A.L.F.A. Mates

by Milly Taiden

  He pulled away and spun his mate around to face him. “My mother invited everyone?”

  “Well, technically, she told me to call her ‘Mom,’ too, but yes, the woman who spit you out of her womb is playing hostess. Quite well, I would say.”

  If he wasn’t there in person to witness it, he would’ve never believed it. Then he saw his mom making her way to them.

  “Isn’t this great!” she said.

  Amie clasped her hands. “That’s what I said.” They laughed. At what, Frank didn’t know. Didn’t want to.

  His mom sighed and surveyed the room. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen a lot of friends even though they live in the same town. Sometimes it’s a shame how caught up we get in our own worlds that we forget there is another outside the door.” Mom turned to him. “Are you home for the rest of the day?”

  “No” came from his mouth faster than he thought possible. “I mean, we’ll see. And why are you wearing a handkerchief on your head?”

  She nervously adjusted it on her head. “We’ll talk about it later. But Mae didn’t call it a handkerchief; she called it a do-mop.”

  Mae’s voice carried over the den. “Do-rag, Jean. Not a do-mop.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Mom said. She stepped away and filtered through the crowd, smiling, waving, even giving a thumbs-up to a group walking around with books on their heads.

  “What are they doing?” He couldn’t fathom a reason for balancing a book on the noggin.

  “Really?” Amie rolled her eyes at him then lifted her foot in a spiked-heel shoe. “Do you think it’s easy to walk in these correctly?”

  He raised a brow. “Hadn’t ever thought about it. I only know one way to walk.” He smiled at her irritation. She was always adorable when flustered.

  “And that’s why all you men sound like a herd of cattle on a stampede when you walk.” She turned and hollered across the room, “Evelyn, toss me a pair of your heels.” Seconds later, two hot pink shoes flew through the air, Amie catching both.

  She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Take your shoes and socks off.”

  Fear burst through him. “What?”

  “I said take your shoes and socks off. I’m teaching you something to expand your horizons.”

  He stepped back. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he didn’t think he’d like it.

  By the scent in the air, his mate didn’t like that answer. Several of the nearby ladies took deep breaths and turned to look at him, eyes narrowed. Oh, fuck. Maybe he should reconsider. Shit. Fine. He shed his footwear quickly.

  “Good,” she said. “Now put these on.” She dropped the hot pink heels by his feet.

  “Come on, Amie. What did I do to deserve this?”

  One of the ladies said, “You’re a male and were born. That’s what you did.” She then laughed with one of the other ladies.

  “Mrs. Holcomb,” he replied, “I can solidly blame my mother for that.” He looked down at the shoes. “How can they possibly make ladies’ shoes so big?”

  “Ladies aren’t the only ones who wear them, Franky,” Mrs. Holcomb said.

  He groaned and shoved his feet in the stupid things. He put a hand on the wall to keep his balance. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Several of the ladies had stopped what they were doing to watch. “And a show it will be, won’t it, ladies?” one of them called out.

  He had a choice to make. He could either be a pussy and fight this all the way, or he could man up and give them something to watch. The twinkle in his mate’s eyes made his decision. God, he still loved her.

  “Okay, then.” Amie turned her backside to him. This was getting better already. “This is the proper way to walk in heels.” She took a step forward, lifting her knee and setting her foot flat on the floor—toes and heel hitting at same time. “The biggest thing with walking is make it look like you’re gliding. You don’t want your body parts flopping all over the place. Which means you don’t slam your heel into the ground when you step. You place it flat on the outside of the foot then roll to the inside to push off your big toe.

  “Then while you’re coming forward and rolling, you bring your other knee forward and place that foot on the outer edge to roll when you move forward. Watch.” Amie slid across the floor effortlessly. And damn she looked good doing it. Some of ladies whistled at her sexy strut. On the other side of the door, she completed a perfect one-step turn, resting a hand on her hip. Damn, he wanted to see those curvy hips do that again.

