[NIKITA]

Andrew looked helplessly at Carrie and Natalya. He wondered whether he had heard the woman wrong, but Natalya, as usual, was laughing his ȧss off. The horrified face Andrew was making made Natalya burst out with laughter for the hundredth time since Carrie started talking.

On the other hand, Andrew could see the resemblance that Carrie and Arya had. The authoritative women who knew nothing about mercy. He wanted to complain, he wanted to say he was worse than Nikita, but he couldn\'t.

Such were the times he wished Ken would show up and be his slave, but hey, he was with the humans, and there was nothing he could do about it anyway. But he still had to try.

"Do I also have to—" Andrew managed out, however before he could screw them over, Qiao reached out to Andrew, covering his driver\'s mouth with his hands and shutting him up immediately.

However, it wasn\'t the contact that made the both of them shut up and look at each other with wide eyes. It wasn\'t the sudden contact that made them look into each other\'s eyes, the realization dawning on them.

It wasn\'t just that.

There was more because no amount of contact in the world would make Andrew utter the words that he did.

"Mate."

The silence that followed was scary, but the worst part of it all, was that only the two men could feel the pressure piling up on them. Only they could understand how hard it was, especially with their new realization. what the fuċk had just happened?

Andrew was unsure whether the words were his or they were Qiao\'s.

This couldn\'t be happening. He had come here on a mission, and he had come to save the rebel and get her back home. He hadn\'t come to fall in love with a human either. What the fuċk was he supposed to tell alpha Ricardo and Luna Caella?

How the fuċk was he supposed to explain this?

However, before he could say anything else and even before he could say things he would regret, he was interrupted by Nikita\'s voice.

"Wow, you and your driver are calling yourselves mate now, huh?" Nikita mocked, making Natalya drop the glass she was holding onto, and the two men pulled away from each other instinctively.

Carrie and Nikita were totally unaware of what was happening in the room, and they were worried about Natalya, who had dropped the glass on the floor. However, Natalya, Qiao, and Andrew were in a whole different world.

Natalya looked at the men in front of her, the commander and the warrior. She could see the choke on Andrew\'s face.

This wasn\'t what he expected, but what shocked her, even more was the fact that Qiao had called Andrew his mate. That was something only a werewolf would know, and it was a sacred word to the werewolves and wasn\'t supposed to be thrown around.

Qiao looked at his driver, the realization dawning on him that Andrew was a wolf, not just any wolf, but his mate.

Was that why the man had applied to be his driver and security guard specifically?

From his stature and poise, he could see that Andrew had been to war and back, and the only person who could make frequent trips was a head warrior because he had to show up each and every time.

He had to be there to ensure his people came back home, and he had to be the guide. Both of them were more alike than they had ever known. Qiao was a commander, and Andrew was a commander in the werewolf realm.

There were so many questions between Andrew and Qiao. So many things that they needed to work out, like who they really were, considering they couldn\'t question the goddess\'s choices.

Andrew was tempted to reject Qiao, but why would he do something so cruel to a man who hadn\'t done anything worth leaving him for?

Natalya was studying them, and she felt terrible for Andrew with the same measure that she felt happy for him. She had heard Andrew gush about the commander more times than she had heard Arya talk about her Nikita, and that was a lot.

She wanted to tell Drew that he would be okay and that all of this was fate\'s doing, but how could she when she could still see the shock on his face? The man who had been so happy was now unbelievingly staring at his mate.

On the other hand, Qiao wasn\'t sure what he needed to do. He has pulled away from his mate so fast, maybe because he had never thought that he would meet wolves on this other side.

There could be more. And what were the odds that he would be having his mate as his driver? Fuck, he had made him an employee instead of knowing and loving him. What the fuċk was he supposed to do? Andrew saw the panic on Qiao\'s face.

He was worried about him, which was weird considering they had literally met today and had just known they were mates.

As much as he wanted to touch his mate again, as much as he wanted to feel the electricity rippling through him because of his touch, he couldn\'t. This wasn\'t the time. So before his mate had an actual breakdown, he began walking to the kitchen, away from the mess.

Nikita followed him fast while Qiao looked at his mate walk to the kitchen. What was she supposed to do? They were clearly both dominant males.

\'Focus,\' Qiao said to his horny wolf who wanted to get to their mate and lay with him. He was a horny wolf, but they needed even to think clearly. It was crazy how they had found each other on the side of the world they both shouldn\'t have been to in the first place.

Indeed destiny had its ways.

Even though Andrew was freaked out about the reality of Qiao being his mate, he was happy because this time, he would be able to ambush Arya with the most unexpected news. He would relish the shock on her face and every reaction their friends had.

He would have the most fun with Arya, though, especially now that they had known who Arya and Qiao\'s first meeting went. It was crazy.

Instead of being worried that his alpha and his mate wouldn\'t get along, he looked like he was preparing for the world\'s greatest spectacle.

Anyway, he was drawn; it was impossible to expect anything else.

As they worked in the kitchen, both wolves realized that they had both masked their scents otherwise it would have been way easier to know about each other. They had truly learned to blend in, huh?