My Alpha Rejects Me

The Second First Sight | Adam .02 | Chp.19

I wake up early in the morning and rub the sleep from my eyes. Slowly I sit up in my bed and realize I had fallen asleep with the clothes from yesterday still on.

My luggage sits in front of my room door and I stand up and move towards the window. I pull the blinds open and the curtain back, letting the bright light of Tampa shine through.

The sunlight half blinds me and half wakes me up, but I still find myself cringing, almost regretting ever opening the curtains in the first place. I pull my phone from my pocket and look at the time which was exactly nine in the morning.

I walk to the bathroom and splash water in my face to fully wake myself up. I sigh and stare back at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. My hair stood up at the back of my head in a jumble of messy reds and my eyes were a foggy blue; still dazed with sleep.

I move to the shower, turning the water on so it was lukewarm, stripped yesterday's clothes, and stepped in. The cold water prior to me showering had woken me up but the lukewarm shower water almost put me back into my peaceful dream of Lynn and I.

Today is the day I get to see her again for the first time in three years, and even though I had planned this moment, I couldn't help but be overly nervous and anxious to see her again.

Maybe she'll look older? No, that's a given, it's been three years, of course she's going to look older. For the past three years I had asked for photos of Lynn so I could keep her beauty updated and fresh in my memory, but due to her and her parents leaving the pack, I haven't once been able to acquire her phone number, let alone a photo of her. Therefore resulting in our loss of contact with a little shielding from my pack, who tried to arrange several marriages between me and a few other girls from Lynn's old pack.

None of them have worked out in the slightest, but my pack is persistent, and not much time is left...

After about twenty minutes of soaking in the shower I turn the water off and step out to continue my daily hygiene routine. After that, I pull my favorite outfit from one of my suitcases and dress in front of the mirror; fixing any flaws I saw until I felt as though I looked good enough to meet her again in what felt like an eternity.

I step back in front of the window I stood in front of earlier when I had woken, and this time admire the view from the twenty-third floor of the hotel rather than cringe at it.

Finding Lynn is not going to be easy. Tampa, Florida is beyond huge, and I don't even have a clue as to where to even start.

I step back into the bathroom to look myself over in the mirror again. My red hair now damp and a bit more manageable. I button the collar of my black button up and give myself a weird look.

Buttoned or unbuttoned?

I decide to go with buttoned before smoothing the wrinkles from my shirt out a little bit, and grabbing my phone from the bedside table, stuffing it immediately in my front pocket.

I make sure I have all my necessities; phone, wallet, debit card, room key, and rental car keys, before leaving my hotel room and making my way down to the first floor.

I find my rental car outside just a couple yards away from the entrance. It was just a sleek black Chevy Malibu Hybrid, but it had a pretty luxurious interior.

I look at Google Maps to find the nearest Mall, hoping to find a flower shop inside. I have no clue as to what her favorite flower even is, considering my seventeen, almost eighteen year old self was an idiot and never asked.

I assume Lilacs are suiting to the faint memory of her smell from three years ago.

I definitely haven't forgot.

————

When I pull into the mall parking lot, I'm lucky enough to have found a parking space directly in front of the mall entrance that wasn't marked handicap.

Score.

I double check myself for my things before sliding out of the sleek Malibu and locking it behind me.

As I step into the airlock the AC hits me with an unrelenting blast of cold air and my wolf purrs. Neither of us are used to the Tampa heat, let alone weather over 75 degrees. Michigan is always generally cold.

I walk around the mall for a little bit looking for a flower shop, and sadly find none at my disposal, so I decide to go to Lynn's favorite store — Spencer's.

As I near the small graphitized shop I catch whiff of an incredibly alluring familiar smell and my wolf perks up.

She's here.

I walk into the shop, following the smell through the t-shirts, but finding no Lynn. The smell is strong enough to lead me to believe she's still here, but faint enough to let me know that it was at least twenty minutes ago.

I leave, following the smell closely and cringing at some of the local smells I come across on my way down the crowded hall.

The closer I get to the end, the stronger the smell becomes, and then I realize that I'm standing at the edge of the food court.

Of course you'd be here.

I track it, passing a Burger King and a Subway while the smell begins to become the only thing I can pick up.

She's definitely here.

And then I spot her.

My Lynn was sitting at a table with a human girl, eating Taco Bell. How ironic?

My wolf howls on the inside, purring with excitement and pulling at my human form towards this very familiar person.

Her beauty has not changed a bit, it has only intensified, along with her smell... and the smell of human?

I step slowly towards the brunette, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard.

This was the moment I had been waiting for for three years.

Before I realized it I was three feet behind her and the human girl she was with had finally noticed my gawking. Lynn turns around and looks up at me as if I had tapped her on the shoulder. My breathe catches in my throat, and suddenly I forget how to breath at all.

"Adam?"