That slippery little devil managed to avoid me for two weeks. Two long weeks. I knew he was avoiding me, I caught him dashing around the corridor more than once and each time I was distracted by others. Granted, it wasn't a problem when it was a patient, but at least twice were because of a slender nurse with more lipstick upon her mouth than found in the product. She thrust her perky boobs towards my face as if they would tempt me and pouted when they obviously did not. The most annoying thing was that I couldn't exactly say that I was taken, I didn't want my second mate to become more skittish than he already was.
Fortunately, there was a grey haired angel working on the ward, Clover. It seemed that she had taken Alex under her wing. She couldn't tell me much about him, but she did say that she believed that he had been hurt before. "It's in his eyes," she said, sagely. "Most people would say they looked withdrawn, distant, but I can see the underlying sadness beneath them. I don't think he realises it himself."
Her words made me even more determined to track him down. His scent lingered in various places, but it was often faint, likely due to the chemicals and protective wares needed for his job. But apart from the janitor's room, it lingered in the corner of the break room and around the nurses station where Clover was usually situated when not with patients. And that was where I finally managed to corner him. Clover was trying to convince him to take one of her secret stash of cookies, not so secret when you had a nose like mine. He was refusing. A part of me was wishing he would eat, his overalls hung from his skinny frame. I approached my skittish mate from behind him, so he could not see me and flee once more.
"Really, I am fine," he was reassuring the woman as she listed several delicious treats, trying to tempt him.
"Is there chocolate chip?" I asked as I finally shadowed him. He visibly flinched, before gazing up at me. I'm not sure exactly what he saw, but he blinked his eyes while staring into mine a few times before glancing away. He began to fidget in his seat.
"I ran out of those this morning, Doctor Haze," Clover began to chide me. "You should know, you ate the last one."
"I was hoping you had restocked?" I said with a slight pout and caused her to roll her eyes at me. I turned my attention on my boy. He was definitely ready to bolt and as much as my wolf enjoyed the chase, I felt like it was time to end this. "I don't think I've yet had the pleasure of greeting you, I am Doctor Michael Haze. And you are?"
"Alex Rivers," he said, quietly. I stuck my hand out towards him in human greeting, he looked at it for a moment as if it was green or something, before shyly allowing his own hand to be engulfed by mine. Just as with the rest of his body, his fingers were thin and pale, I could feel the callouses upon his fingers and sparks shot along my wrist due to the contact. I could tell he felt them too, he snatched his hand away at the first opportunity.
"It's really good to meet you, Alex," I murmured, softly. "I've been hoping to speak with you. Would you join me for coffee?" I had managed to get hold of a copy of his hours and it hadn't been hard to too difficult to make sure a couple of my shifts ended at the same time his did. I did owe the hospital three more night shifts next week in order to pay back my dues.
His mouth opened, possibly in order to voice a refusal, but dear Clover was having none of that. "What a wonderful suggestion!" She said, enthusiastically. "How kind of you, Doctor. Don't you agree, Alex." My heart ached at the pitifully helpless expression upon his face. His shoulders drooped and his eyes were downcast as he nodded his acceptance. I had to tighten my resolve and did not let him off of the hook. He would be reeled in, Eric and I needed him and I suspected that he needed us.
"I'll meet you here in an hour," I said and went to finish a little paperwork and check on a few patients.
Alex could have retreated, flown from the hospital without a word and continued to lead me on a merry chase like he had been, but he didn't. He waited for me, just like I had instructed him to, my chest swelled with pride. My wolf was overly enthusiastic, suggesting we should press him further in order to make him ours. I had to restrain him. He was human, not a shifter, despite my beliefs to the contrary, not all humans knew much about our ways, about mates. In this day and age, it was just ignorance, but still, better to get to know him first and figure out his stance before deciding our next moves.
I took him to an out of the way coffee shop, a nice family owned place that opened until late as not everyone worked a 9 to 5. Vampires naturally preferred the night shifts and I knew several who would have swapped their entire supply of type o negative for a good latte at midnight. Alex chose to have his coffee black with no sugar, a surprisingly bitter choice and no desert. I couldn't even tempt him. I chose to order a decaf. If I actually drank a coffee now, I would be up all night long.
