The Omega's Mate: (4 page)

The wolf smiled and told him her name was Kira, and that she’d be back in a few minutes to take his order.  Kira was much like his mate, smaller and rounder than the average she-wolf.  But she couldn’t hold a candle to his mate, groused the bear. 
No, she could not, agreed the man grinning.

Cain glanced around the restaurant and found there to be a mixture of wolves, coyotes, bears (all smaller than him) and humans.  A cute Chinese woman was playfully slapping at a big blonde wolf, who was holding on to her tightly.  She chastised him that she had to get to work, and he murmured that he just wanted a couple more minutes.  Cain noticed the swell of her stomach and carefully scented her.  Ah, she was expecting.  No wonder the wolf was keen to keep hold of her.  Cain imagined that when he bred his mate, he wouldn’t want to let her out of his sight.  The thought of her heavy with his cub soothed his beast. 
Soon, the man promised
.

He saw a she-wolf snuggled up with a black bear shifter at the back of the Diner.  She was more of a typical wolf, tall and slim, but more graceful than the average wolf.  In his experience, they were kind of aggressive and muscly.  He was a little surprised at the black bear; he was a lot bigger than average.  He noticed the wolf was wearing a Deputy’s uniform, and decided not to do anything to get her attention.  Undoubtedly she was a member of the pack though; it pleased him to see that she was mated to a bear.  It meant that were no objections per se to him mating with his wolf.

Cain ordered two breakfast specials, extra bacon, extra toast, extra eggs, fruit plate and lots of coffee.  Kira was amused at the enormous food order, but happily skipped off to place it.

Cain prickled as he felt eyes on him.  He twisted to find a human eyeing him admiringly.  She was tall, thin but still quite voluptuous, and had long blonde hair.  She wasn’t exactly subtle about her perusal of his body.  He reflected that she was just the kind of woman he would usually chase.  It had nothing to do with her looks; when it came to appearance he didn’t have a type
.  At least he didn’t before yesterday
.  It was her attitude.  She desired him; if he had cared to, he was sure he could have her back in his rented room, and stripped down in the space of ten minutes.  The old Cain probably would have too, but the idea repulsed the new Cain.

However, she might prove useful.  Cain slid along to the next seat, so they were side by side.  He introduced himself and smiled cockily.

She fluttered her eyelashes theatrically; Cain stifled a snort.  She told him her name was Carrie.

Cain stirred his coffee; Kira had slammed it down in front of him a few seconds ago with a disapproving purse of her lips, before flouncing away.  “So, do you live in Rose?”

“Mmm hmm, for a couple of years now.”  Carrie had moved there with her then boyfriend, who moved on when he caught her cheating.  She’d chosen to stay put.    She snapped her fingers.  “Aren’t you that cage fighter from Darlington?”

Cain attempted a modest smile.  “Yes, yes I am.”

“I saw you fight once; you were incredible.”  Carried gushed in admiration.  Cain could scent her arousal, and his bear snarled at him to end this.

“Uh thanks.”  Cain surveyed her carefully.  “So, are you familiar with the local wolf pack?”

The blonde’s eyes flickered for a few seconds.  “Yes, I suppose so.”

The bear surged with hope but kept his tone casual.  “Oh.  I was actually sort of looking for one of the members.  I was at a bar the other night, and she dropped her… ah scarf.  I came here to give it back to her.” 
The bear applauded him for his relatively quick thinking.

She raised her thin eyebrows.  “A scarf?  You came to Rose to return a scarf?”

Cain bristled at her scornful tone.  “Well, I have friends here too, so…”

“So why don’t you just ask them who she is?”

Okay, clearly he hadn’t given her enough credit, she wasn’t a total pushover. 
Time for a different tactic...
  Cain flexed his biceps and was pleased to note her eyes dilated a little at the sight.  “My friends aren’t sweet to talk to like you.”

Her doubt melted a little, and she looked satisfied with the compliment.  With her looks, she unquestionably garnered a lot of male attention.  She probably had a sufficient ego never really to wonder why a man would want to talk to her.

Carrie placed a manicured hand on his arm, and gently rubbed.  “Well, what’s her name?”

“Uhhh I don’t know.  All I know is…”

He was cut short by Kira depositing his numerous plates in front of him.  The small wolf folded her arms.  “Carrie isn’t that your boyfriend stood outside?”

Carrie quickly snatched her hand away.  “Ah, shit I better go.  See you around Cain.”

The woman hotfooted outside.  Cain saw her drape herself over a burly and rough looking wolf, who was scowling at an even bigger wolf, which Cain recognized as the Alpha, Adam.  Adam already looked pissed off but when Carrie joined them, he looked like he was going to have a fit. 

Cain turned back and started digging into his food.  Whatever the drama was with those wolves, he wasn’t interested.  There was only one wolf that interested him, and he was determined to find her.

Chapter Five

Cain impatiently rapped on the door.  He could hear movement inside; he knew someone was home.

After talking to Carrie at the Diner, he hadn’t bothered trying to get information from anyone else.  Kira was already giving him the stink eye for flirting with one of her pack mates girlfriends; he didn’t want to piss off anyone else.  Well, truthfully he didn’t really care, but he figured when he mated with his she-wolf, he would be living here full time, so it was best not to get too many people’s backs up just yet.

He knocked on the door more forcefully.  Finally, an irate looking human woman with a blue rinse answered it.  She looked him up and down, and without an ounce of nervousness asked him what the hell he wanted.

He looked past her hopefully and sniffed.  He couldn’t see or scent any evidence that wolves lived here, but you never knew.  “I want to know who lives in your house.”

