Scent of a Mate

Chapter 1

Ricky
My mom always told me the first thing your mate notices about you is your scent. "You will be the most wonderful thing he's ever smelled and he will be the most wonderful thing you've ever smelled."

"It will be love at first whiff." She always told me with a small, reminiscent smile.

"So you need to stop smelling like crap or else he'll never love you."

By twenty those self esteem bashing words were practically drowned into my brain until I couldn't take them anymore. I was supposed to be the Beta's daughter not the failure of the pack. I wasn't dumb or weak, just chubby and ugly. My pack didn't care if you were strong or powerful. They cared about your looks, attitude and great scent. Three things I didn't have.

Did you have the new Armami bag? No? You're lame.

Were you wearing the new Chanel perfume? No? You're gross.

And that's exactly how I was perceived. As gross and lame. But I believed my future mate would smell my natural scent and love me. I thought all mates should take a whiff of their mate's scent and instantly fall in love. I believed love was the purest and greatest power in the world. So at twenty years old I started to work out. I wanted my mate to see me and smell me and fall in love with my looks, personality, and scent. I thought going from 215 pounds (yes, obese) to a 120 pounds would get my mate to finally show up and accept me. It didn't. All it got me was a quick lay from Ben, the guy I was in love with my whole life, and pain.

I thought Ben was my mate. He told me he loved me and that the whole scent thing was a fairy tale. I was young and in love and stupid. I believed him.

Now here I am. 22 years old, sitting in a cheap bar, drinking cheap beer, flirting with cheap, sleezy, human men...

and I was happier than I've ever been.

"Ricky! Baby! When are you gonna stop teasing me and finally let me take you home?"

I turned my bar stool around and looked at Steve. The man was in his mid- thirties and looked like the typical, gross, truck driving man. Teasing and messing with drunk, disgusting men like Steve was one of the finest pleasures in life, so I sent Steve a smirk and twirled a piece of my long curly hair while making sure some of my cleavage was peeking through.

"Oh Stevie. I would love to let you take me to your place, but I just love teasing you too much."

The four other men around me bust out laughing and hollering things like:

"That means no Steve!"
"Yeah, get the hell out of here Steve!" "Hey f*ck you Steve!"

I did end up feeling a little bad for Steve so I decided to knock the other losers down a notch.

"I don't know why you guys are laughing at him. None of you have a better chance at taking me home."

The guy's laughing immediately stopped and Steve took his chance at mocking them. Chuckling and enjoying my little victory, I turned back around only to see a scowl on Rob's face. Rob was the owner of the bar. I'm not gonna say he was like a father to me although he was in his early fifties and could easily be mistaken for my father.

When I first ran away, I made it to this town and stumbled into this bar. Rob noticed that I was in need and did what any well respected business owner would have done. He told me to get my worthless, dirty ass out of his bar. Thankfully, his wife Annie was there and she told Rob to shut his mouth, and let me work and sleep in his bar. This is why I always like Annie better than shitty, old Rob.

"Ok. What's with the face Rob? I've been getting that look from you a lot more than usual."

Rob let out an exasperated sigh. "Listen. The only reason I let you keep comin' and workin' in this bar is cause Annie loves you and she'll probably kick me outta the bedroom if I don't. But if you don't stop sluttin' up the bar I'll have to kick you out."

I sat there with my mouth hanging open until his words settled in my brain along with intense anger.

This guy really is an ass.

"Rob I am not a slut. You and Annie both know I have never slept with any of those guys. They just follow me here."

He slammed his hands on the counter and leaned forward. "You know what? You're right. You're not a slut. You're a tease. Which worse than being a slut. You know why? Because you're leadin' men on, Ricky. You're givin' 'em all the right signs. You flirt. Show a little, or should I say a lot, of skin here and there and then when they think you wanna take 'em to the next level, you shut 'em down."

He pointed to all the shitfaced guys crowding the bar. "And then you lead 'em here. They follow you like if you were the Pied Piper. And you wanna know what happens when you leave. They fight over you. They place bets on who can sleep with you first. They spread rumors. Apparently you've slept with a third of the guys in this bar and guess what? Everyone believes it."

Ouch. But I wouldn't cry. I've cried to much throughout my life. On top of that I wouldn't let Rob see me cry.

Crying was for pussies and I wasn't a pussy. At least not anymore.

Rob straightened himself up, picked up some empty glasses around him and turned to walk away. Just before he walked into the back room he stopped and turned around to look at me.

"You know, Ricky. I don't like you."

"Really?" I scoffed sarcastically.

"I think you've gotta disrespectful mouth and attitude. I think you're stubborn, selfish, and quite frankly insecure."

I squared my shoulders and forced myself to keep my eyes locked with his, refusing to show weakness even though every single word he said was hitting home.

"But Annie... My dear Annie..." He looked down with a slight smile on his face and let out a huff of air. I'd be lying if I said that he didn't love his wife. The man would kill to make his wife happy and to be honest they make a really nice couple even if he's the devil and she's an angel.

He looked back up and continued, "My Annie sees good in you. She says you gotta kind, givin', merciful heart. She says you're a fighter that's a little bruised up. She says that with a little time and a little help you'll do great things."

My heart was swelling and breaking at the same time.

She has faith on a lost cause.

"I'm standin' here yapping not because I give a crap about you, but because Annie gives a crap about you. You sluttin' around is hurtin' her. So if you don't wanna make somethin' of yourself that's fine. Go on and tease the men around the world, but don't hang around here and hurt my Annie. She has faith in you and for some strange reason she actually might love you."
With that he walked away.

To be honest I gave up on people a long time. I'm not placing my heart or emotions on the line. I like Annie. She's nice and kind and gentle, but I could never trust or love her. I know that at any moment she could bite me in the ass. With the right motivation and the right push, people will bite the people they love in the ass. So why bother trust and help and love people that will betray others for their own selfish needs.

Humanity is a selfish bitch. That's what life had taught me.

I took a sip of my stale beer and stood up. I was going to leave. It wasn't a hard decision to be completely honest. Someone had become attached signaling my time to leave. I left some money on the counter and headed to my room to grab my still packed bag. I never thought I would stay two years, sleeping in the storage room of a run down bar, but I did. I had nice memories with Annie and Rob. They were good folks.

I changed from my tight gold dress into a tshirt, jeans, and some sneakers. I grabbed a napkin and wrote a letter for Annie's sake.

Thanks for your kindness. I could never repay you.
Sincerely,
Ricky
PS: Remember to give Rob hell.

After making my bed and placing the note on the pillow. I started to make my way towards the exit.