ROSE'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 5)

by Dalia Wright

  The music was thumping, and people were dancing, but for the most part, she felt like she was in her own little world with him. The date went without a hitch, and right now she felt like she was really enjoying everything about this man. It was definitely amazing, something that was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Alex was feeling a connection with this man that she hadn’t felt with any other guy she’s gone on a date with in the past, and that’s what made it all exciting.

  At the end of the night, she went with him to the parking lot, and when she gazed at him once again, she blushed.

  “I had a great time tonight,” she said.

  “Same here. Hopefully I’ll get to see what you’ve written sometime soon,” he said with a smile.

  She gazed upon him with a reassuring smirk. “Totally. I’ll send it over when I can,” she replied.

  They parted ways, and Alex pinched herself for a moment to see if she was dreaming. Sure enough, she wasn’t, and when she thought about it, she realized that it was the best first date she had ever been on. But there was still something odd about all of this, and she didn’t really know what to think about it all. She turned around, but he was gone, vanishing without a trace.

  “This is getting weird,” she told herself. Even though she did think it was almost the perfect first date, at the same time, she had a strange feeling bubbling up within her, a feeling that things were about to get a bit weird really fast.

  Chapter Three

  Alex took a deep breath as soon as she got home. She wanted to send him the story, and she wanted to see if maybe, just maybe he would be gentle with it. She had never shown anyone her work before, but this time would prove to be an interesting experience for her. She never had the confidence to show off her work to others, but this time was an exception. After hovering over whether she should send the story to him for about ten minutes, she finally pressed the button, sighing in worry.

  She had no idea what in the world was going to happen next. Would he love it? Or would he hate it? She really didn’t know, and the fact that it was hovering over those two choices did scare her. She wanted to imagine that he would like it, but at the same time, she really didn’t know for sure. After a few days, she got a reply back from him, the only reply she had gotten from him over the last few days.

  She started to read the message, and at first, she thought it would be something terrible. She was expecting to be told that her work sucks, and that she should quit, but it was far from that. He praised her, telling her about how much he enjoyed reading it, and how the story engaged him in more ways than one. He loved the erotic scenes between the heroine and the vampire, and he also enjoyed the werewolf.

  But then, the message got even more interesting. She started to read it, and instead of him getting angry about the problems, he was giving her advice. He told her a bit about how the werewolf should be portrayed, and even some tidbits to work on. A she read it, it was almost like she was reading his interpretation on werewolves, and the fact that it seemed almost realistic made her wonder.

  “Really?” she asked herself. She would’ve never thought of all the things he was telling her, and he did also tell her that not all werewolves change during the full moon, and that some are able to change at will.

  “How does he know that though?” she asked herself. It seemed like the man knew almost too much about this, and she wanted to find out why.

  She wrote him back, telling him thanks for the information, but then she asked him how he knew about all of that. She paused, wondering if this was the fitting way for the messages to go. She sent it anyways, and then she waited.

  He responded immediately. She expected a dissertation, a long story about how he knew so much, but the only thing he did say, was one sentence.

  Everyone has their own secrets and special information that they keep to themselves. I’m one of them.

  What did that message mean? It seemed almost like he was alluding to something. But what was it? That was the biggest question of them all.

  She shook her head, trying to get the feelings of annoyance that she felt at the present moment out of her head. She wanted to learn more about this man, and she wanted to get a feel for him.

  Unfortunately, he started to grow less talkative at some point. She didn’t know why that was, but when she messaged him about things, he stopped being so responsive. It then got to the point where she wasn’t able to reach him at all. She wondered why that was, and a part of her wanted to figure out why. It seemed like she was going in the right direction towards finding out the truth about this man.

  It was frustrating her, and one day, she decided to just go visit him. She went over to the bar, looking around at the place and wondering if he was present. He was, standing in the back cleaning glasses. She went over to him, sitting on the stool in front of him.

  “Hey there Alex,” he said.

  “Hey. Are you okay? I didn’t hear from you for a while,” she said.

  He paused, looking at her with a worried glance. “Sorry, I’ve been really busy recently. It’s a bit awkward to talk about here, but just trust me on this. Don’t get mixed up in my life,” he told her.

  “What do you mean?” she asked him.

  He looked around. Most of the patrons weren’t listening, all of them engaged in their own social discourse. He turned to her, glancing at her for a moment before speaking.

  “I don’t want to get into details here, but I would rather we not date right now. I’m going through a few things myself, and I don’t really want to get you mixed up in them. You’re a great woman, and I enjoyed your story. I hope the information I gave you helped,” he said.

  “It did, but what do you mean we can’t see each other? I thought we were friends?” she asked him.

  “Well, I would rather you not get mixed up in my affairs. I have my own personal issues to attend to, and I would rather you not worry about them as well,” he said.

  What the hell did he mean by that? This was getting out of hand, and she wanted to ask him about this.

  “But—“

  “That’s all. I’m not getting into details at work. Maybe I’ll tell you in the future, when things aren’t so tight right now. I just don’t want you to get mixed up in it all,” he said.