  “See how I lead with the knee, step down with heel and ball touching at the same time, quietly. Then swivel to the inside of my foot while I lead again with the other knee.” She glided toward him and he thoroughly loved the exhibition. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. She caught his movement and gave back a smoldering look. A chill took him, but he couldn’t let his dick get hard. That would not be good at the moment.

  She came to a stop beside him. “Your turn, stud muffin.”

  He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his sport coat. The ladies cheered like he was going to take it all off. He mentally snorted. He had this.

  His knee came forward and he placed his hairy foot flat on the floor. Thank god the room was carpeted so he wouldn’t make noise even if he did it wrong. Which he did. But that wasn’t the point anymore. Catcalls followed his balanced trod to the other side of the door where Amie did some kind of turn.

  He placed the ball of his foot on the floor and spun. Being his first time in ladies’ shoes, he forgot he had to raise his heel even higher. The shoe’s spike caught on the carpet, sending him flailing into an upholstered chair, causing the women sitting in it to scream, and all three tipped over, crashing into a side table and lamp.

  Amie rushed over to pick them up. Others helped while laughing hilariously at his antics. Yeah, he knew he was a ladies’ man. Gladly slipping the shoes off, he stood on flat feet and breathed a sigh of relief. The ladies cheered again.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Next show is in thirty minutes.”

  Amie hugged him like old times. She felt so good against him. Her hair had the same apple scent, her skin soft and supple. He nuzzled her neck and, without thinking, placed a kiss on her neck beneath her ear. She melted against him, then must’ve realized her actions and pulled away.

  Not so fast. He grabbed her hand and led her around the outer part of the room, through the kitchen, and out the back door, which he closed securely behind him. He pressed Amie’s back against the wood exterior and took her lips with his.

  She tasted so good. Like sweet tea and cake. Her lips were lush and soft on his and for once he gave in to the craving. The desire. Amie was his and he didn’t need to worry that this was a dream. This time, she was really there. This was really happening and he wouldn’t wake up to her gone. To them being apart and his missing the one woman he knew owned his heart. He’d loved her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her and that love had only grown with time.

  CHAPTER 13

  It was well past three o’clock before Frank, his mate, and Mom had the house back to normal. He hadn’t seen his mom so happy in a long time. But he’d noticed that she didn’t participate in any of the groups who were learning things. She’d flitted about serving finger foods and drinks and talking to everyone. Goes to show that some things don’t change, even though you try.

  “Mom,” he hollered. “Are there any of those little food thingies left? I’m starving.”

  “Now that you mention it, I’m hungry, too,” Amie said.

  Mom came out of the kitchen looking exhausted. “No, those were gone halfway through. I can make us an early dinner.”

  Amie bumped his arm and raised her brows at him. He thought back to their college years, trying to remember if they had a secret code for raised brows or something. After another s
econd without a response from him, she dug her elbow into his ribs and whispered, “Tell Mom you’ll take us out to eat, dammit.”

  Of course. His cat hit him upside the head. Dumbass. Go out and drag a deer home by the neck. Take care of the females. He reminded it they had modern things called restaurants so people didn’t have to hunt anymore. Oh, yay. Let’s chase down a plate of filet mignon set right in front of us. That’s damn exciting.

  Frank sighed. “Mom, let me take us out to a restaurant tonight. You’ve been going nonstop for hours. Take a break and let’s go eat.”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  • • •

  All three walked down the sidewalk of the shopping district, which consisted of two places to eat, one clothing store, and the beauty salon and butcher’s shop. Everything was exactly the same as he remembered. As long as he didn’t look too closely.

  “Hmm,” Amie said, staring down at the crumbling concrete foundation and faded material decorating the front. “Place needs a bit of TLC. But I know how tight money can be.” He watched as Amie studied everything around her. He knew the wheels churning in the wonderful, highly creative brain of hers. Her willingness to help and give freely of herself had not changed in the years they’d been apart. A hint of heartache came with the thought.

