5
“Yes Alpha.” So much for getting a full night’s sleep. Sean was only eighteen, but already had a reputation as a guy who liked to party. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we had a courtesy van waiting for us and a dozen young males were piling in to it.
Patrick was the future Beta of the St. Croix Pack, who lived on the outer edges of the Twin Cities metro area. He just turned 21 a few weeks ago, and was telling us about “all the hot women” that came to the Mall of America at night. “We need to get some food first, I’m starving again,” he said.
“We just ate three hours ago,” Sean said.
“Can’t stop the hankering for beer and wings,” he said. He felt it was his responsibility to educate some of us ‘Euro Wolves’ on the finer points of American cuisine. We took the elevator to the fourth floor of the mall where the bigger clubs were. I looked out over the huge mall, the amusement park with rollercoasters and all in the center.
“This place is huge,” Sean said.
“Second biggest mall in the world,” he said with a smile. “And lots of Norwegians settled here, so there’s no shortage of hot blondes.” He was checking out the scenery as we walked from the elevator to a place called Hooters. “You guys will love this place, the chicks here are smokin’ hot. I go here for the food, though,” he said with a wink. He walked up to the hostess, she was wearing these tight orange shorts and a even tighter shirt with a push-up bra underneath. Her tits were practically spilling out. “Hi Cheri, we need a table for twelve please.” “Welcome back Patrick!” She came forward and gave him a hug, pressing her tits against his stomach. She was only about five-foot five, so she barely came up to his shoulder. “You brought friends!”
“They’re visiting from out of town,” he said.
She looked down at her map. “It’s busy tonight, give me a few minutes and we’ll get some tables moved together for you.” She flashed him a smile as she moved off, everyone’s eyes on her ass as she turned.
“You weren’t kidding about the women,” Sean said as he looked around. There was no shortage of eye candy.
Suddenly, my wolf was forward in my mind. “MATE! MATE IS HERE!” I looked around, the place was packed, I had no idea who she was. “Sean, my mate is here somewhere.”
He, James and Connor all looked at me, they were the only ones I could link. Connor broke out into a huge grin, while James and Sean were more serious. Sean grabbed my arm. “There are cameras and humans everywhere, you need to control your wolf and that’s an order,” he said. My wolf receded, the Alpha command was there; as Alpha Heir he held the same influence unless his orders conflicted with ones from the Alpha or Luna. “I’m contacting my father, just play it cool. We’ll find your shewolf and get the two of you out of here and back to the hotel.”
James came alongside me, I was starting to shake a little. Her scent stood out among the hundreds in the room, it was delicate and wonderful and had me utterly in love with it. My wolf wanted to coat his fur with it, while placing his own scent on her. No one would touch her, she would be MINE to protect and love for the rest of our lives.
I kept scanning the room, but nothing stood out.
“You going to be all right,” Patrick asked. Connor had told him quietly what was going on, and since it was his territory, he was responsible for our group.
“I have to be, I need to find her,” I told him. Just then, Cheri came back with a big smile and led us towards the back of the restaurant to a big table. Patrick sat me next to him, almost pushing me into the chair as I was looking around at every woman in sight.
No sooner had we sat than the most beautiful woman I had ever seen came to our table, order pad in hand. My jaw dropped as I looked at my mate; she was tall and muscled, long tan legs and narrow hips. Her stomach was flat, the hint of a six-pack beneath the crop top she wore. Her breasts were perfection, not huge like some of the girls here, but more athletic; firm, high and a perfect handful. Her face was that of an angel, and her long, dark hair was gently curled and fell to the middle of her back.
“Welcome to Hooter’s, my name is Jess and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you out with some wings and beer?”
“You’re reading my mind, Jess. These guys are visiting from Europe and I promised them the full Hooter’s experience.”
“That’s wonderful, where are you all from?” She went around the table as the guys introduced themselves and where they were from.
I was the last to speak. “I’m John Pearson, from Scotland, and I am home when I look in your eyes.”
She rolled her eyes as she laughed. “That’s one of the best lines I’ve heard, John, and I’ve heard them all. Beer?”
Patrick took over, ordering four pitchers and cokes for the three underage guys at the table. “We need wings, a lot of them. Let’s start with eight dozen, make them a variety of spiciness and flavors so they can figure out what they like.”
“All one check?”
“Please. We’ll look at the menus before you get back, we’ll need burgers too.”
