“You wish for me to guard Miss Garland?” Dorian directed down at Emma, who smiled up at him and offered him a rota to look at. 

“I’d really appreciate it. It can be from a distance, if you’d prefer, but you’ve always been calm, controlled and discrete. You know what’s at stake, and I know you wouldn’t let any harm come to my dear friend. So? Is this okay?” 

“…” Dorian’s stoic mask slipped for a moment, humbled by her request and more so by her trust. “Of course, my Luna.” He lowered to one knee, not caring if he scuffed his Armani trousers, and bowed his head to her to the right. “I promise to keep her safe.” 

“From a distance.” Caleb added, sour at the way Dorian always seemed in awe of his mate. 

“I will if possible.” Dorian lifted his head and Emma was still smiling at him. “But if it would be strange for me to be stood back and watching her, and more natural for me to speak with her, I shall. Like you said, my Luna? I know how to be discrete. Natural interactions are for more reassuring than stalking behaviours.” 

Caleb glared at Dorian, feeling as if that was a clear dig at how he approached watching over Emma when she first moved to town. Especially when Emma wasn’t looking, and Dorian flashed him a Defoe smirk. Mother fucker. 

“Like I said. I trust you. Besides? I need Jake with me today.” 

“You do?” Jake’s smile lifted. 

“Lidia’s appointment.” 

“Of course.” He nodded, only to raise a brow. “But it’s not for another 3 hours?” 

“No, but I want to go over the details with you from top to bottom before the appointment.” Caleb bumped his arm into hers with a grin, and Emma huffed. “And! Well. My Ma wants me to go and look at wedding dresses with her and her friends, and I was hoping you would come with us.” I would ideally have asked Jessie to come along, but I haven’t had my reconciliation dinner with Ma and Ben yet. Too many emotions may be running too hot to contain our wolf natures. Ma especially, I’d wager. And you don’t want to be outnumbered. It’s also a perfect opportunity to grill Jake more about why he wants to sire Jessie so badly, so quickly. “There will be champagne and cake. Or are you only Jessie’s wingman?” 

“I-I would be delighted to come along.” Jake giddily clapped his hands together once, flashed Max a smug look which made the younger man scowl, and he shuffled in his seat like he was ready to go. “If you see anything you like, while we’re there, we could get some put aside for when we all go back together with Jessie.” 

“Oh, no no no.” Vanessa tutted at the doctor. “When Emma and Caleb get married, I will have a selection of wedding dresses imported for her to try on, not what is on sale in the local boutique.” 

“Vanessa!” Emma chided her. “Don’t be such a snob.” 

“If having taste and wanting you to look fabulous means I’m a snob, Emma, then I’m guilty.” 

“Dismissed. I think we should leave while we can.” Caleb announced towards Max, and then glanced over at Dorian. “The last time Vanessa started talking weddings with Emma, 2 hours passed. We should run before they start talking cake flavours and DJs.” 

“Thank you, Pack Master.” Maxwell shuddered at the idea of talking about weddings, and was out the door before Caleb even reached it. He turned, puzzled when he didn’t see Dorian behind him. In fact, Dorian was nodding at some of the pictures Vanessa was now showing Emma and Jake on her smart phone screen. 

“Dorian?” Caleb called out, and he lifted his dark brown eyes from the screen. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” 

“Oh, yeah, Jessie said she was going to head into town once she came around to go shopping.” Emma gasped and checked her watch for the time. “Shit, that could be any time now. She’s not a morning person, but it’s gone 9am so she could be on her way right now.”

“Then I will locate her and gauge the best way to mark her position in case there is an issue.” Dorian agreed and took his cell out of his jacket pocket. “I will text you when I have located her, and ensure my phone is on loud in case there is an alert. If she reveals her plans for the rest of the day, I’ll let you know.” 

“Thanks Dorian.” She waved, dismissing him, and Caleb waited until the dire wolf was out of the office. The odour neutraliser was starting to wear off, but Caleb wouldn’t show his discomfort. He refused to. Emma wasn’t bothered by his scent, because Fido offered her some sort of protection from it. Even so, he’s spent so much time with Emma and Vanessa, that they have learnt his scent now. The thought of Dorian having slowly imprinted on his mate made Caleb’s hackles rise. Thankfully, he didn’t get too close to Jake, or he would have baulked and clapped a hand to his nose. The Christmas Tree smell was far too strong for most regular wolves to stand. 

“Pack Master.” Dorian gave him a nod-like bow that was just low enough to get away with, and walked off to do his duty to his Luna. 

End Flash back. 

Dorian found Jessie quickly through the pack network on his cell. Whenever anyone spotted Jessie, they posted it to the group. He responded in the group to let them know when he had eyes on her, so no one else would message the group during his shift watching her. It wasn’t hard to spot Jessie. She wore white heels, apple bottom jeans with ‘eat me’ on the left cheek, and ‘daddy’ on the right cheek, lined in diamantes. She also wore a white corset top, with pink blossom flower print, and off-the-shoulder puffy sleeves to her flared cuffs. Her pink and blond hair had tight curls around her face, and she arrived in a pink beetle. Matching the vibe of her jeans, she was sucking on a lolly-pop with glossy pink lips as she got out of her car, and lowered literal rose-tinted glasses from her face with a grin. 

Dorian raised a brow, watching Jessie from the safety of his escalade, as she walked into a clothing boutique with a confident swagger to her step. Well, I can’t watch her from across the street and inside my car. I’ll have to go inside. I don’t have to talk to her. I just have to be near, just in case someone goes feral or there’s an issue that I need to keep Jessie away from. Dorian got out of his car, locked it, smoothed his hands down his Armani suit, and headed across the street after his prey.