Chapter 4 CHAPTER

CHAPTER 4

THE SOULLESS SQUAWK of a bird awakened Penelope's daydreaming mind. She didn't believe in the mating pull before but now that her mate is in the vicinity and she can't do anything to make him agree into cuddling, she found it immensely disappointing.

She had imagined what is it like having a mate before. And Joaquin De Villa's sweet porridge wasn't something she had expected. Him, being so gentle and understanding is a plus for her. A caring mate is something not everyone can afford.

'But the guy doesn't want me.' Along with the endless streams of thought clouding over her eyes; the traitors in her pack, the lives of the bunnies living inside the cave a hundred yards from where she's seated and the obligation to bring them back and report, is stressing Penelope out.

Not to mention that her mate, Joaquin's past and wolf specie is still unknown for her.

It was like the heaven is testing her willpower as a she-wolf. And she's losing it.

"Hey, Penelope…" Joaquin's warm voice soothed her wailing insides. Upon being reminded of his 'unaware' state, the doom in her chest prevailed. "Do you want to go outside and wash? There… there's a river not far from here."

A river. Penelope smiled. Her beta wolf would love to take a brief run and bathe for a while. The shift would heal her injuries. She decided against shifting inside Joaquin's home. Penelope doesn't like to test the protective barrier in her sweetheart's house.

She still hasn't yet known Joaquin's perception towards his own shifter side. Penelope didn't hear him talk about it even once. She's starting to think that the whole mating stuff was just her own delusional mind.

'Wait…' Penelope paused on her steps. 'Could it be that he's hoping to bathe with me? That he's kidding me all this time and he knows I'm the gods gift to him?'

Penelope held her forehead with her right hand. She felt shy at the moment. She's not blind to not notice how her brown skin shines with sweat in summer. Making it look sultry with her hooded eyes and full bottom lip. There is indeed a reason why Beatrix hated her and it is not only because of her combat skills. Her beauty doesn't know what humbleness means, and Penelope liked to keep it that way.

She smiled. "You… you played me so well, Joaquin. Almost got me there, babe. And here I thought—"

A loud bang made her yelp in shock. She turned to the noise. Joaquin was getting something from the stacks of sandals at the shoe rack when it suddenly fell backwards because of his strength. He grunted, "Thought what? We must hurry now or else the track is unnoticeable when it's already dark."

She held herself back from cursing and conversed amiably, "You're not planning anything, right?"

"I'm blind," he said slowly, "what plan can I possibly do in this state?"

Penelope walked to his side. She stopped her dirty thoughts for the man and assisted him through his thing. "Stop that self-deprecating tone, babe. Anyway, what are you looking for? I'll get it for you." She grinned. She can't help herself. "Well, unless the one you're looking for is… me. I can negotiate with you."

Joaquin chuffed a laugh. "Can't you be serious for a moment?"

Penelope looked to his unseeing eyes and mumbled, "How am I not serious in this situation? Am I or am I not sincere? You know it yourself."

"I don't know."

She scrunched her brow. "Nah. Now that's a pity. I was told you are smart."

Joaquin stiffened. "Who told you that?"

Smacking her lips together, she quipped, "My heart told me. You want to know what else did it tell me?"

The man blinked rapidly that she almost couldn't count. "No. I don't want to know."

'Picky.' Penelope sighed dreamily. 'You're hot so… I must work hard.'

"There's a lot you don't want to acknowledge, hmn?" She watched as Joaquin flounder about while pretending to be deaf. "Instead of telling me your problems, you're killing me with this denial. It drives my wolf crazy."

"Crazy?" he repeated. "Oh, don't mind what I said."

Penelope frowned. She brushes a light tap on Joaquin's hand. His lovely eyes widened. She savoured the sight. "Yeah, crazy. Crazy for you."

'Boom! Now that is so sappy.' She can't believe the words that naturally comes out of her mouth. 'I'll make you fall for me, babe.'

JOAQUIN FELT TRAPPED. He would like to have Jesus' number to call for help but then, he doesn't know how to use a phone. Other than dialing Lance' on speed dial, he doesn't know what else to do with it. He couldn't even save a few digits on the contacts by his own. Forget calling someone. What he badly needed right now is a priest. He needs an exorcism.

The zing in his veins whenever Penelope Blacke opens her mouth and talk is such an unfathomable event for him. It baffles him how the woman's steady intake of breath excites him like mad. This is not logical.

He's afraid that the woman had cursed him. Another possibility is a very dangerous turn of his mind; Penelope is his fated mate.

The one destined to be with him. To be with someone wretched and live a desolate life with him.

The one he needs to hide along with him, deprive of freedom and locked in a fruitless bond despite being true mates all because of his unsalvageable line of ancestry.

With her voice alone, he could tell that the woman was energetic, beautiful with a head full of confidence enough for the both of them. Joaquin likes her immediately.

He likes her straightforward nature and her mouth that has no filter. Joaquin was elated by her attention. He would like to tell her something nice but articulating gentle words is a skill he never tried to master. Showering Lance his favorite strings of curses is his specialty. Nothing had readied him upon meeting this stellar beta wolf shifter.

'Would Papa like her for me?' His father never accepted the idea of fated mates. It was as though it is the bane of his existence. Joaquin struggled to think of his father and Penelope in one living room. They would possibly clash and bite each other's head off.

'I would like to see your face, Pen.' Joaquin strapped his sandals and waited for Penelope to finish her business. He imagined her as a woman with a firm smile painted on her face. Amorous eyes with proud cheekbones. 'I'd love to meet you.'

But meeting in a sense of seeing the woman with his eyes requires his half-shifted state. The woman will recognize the wolf in him. It's a risk he couldn't take.

And she would ran away before he could introduce his past. Because in the end, no one wants to listen to the cries of the cursed wolves.