Dylan had no clue how long he’d been gone. All he knew was that he had finally cleared his mind enough to get rid of the nasty case of creativity block he was plagued with for a whole three weeks. He walked through the forest with familiarity, his duffel bag in his mouth as he padded over the roots popping out of the soil. He loved taking trips like this through his land, running free as his people used to do before the idea of having packs and the choice of living in the wild came to an end. Apparently humans didn’t appreciate naked people walking around in meadows and the deeper parts of the forest where humans rarely dared to venture anyway. But this was his land, so he could do anything but commit murder on it.
The trees began to part and he could feel the sun now on his fur, he looked up and saw a flock of geese flying in their uniform V shape across the cloudless sky. He saw the end of the trees approaching and, as he neared a tree just on the edge, dropped his bag and shifted, his bones snapping back into their original human shape. He reached into his dropped bag, pulling out jeans and a t-shirt. He quickly dressed and stepped out onto his soft grass; it felt nice under his feet. He could never understand how werewolves could live in the city, away from even the smallest patch of grass. He would go insane.
He walked from the edge of the trees to his house, then came to a halt as he first noticed the green little Volkswagen that looked like it had seen better days. He peered around and saw no one in or around the car. His muscled began flexing and his senses were alert as he tried to feel out any threat. He smelled something in the air, sweet and somewhat intoxicating, and immediately relaxed. It was a woman. He walked around the stairs leading up to his porch and saw his door open. What the hell? Now he was a little pissed. Some strange woman was in his house. She intruded on his property. Him. A born and bred alpha. She should’ve smelled him the moment she crossed into his land. He had made sure to mark every inch of his territory; even if having packs and living wild was illegal for his people, some still did it, and he had to make sure to assert his authority, which meant peeing on a few trees now and then. He scowled and went up the steps three at a time and was through the door in a heartbeat, following the woman’s scent.
She had been everywhere! He thought as he exited the guest bathroom. Then he heard the shuffling of material and soft grunting to his right and his head snapped towards the sounds. It came from his bedroom. Holy Mother. The woman was in his room, probably going through all his personal things. Was she under his bed? She probably found his stash of manly items, mainly magazines. He slowly opened the door and caught he red handed. Well, caught her butt anyway. It was protruding out from under his bed, waging back and forth as she appeared to be trying to jerk back.
He crossed his arms and walked over to the woman’s wiggling bottom, he had a mind to kick her in the butt; breaking into his home, and now obviously going through his personal items. But instead he simply cleared his throat, which made her jerk hard and the bed moved a good three inches out of place. She grunted in return and let out a muffled huff, her lower back slumping.
“I’m stuck.” She said with a distinctive hint of irritation in her voice. She was irritated? Did she not realize that she was an intruder in his house. If anyone should be irritated, it should be him. But oddly, he wasn’t. He got on his knees with a chuckle and peeked under his bed to assess the situation. She was stuck. He could see one of the belt loops on her jeans hooked with a spring from his mattress; her jerking and struggling had made the spring pierce the jean material of the loop, so she would’ve never gotten out on her own unless she pulled so hard the loop ripped.
He reached for the piece of the spring that was trapping her and snapped it like it was a twig, and watches as her butt dropped two inches and she shuffled out, getting to her feet quickly to dust herself off and check her jeans. He followed her out and when she looked up at him to apologize, it was like a wrecking ball hit him right in the chest.
~~~
Jo had been stuck for nearly two or three hours and was starting to get angry. Why wasn’t he here? If he was then she wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. She was exploring his house and when she got to bedroom she was hesitant. What if he was in there sleeping? Clair had blurted once that he has slept naked since he was nine, and when she had asked him why his answer was because he was a true wolf at heart. Jo had found that very cute. She slept naked herself because she didn’t want to feel constrained in her own bed. But right now she hated beds. She was just about to shift and tear up this evil spring mattress when she heard someone clearing their throat behind her.
Her back hit the springs when she jerked, pulling a grunt from her throat. She looked around her thigh to see feet behind her, and hoped it was Dylan. She slumped and admitted that she was stuck, waiting for him to yell angrily or call the police and leave her there for them. But instead he got on the floor and broke whatever was trapping her. She let out a sigh as her knees hit the wooded floor after being elevated for so long, and her sleeping toes and legs tingled back to life as she wiggled out from under the bed and got up. He followed her and, after dusting herself off and checking the damage to her jeans, luckily only a tiny hole in the belt loop, she looked up to explain and apologize, only to inhale sharply and stagger back.
Something inside her seemed to have a chemical reaction and her mind went blank. Only one word was vibrant and neon in her mind. MATE. She had to brace herself on the nightstand beside the bed before she fell, only to end up slowly sliding down to her knees. His eyes followed her and before she knew it he was lifting her back up, his jaw clenched tight as he sat her on the edge of his bed.
“Who are you and why are you here?” He didn’t sound angry, but curious.
It took her a few seconds to get her brain working enough to answer, but he waited, “I—“ She was about to blurt out her guts about everything; working with his mother, being sent by her to check on him, and finding his door unlocked and him not there. But instead she simply shot her hand up and, with a soft blush, introduced herself. “I am Joelly Lowell. It’s nice to meet you.” He took her hand in hers and electricity sparked up her palm into her arm, but she pulled her hand away before it could travel through her body.
Yep, he is her mate.
She felt her cheeks start to heat up, but thankfully her caramel skin wouldn’t give away her blush easily, especially in the dark room. She knew he was a werewolf, because Clair was one, but she could also feel the alpha aura radiating off of him, and she felt the urge to lay back and admit submission to him. Which was rare for her because she was daughter of an alpha, so the male aura didn’t bother her. But his did, and it was unnerving.
She scrubbed her hands across her thighs and huffed, regretting deeply that she allowed Clair to talk her into this. Match-maker, pah. Dylan obviously hated her, and from the way he was examining her, she probably wasn’t his type. That thought made her heart ache with pain she never thought could exist. Even the pain she felt after losing her parents didn’t hurt this much, and she’d just met the man!
She had to leave. Now. She stood, but he didn’t back up, so she came face-to-face with his t-shirt covered chest. She wanted to push him away, but feared that touching him would drive her insane. The moon’s heat was already pulsing through her, causing her sexual desires to pump into overdrive. She didn’t want to end up jumping this man, even if he was her mate. So she looked up and immediately wished she hadn’t, because then she would’ve avoided the look in his eyes that told her the moon’s heat was riding him just as hard.