  Mom said, “It could definitely use a remodel, but the dinner entrées are divine. I can’t even make a steak as tender as the chef here.”

  They walked in to seat themselves. For being mid-afternoon, there were several tables occupied. The aroma of red meat smelled fabulous. No place in DC even came close to down-home shifter cooking. When passing each table, he glanced to see what each person was having. All of the dishes made his mouth water. His mom picked a booth along the wall and sat on the outer part of one bench, forcing him and Amie to sit together. He eyed his mom, knowing what she was doing. Her look was just daring him to call her out. He kept his mouth closed.

  The waitress was quick to come by with menus. She introduced herself and took their drink orders. Next to him, Amie thumbed through the menu, turned to the back, then flipped it over to the front.

  “Is this everything?” He looked down at her menu. It was the same as his.

  “Yeah, why?”

  She shrugged. “Didn’t see anything but . . . Never mind. I think I know what I want.”

  The waitress returned with their drinks. Mom asked her, “Didn’t you used to work at the other restaurant?”

  The girl nodded and smiled. “I did. I thought tips might be better here since they do more dinner business. Bob’s place does mainly breakfast and lunch. This restaurant is owned by his ex-wife. You knew that, right?”

  Both Mom and Frank nodded.

  “I love Dorothy to death. And I’d do anything for Bob, so . . . I don’t know. I like sleeping in. Dorothy doesn’t even open until one o’clock.”

  “If Bob and Dorothy would work together, they could combine their places and have one awesome place all day long instead of two rents and two sets of employees. They could save a ton of money,” Amie tossed out.

  The waitress snorted. “That’s the problem. I think Dorothy would kill Bob within ten minutes if they were in the same room.”

  “Oh,” Amie replied, “they don’t get along at all?”

  The waitress rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? Bob’s a dog, according to her. And Dorothy’s pussy just can’t take all of him.”

  Everyone had placed their orders when the front door opened and another couple walked in. “I’ll be back in a minute with your meals.”

  Frank and his mom caught the whiff at the same time. Intense, unadulterated embarrassment. They looked at Amie. Her face was beet-red, mouth hanging open, eyes ready to pop out.

  Mom got a worried look on her face. “What’s wrong, dear?”

  Amie stuttered and couldn’t put a sentence together. Finally she spit out, “She was talking about her boss’s hoo-ha like it was no big deal.”

  “What’s a hoo-ha, dear?” Mom asked.

  Amie’s face turned redder. “You know. A woman’s . . .” She looked around then pointed to her lap under the table.

  “Oh!” Mom said, understanding. Frank kept his mouth shut. This was way too dangerous a territory for him to tread. “No, sweetie.” Mom put her hand on his mate’s. “She was talking about her cat. Oh, wait.” Mom looked at Frank.

  He put his hands up. “Don’t drag me in on this. I don’t talk about pussy in public.” Mom slapped his arm and Amie laughed. Amie pushed on his arm to let her out and she headed to the restroom.

  “Son,” Mom whispered, “you’ve got to tell her what you are.”

  “No, we don’t. She’s doing fine. Were there any problems with the ladies at your house today?”

  Mom sighed. “No, but she went freakazoid when Butch shifted his lion’s head in the store this morning.”

  “What?” He almost came out of his seat. “Why did he do that?” A few customers glanced at him.

  “Keep your voice down. He didn’t know she didn’t know. She went screaming from the store and hit her head on the salon’s door and knocked herself out for a couple minutes.”

  “She what? Oh my god, is she hurt?” He stood ready to run into the restroom and check his mate head to toe for injuries.

  “Sit down.” Mom yanked on his jacket. “She’s fine. But doesn’t remember the seconds before she passed out. And we should leave it at that. But, François, you have to tell her.”

  He ran nervous fingers through his hair. “Fine, Mom. I’ll tell her when the time is right.”

