Chapter One
Freid
San Diego. The city so many people dream of living in and the one I am lucky enough to have been born in the vicinity of. The mountains, desert, and ocean lay within a short drive and as a wolf shifter, I enjoyed all of those environments. Unlike many of the urban areas in other parts of the country, Southern California’s cities lay sprawled with lots of open land in between, giving me the best of all possible worlds.
Oh, I could choose to live somewhere besides a city, and many wolves did, but I had spent thirty years building a life in this town, and I liked it. Family pack up the coast a bit, friends and my law office here. The possibility of becoming a judge in the next couple of years. And my favorite club, Animals SD, to spend time in when I had some free.
The local branch of the Animals franchise stood on a hill with a view of everything San Diego, and while there were more shifter visitors than anything, they welcomed all sorts of paranormal beings and even humans. Anyone who could behave themselves was welcome to be themselves.
I liked that.
Even if nobody I knew appeared on a given night, sitting in the bar provided endless entertainment. I was there the night witches were banned from riding their brooms inside the club, a night of infamy. Personally, I’d never shifted in there, since my wolf found the very idea barbaric, but many others did, and boy, could penguins take over the dance floor. And very lucky that I did like to go there because three years before, I’d had a dream that I would find my mate at Animals SD. And, with everyone else in my family mated long before my current age, I’d begun to fear that Fate did not have someone in mind for me.
Then came the most vivid dream. In full color, as opposed to my usual black-and-white versions, with everything so realistic, I even saw the shirt I was wearing. Although it might not have been necessary, I became convinced that I had to recreate the circumstances. I couldn’t go every night, of course, not and maintain the hours I worked at the law firm. As the newest partner, I was technically still proving myself. An endless process, it seemed.
But my wolf seemed fine with my choosing to go every Friday and Saturday nights. The few times I almost missed, had business dinners and was tempted to go home to bed, he became so upset, growling, snarling, and clawing inside me, I drove from the restaurant to Animals. The shirt in the dream had been a puzzle at first, since a tiger shirt with sparkles in colors never seen in nature was not my usual attire for either business or casual.
It seemed familiar, though. I knew I must have seen it somewhere, and I spent nearly a week combing various stores and online shopping sites in search of the item. Had I gotten an ad for it on social media maybe? Or seen another person wearing it? None of that felt right and finally, that Friday morning, I woke up feeling like a real fool.
Scrambling out of bed, I crossed the room to my dresser and dropped to my knees. In the bottom drawer, in the very back corner, I found it. Folded neatly, with the tags still on it. A gift from my little niece for my birthday a year before. I’d loved that she picked it out, that she’d shared her love of tigers with the uncle she didn’t see often enough. But I couldn’t imagine wearing it in public. Perhaps, I’d thought at the time, I could put it on when I was lying around the house on a Sunday afternoon watching sports or old movies. But once I stashed it in the drawer of things I never wore, I forgot about it completely.
Funny how my subconscious remembered and put it in the dream. Maybe because it was given in love and the dream was about my fated mate? Or maybe a hint of guilt that I’d never worn it? Either way, it had been a sharp detail in the dream and, as such, I’d put it on every time I went and sat on the barstool where I had been while soul traveling. Of course, it had to be hand-washed or all the sparkles would have gone down the drain. After my search for one like it, I’d have to be careful not to ruin it. Hopefully, I’d only have to wear it a few times. Fate had shown me that my mate was going to meet me at Animals. And I was more than ready to greet them.
The first night I showed up in my mate-meeting shirt, I found the barstool empty and hurried to occupy it. Scanning the room, I wondered if my mate was there yet. Could I be lucky enough to meet them that very evening? It seemed plausible. Why not?
I was nursing a beer and wondering if I should just go home and try again the next night, when my skin prickled. I turned to find the stool next to me occupied by a male with dark hair and a scruff of a beard on his chin. He held himself with a grace I associated with a big cat, although I wasn’t sure what kind he was. An alpha…like me, so not the omega I’d been sent to meet. But I introduced myself to him and found myself drawn into a conversation that would go on for years. Friends. Fate had an omega for me. I’d never felt such a draw to another alpha, though, and if I hadn’t been waiting for that omega, I might have taken a chance.
Our connection was strong, and sometimes I wondered if I should just give up and ask the alpha to be my mate. It was only a dream after all. And my shirt was starting to wear out.
Chapter Two
Ty
I got to Animals early, hoping to get a booth. My date said he might be late, so I ordered a beer.
“How about an appetizer, hun?”
The deer shifter waitress flicked back her pink hair. Her name tag said Shannon, and her Texas accent comforted my nerves. I hated blind dates.
“No, thanks. I’m waiting for someone.”
“All right, hun. Beer coming up.”
I’d only agreed to the date because a friend cajoled me into it. “We shifters need to stick together,” he’d said. “My friend’s friend is a lonely tiger like you. It’s the perfect match.”
What could it hurt? We’d meet, and that would be that. No strings. So why was I so nervous?
By the time my beer was half gone, my date hadn’t shown up. I drained my glass and ordered another, checking my phone. I saw no calls or texts. My date was half an hour late. I texted my friend, but he didn’t answer.
I flagged Shannon.
“Another beer, hun?”
“Yes, please.”
“Is your friend coming?”
“At this point, I doubt it.”
