Turned out the guy just had a fondness for the dumbass soap. He was team wolf, apparently. Because yeah, for that one I at least gave him the entire date to under-impress me. I’d promised my Alpha I would.
On the second attempt, I didn’t make that mistake. This time I only promised to go. Nothing more.
And I was smart about it. Or at least I thought I was. I went to a fucking shifter bar for goodness sake. The Fang and Claw—what kind of a human thought that place sounded like a good time?
I had been going there for years and never once had a human stayed in the place for more than a few minutes before being unable to take the uncomfortable feeling of being surrounded by wild animals, even if they didn’t know that was the reason at the time.
But there he was, sitting next to me as if I would be willing to do more with him than share the same air. Colin! I’d never forget his name.
I pulled out the bottle of booze from my briefcase because fuck it. I could at least get drunk.
My only regret was running into Bentley. He was one of our office's best clients. No. That was a lie—he was our best client. Between his contracts and business dealings, he made us a ton of money, and alienating him because I was drunk and out of control was shitty.
Shitty enough I needed to face Soren, my Alpha. Fuck this day—this year—my stupid desire to find good food at the airport.
And didn’t everything always come back to that one freaking mistake. Those few minutes cost me my mate and almost my humanity. My bear was getting less and less controllable each day. It wouldn’t be long before Soren needed to deal with him, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Not even close.
But I would let him—at least human me would.
Living without my mate—knowing he had been so close was destroying me bit by bit—unfuckingbearable was what it was.
I stomped on into the den house, which was named Willow Den, not wanting to face the music, but knowing I had to. Bentley would call him in the morning if he hadn’t already. Might as well prepare him.
“Why are you here? Don’t you have a home?” Finn looked up from his computer. That kid was always on his computer. Not that he was a kid. He was technically an adult, but I’d always think of him as the kid who shifted for the first time in the middle of Soren’s Alpha ceremony.
“My date sucked and I figured my room here would be better. Nosey much?”
“You mean he didn’t suck.” Finn chuckled at his own joke.
“Sure, kid.” I didn’t have the strength to address his comment even if I wanted to. “Alpha?” Small talk was over. Not that I let it begin.
“He’s out back by the fire pit.” Great. He probably had a ton of people with him. Just what I needed.
I stormed out; I needed to get it over with and then to run. At least we were on the outskirts of things and the den owned a huge swath of land behind us. I just had to confess and sprint until my bear could no longer run another step and then and only then would he allow me to sleep. At least for a little bit.
“Soren.” I stepped out into the cool air, surprised to see him alone. “I was going to ask everyone to leave—you beat me to it.” I razzed my oldest friend. I could only do this when it was the two of us. The whole “he’s my Alpha capital A” thing necessitating formality around others.
“I did.” He poked at the fire with a stick. “I needed to be alone.”
“I’ll leave.” I set down my bag and bottle and started to get undressed.
“You are never in that mix.” Soren tossed a bag of marshmallows my way. “Here. Eat. Then you can run.”
“Why did you send them away?” I popped a cold marshmallow into my mouth and made my way to the fire. I did love toasted marshmallows.
“My mom’s birthday is today.” And that explained both the open fire confectionary goodness and his desire to be alone. He was a mama’s boy through and through, and her death had hit him hard.
“We should eat extra. They were her favorite.” She loved them so much we would make them in the winter to put on our hot cocoa.
“That’s what I’m saying.” He pointed his stick to me, and I pushed one onto it and then made a stick for myself. “Why are you not bumping uglies somewhere?”
“One word: Human.” I put my candy right into the fire. Whereas Soren liked his light and toasty all around, I liked to set mine on fire and eat the blackened delight, the center not quite melted all the way.
“Third time’s the charm.”
“I’m not doing that again.”
“What about Barrett’s kid—Barry? He likes you, and once you claim an omega, things will get better.”
“Just because he sniffs around doesn’t mean he’s a better option.” And he wasn’t. We both knew it. Heck, everyone knew it. No matter how much I’d love to have a solution be that simple, Barry was not that solution.
Soren smirked telling me he had been messing with me. Of course he knew I’d never go for Barry. He was just being a butt.
I threw a marshmallow at his head. “Really?” His smile widened. “You’re a jerk.” He shrugged and gave his marshmallow a look.
“Then we’re back to third time’s the charm.” He wasn’t just messing with me—he was trying to get me to agree to the stupid app.
I held up my flaming treat, loving how controlled my bear was for the short period of time. If I could just be near Soren twenty-four seven, life would be so much easier. His bear kept mine in check. Mostly.
“You’ll keep doing it until you find your mate,” he told me and then took out his stick, his marshmallow barely browned, and put the stick in his mouth, closing his lips around it and pulling it out without the candy. “I need you. You’re my fucking Beta.” His words were all mumbled, his mouth full.
“Fuck you. Find your own mate and don’t worry about mine.” I stuck my stick back in. I was going to burn the sucker to nothing at the rate I was going, and I was kind of okay with that.
“I will worry about yours because yours not being here is destroying your humanity and if I have to put you down...I just can’t, okay.”
