after shop until I finally found a set of clips that I absolutely loved. The hair ornaments had been enameled in a deep forest green and set with gold sparkles. Along the top edge ran a row of tiny pearls.

“Those are perfect,” my wolf practically sang inside me.

“That’s what I thought,” I agreed.

The clips were a little more expensive than I had intended on making the gift, but they were the only thing I’d seen which were so obviously perfect for Emily. So, I went ahead and coughed up the extra money for the purchase.

Besides, even if things didn’t work out between us, I wanted to keep the channels of communication with her open so that regardless of our standing together, I could help her focus on Helen’s pregnancy. Emily had been kind enough to take my advice seriously, making sure that she posed the real risks to Helen. And I was hoping that doctor-patient confidentiality wouldn’t keep her from asking for help if Justin and Helen were refusing to take advice.

Emily wouldn’t even have to tell me what advice, as long as she was willing to allow me to help talk some sense into the stubborn lycan king and his equally bull-headed luna, at least when it came to listening to their doctor. Or any other advice, for that matter. Never mind. The pair was terminally stubborn and impulsive.

I paid for the clips and had the store clerk wrap them in pretty tissue paper and tie them with a little ribbon. Perfect. I had just enough time to go back and change my clothes before I went to pick Emily up.

When I knocked on Emily’s door, she opened it, and my mouth just about hit the floor on the porch. The first time she had entered my office, she looked very much like a doctor, all white coat and business, hair pulled back out of the way.

But now her hair hung in loose brown waves down over her shoulders. She had her makeup done subtly, just enough to highlight all of her beautiful natural features. And the dress she wore showed off every curve in such a way that dirty thoughts immediately swamped my mind.

I swatted those off almost as fast as I swatted away my wolf’s howling at her.

“You look beautiful,” I said.

I held the little gift out to her.

“Is that for me?” A big smile broke out on her face.

I forgot how much women loved personalized attention. My wolf really had the correct idea.

“Yes, it’s for you,” I said.

She took it, our fingers brushing and sending shivers through my body. “Can I open it?”

“If you’d like.”

She pulled the string and carefully undid the tissue paper, then gasped when she saw the clips. “These are my favorite color in the whole world,” she gushed. “And pearls! How did you know?”

“I noticed things when you were in my office before.” I stopped, blushing. “Actually, that’s not entirely true. My wolf noticed. He pointed it out and suggested that we should get a little something for you.”

Emily smiled. “Well, you or your wolf, it was still a sweet thought. Thank you. Do you mind if I put these in?”

“Not at all.”

She gestured that I could step inside, and I went in to wait for her. Emily disappeared around the corner into what I assume must have been a hallway. And I was left standing in the entry.

From what I could see, her house was clean and well-kept with not particularly expensive furnishings, but nice just the same. It was good to know that even as a doctor, she didn’t have a pretentious style.

A moment later, she came back with the clips sparkling in her hair on either side of her head. “So, where are we going to dinner?” she asked.

I explained to her my plan to go to the steakhouse out of the area. This drew a laugh from her.

“That’s probably a good idea. I hadn’t even thought about the privacy issue. But you’re right. I don’t really want to be scrutinized on a first date.”

We got as far as my car before practical thoughts finally overwhelmed me. Once we were both inside and Emily was buckling up, I took a deep breath. I had a question I intended to ask, and I wanted to do it now so that if she wanted to get out of the car immediately and run away from me, at least the choice would be hers.

“Emily, I think it’s only fair to let you know something.”

The look she gave me was slightly concerned. “Yes?” she asked hesitantly.

I gripped the steering wheel so hard that the skin on my knuckles turned white with the effort. “I think it’s only fair to let you know before we go out that my wolf is insisting you’re our mate.”

She turned and gaped at me, mouth open, eyes wide. After a moment of silence, she burst out laughing. “Well, that might be the most blunt way I have ever started a first date.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have time to be embarrassed or shy,” I said. “I’m sure, as you can imagine, as Justin’s beta, I am slammed. And honestly, you know what, never mind. That’s not the reason.”

I let my head hang over the steering wheel. This time I tucked my hands between my knees, trying to keep all of my embarrassment inside.

“If we’re being completely truthful, it’s my wolf.”

“Your wolf?” she asked.

“It’s not just that he’s claimed you as a mate. It’s that he won’t let the subject go, no matter how I try to convince him that your wolf has to agree and you and I have to get along. He keeps jumping all around like some dopey teenager, shrieking about how you’re our mate and he’s found you.”

I let out a groan of embarrassment. “So, for my own peace of mind because he just won’t let me be, if your wolf hasn’t reciprocated his idea of being mates, please just tell me now so that I can set his expectations at a realistic level.”

She drooped in her seat, tipping her head back against the headrest and shutting her eyes. I had on moment of panic that we were getting rejected before we left the driveway.

Then she spoke. “Oh, thank the gods and goddesses,” she said. “My wolf will not shut up about you either. She has been going nonstop since the moment I walked in the door to your office yesterday. She’s been howling about mates. I was so worried that maybe you didn’t feel the same way.”

She turned her head and smiled. “And then when you asked me out, I got this hopeful swoop, and it just set her off again. Now we can both be relieved.”

I looked over at her for a moment before I burst out laughing, too. “I guess our wolves really know what they’re talking about. Sounds like they’re well-matched. Then, in that case, shall we go out tonight and see whether or not we get along?”

Emily sighed and nodded, sitting up straighter. “I would love that. Now that the pressure is off, we can just focus on you and I and getting to know one another rather than being hounded by our wolves.”

I put the car in reverse and backed out of her driveway, finally ready to take on the forty-five minute drive with the new woman in my life.