The Teacher's Mate

part 25

Audrey splashed water on her face in the hopes of cooling the puffiness from her cheeks. It worked, a little. That had been the worst panic attack she'd had in a while, her legs wouldn't work and all she could do was try to ride it out. The thought of talking to her mate made the panic start to rise again. The very fact that she had a mate at all made her extremely anxious, she always thought that if on the off chance she was mated the wolf in question wouldn't want a mangy halfbreed. She expected to live her life alone, as she knew no wolf would want her, and if she ever met the fucker, she wouldn't be able to have any other. Her father never loved another woman, and he was fully human. All her bad thoughts turned out to not be true. Except.... did her mate want her? He'd kept his distance for the most part, never interacting with her unless in class or if she initiated the conversation first. Well, until last night that was.

She pulled her boots on, steeled herself, and walked out the apartment door into the hallway. The scent of so many wolves crowded her senses to the point they all blended together, overwhelming her senses. She kept going, walking aimlessly through the halls, taking note of where she had been so she could find her way back. She wasn't walking long before she smelled it, smelled him. It smelled stale, so not what she was looking for, but on the right track. The fact that she could smell it as distinctly as she did meant he often took this route, so she followed it. Maybe he was a creature of habit?

The scent took her to the communal first floor. A couple wolves smiled and said hi and she waved at them and continued past, some even tried to engage her in conversation. She had tried to be as polite as possible but had the feeling she rubbed a few the wrong way. The guilt of it made her choke up a little before she could push it down.

Eventually she came to a large section with double glass doors. She had come to the library. She opened the door and slipped quietly in. He must come here every day, she thought, his scent was over everything it was impossible to find a fresh trail.

Feeling like a creep, she kept to the wall. As if that was anything resembling cover, she though sarcastically. Libraries really weren't her thing but if her mate frequented this place as much as his scent trail suggested, she might have to get used to it if she wanted to make this work. This place was obviously important to him, and if it was important to him she would have to figure it out.

That sparked a thought, did she want him in the shop? It was important to her, she spent most of her time there, but did she want to bring him into her sanctuary like that? She knew she was a person who liked her space and considering he didn't even have jumper cables in his car, that wasn't really something he knew much about. Maybe the shop could be her 'time away for herself' her dad always said was healthy in a relationship? It worked for her parents. She was overthinking this she knew, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to make this work.

"Audrey?" A soft voice asked, she jumped. "I'm sorry to startle you, but what are you doing in the library?"

She turned to look at her mate, and took a deep breath. "You're my mate aren't you?" He nodded, sensing she had more to say. "How the fuck do we make this work?"

If he was taken aback by her language he didn't show it. "However you want to. There's a couple chairs over in the corner, you want to talk there?" She nodded and followed him, the chairs were the big comfy kind and she curled up with her knees to her chest facing him.

Once they were settled he said, "I want you as my mate," Audrey felt the tears well up, he wanted her, but she shoved them down. "I also want to go at a pace you're comfortable with." Tears started welling in his eyes and ge took a deep breath, "Is this something you want? I've tried so hard to leave you be but I have to know. Am I something you want?"

Audrey could see him trying to compose himself, this man was worried she didn't want him which meant he genuinely wanted her. "I want to try to make this work."

His breath hitched as it left him in a whoosh, "We are both busy people, I teach, you have the shop, how do you want to do this?"

"I don't want special treatment. I don't want you to risk your job." He nodded. "I don't really know how all this relationship stuff works. I struggle with anxiety, I have panic attacks every once in a while. I have other brain-things that are fucked up insecurities that I don't know how to deal with. And I definitely don't know how to go about any of this."

"Thank you for telling me about the anxiety, knowing will help me understand how you react to things. I don't want to lose my job either, and I definitely don't know how relationships work as I've never been in one either." He looked at her, really looked deep in her eyes, it felt as if he could almost reach out and touch her thoughts. "I have my own flaws, I'm a workaholic. Give me a research project and I'll work on it until hunger drives me into the kitchen."

Audrey laughed, "At least your body reminds you its hungry, I forget to eat most times until Missy comes out and drags me in for dinner."

Drake chuckled at the description. "Do you like to garden?"

The question caught her off guard, "I haven't done it in years."

"The alpha's twins are coming home soon and his daughter is going to be taking over the Accounting duties for the pack so that will be off my plate. Do you want to spend a little time helping me in the greenhouses when you have a little free time? I figure its something to keep our hands occupied, which I hear can help with some peoples anxiety, and gives us time to get to know each other in a low pressure environment. The greenhouses are rather large, so if you need space to breath, you can work in a different section to take the break you need."

"I didn't think work would be my first date, but that sounds good. It'll help keep the pressure off and I don't like not having something to keep busy with." She smiled, maybe she could make this work.

"I'll give you my number so you can let me know when a good time will be for you." He rose to his feet and offered her a hand to get up, she took it and let him pull her to her feet. "Is it ok if I give you a hug?" At her nod, his arms went around her and he pulled her close. Her whole body felt encased by lightning as she hugged him back. Normally she didn't like people touching her but the gentle pressure of his arms made the anxiety vanish, she felt she could breathe easy for the first time in a long time.

When he let her go, he strode to the librarians desk for a pen and sticky note to write his number on.

"My dad will be ready to leave soon," she said as she accepted the note.

"Of course, just keep me posted," he smiled at his own joke, "posted, post-it note? Get it?"

She laughed before walking out to retrace her steps to her room. Who knew such a lame sense of humor could be attractive?