Mates

Chapter One

My eyes were burning. My knees were buckling. My arms were aching.

"C'mon, Thea," my best friend whined. "It's only been an hour. You can't be shopped out yet."

I groaned. "I'm dying. I think I'm dying."

"Woman up, T. When you find your mate, you'll be too busy to shop til you drop." Marlie lectured.

Thank God. Rose grumbled. She hated shopping as much as I did.

I followed her into another store, scuffing my feet to annoy her. I trailed behind my  best friend contemplating whether it was actually possible to die of boredom, while, Marlie spent a good $60 on makeup in 15 minutes. We stepped out of Sephora and the most delicious, mouth-watering scent hit my nose: an approaching thunderstorm. Suddenly, nothing mattered but the potent aroma clogging my senses. I scanned my surroundings until my eyes lock onto a guy standing on the other side of the hall.

He was a good 6 feet with lots of lean muscle packed everywhere. His silver eyes burned right through me. I could tell right away he was an alpha. Typical and not at all cliche I chastised the Moon Goddess in my head.

Suddenly, a blinding grin appeared on his face, his eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas.

"Our mate is going to crush us." My wolf, Rose, blanched, but was also ecstatic at the finding of him.

He had started to barrel toward me at a full out sprint. Just as I thought he was going to truck into me, his long arms wrapped around me in a bear hug.

"I KNEW I WOULD FIND YOU," he shouted over my head. My head was smushed into his well muscled chest, so it sounded muffled.

Rose was spazzing out and my heart wouldn't calm down. My mate loosened his hold, so I could breathe.

"That is literally the cutest thing I've ever seen," Marlie cooed, her phone already in her hand to capture the moment.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up."

He was smiling so big his dimples showed themselves and it made him look so hot. "And what is your name, love?"

Wow, starting with the pet names already?

"Thea. What's yours?" I tried to keep my voice as calm and uninterested as possible.

"Jakob Hale. Alth-"

I cut him off by ripping myself out of his arms. Horror engulfed my body. My feet carried me, so I was not in arms length of him. Rose was divided with the fear of stories about Jakob and the pull of our mate bond.

Hurt shone in his beautiful silver eyes. Jakob took a step towards me and my fear of him forced me to take a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Thea," my mate pleaded. My chest tightened at the sound of my nickname coming off his tongue.

My arms started to shake. "I-I've heard the stories about you. And let me tell you, they're nothing to brag about." Unsuccessfully, I attempted to keep my voice steady.

Marlie's voice entered the mindlink, shelling out advice for me.

"Give him a chance, Thea. Don't be stupid, this is your mate we're talking about here."