Charlie & Her Beta

Four

Charli’s mind is reeling with each step she takes. ‘That seemed a lot like what I’ve been told the mate bond is like.’ She thinks to herself, trying to make sense of all the feelings she has right now. ‘But it can’t be I’m only 17, and I’m not even a wolf’ she tells herself trying to brush it off and swallow these emotions.

‘Then why is my heart beating so fast?’ she argues internally, ‘am I having an anxiety attack?’ She thinks stopping for a second, and she takes a deep breath to try and steady her racing heart and mind.

“Hey!” She hears a sexy voice call out from behind her, and she instinctively knew exactly whose voice it was, but instead of turning around she continued walking the opposite way. “Hey,” Donavan calls again, “can we talk?” He finishes finally catching up to her, confused as to why she is walking away from him.

“Uhhh, yeah of course.” She says, looking over at him and once again she feels that mesmerizing pull. They stand in silence for a moment and the wind blows gently between them. “I’m, Charli Timbers, Reid’s little sister,” she says, extending her hand in greeting. “I know who you are.” He tells her, taking her hand, and she pulls it back immediately stunned by the pleasure that exploded between at just a mere touch of their hands.

Donavan let out a laugh at her adorable reaction to his touch. He never knew his heart could feel so full as it does in this moment. “Hey, man you, ok?” a voice called, and Donavan tears his eyes from his mate to see his friend John walking over with a concerned look on his face.

“Oh, hey Charli.” John says, recognizing her right away. “How do you know her?” Donavan asks darkly, and John puts his hands up unsure of exactly what's going on and why the Alpha seems upset with him all of a sudden. “She’s Reids little sister man, everyone knows her.” he says, looking between the two, trying to get a read on the situation.

“Well, if you two are alright,” he starts looking over at Charli, and she nods, letting him know she’s ok, “then I’m gonna hit the road.” He says now, looking at Donavan. “It was nice seeing you today, I’m glad your back.” He pats the Alphas shoulder before he excuses himself from the awkward situation.

“I should get going too, my dad will be expecting me.” Charlie tells him and when she turns to leave, Donavan grabs her hand, sending delightful little tingles up her arm. “Please stay . . .” He requests and with the way he is looking at her Charli is unable to deny him his request. “Ok.” She says softly, and he smiles at her in response, making her heart beat faster if that's even possible.

Donavan leads her down to the swings, still holding her hand tightly, enjoying the electricity between their touch. He unwillingly let's go of her hand to steady the swing for her, and she gives him a sweet smile as she sits. “You’re Donavan, right? Alpha Desmond’s oldest?” Charli starts, and he realizes he hadn’t even introduced himself to her.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve seen you around a lot,” Donvan runs a hand through his hair before continuing, “but I never took the time to get to know you. I’m sorry for that.” He tells her, and she lets out a little laugh “That's ok, I get it. I’m not sure my brother would’ve let you even if you tried.” She says with an enchanting smile.

The conversation stalled and Charli swung back and forth gently, just listening to the cricket's chirp flow through silence. This feeling of dread began to creep into her heart, and she looked towards the ground once again, confused by what she was feeling. She heard take a breath, “Think we’re mates.” He states boldly, “actually, I know we're mates. My wolf told me as soon as I seen you.” He admits.

Charli was relieved to know that there was a reason for her peculiar onslaught of emotions earlier, but the hesitation in his voice told her something wasn’t quite right. Charli remained silent for a moment organizing her thoughts and Donavan watched as her gently swayed back and forth, with her beautiful green eyes fixed on the dirt groove left in the earth beneath the swing, wondering what she was thinking and wishing she would look his way.

After a few more moments of silently listening to the sounds of the night, in almost a whisper Charli asks “So what do we do now? Are we . . . together?” Her green eyes look over at him and pierce his heart. He can see a slight sadness, as if she already knows something is off. The thought of having to reject her crosses his mind and it makes his stomach churn.

Charli’s eyes search his face for an answer and Donavan sits silently, unable to respond. The inner turmoil he’s experiencing has his mind a mess and all he wants is to just preserve this moment in time. Where the world is still, and it’s just him and his beautiful mate. His mind searches for impossible ways to freeze time and comes up empty. He considers reaching over to take her hand again when a melody sings from the pocket of her sweater.

Their gaze is broken when Charli answers the phone, and when Donavan hears the deep voice of another male on the line, he unintentionally growls. Charli looks over a little surprised, then covers the receiver and whispers in a soft voice, “It’s just my dad.” She gives him a silly grin and Donavan shakes his head, embarrassed by his reaction.

“Yes Dad, I’m sorry, I’ll be home soon. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She tells her dad, while Donavan waits quietly for her to finish up the call. “Ok I love you, Bye.” Donavan closes his eyes and pretends it was him that she was telling she loves.

Charli stands and slips her phone back in her pocket, “My dad is expecting me home for dinner, I don’t really know how to do this . . . Would you like to come back to my house with me? I’m sure my dad wouldn’t mind you coming over.” She tells him hoping in her heart that he says yes, but she can tell by his silence that he is going to turn her down.

“Or we can talk about this another time if that’s better for you . . . Tomorrow maybe?” she says, feeling a bit rejected but trying to hide it the best she can. Donavan looks up at her in turmoil, unable to answer her right away. “Tomorrow then.” He manages to force out, and she nods, “Alright, tomorrow then.” She repeats, leaving Donavan to his thoughts as she makes her way home.