Get closer.
What’s with the bossiness?Except Brad’s nose was twitching as he sidled closer, a sense of knowing growing inside him that made his heart pound against his chest wall. Then Brad caught a solid whiff, and he inhaled deeply. The scent lit a fire in his chest and refused to release the intoxicating smell he wanted to bathe in. His interest in the big guy went from a solid ten to a billion, except the guy's footsteps became a snail's pace, hanging back, the mingling scent of fear Brad scented, getting stronger. It burned Brad’s nose.
On instinct, he reached out, needing to touch and also reassure. The shriek that followed made his ears ring and his poodle go into hiding despite the knowledge that this hunk of handsome was theirmate.
“What the hell? What did you do that for?”
Brad had lost his voice. The feel of the muscles under the jacket quivered and gave him an idea of just how strong the man—lion—was. Brad often had dreams of being swept off his feet like a damsel in one of the old movies. He was a real romantic.And here he was faced with his mate, one who could toss him around easily.
“Excuse me, I think I left something on the stove.”
A frown appeared as Brad’s expectations took a nosedive into the ground so fast, he was stunned into immobility. This was not what he expected when he met his mate. He watched the man run as if the devil himself was chasing him in the opposite direction.
The sound of laughter echoing around the warehouse brought Brad out of his trance and he gave chase. He was small but fast on his feet. Only when he exited the building, he could see no sign of anyone.
Fiddlesticks!He stomped his foot in frustration. Pulling out his cell phone, he put on the flashlight and cast it about for a few seconds, sniffing the night air. His poodle side chose then to come out of hiding.
Which way did he go?
You always expect me to know the answers when you're still in human form.
We can’t shift here, and our mate has very long legs, if you didn’t notice. He’ll be long gone if we shift. Your legs are tiny, and you get tired easily.
That’s right, blame me.
I’m not blaming you for anything, I’m just making an observation. And we’re getting off the topic. Can you smell which way our mate went?
Won’t he have gone back to his car? Assuming he came in one.
Brad groaned at the obvious. The scent had clearly muddled his thoughts. Having a great sense of direction, he took off running, retracing the route they’d taken.
Sweating and breathless, he reached the lot just in time to watch a car fly down the road at a high speed. He waved, only the car never slowed as it shot past him. He caught a glimpse ofremarkable green eyes filled with what looked like mortification, before Brad was staring at the disappearing taillights.
“Well, that was not how I thought meeting a mate would be like,” he muttered dejectedly, looking back the way he’d come, his shoulders drooping. It was pointless going back because he was sure they would have moved on, and he hadn’t caught the name of the bar they were going to visit.
He trudged back to his car, swiping at the curls sticking to his sweaty forehead. Inside the car, he sat there for a minute debating what he should do next. Wait for everyone to return? The idea was very unappealing when the night had hardly begun.
He sniffed and huffed, reaching to insert the key into the ignition. Going home and bingeing on cake seemed like the best idea. He could email Remy and describe his mate and ask if he could have his address? Only he was sure that it would break some data protection rules. Except they were mates, surely that would negate any rules around such things?
Maybe he didn’t want us?
That thought sideswiped him as he drove down the street, slowing to catch his breath.
You scented his fear the same as me. I’d say that whatever set him off wasn’t us.
Was that the case? Brad recalled the snippy comments he’d heard and wondered if that had been the lion. Did the screechy voice his touch evoked compare to the other comments? Could it have been the lion's, too?
He still hadn’t quite decided what to make of it all by the time he had arrived home and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top, then sat in front of his wide-screen TV with a plate of fruitcake.What do you think I should do?
Why are you asking me? You seem to have all the answers.
The miffed tone was all about not getting to shift. His poodle side loved to strut his stuff, and usually Brad had no issue with that. Just tonight was different, and he reminded his other side of that once more.We needed to find our mate quickly.
A rude noise followed.He drove past us and didn’t even hesitate to stop.
Yes, that may be so.Brad shoved a large piece of cake into his mouth to eat his feelings.You brought up the smell of fear coming from him.
Yes, I know. Are you sure he wasn’t scared of us. Are you sure it was something else? He’s an alpha.
