What the hell. Yes, I was taking a risk, but Mika was different from the other alphas I'd met. "I'd love to learn more about meerkats tonight, over dinner." Maybe his matriarchal society made him less of a threat to me, an unmated omega.
My omega dad would say I was ridiculous for even thinking an alpha was a threat, but those high school sex ed horror stories stuck with me. I refused to be mated and marked against my will. Some said it was impossible to mark someone who didn't want it, but I didn't take any chances. It would go against my "bachelor for life" credo.
Instead of treating me like I was a fool, Mika had reassured me he wasn't like that. Maybe I was naïve to trust him, but my gut wasn't cramping with anxiety. Even my meerkat tattoo looked more playful in his presence.
I followed him to the third floor of the parking garage in a daze. It was only when we reached his black SUV that I noticed he'd been holding my hand since we left the bar. Letting him go felt like a loss I couldn't explain.
He opened the passenger door for me, and my heart melted a little. I'd been on dates with alphas who opened doors for me, but they always ended with the same alpha proving he was a complete asshole, saying I owed him sex because he took me out and bought me dinner, and threatening to mark me if I didn't put out. Somehow, I could tell Mika wasn't like that.
Inside, the vehicle smelled like new leather and alpha. My human senses weren't as strong as a shifter's, but I already knew his alpha smell. Here in his vehicle, it was overwhelming and fucking devastating to my confirmed bachelor status.
Mine. Mika smelled like mine.
4
MIKA
Just inside the apartment door,I motioned Gabe to the loveseat opposite the equally wide television and handed him my phone with my favorite food delivery app open. "Pick a restaurant you like, and then we can order something to eat."
"You're trusting me with your phone?" He looked skeptical.
"I am." I didn't want to say it too soon and screw everything up, but the longer I sat with Gabe at the bar, the more I knew. He was my fated mate. Probably. Definitely.
He smelled like mate, and my meerkat wanted to scent mark him, claim him, and make him ours. It was way too soon, though, especially after Gabe shared his fear of being alone with alphas. I needed to take my time and ease him into the whole fated mates conversation.
I dipped down onto my double papasan chair. It was almost impossible to sit on the edge of it, but I leaned forward over my knees, waiting for Gabe to hand me my phone. I loved curling up in my meerkat form and watching television from here. This time, my meerkat wanted to curl up beside Gabe on the plush oversized cushion.
Like my meerkat, my mouth had a mind of its own around him. First, I'd asked him out for drinks. Then, I'd asked him backto my place to basically Netflix and chill, without the chill. Next, I would be kissing him.
Tonight was too soon for that, though. I needed to learn more about him and let him know more about me. Or meerkats, which was not the same thing, though I cupped my phone with both hands when he handed it back.
"The Greek restaurant looks good." It was the fanciest restaurant I had pinned, which wasn't lost on me, but when he ordered the tabouli, one of the least expensive items, I splurged and got us some vegetable kababs to go with my eggplant wrap.
"Are you vegetarian?"
I'd placed the order online and mumbled it aloud to myself. He must have heard me.
"In this form, somewhat."
Gabe's brows scrunched together above his nose when he was confused. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I didn't want him to think I was a complete dick, so I held in my laugh. "My meerkat eats anything," I said instead, "so I try to watch my diet the rest of the time."
"Interesting."
I fished the remote from under the papasan cushion and waved it at him before pushing play and setting it in my lap. "You're about to learn a ton about meerkats." I hoped his current expression of mild concern wouldn't change to disgust by the end of the introduction, which showed them digging bugs from the ground and eating them.
Thankfully, he was more interested in the narrator's story than he was in the events happening on screen. A man with a pleasant British accent introduced each of the main characters in the meerkat mob.
Gabe's throat clicked when he swallowed. "A group of meerkats is called a mob? Does that mean you and your family are …"
I hit pause to stop the introductory music and laughed. "Meerkat shifters prefer family, and not like the mafia "familia," either. We're all related and we mostly like each other, but we're no organized crime syndicate."
Gabe still looked skeptical.
"One time, I told my mom I'd applied to work at the electronics store at the mall, and she got so mad. She said it was a front for the Russian mafia and wouldn't let me interview when they called me back."
His genuine laugh in response made my chest tingle. "My omega dad says the same thing. He wouldn't let me shop there."
"Their prices were outrageous," I remembered.