Fuck. I hated me. His uncle had to put down his mother after his father died and she became feral, and he saw it happen which was how he became Alpha at sixteen. He challenged his uncle right then and there, his rage enough to be victorious. He understood what was coming far more than I ever would until it was too late.
“Fine. I’ll go on one more date. Done.”
“No. You’ll go on a thousand.” He shoved his stick all the way into the fire. “Fuck this. Let’s run.”
On this we agreed.
“Oh, before we go…”
He cut me off. “Bentley already called. Told me you were an ass. I calmed him down. Now we can run.”
Three
Gabe
Wandering naked in the woods during a full moon was something I’d never experienced. I have no idea what made me do it. I pranced through the long grass and trailed my fingertips over wild flowers as my dick bobbed in front of me.
But as I stood, with hands on hips, studying the tall trees while the wind had their branches dipping and swaying, goosebumps prickled over my bare skin. Without glancing over my shoulder, I was aware someone was watching me. Or something?
A bird disturbed by me or the thing behind me, screeched, and flapping its huge wings, flew from its nest, and disappeared into the night sky.
While a moment before the forest had been sleeping peacefully, now it was awake and on edge as the unknown prowled toward me. Terror gripped my stomach and twisted it until, like the bird, I too wanted to scream. But as well as the pain, there was another emotion that balanced uneasily with it. Desire.
Breath was rushing in and out of my lungs, and my chest ached, But that was nothing compared to what was happening in my head. Right was wrong and dark was light. My jumbled thoughts were upside down as if they were in a tumble dryer. I wanted whoever it was. A primeval yearning crawled inside me, taking command of my head, my heart
, and my soul. I was powerless to stop it. I’d never felt so alive.
Harsh breathing behind me had me straighten my spine with the words, Take me, streaking through my thoughts. An aroma distinct from the forest and yet also part of it, clung to me, filling my nostrils and seeping into my skin.
But as I prepared to turn and face my fate, sweat trickled over the end of my nose and dripped into my lips. I licked around my mouth as a gray mist blurred the landscape.
No! I sat up, blinking and clutching something soft. Where am I?
It was still dark and there was moonlight peeking into the room. Room! What happened to the forest, and… and the presence who was about to claim me? I squinted at dark shapes lining the wall. My boxes! I was at Corey’s in his spare bedroom. Shit! It was a dream.
With my head in my hands, my shoulders heaved as I dry-sobbed. While it didn’t reoccur every night, the dream visited me regularly. We were old acquaintances, not friends. A friend wouldn’t offer you paradise and then snatch it away.
I sniffed at my naked body, and I swear there was a hint of the aroma from the nameless one. The same as in the airport that day.
By now I was wide awake, and not wanting to wake Corey, I grabbed water from the fridge and stood at the living room window and stared at a neon sign blinking in the distance. Not wanting to toss and turn in bed, I got dressed, and with my phone, wallet, and the apartment keys, headed out.
Being in a small bedroom was not the place for me right now. With unfamiliar emotions bottled inside me, Corey’s four walls were closing around me, stifling my breath and my freedom.
The neighborhood was bedded down for the night, and the only thing that moved was a cat eyeing me from the top of a wall. I sensed its eyes on my back until I went around the corner. After turning left and right and left again, I was pretty sure I was lost.
I’d been heading to the neon sign I’d seen in the distance, but perhaps it was a mirage because I couldn’t find it. Instead, low voices arguing across the road from what appeared to a seedy dive bar caught my attention. The rusted sign announced it was The Fang and Claw. With a name like that, it would have been a perfect fit for my dream, perched on the edge of the forest.
“Why in the hell were you in there? What made you think it was okay?” That was one guy while the person he was arguing with was shorter, an omega, I guessed, who was leaning against a car.
“Excuse fucking me. But I was on a date. With a hot guy. A lawyer.”
I tuned the voices out and left them to their lovers’ quarrel. But the bar intrigued me. The omega had been on a date. Perhaps I could find someone there and ignore that stupid app.
But with my hand on the door, that sneaky aroma curled around me, making me its prisoner. It can’t be. I’m hallucinating. I was tempted to sniff around the alpha and omega who were still hissing and snapping at one another, but decided against it. The alpha was much bigger than me. He’d probably wrap his fingers around my throat without pausing his quarrel.
Chances were, whatever I was looking for was inside. I pushed open the door and all eyes glanced in my direction. Well, hello. Seemed as though these guys were starved of affection if one omega, new to town, got such a reaction. I shivered in anticipation, hoping one of them was the source of the fragrance, and sauntered up to the counter.
“Is it a full moon?” a caustic voice spat out. In my dream it was.
“Two in one night!” said another. Fist bump for having such stamina, bro! And then he muttered a word which sounded like ‘human’ but couldn’t have been.
While a third voice piped up with, “Another one? What are the odds?” A betting man, I’m guessing.
I ordered a beer, and while the barman hesitated, he shrugged and muttered, “What the fuck? As long as he’s got money.”
It was the best brew I’d had since I arrived in town, though it wasn’t my tastebuds that were on alert. Instead, I basked in that perfume which I swear percolated in the air.