  “Good.” Mom sipped tea from her glass and set it down. “Now, tell me about you two in school, because by the amount of pheromones floating in the living room earlier, you two know each other much better than you’re letting on, François. Any more scent floating around and we would’ve had a full-blown orgy going on.”

  “Mom!” He ducked his head and looked around, praying no one was listening in. “You can’t say those things in public.”

  “Sorry, son. I just don’t like not knowing the whole story.”

  He wiped a sweaty hand down his face. “I met Amie at school. She’s my true mate—” His mom gasped. “I know, Mom. Let me finish. I never said anything to you because I didn’t know how to tell her about shifters. If I brought her home and she found out, I was afraid she’d leave me. But it really didn’t matter because she left me anyway right before graduation.

  “She went home for the weekend while I stayed to study for my last exam. I never saw her after that. She sent me a text saying she couldn’t see me again.”

  “She couldn’t see you again?” Mom replied. “What the hell does that mean? You don’t just up and leave your mate—”

  “Mom, calm down,” he said. “I know. Something was going on at her home that stopped her from wanting to see me. That’s the feeling I got. Like she had no choice in the matter.” He pulled that story out of his ass. He hoped she didn’t smell his uneasiness.

  “Why didn’t you go to her home and ask her?”

  Oh, fuck. He didn’t want to get into all the Mafia stuff and Amie’s real name and why he didn’t know about either back then. He sighed. “At the time, it wasn’t possible.”

  “What—”

  “Just take my word for it, Mom. I couldn’t.”

  His mom was quiet for a moment. “That’s why you joined ALFA so quickly. To get away from the pain you and your cougar were suffering.” He nodded. “That makes sense now.” She laid a hand on his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He wiggled in his seat, uncomfortable with his mom’s scrutiny. “Mom, I’m not good with that kind of stuff. I didn’t want to come home with my tail dragging on the ground.”

  She smiled and patted his hand. “Your father was the same way. He wouldn’t say a single mushy word or sentiment unless it was pulled
out of him with giant pliers. You know, he didn’t ask me to marry him.” That surprised him. They were married, right? “He simply told me to make wedding plans and tell him when and where and he’d be there.” They both laughed.

  Amie walked out from the hallway, talking to a familiar woman. He then recognized the woman as the owner of the restaurant. They talked and looked around the place. Amie pointed at something and Dorothy nodded.

  His eye caught old Mrs. Hagerty staring at the two ladies. And the look didn’t appear nice. It looked rather hateful. He didn’t like that. No one threatened his mate. He started to stand, then Amie shook hands with Dorothy and came toward them. He moved to let her slide in, then sat beside her. When he looked back at Hagerty, she was gone. Crazy old woman, he thought.

  “What were you and Dorothy talking about?” Mom asked.

  “Oh”—Amie shrugged—“I had some low-cost decorating ideas she might be interested in. Just simple things, really. But they could have a big impact.”

  Not too far from their table, a baby cried out. Two parents sat at a table with eight children. The kids looked identical, except in age, all with white fluffy hair and under twelve. Ah, yes, he remembered the rabbit family.

  Mom said, “That’s Roger’s family. I think he was a couple years older than you. I can’t remember; he has so many siblings.” She stifled a giggle.

  The waitress set a tray on a holder next to their table. She saw them looking at the rabbit family. Amie said, “There sure are a lot of them. I’ve never seen such fluffy, curly hair. Wow. How does she do it?”

  The waitress waved a hand. “And that’s not even all their children. That’s normal for rabbits. You know the saying.” She handed over a plate with a steak taking up the entire area.

  Amie motioned to the mother with the crying baby. “She has salad and carrots and veggies. I didn’t see that on the menu.”

  “Good thing she’s a rabbit, then.” The waitress laughed. Frank, horror racing through him, glanced wide-eyed at Mom.

  Amie said. “You mean she eats like a rabbit. Yeah, she does.”