  She wondered what it was, assuming it was probably something that involved his personal life. A part of her thought that it was unfair that he treated her like that, but another part of her felt like this might be for the best. Whatever it was that he was hiding, it was something important, and right now, the only thing that she could do was wait and see what would happen next.

  Chapter Four

  She hadn’t heard from him in about two months. A part of her wanted to cry, to ask him what was going on, but the other part of her felt like it would be best if he came to her with the information on why he acted the way that he did. Something seemed off about it all, and she didn’t have a good feeling about this. She wanted to ask him about it, but she was still afraid of the truth.

  One night, she was walking home, wondering if there was anything out there. However, in front of her was a strange creature, almost like an animal, but bigger than a dog. She walked into the forest, looking around at the creature that was in front of her. It didn’t see her yet, but when Alex looked at it, a sense of happiness rushed through her.

  It was beautiful, she had to admit. It seemed almost like she was staring at an ethereal creature, one that wasn’t just your average animal. It was a wolf, but it seemed almost sentient in a way. It then turned, staring at her for a moment, and for whatever reason, her heart raced.

  The creature was so beautiful. She wanted to go out and touch it, but she knew better than to get mixed up with wild animals. She didn’t want to get hurt, but it looked like the wolf wasn’t too afraid of humans. It didn’t attack, nor did it run away, but instead it just stared at her, and it looked at her with questioning eyes. Did this creature know her? She didn’t think so, but it didn
’t want to run away.

  It stepped closer to her, and Alex breathed out. She hoped it wouldn’t attack. The last thing that she wanted to do was to hurt a poor creature, but if it did hurt her in any way, she would use self-defense. But it just gazed at her with a sad look. It looked like it wanted to tell her something, but it wasn’t sure of how. She paused, thinking she should say something, but before she could, it went away.

  She went back to her home, and when she got there, she saw an email once again. It was from Darren, and he was talkative once again. It was strange, because he hadn’t spoken to her in months, but now he was talking to her like they were old friends. They were friends, but it almost seemed like he was holding himself back for whatever reason. Why that was, she really didn’t know.

  “Maybe he’ll tell me the truth. Maybe,” she said to herself. She wasn’t going to bet on it, but maybe he would come around eventually.

  Chapter Five

  She continued on with this pattern of talking to Darren, not speaking to him for a while, and then talking to him once again after she saw that mysterious wolf. She wondered if there was a connection to that or not.

  She mused on it, but in truth, she didn’t know for sure. A part of her assumed there was a connection, but the other part thought that it was just a coincidence. She wondered if the wolf would ever come closer though.

  A few days later, she went home from work, staring at the area around her. It seemed a bit odd, because tonight was a full moon, and a part of her wondered if there was a connection to the way the moon looked and the incidents these last few weeks.

  A part of Alex wanted to find out more, so she went to the forest nearby. She went on in, looking at the night sky above and staring at the trees all around. It was peaceful, and it was definitely gorgeous outside. However, there was an eerie presence, and when she turned around, she immediately saw stars.

  She was pushed to the ground, mauled by some animal that was intent on killing her. It immediately started to dive towards her face, his muzzle trying to gorge at her neck. She screamed out, her body shaking with worry. When she looked at it, she realized that it was some sort of mysterious wolf like creature.

  She had no idea if she would make it out alive. It was scary to imagine that this could be the end of it all, that this could be the fate that she was about to face. However, she then felt something push the other body off her, and when she looked up, she noticed it was that wolf from before again. The other creature wasn’t a wolf, but instead looked like a mountain lion.

  The two animals went at it, and Alex watched with shocked eyes. She couldn’t believe she was watching two animals fighting one another like this. A part of her wanted to stop it, but the wolf seemed to almost be telling her to not interfere. She sat to the side, looking at the two creatures with rapt attention. She wanted to say something, to tell them to knock it off, but she was stopped.

  The two animals continued to face one another, and after a while, she saw the familiar wolf gorge the other animal’s neck, falling to the ground. It then started to bite at it, ripping open its jugular as the contents of its body fell out. Alex had a strong stomach, but whatever this was, it was brutal. She watched it, wondering if she should stop the creature. Once it was over, it then turned to her, looking at her with sad eyes.

  “It’s okay. I’m not mad,” she said.

  The wolf started to whimper a little, the first sound that the wolf had uttered in a long time. Alex wanted to stop in, to say something to him, but then, the wolf started to change.

  What was going on?

  The wolf changed, and when she looked at it, instead of seeing the beautiful white fur, she saw the same blue eyes that had hypnotized her those months ago when she saw them for the first time at work. It was those eyes that she fell for, and when she looked at the man again, she smiled.

  “I had a feeling it was you,” she said.

  “I’m so sorry Alex. I should’ve told you sooner,” he replied.

  The two of them looked at one another for a long time, both of them trying to figure out what to say. The only thing that Alex knew was that she was going to need answers.

