A sense of accomplishment enveloped Derek, as he stared around the big white-painted bedroom in content. The bedroom now looked heavenly with its interior all cleaned up, changed and furnished; a sharp contrast to its former muddled state.

  ‘The little witch is lucky.’ He thought, running his hands over the dark blue silky bed sheets, which accentuated the beauty of the king sized bed, one of the many things that Mr Jason, had made available to them for the furnishing of the house.

 Turning aside for a moment from the beautiful sight in front of him, and facing the window, Derrick pondered again on who the little witch was, and who Mr Jason is really. It was obvious to him that they were both humans, rich too, but he couldn’t understand how they still got a place in Moonway street, that’s apart from the weird fact that a father could send his daughter to this part of the continent alone. No matter how he tried to think of a reason, he still couldn’t wrap his fingers around it. And worse; his wolf, Maru thinks that the little witch is his mate.

 Derek scoffed bitterly. Surely he couldn’t deny the fact that he felt totally jittery as he hugged her to himself, when she had jumped on him earlier, but he was also skeptical, even scared for the little witch if she really turned out to be his mate, because he knew his father.

 He knew that there was no way his father would let in a human to oversee an activity of their pack, not to mention a human been a Luna. He would rather let him mark another’s mate. Actually, he was already rooting for Claire to be his mate; Claire, the beta’s daughter and Clem’s twin, not minding that it could be possible that they might not be paired by the moon goddess.

Of course Claire was strong and beautiful, but Derek has always seen her as the sister he never had, and he hoped daily, against his father’s prayers, that the moon goddess shouldn’t pair them both. He preferred her as a friend and confidante, even though sometimes she could act so rude and arrogant, even though she was obsessed with him. He wondered what she would say or do if Maru was right about his little witch.

‘Did I just say, my little witch?’ Derek muttered to himself, and scoffed.

“Hey Derek, We are done with the cleaning.”

Derek turned to see Shane strolling into the room, carrying two bags with him.

“What about the bags, food, and all that? Is everything packed in at their right places?” He asked.

Shane chuckled at the question. His friend was really whipped.

“Why are you laughing?” Derek asked, not really amused by his gamma’s response. He couldn’t understand why he was chuckling at him.

“Nothing really. Just that, I haven’t seen you so interested in a client’s home before. Normally we just clean, then dump their belongings in their front yard or in their sitting room. What’s with the arranging of the belongings and putting of the food into the fridge? What’s with that? You will soon ask us to cook too?” Shane replied, now laughing, not minding the bouts of glare he was receiving from Derek.

“What?!” He said smiling, when he couldn’t take the glares again.

“Nothing.’’ Derek replied, running his slender fingers over his long jet black hair. Tiny wisps of hair flew out of the bound-with-a-band section of his now tousled hair due to this movement, falling across his face, and swatting across his thick black eyebrows.

‘’Nothing?’’ Shane asked, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.

‘’Yeah, nothing.’’  Derek said, sitting down on the dressing chair. He knew that Shane was right. Never in this line of work, had he been this interested in a client’s home. Actually, this is the first time he is really working in a client’s home, even going to the extent to picking a room to work on; he usually left the work to the guys. The little witch was really getting him, he concluded worriedly. He need to stop this eerie feeling if he wants her to be safe. His father wouldn’t accept her.

‘’Okay then, let’s be going.’’ Shane said, dropping the bags near the foot of the bed. ‘’The pack’s meeting is in an hour.’’ He continued, staring at his friend.

‘’Alright.’’ Derek said, standing up and walking towards the door. Shane followed suit.

Getting to the sitting room, Derek met only Leo and Clem. They were already watching the new television, they had fixed in earlier.

‘’Where are the others?’’ He asked Leo, while taking a sitting space on the dark rich brown sofa which was so soft as he later found out, after sitting down.

‘’They already left, perhaps to prepare for the pack’s meeting.’’ Leo replied.

‘’Oh, okay. Let’s be going then, we are done here.’’ Derek stated, trying so hard to ignore the fact that Emma wasn’t back yet. ‘Where is she?, Why isn’t she back?’ He wondered. Finally, he decided that he would go with the boys for now, then come back later to check for her. He didn’t want to risk Shane’s taunting now. He also didn’t want to risk anything happening to her.

‘’But where is Emma?’’ He heard Clem ask, and cursed.

 ‘What’s wrong with his beta?’ Derek thought, getting annoyed at the idea of Clem falling in love with Emma. ‘Won’t he wait for his mate’ He thought still.

‘’She went for a stroll. She would soon be back.’’ Leo replied Clem, his eyes still on the television.

‘’But she just came in.’’ Clem said, his voice laced thickly with worry. ‘’Where does she know already? It’s 6:30pm now’’ He muttered, his face all scrunched up in anxiety.

Derek fretted a bit, as the full meaning of Clem’s words dawned on him. His little witch might be lost! Perhaps, even attacked by one of their kind. He shuddered at the thought, as beads of sweat formed a glistening pool on his forehead.

‘’Don’t worry Clem, She will be fine.’’ Leo said, taking note of the worry in Clem’s voice.

‘’Why do you think so?’’ Clem asked him.

‘’Well. I think a girl who can topple our Alpha can take real care of herself’’ Leo said, smiling.

Derek scoffed, and knocked Leo on the head; forgetting his worry for a second, as the memory of Emma toppling him appeared in his thoughts.

‘’But how did she learn that?’’ Shane asked softly, also smiling as he remembered the event that had happened some hours earlier.

‘’Well, she told me that her father sent her to a martial arts school.’’ Clem replied, feeling happy for a minute that he knew this piece of information. This feeling intensified when he saw the sour look on Derek’s face. He took it as a winning score.

Seeing the satisfied look on Clem’s face, Derek scoffed.

‘’Did she also tell you why she is in our territory?’’ He asked Clem sarcastically, still annoyed that he got to know such details before him.

Shane nudged Derek stealthily, as he could feel the growing tension between them.

 Clem huffed. His soon-to-be alpha was really something. ‘’No, she didn’t.’’ He replied.

‘’Ohhhhh, I see.’’ Derek said, pleased at this information, although he couldn’t understand why.

‘’Let’s get going then, I believe she is fine. I’m getting hungry already, and the pack meeting will start soon ’’ Leo said, turning off the television, and standing up.

‘’No, I’m waiting. I already told her to bring some food if she is coming back.’’ Derek stated, actually looking for an excuse to stay back.

‘’You weren’t joking with that?’’ Shane asked him, chuckling at his friend’s attempt to stay back. ‘’Let’s all wait then.’’ He said, winking at Derek, who glared at him.

‘’I’m going to check out something.’’ Clem muttered in annoyance and stood up, after he noticed the exchange between Derek and Shane. His face contorted in anger at the thought of Emma bringing food for Derek, as he stalked off in the direction of the bedroom; not considering for once the pandemonium that woild be caused by his action.

‘’What’s wrong with you both?’’ Shane queried, as he folded his arms across his chest; piquing up his left eyebrow at Derek.