A low hum of voices formed a backdrop as I perched on a stool and sipped my beer. I made no attempt to chat to any of the other patrons as I was content to imagine the possibility of being surrounded by that scent all the time.
But after glancing at my phone, I had to rethink my late-night stopover because I was starting work tomorrow and I couldn’t be late or hung over. But going outside meant saying goodbye to the aroma. I might not find it again. The one link to… to… To what, Gabe? An impossible dream? An imaginary friend? A deep-seated delusion? I shrugged off the voice whispering in my ear. But the prospect of fucking up the first day in my new job forced me to accept reality. I had to leave. Goodbye!
After placing money on the bar, I said, “Keep the change,” to the bartender, who after glancing at it, grunted, “Last of the big spenders,” and then he muttered something else. I caught the words ‘human.’ I must have a hearing problem. What is he talking about?
I fought an internal battle with myself. Miserable at having to walk out the door, I rested my hands on the bar, wanting to keep the connection to this place.
“You going or not?” the bartender snorted.
I nodded. Left. Right. Left. Right until I reached the door. Voices whispered in my head I should stay, but I chose reality over fantasy and stepped outside.
Four
Brad
It’s been an entire moon cycle.” Soren held his hand out for my phone. “Enough of this. You need to pick someone. Being my shadow isn’t doing your bear any good.” He was right. Of course he was. Living my life staying close to Soren so my bear couldn’t take control was a dumb-ass idea. Although…it had worked for an entire month. I missed my place, my bed, my life outside the den and I’m sure Soren missed not having to tell someone when he needed to take a piss.
“If anything, it is making him worse during the times I can’t be your stupid shield.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
Fair enough...when Soren had to go to Philadelphia for a deposition, my ability to hold onto that control dissipated and I was a bear for thirty-eight of the forty hours he was gone, missing a court date and earning the firm a fine.
“I’ll pick someone and you will make an attempt. An honest attempt.” He started to scroll through the app. “You have a lot of people messaging you. Why do you ignore them all?”
“Because they’re fucking human. That’s why.” I fell into the chair. This was going to take a while.
“A...how do you know that? And B...why does it matter? Maybe your fated is human and that’s why he didn’t find you at the airport. Ever think of that?”
“No, asshat, I never did because Fate doesn’t send us humans.” We weren’t compatible. Done.
Humans wanted softness and civility, and our bears—they were the antithesis of both those things.
“You're an idiot sometimes. Fate will send us who they send us.” I could hear the longing in his voice. It was official. I was a sucktastic friend.
“Find me a shifter and I am on it.” It was the best I could offer.
“Here. He’s definitely a shifter. Boom.” He handed me back the phone and walked around his desk, sitting in his seat, or as I called it; the Power Chair. He never worked at it, only used it during meetings to show he was in control.
I’d been in enough meetings with him to know it worked.
“He doesn’t look awful.” I swiped to show I was interested. “Ball’s in his court now.”
“Or you could message him.” It was a command no matter how much he tried to package it differently.
“Fine.” I opened up a chat window. “You could get yourself a date too if this app is so fantastic.”
“I’m too busy babysitting your sorry ass. Be sure to say something nice. I don’t want to spend all day looking for your mate only to have him think you're a butt.”
“Hey, wanna grab a drink?” I typed into my phone as I spoke. “That’s not scary.”
“How about hi, I saw your profile and thought you looked like someone I might
be interested in getting to know.”
“I’ll just write a sonnet while I’m at it.” I deleted my message and typed in Hey like a loser and hit send. “I wrote Hey. Back in his court.”
“Continue your message. Trust me. Guys like to be wooed.” He sounded like an old person remembering dating back in the day or what have you.
“First of all, this is a dating app not some antiquated dating ritual. Second of all, he already typed back Hey. So there.”
“What are you going to say next? Make it good so he doesn’t think you're the boring-ass lawyer you are.” He leaned back in the chair, relaxing for the first time in days. Shit. This was weighing on him. I was a craptastic friend.
“How about this: How was your day?”
“Fine. Be boring. At least that doesn’t sound like you're a creeper.”
I typed away and even added an emoji smiley face. He typed back right away.
Not too bad. I had lunch in the park and it was a beautiful day.
I got this from here, boss.
“Don’t bung it up. I wanna get laid this year, and I don’t need your ass watching because your bear has gotten to the point I need to even follow you into the bathroom when you have to take a leak.” He got up. “I’m going to the break room to grab food. I may even bring your grumpy ass back some gummy bears.”
I did love me some gummy bears even if it had a slight cannibalistic vibe to it. “I’d appreciate that, Alpha.”
I went back to my phone, not wanting to give him the opportunity to give me his eye roll.
I prefer to eat outside too. Today I had a meeting though and skipped lunch. Stupid contract dispute. I plan on eating all the steak tonight.
I watched the phone as it bubbled then stopped then bubbled again.
I’m a bear when I don’t eat. Glad you have steak waiting.
Bear. He said bear. Thank fuck. Not another human. A bear. I wanted to ask him what den he was from, but then I decided that was a conversation to have in person.
Matched To His Bear: An M/M Mpreg Shifter Dating App Romance (The Dates of Our Lives Book 2) Page 2