  Chapter Six

  She gazed at him, and he looked at her with sad eyes.

  “So…how?” she asked.

  “Well, it’s a bit of a long story. I’m sorry for never telling you,” he replied.

  “It’s fine. You didn’t know how to explain it. I mean, I knew that you were hiding something. I never thought it was this though,” she admitted.

  “Yeah, I’ve never been comfortable with showing this side of myself to anyone before. When you started to get closer to me, I thought about telling you, but I was scared. That’s why I showed myself in my wolf form to you that night. I am still nervous about it all, but I’m glad that you haven’t headed for the hills yet,” he told her.

  She nodded. “Why would I? You saved me. But I do think what you did to that other creature was a bit much,” she replied.

  She looked over at the dead animal, and Darren blushed.

  “That’s because you don’t know what that creature was really doing,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked him. What was that creature doing that was so wrong?

  “Well, that creature wanted to kill you. It’s been one that’s been hunting around these parts, and I was sent to get rid of it. I wanted to help keep the peace in town, and this was what I was supposed to do. Sorry for not really explaining it all before, but it’s a bit hard. Usually those mountain lions are problematic, but it’s my job as a wolf watcher to make sure that the animal doesn’t do anything else to hurt people. I’m supposed to get rid of any creature that hurts anyone that’s a human,” he said.

  “Wow. So you watch over humans?” she asked.

  “Yeah. It’s strange, but I’ll explain it all. We should head back to my place. I don’t want to talk about it out here. I don’t feel comfortable knowing there might be prying ears,” he said.

  She nodded, feeling unsure of what to say about all of this. A part of her wanted to head for the hills, terrified by the notion of him saying all of this to her. But then, there was that other part that waited to take a chance with this. She knew how she felt about him, and a part of her wanted to continue to see him. She knew deep down that the feelings she harbored for him weren’t going to go away anytime soon, so she should just live with it.

  They went back to his place, which was nearby. He opened the door, and when she walked in, she saw a lot of military memorabilia.

  “Wow, there’s a lot here,” she said.

  “Yeah. Back when I was in the navy, I actually led a lot of successful operations. I would’ve continued, had my true form not shown up at the worst possible time,” he said.

  She looked at him, sadness present on his face. She felt bad that he was admitting all of this to her, and she wondered what had happened to make everything pan out like this.

  “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking,” she said.

  “Well, let’s have a seat. I’ll make some tea, and I’ll explain it all. You deserve an explanation, especially after the way I’ve treated you,” he said mournfully.

  She nodded, not saying anything about the last sentence. She followed him to the living room, sitting down on the couch and watching him as he grabbed and prepare everything. She was fascinated by it all.

  He came back with two hot cups of tea, giving her one and drinking the other. The two of them drank in silence, both of them unsure of what to say to one another. After they finished, he stared at her, trying to determine what to say next.

  “So I think it’s time I gave you the explanation,” he said.

  “Okay. It’s fine if you need time,” she replied. In truth, she didn’t know what he was going to say, and a part of her felt nervous about this.

  “Well, to start I actually have been a wolf shifter since I was a kid. I was born this way, with my father running away when I was young. My mother thoug
ht I was a freak, but she kept silent about it, and her father seemed to understand what I was going through. He was a shifter as well, so it was passed through her bloodline, but it skipped her generation. My grandfather taught me all about my power, but he told me to never show other humans, because they don’t understand. Every night on the full moon I would go see him, my wolf form present and uncontrollable. I wasn’t able to harness the power until later on, and now I can mostly control my shifting. However, whenever I feel really nervous, I can’t control it. That’s why, that night at the bar when you were asking questions, I told you that I didn’t want to see you. I almost shifted in front of the people at work, and I would’ve been fired if I did that. People don’t understand, and I’m sorry that I gave you the wrong idea,” he admitted.

  “It’s fine. I’m glad you don’t hate me though,” she replied.

  “I don’t. In fact, I feel the opposite about you, but I’ll get to that later. Anyways, after I mainly controlled my powers, I went into the navy. I was strong, able to get the job done, and I was a leader. But then, one night when I was in an argument with a subordinate, I shifted, and I scared him. My senior noticed it, and he told me that I would either have to leave, or get court marshaled. The last thing I wanted was the latter, because I loved being in the navy, so I left on decent terms. I moved here and started a new life, and I work together with other wolves to keep the peace of this town. Normally everything is good, and I’m glad that I have wolf brothers, but it’s been very hard for me recently. When I met you, I wanted to tell you all about it. I don’t even know why, but I felt like you of all people would understand all of the bullshit that I was going through. I mean, to be honest, I still feel nervous telling you, but I’m happy that you haven’t ran away yet. I really am,” he replied.

  “I won’t. Trust me on that,” she said.

  “Thank you. But now that we’re here, there is something else that I’ve wanted to admit to you. It’s something I’ve been afraid of telling you simply because I don’t know what to think. I was also terrified of how you would react,” he told her.