Chapter 4: Clint

My name is Lily Raines

I’m 17 years old

I’m 5 foot 6 inches tall

I have brown hair and blue eyes

I want to be a warrior when I graduate

I will not sleep with you, so stop pursuing me.

That’s what I read on the paper that she handed to me as she walked out of class. I read it again and then look at the place where she walked out. This is going to be harder than I thought.

First of all, every time she looks at me, I get so lost in her blue eyes that I can’t even remember my name, much less what we were talking about. I’m guessing by now she thinks I’m an idiot.

‘You are an idiot.’ My unhelpful wolf tells me.

And now she thinks I just want to sleep with her. When she asked me why I’m suddenly pursuing her, I didn’t have a good reason. I don’t want to tell her that we’re mates. I obviously have some damage control to do before we get to that point. And while I was getting lost in the never-ending blue of her eyes, she apparently took my lack of response as me wanting to get in her pants. Which let’s be honest, I absolutely do. But not as a hook up or a one-time thing. I want this woman next to me, beside me in bed and in life, forever.

‘Maybe you should let me try. You just keep screwing it up.’ Donovan says to me.

‘I’m open to suggestions.’ I tell him as we walk out to meet with Anders.

‘Let me out tonight. We can find where she lives, and I’ll go say hi.’ It’s not the worst idea he’s ever had.

‘It’s better than any idea you’ve had.’ Donovan retorts.

“Hey, how did it go?” I slap-shake Anders as I walk up to him, asking about how things went with Calista today.

“Like shit. You?”

“Same.” I told him this morning about Lily being my mate. When we saw her and Calista walking to school, I thought it was the perfect way to not only get to know my mate but give Anders some time with Calista. However, we both got burned.

“We need a plan.” He says to me.

“Donovan wants to try and find Lily tonight. I’m willing to give it a try and see how it goes.”

Anders looks thoughtful. “I think we need something bigger than that. I’ll think about it, but it needs to be a grand gesture.”

I laugh at my friend. “You’re the one with the grand gestures. Just let me know what you need, and I’ll be your wing-man.”

His eyes open wide. “That’s a great idea!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Top Gun. Bar scene. Singing to his girl.”

“Your voice sucks dude. No one wants to hear you sing.”

“Exactly, I won’t stop singing until she agrees to go out with me.” An evil smile spreads across his face.

I snicker at him. “Okay, but how do we get them to a bar that we’re at to make it happen.”

His face falls. “I’m still working on that.”

We climb into his car and head back to the packhouse. My parents moved to the packhouse after I got my wolf and we realized he had a Guardian spirit. Anders parents wanted to keep me close and protected, while fostering a continued relationship with their son. A couple of years ago, my parents went on vacation and the plane crashed over the ocean. They were never found. Afterward, my room was moved to the Alpha floor so I could be closer to Anders, and we’ve basically been raised as brothers ever since.

When we get back to the packhouse, we split off to change for training. I’m excited because I’ll get to see Lily again. Hopefully, this time I won’t get distracted by her eyes and I can have an intelligent conversation. Anders and I run morning training, while his father, Alpha Patrick and Patrick’s Beta, Calvin, run afternoon training.

I get there early, hoping to catch Lily before training begins. When I arrive, she’s not there yet, so I begin warming up. Other warriors begin surrounding me and warming up with me, but when I see her, I pull away and jog up to her.

“Lily.”

I watch as she rolls her eyes. “Clint. I thought my note was sufficient.”

I’m trying hard not to take it personally that she really wants nothing to do with me. My mate wants nothing to do with me. It’s a huge blow to my ego.

“Well, I wasn’t planning to ask you to sleep with me. I wanted to know if you would like to go on a date with me on Friday.”

 She frowns at me. I don’t date. I don’t need to take a girl out to get laid. And since I have no inclination to build a relationship with anyone but my mate, I’ve never bothered to put much effort into dating or even getting to know more than a name.

“Actually,” she says as Lucas walks by. She grabs his arm. “Lucas and I are already going out on Friday night, right Lucas?” She looks at him and I can tell by the way she’s looking at him, that this wasn’t exactly planned. However, Lucas, the dipshit, seems all too willing to oblige.

“That’s right. We talked about it earlier today.”

“Right.” Lily says, dropping his arm. “And tomorrow we battle for who gets the check.”

I can’t help the growl that escapes. First, this asshole is taking my mate on a date and now he might not even buy her dinner? And she prefers that to going out with me? I thought I had a pretty strong ego, but this is insulting.

I turn to Lucas. “You’re taking Lily out and you don’t plan to pay for dinner?” I watch as his face pales. I step toward him. “Perhaps you don’t deserve to take someone like Lily out if you can’t be bothered to even pay for the meal.”

Lily steps up to me. “I’m perfectly capable of paying for my own dinner, thank you very much and it’s none of your business.”

I haven’t taken my eyes off Lucas. I watch his Adam’s apple bob in this throat. “It was my way of getting her to go out with me. I have every intention of paying for dinner.”

“Is that so?” I turn my attention to Lily. "So I have to defeat you in a sparring match to get you to go out with me?"

She scoffs. “I’m not stupid enough to go up against you, Guardian.” Oh, this little spitfire is getting under my skin.

“Afraid you can’t take me?” If she wants to be a warrior, chances are good that she’s competitive. I’m hoping I can use that to my advantage.

“You’re a Guardian.” She turns and spreads her arm to include every warrior on the training ground. “If anyone here can take you, you aren’t worthy of the title.”

And once again, she turns on her heel and walks away from me.

This time, I don’t even bother trying to hide my growl of annoyance.