Mate

Twelve

I was laughing so hard I nearly plopped right off the booth. This is another reason I love Toni: he tells stories in the best way. He tells stories with his entire being, including voice imitations and the most hilarious facial expressions. Right now he was telling me about his second encounter with the apparently gorgeous man he'd seen here at Starbucks about two months ago.

Though I'm rather concerned with this man looking at my best friend the way I bet he does... I just can't help but love the way Toni describes the situation of talking to him. He'd only just gotten to the part where they ran into each other in the most adorably cliche way; Toni spilling ice coffee all over the man.

"And so I was like; 'I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going'," he widened his eyes and leaned forward, his jaw kind of slack and a small lisp in the imitation of his own voice, mocking himself. "And he smiled the most dazzling smile of all smiles in the history of smiles! He was all, 'it's fine, beautiful.'"

Toni let out this fangirl squeal, his fists clenched as he flipped out, bouncing a bit in his seat.

"He said his name is Carlos, which is totally hot in my opinion," he gushed. And so the story went on, Toni continuing to fangirl and gush about this 'totally hot' Carlos guy. I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about Carlos when Toni explained in deeper detail the connection he felt towards him.

"It felt like... I was already his. Like we were made for each other. Like it wasn't something I could escape, you know?" He sighed dreamily. I nodded skeptically. I definitely know the feeling.

"Toni, this guy-"

"Carlos."

"Carlos," I corrected myself with a sigh. "Do you know his last name?"

"Met. Why?" He questioned.

"No reason."

After a moment of silence, Toni picked up his story. He told me how they went to the park and played like little kids. Or, Toni played like a little kid while Carlos apparently watched.

Learning more about Carlos made me curious. He seems like a rather mysterious man, but why would he take such an interest in Toni? I mean, Toni's a great guy. Very attractive in both looks and personality, but... This is pretty random.

Pushing that thought aside, I listened and laughed along with Toni's story.

We hung out for the rest of the day, just loitering around Starbucks and talking, before we decided to part ways.

"I can take you home," Toni offered with a smile, but I shook my head.

"No," I replied, wringing my hands. "I can make it back myself."

"Ok," he pursed his lips. "Stay safe, then."

We hugged, longer than usual. I wanted the comfort. I buried my head in his chest and gripped the back of his shirt in my fists, loving the feeling of his familiar arms looping around my slender body.

We finally broke apart.

"See you later," I smiled and kissed his cheek before taking my leave.

•~•~•~•~•

Walking into the pack house, I was immediately taken by the arm and dragged off to an elevator. I was so shocked, I didn't even flinch.

"You should have obeyed me," Julian's angry voice ripped through the fragile thread of silence. He was still gripping my arm.

"I'm not a dog. You can't just expect me to stay in a room when you say 'sit' and 'stay'," I huffed, pulling away from him roughly.

He slammed his hand on a red button beside the sliding doors of the elevator and spun to look at me, furious.

"One thing you should know about me: I hate being disobeyed. Especially by my mate," he snarled. I took a scared step back, my back brushing the cold metal rail that made its way around the elevator.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it! When I tell you not to do something, you don't! And what I don't want you to do, is see other men! Do you understand me?" His voice was raised and I knew he was using his alpha voice. I whimpered. I could feel the power radiating off of him as if I was a werewolf myself, no thanks to my connection to his wolf side through nature.

"Am I clear?!" He gripped my face in his large hand. I gulped.

"Please calm down," I whispered.

"You don't tell me what to do - I am your alpha!" He growled. His wolf had taken over a long time ago. It would take a lot of comfort to bring Julian back, I knew.

But I just couldn't stand the way he was speaking to me. Without thinking, I lifted my arm, knocking his hand from my face, and swung my other hand towards his face. A loud 'SMACK' emitted from the skin-on-skin contact and his head turned to the side.

"You are not my alpha!" I shouted. He didn't move for a moment, seemingly frozen in shock. Then he did something I wasn't expecting at all. He gripped my hips and pulled me forward, smushing me to his chest as he buried his head in the crook of my neck, taking deep breaths.

I stood still as a statue, my breathing ragged.

"J-Julian?"

He growled lowly. He slid his arms around my waist, holding me even closer than before. "I'm Nyx, Julian's wolf."

"O-oh, well... C-can you let Julian-"

"Let me just hold you," he snarled. I shut up immediately. It's obvious Nyx is enraged at me. And I know that he's trying to calm himself down so that he doesn't hurt me.

A lycan's wolf is not only territorial, but predatory as well as protective. Not an easy combination. Especially when it comes to people like me. Mates like me.

I noticed he was shaking, he was so angry. My arms were just awkwardly hanging limp at my sides. I sighed and moved my arms up to wrap around his neck. His tense muscles relaxed a bit.

I was glad he wasn't too terribly much taller than me, allowing me to weave my fingers through his hair, just barely standing on my tippy toes to really hug him. He nuzzled his nose in my neck, a puff of a sigh leaving his lips, making me shiver.

"You good?" I murmured softly. He didn't respond for a while, just holding me and breathing. I'm assuming he's smelling me...

"Yeah," he finally replied and pulled away from me with a small smile. His eyes were back to their warm brown, which I was relieved to see.

I peeled my arms from his neck and took a step back, causing his smile to fall. He silently pressed the button beside the red one and the elevator began to rise once again.

~~~

Sorry the chapters aren't longer: I write this on my phone.