“No problem, I’ll put that in right away. Are you guys celebrating something or just out for the night?”
Sean smiled at her. “We are celebrating one of our guys, he met his future wife tonight.”
“Wonderful. I’ll be right back.” She turned and hooked the order slip to this zipline, flinging it along until it ended up in the kitchen. I stared at her until she disappeared around the bar.
“That’s her,” I told them. “She’s my mate. You fuckers keep your eyes off her body before I rip them out.” My wolf was prowling in my mind, he didn’t like her being around so many unmated males.
“She’s human, John. It’s impossible.” Sean looked at me like I was crazy.
“It’s her, my wolf and I are sure of it. As soon as I looked in her eyes I knew.”
Patrick looked at me, thinking about it. “You can’t have a mate without another wolf to bond to, John. She isn’t one of us, whatever you are feeling, it can’t be. She smells good, she looks better, but she’s a HUMAN, not you mate.”
My wolf pushed forward, my eyes starting to glow before Sean elbowed me and I pushed him back. “My wolf is the one who told me she was my mate, you idiots. SHE… IS… MINE!” We glared at each other for a minute before his wolf forced mine into submission, I was a Beta and he was higher ranked.
“All right, I believe you,” Sean said. “I’m getting my father here. You need to stay under control, and remember, she is not like us. If she was a werewolf, you’d already be heading back to your hotel room. She’s human, so you need to treat it like dating a human.”
“I’ve never dated,” I said. “I’ve never wanted anyone except my mate, no one until her. She’s perfect…” My eyes were getting vacant as my wolf and I remembered seeing her for the first time.
“And she’s a human woman, working in a place where she probably gets asked out dozens of times a night. You need to make a good impression on her, give her a reason to want to see you again. It’s going to take a while, you can’t just knock her out and carry her back to your den,” Patrick said with a laugh. “I’ve contacted my father as well, he has to know. He said he’ll have people search the histories, see if this has ever happened before. We’ll figure it out.”
“Thank you.” I had my eyes up, waiting for her to return. I saw her at the bar, taking two pitchers of beer in each hand. A second girl was ahead of her, carrying a bunch of glasses and the three Cokes on a tray. The blonde leaned over the table as she set the glasses down, giving all the guys an eyeful of her deep cleavage, but my eyes were only on Jess.
She made it halfway to our table when she was stopped by a table, they looked like college guys in their Wisconsin jerseys. I started to see red as the guy she was talking to, a big guy with broad shoulders and a sleeveless shirt, put his arm around her waist as he talked. She tried to move away from him, but his hand dropped down and pinched her butt. She squealed and the pitcher spilled, dousing his khaki shorts with cold beer. “YOU BITCH!” He looked up at her, and her eyes showed fear as he stood up and towered over her. “FUCKING CUNT, LOOK WHAT YOU DID.”
I was out of my chair as soon as he stood, moving towards them with deadly purpose as Sean tried in vain to pull me back. She dumped two pitchers at him as she tried to get out of his grip, but he was too angry and drunk to realize he was about to get his ass kicked. I pulled her behind me, hearing her scream of pain as I heard her shoulder pop out. I held her wrist with my left hand while my right fist flew towards his jaw. I felt the bones shatter as he dropped, and his friends jumped up to defend him. My wolf was forward, he wanted blood, and I ignored their punches and grabs as I beat this asshole into the floor with my fists.
“STOP! PLEASE!” Her voice cut through the noise and commotion, and I stopped and looked at her. She was crying, holding her shoulder as she lay under one of the tables, and Patrick and Sean were standing around her keeping others away. I sat back, the other men had pulled the asshole’s buddies from me. I looked down at him, his face looked like raw meat and he was unconscious.
“I’m sorry,” I told her as I looked at her. “I couldn’t let him do that to you.”
“I can handle things just fine without you,” she snarled back. “Look at what you did!” She was holding her left arm tight to her side, and I knew I had pulled it out of the socket because I couldn’t hold back my anger. I had hurt my mate, I was the lowest of the low.
I didn’t have a chance to say more, as police rushed into the restaurant and pushed me face down. I followed their directions, placing my hands behind my back so they could be cuffed. As I was being hoisted to my feet, I saw her one last time. Sean had helped her into a chair and one of the policemen was checking her over, she was still crying.
I had really fucked up this time.