We took our seats in a slightly secluded spot and Alex was quiet as he held the coffee in his hands. "Alex," I called him, trying to break the ice. He met my eyes for a brief moment before looking into the dark liquid instead. I swear I saw fright in those hazel gems. "What do you know about shifters and their mates?"
"Are you going to reject me?" He blurted out, unexpectedly. As I hoped, he did know something about my kind. "Because if you are, can you get it over with, please."
My wolf growled unhappily and I had to clear my throat to stop his voice from spilling out. "What makes you think that I will reject you?"
His eyes turned a little glassy as his expression twisted, reflecting some hidden pain. Clover was right, you could definitely see it, the hurt and sadness. "Because I am not small and cute," he said, each word spoken sharply as if each was escaping him having been held back for far too long. "I'm not a shifter and I am a man."
I grabbed one of his cold hands and stroke his pale skin with my fingers. "Do you want me to?" I asked him and he finally looked at me. He was startled, uncertain, but then beneath the fear there was hope. He shook his head in denial and I let out the breath that I did not even know I was holding. "And would you reject me, because I'm not exactly small and cute and I am all man. I am a werewolf though."
His eyes wandered over what he could see of my seated form, trailing upwards until he met my heated gaze. He blushed and shook his head again. My wolf yipped happily and began to preen. His mate liked what he saw. "What do we do now?" Alex whispered.
"I would like to get to know you," I told him. "And there are things I need to tell you about me."
"Like?" Alex was still wary of opening up to me.
"Let's start simple," I suggested. "I'm Michael, you can call me that, or Mike. But please, never Micky. My mother used to insist, it was so embarrassing. I am 27 years old and you know I am a Doctor. I am a lone wolf." A lone wolf was different to a rogue. A rogue was someone not in tune with their wolf, one half had taken over to the point of suppression and driven themselves mad. A lone wolf chose or had no choice but to be packless. There were also wandering packs, rootless wolves that may have once been part of a standard pack and forced out. They were often called 'rogues' by others that wanted to paint them as bad, but that was too simple a view.
"I'm Alex, not Alexander or anything," he said, softly. "I'm 21. I just clean the hospital." There was a slight pause after his words where he met my eyes once more. I noticed that he seemed almost to be seeking something from them, but I wasn't sure what. "I've never met a lone wolf before," he admitted.
"You've met other wolves?" I asked and he nodded, confirming again my suspicions.
"I grew up near a pack," he replied, his words becoming quieter. "My best friend was the next Alpha in line." I sensed that he was not comfortable talking about this subject. It intrigued me, I wanted to know more, but I didn't want to scare him away when we were finally talking and he was opening up to me.
"So you must know a fair bit about wolves and our traditions and rituals," I stated and he agreed with a nod. "And how do you feel, knowing that you have a mate?"
A small, broken laugh crept from his throat. "I don't know how I feel," he admitted. "No, I don't feel anything." I'm not sure who he was trying to convince with those words, but he continued before I could question them. "Doctor... Michael, I'm sorry, but I think you should reject me."
"Why?" Woah, what was with this sudden turn of events? My wolf growled and whined trying to take control as he knew his mate was trying to escape us again.
"I'm no good," he told me, he did not shout the words or cry, just stated them as if they were fact. I might have even taken him seriously, had that hint of sadness not lingered within his large eyes. "I'm broken, defective. You should ask the Moon Goddess for a second chance mate."
"You know it doesn't work that way," I said, my voice deepening as I tried to hold back my anger. Why is he trying to run away again?
"Then why do wolves reject their mates?" He asked me, his composure beginning to break. "Why does she pair you together only with someone that doesn't want or even like you and then... and then..." He didn't even finish his words before he bolted. I didn't follow him for it had just hit me just why he was so skittish. He'd been rejected before and I, and most likely Eric, were his second chance mates. He simply didn't know how to deal with that. And frankly, neither did I.