Giselda's Truth

Giselda
After running the horny males off of Annie, I smiled at her. “So tell me, Annie, how are you enjoying the first day?”
“Fine. You?” She asked timidly.
“It’s okay. Animals are curious beings,” I answered, knowing that I didn’t give the slightest fuck about animals, but it was my job to get close to Annie, and I wasn’t going to fail.
Not even now that my mission has changed for personal reasons. I shook my head to clear it when I realized she was speaking and I had heard none of what she said.
“I’m sorry, Annie. I zoned out. What did you say?” I asked.
“I said, ‘I once had two foxes. Gerry and I raised them together. It was because of our foxes that I wanted to work with animals. What made you want to work with animals?’” She repeated.
I smiled at her. “My life was saved by a human vet,” I answered honestly.
If I had to pick a reason, my recent brush with death was the best one I could give. I smiled reassuringly at her when her eyes filled with sadness. I reached across the table to take her hand, barely managing to squeeze it gently before she pulled it out of my grasp.
“I’m glad you were saved,” she said quietly.
“Thank you.”
Over the next half an hour, I continued to get to know her while Alpha Logan lingered in our link, listening to every word that Annie said. When it was time to go back to the classroom, one of the males rushed up to us.
“Annaria, can I walk you back to class?” He asked.
She flushed as she shook her head. “I have a boyfriend…”
Angel, my bear, growled in my head at her words, and I hurried to calm her down before Logan realized why we were growling, and it definitely wasn’t because this boy was talking to his mate. He sighed but nodded.
“Alright.”
I let out a shaky breath as he walked away. I was grateful that he didn’t push her. If she mentioned one more time that he was her boyfriend, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to control myself from leaping on her, Logan be damned. I sighed when she sat down at our table. I was not looking forward to being so close to her. She reeked of Gerald, and he was not hers to have.
‘No, he’s not,’ Angel huffed. ‘He’s ours.’
I groaned out loud, making Annie look at me. “Are you alright?”
“Yes. Sorry, my bear is being grumpy,” I told her.
She giggled before nodding. “Marsha gets that way too.”
I had never been more grateful for being interrupted as I was when Professor Xavier called us to order. I pretended to turn my attention to the movie that he played while I struggled not to inhale too deeply. After three more hours of the video, Xavier turned the lights on before handing out another quiz. I quickly filled it out, randomly filling in the answers, not caring in the slightest if they were correct or not. That wasn’t why I was here. Xavier wouldn’t grade my work. He would just give me a passing grade and keep moving. I was only here to protect and get Annie away from Gerry. I glanced at her as she focused intently on the quiz. And when I did, I was going to insert myself in her place.
After a few minutes, I got up to turn my paper in before walking out to go to the bathroom. I really needed to calm down. I hated that this was the way that I found my mate. His scent was all over my future Alpha Sow, who was mated to my cousin. Goddess, this fucking sucked. I sighed as I sat on the toilet with my hands clasped between my knees with my head down. I had no idea how to pull her away from him. All I knew was that I had to. And not just for Logan. When I was calmed down enough to not want to hurt Annie, I got up, still taking deep breaths to further calm myself down.
I washed my hands before strolling out of the bathroom. After a quick peek into the classroom, I clenched my jaw as I rushed toward the front doors, following Annie’s scent. I hoped she hadn’t left yet. I was supposed to invite her out to the diner just over the border of the Grimm Forest pack, where Logan was waiting for us. I stepped out, and my breath was expelled in a rush when I saw Annie in the arms of the most handsome man that I had ever seen. His stormy grey eyes were mesmerizing, and the look in them as he looked at Annie made my heart race. Angel urged us forward while I remained frozen in our mind. As we neared them, I snapped back into reality. I smiled at Annie.
“Hey, girl. I was wondering if you weren’t doing anything if you would like to go get some ice cream and get to know each other better,” I said brightly.
He stiffened as he turned around. His eyes swept over my body, which immediately heated under his gaze. When his eyes met mine, I saw the recognition in his eyes. I knew that in mine, he would see me begging him to claim me.
*‘Let Annie go and snatch me up,’* I silently begged him.
When he wrapped his arm around Annie’s waist and pulled her closer to his side, my heart sank. Annie, who was clearly oblivious to what was happening between Gerry and me, beamed at me. She took his hand. “Giselda, this is Gerry.” She looked up at him with love exuding from her eyes. “He’s amazing.”
I kept my eyes trained on his as I gave him a strained smile and extended my hand out toward him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gerry,” I said.
He shook my hand quickly before letting it go. When he lowered his hand, I didn’t miss that he wiped it off on his pants.
“Likewise, Giselda.”
I searched his eyes for a moment before turning my attention back to Annie. “How about it, Annie? Do you want to go to the diner with me?”
“I love ice cream.” She looked up at him again. “Would it be okay if I went? Giselda has been so nice to me and—”
“We have dinner plans tonight, sweetheart, or did you forget?” He replied, cutting her off.
“Oh. Yeah. Ummm, rain check, Giselda?” She asked.
I kept my smile in place as I nodded. “Of course, Annie. Have a great night.”
Even speaking the words made me feel sick, knowing exactly what their night would hold. Gerry met my eyes again, and there was no missing the hardness in his, as if it pissed him off that we had found each other. He nodded at me.
“You too. Come on, Annie.”
He led her to the car, where he held the door open for her and helped her into the passenger seat. He walked around the car to the driver’s side door, where he looked me over again before mouthing, ‘Stay away from Annie.’ I pursed my lips as he climbed back into the car before reversing out of his parking spot. Angel whimpered as we watched him lift Annie’s hand to his mouth to kiss the back of it. I blinked back tears as I walked over to my car and climbed in. It only took me about twenty minutes to get to the diner where Logan paced out front, waiting for me. As soon as I parked, he rushed down to where I parked and immediately pulled open the passenger door before letting out a loud growl. He leaned down to peer at me.
“Where is she?” He snarled with his teeth bared.
Tears filled my eyes again, easily overflowing and rolling down my face. I laid my forehead on my steering wheel.
“She didn’t come,” I whispered. “I tried.”
He growled again before sitting in the car next to me. “What’s wrong, Gilda?”
“I found my mate today,” I sniffled.
“That’s great! Who is it?” He asked.
I closed my eyes as more tears fell. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be rejecting him soon.”
“Why? What happened?”
“He already has a woman, and he chose her over me. Even if he changed his mind eventually, I can never forgive him,” I whispered.
“Oh, Gilda. I’m so sorry,” he murmured softly as he rubbed my back. “Do you want to go get a triple chocolate shake?”
I nodded. “Chocolate fixes everything.”
We got out, and I took the hand he held out for me. I knew that chocolate wouldn’t fix the problem this time, but if it meant saving our Alpha Sow, then I would hide my pain from Logan. A Beta’s job was to secure the Alpha pair, and that meant Logan and Annie had to come first. I wasn’t the first Beta to bury herself in their jobs. I wouldn’t be the last either. Logan squeezed my hand, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“What can I do to help you?” He asked.
I patted his hand sadly. “There’s nothing you can do. If I can’t have my fated mate, I will find an amazing chosen mate that will love me for me.”
“I hate this for you, cousin. You deserve better,” he told me.
I gave him a watery smile. “Maybe.” I sighed. “I’ll be okay. Once we get our Alpha Sow, that will distract me. She really is a wonderful girl.”
He beamed proudly at me. “That’s what everyone says. She is going to make our sleuth so much stronger,” he said proudly.
I patted his hand again as I thought about how shy Annie was. “For all of our sakes, I hope you’re right, Logan. If not, she will be the reason we are destroyed…”