[Stephanie's POV]
"I didn't expect you to shift today, and it looks like my presence has made a difference in your future."
He said there was a change in my future, meaning that my mate became him. Rose and I both widened our eyes. He knew my mate in my last life was Carl.
"I guess you won't be able to sleep tonight until you hear me finish explaining why and how I saved your life. But I can't talk to you in this state, so why don't we meet at the White Star Lake in ten minutes? I'll tell you all you want to know." He suggested and then rubbed my head.
After I heard his proposal, my fascination for him immediately turned into fear. Why White Star Lake again? Did he want to kill me by the White Star Lake like Carl did in my previous life? Moon God, was I destined to die by the White Star Lake?
Rose narrowed her eyes, then immediately took two steps backward, then instantly darted in the direction of my bedroom." Let the white star lake and mate go to hell!" Rose's decision put me at ease.
I didn't know if Arthur took Rose's dash as an agreement that he might go and wait for me at the White Star Lake. But for me right now, the fated mate, the mate pull, the reason he saved me, all of that was fucking bullshit. After all, in my last life, my fated mate smiled at me and kissed me before stabbing me in the heart.
So, sorry, Arthur. I couldn't trust you because I didn't know what you were really thinking.
[Arthur's POV]
Fortunately, I had a good bouncing ability, and I wasn't too short. Using the fence outside the wall on the first floor, I made it back to the guest room without incident.
I put on the new t-shirt and boxer that Eric had sent over after dinner. Considering that the dude between my legs hadn't cooled down yet, I opted to wait a little longer before putting on my shorts.
"Do you think she'll be at White Star Lake in ten minutes?" Paul asked me.
I shook my head, "I'd say there's a 99% possibility she won't be there. That's where she was killed by that bastard in her last life."
"You're going to wait for her all night for that 1% possibility?" Paul laughed softly over the question that he knew the answer to perfectly.
"Why not? Don't I still have a 1% possibility? I've always had good patience. If she's afraid of the dark, I can wait until the break of dawn. If she doesn't show up by sunrise, that's what makes me think there's a 100% possibility she won't come to see me."
"We seem to have gotten used to waiting, Arthur," Paul sighed very rarely.
"Yes! You're right." I put on my gym shorts and walked to the window. The Moon God's luminous glow graced my face, and I closed my eyes, thanking the Moon God for arranging for me to be Stephanie's first and the only mate.
I'm not going to waste time recalling the 31 years that Paul and I were alone. Witch Lassie had a good point. We needed to change the future, not struggle with the past memories.
I took a deep breath and jumped from the window to the floor once again. When we waited for her, I wondered if we could find anything interesting like the Light Ball Grass Eric had mentioned?
I strolled to the edge of White Star Lake, and Eric was right. As soon as I reached the lake, I noticed many grass-green balls of light floating in mid-air. This ball of light was unlike the faint light emitted by fireflies, and its light would not disappear until it touched the lake water.
I reached out and grabbed a ball of light that floated near me, and it was soft to the touch, kind of like a ripe dandelion. I gently held this ball of light. It immediately split into dozens of small balls of light, following the summer night wind back into mid-air, dancing in the wind.
I looked at the starry sky, the full golden moon, and the countless balls of light in mid-air and couldn't help but think that it would be nice to watch it with Steph. Unfortunately, the smell of lemon soda in the wind stayed light, and she had no desire to approach me.
I sighed and remembered what Lassie had asked me to look for. From what I had learned so far, I could only deduce that Carl and Freya were related to the witch or wizard who had made the enchanted weapon. But I didn't know when they started to contact that person. So, I planned to use my alpha power to turn on the highest sensitivity of my sense of smell. My olfactory sense might help me find new discoveries from the smells that linger in the air.
My olfaction was more sensitive than most alphas', which resulted in me being able to smell many subtle smells those alphas couldn't notice, such as the smell of lying. If I maximize my olfactory sensitivity, I could even smell various emotions, such as love, disgust, surprise, and nervousness.
But too sensitive olfaction was not a good thing, in case someone let out a silent fart, you know. So, I usually controlled the sensitivity of my olfaction with the alpha power most of the time.
Dirt, grass, animal feces, sweat, bad breath, food residue, lemon soda, alcohol, sperm, perfume... My brain was running fast to help me distinguish the various smells in the air. I walked around White Star Lake and found no suspicious smells.
I looked up to find that the sky was about to break, and Steph still hadn't come. I was a little disappointed and decided to walk a little further north.
I was going to go to the forest surrounded by mist, which would be where Triton's pack was located.
The demarcation sign for the two packs' territories was set up about five feet from the entrance to that forest. I stopped at the location of the boundary sign and noticed that the smell in the air made me sick. It contained rotting flesh, foul-smelling semen, musty odors, drugs, lemon soda, wolfsbane .... Wait, wolfsbane?
I immediately covered my nose while suppressing my ability to smell. However, I still inhaled a small amount of the smell of wolfsbane.
The scent of poison stimulated my nerves. Although it couldn't hurt me, the disgusting smell still made me turn around, cover my stomach, and dry heave a few times.
Suddenly, the strong smell of lemon soda flew into my nose again. I looked up to find the girl emitting the smell that fascinated me standing right in front of me.
"If you think the scented candle I used makes you feel disgusted, you can politely tell me, or just reject me, my alpha king."
Steph was standing only about 10 feet away from me. Well, it looks like I luckily hit that 1% possibility.
[Stephanie's POV]
I laid in bed struggling for hours before I decided to come to White Star Lake at the break of dawn to make sure Arthur was really waiting for me there.
Rose said I cared about Arthur and was attracted to this new mate.
To be honest, I felt surprisingly relaxed when I found out that my mate was not Carl, but Arthur. Probably because I was aware that Arthur had saved me, and he knew what I had gone through in my previous life, so I felt an affinity for him.
When I got near the White Star Lake, I found the smell of fir originated from the territorial boundary line. So, I temporarily put aside the fear in my heart and went to Arthur to see what he was doing near the boundary line.
Then, in the mist, I found his figure on the back. I supposed, Arthur, as Alpha King, his five senses were definitely more excellent than the average alphas. He might have sensed that I was approaching him. I hesitated whether I should apologize to him first after I saw him. After all, I didn't show up for my appointment and kept him waiting for hours. As a result, Arthur turned to me and vomited several times.
I made a point of smelling my clothes as the smell of the scented candle in my room still lingered on them. It was my favorite blend of cedarwood, sage, and red berries. I didn't think it would make Arthur sick and throw up.
I was a little disappointed but angry at his rude behavior. For a split second, I thought my decision to leave my soft king-size bed ten minutes earlier to come to Arthur had been stupid.
"I'm sorry, Steph. I didn't notice you were here. I threw up because I was just trying to sniff the depths of the forest. But I smelled something that made me very uncomfortable."