Chapter 6
Nym
Sleeping in was not something I usually got to do. I worked two jobs, and downtime wasn’t really a thing. So when I found myself waking up, not to the sound of a blaring alarm on my phone, but simply because I’d slept long enough to be well rested, I was shocked.
I sat up in bed, looking around frantically, trying to figure out where the hell I was. The plush king-size bed and down comforter were most certainly not mine, and I couldn’t hear the squeak of the radiator that my landlord refused to fix. The roomI was in had a tall ceiling, with wood trim lining the massive windows.
The ball. I had gone to the masked ball.
Holy shit. I’d found my mate.
I knew I’d found my mate. Right? I wasn’t crazy. But where was he? I was alone in the bed, buried under the blankets. Perhaps he had gotten up already. Was he in the shower? Maybe downstairs getting us breakfast?
My stomach rumbled, agreeing that breakfast would be a fantastic idea. Maybe some coffee. A very large pot of coffee.
I inhaled deeply, searching for his scent. The only scent that lingered was hours old. Like he had left the room a while ago and had not come back.
My stomach twisted. He wouldn’t have left. I mean, we were mates. A shifter couldn’t just leave their mate. He may not have left his mark on my neck, but that would come eventually, right?
Memories of the night were fuzzy. I hadn’t been drinking, but it had all been such a whirlwind. Finding my mate, dancing, talking until late into the night and then eventually coming upstairs.
We hadn’t exchanged full names or much information about each other. We had been too lost in our frenzy to get naked.We had talked for hours, but what did I really know about Dain besides his favorite books and that he had an incredible cock.
My body heated just thinking about how the evening had transpired. He had to be coming back. There was no way he was just going to leave. We were mates. Mates didn’t leave.
I got out of bed, padded to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. I had an overnight bag, thankfully, so I wouldn’t be getting out of here in my tuxedo. That would be awkward.
I spent a long time in the shower, giving my mate time to return—maybe with breakfast. Bagels smothered in cream cheese. Gosh, that sounded good. I loved when I could eat food I didn’t make.
I stayed a long time under the dual-headed shower. It was way bigger than the tiny one in my apartment that I shared with four other people. I didn’t make super great money at the bakery where I worked, or the corner store, or the bar. I loved baking, especially baking for the little business my friend Preston and I were building, but it didn’t pay the bills. Yet.
Eventually, I had to get out of the shower. The fluffy white towels were what you’d find in a luxury hotel, soft against my skin, very much unlike the decade-old towels I was still using at home.
I took my time getting ready, hoping that any moment the door would open and my mate would walk in. His scent was even more faint now, and since I’d showered, it no longer lingered onmy skin. My dragon wanted to bathe in our wolf’s scent, as silly as that sounded. Dragons didn’t bathe.
The scent of my mate was just a memory now. I was beginning to think that perhaps I had imagined all of it. That it wasn’t even real. I’d lived a fairy tale for the night, and now I had to return to reality. Like Cinderella.
I looked on both nightstands and the side table. There was no note, no indication that he had been here at all. His mask lay next to mine. That was the only evidence I had that I’d spent the night with anyone. That and the ache in my backside.
I sat around for quite a while. Way longer than I should have. My stomach was protesting. I definitely needed to eat, and if I didn’t get coffee, I’d end up with a caffeine headache. But surely my mate would come back. He wouldn’t have just left. That wasn’t what mates did.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Hours had passed since I’d woken up, and eventually someone would kick me out of this room. I couldn’t wait any longer.
I opened the door to the hallway and found a wolf there, but he was not my mate. In fact, his scent had my omega instincts going into overdrive.Can’t trust this one.
I learned long ago to trust that voice in my head, especially when around alphas I didn’t know.
“Hello,” I said. I looked up and down the hallway, but there was no one else around. The house was quiet considering just a few hours ago there had been a large party.
“Mr. Nym?” the wolf said. “Dain wanted me to make sure that you left safely.”
So he was real. That was good. At least I wasn’t hallucinating. “Where is Dain?” I asked.
“He had to work.”
That was it. No apologies. No explanation.
I brushed my hair behind my ear. “Did he leave anything for me? A number? A note?” I was desperate. I knew it, but this was my only chance.