The woman looked at him like he was an escaped mental patient.  “What?”

Cain grunted as his bear growled impatiently.  “I’m looking for someone.  Who else other than you lives here?”

He’d decided the best way to find his mate was to work methodically.  He would visit every single house in Rose until he found her. 
Easy peasy
.  However, after visiting only four houses, he was already furious at the lack of progress.

At the first house, he had been arrested by the vision of a nude, elderly bull shifter answering the door.  Other than being impressed by the size of the old man’s testicles, he was next to useless.  The next door he tried was opened by an attractive bear shifter.  He scented a she-wolf at her house and grew hopeful that the bear would have some information.  Unfortunately, the bear was thoroughly suspicious of his motives and told him she was calling the cops, before slamming the door.  Nobody was home at house number three.  Whilst house number four was home to a stoned human, who was rocking on his porch swing petting a bunny.  No, he had no idea about wolf shifters; he actually seemed surprised to discover there were any wolf shifters in town.  When Cain told him it was a pack town, the man actually said ‘no shit!’

Now arriving at house number five, he had lost all pretensions of civility.

The old woman pulled her housecoat around her and sniffed.  “That’s none of your business.  Now get off my porch.”

She moved to shut the door; Cain pressed a meaty paw against it, and loomed over her.  “I said I’m looking for someone.  Who else lives here?”

Whilst most would have cowered at the seven foot bear shifter, this woman just dug in her heels and squared her shoulders.  “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

His bear howled in frustration.  “Well, if you won’t tell me, I’ll look for myself!”

Cain shoved past her and began stalking through her house, looking for signs of his wolf.  The woman was apoplectic.  “I’m calling the police!”

Cain ignored her and ran upstairs to check the bedrooms.  He could hear her shouting down the phone, but he didn’t care.  He tried every room but couldn’t find evidence that anyone other than the quarrelsome woman lived there.  The beast inside wailed in disappointment.

Dejectedly he stomped down the stairs.  He yelped as the woman threw a photograph at him.  Shielding his face, he ran out her house, as she threw a collection of ornaments, books and lamps at him.

“Get out!”  She screamed.

“I’m trying!”

Cain hurled himself down her porch steps, to face an annoyed Sheriff and two wary Deputies.  All wolves.  The hard looking Sheriff faced him head on, whilst the Deputies circled round.

“What are you waiting for?  Arrest him!” screeched the woman hysterically.

The Sheriff crossed his arms.  “Go back inside Mrs Martin.  We’re handling this.”

“That psycho tried to rob me!  Arrest him!” she demanded shrilly.

“That’s a lie!” bellowed Cain.  “I would never steal any of her crap!”

The Sheriff’s eyes flashed amber.  “Go back inside Mrs Martin.”

Reluctantly she did, but she ran to the window to watch the unfolding events.

The Sheriff fixed his gaze on Cain.  “Why don’t you come with us back to the Sheriff’s station, for a friendly chat?”

Logically, Cain knew that was what he should do, but by that point, his bear was pushing too hard.  The time to be reasonable was long gone.  He was angry; he wanted his mate, and he wasn’t about to be pushed around by a wolf.

“Why don’t you make me,
wolf
?”

The Sheriff bared his fangs.  “You got it,
bear
.”

*

“Just don’t push her okay?  If you push her, she’ll clam up and won’t talk to us at all.”

Kayleigh rolled her eyes.  “Yes I know, you’ve already said.  I swear you act like I’m some pushy loudmouth.” 
Melanie was almost as bad as her mate, Don.

Melanie pouted at her best friend.  As lovely as Kayleigh was, she was a pushy loudmouth,
there was no mistaking that.

They were meeting Carly for lunch, and were keen to find out what happened last night.  Melanie had already tried grilling her brother-in-law, Acksel, but if he knew anything he wouldn’t say. 
Some crap about respecting Carly’s privacy.

There was also the matter of persuading Carly to meet up with Cain, her mate.  Hans warned Melanie to stay out of it, but Cain had just looked so forlorn.  He looked like an overgrown little boy whose puppy had run away.  Her heart melted, and she promised to talk to Carly.

She almost snickered thinking of the tiny, timid wolf matched with the enormous, obnoxious bear. 
Fate was a tricky devil
.

“Let’s just wait for Carly to broach the subject with us first.”  And then she’d try to steer it in the direction of her meeting up with Cain.

“Yes, no problem.”  Kayleigh tutted.  The way Melanie went on, it was like she thought Kayleigh didn’t have any control over her mouth at all!

“Here she comes,” murmured Melanie.

They were meeting for lunch at Pizza Moon.  Carly was working on her shop next door, and Melanie could jump up and help her mother-in-law waitress if needed.  Melanie and Hans ran the pizzeria together, with Hans’ mother and sisters taking shifts.

Carly walked over to them a little cautiously.  The last time they’d seen her she had been crying, and begging Acksel to take her home.  They were probably a little curious about what happened.  Unless Cain had already told them…
which would be nice and humiliating
.

“Hey guys.”  Carly slid into the booth observing them carefully; her wolf was prowling warily.

They both said hello and the women looked at their menus. 

“What are you guys having?” asked Carly.

Kayleigh slapped the menu down.  “Alright enough small talk, what happened with you and Cain last night?”

Carly’s cheeks shone pink, and Melanie growled as furiously as a witch could. 
Usually something she reserved for her mate, who found it totally hot.

“Well done Kayleigh!  You held out for less than a minute!”

Kayleigh held up her hands in surrender.  “I’m sorry!  But last night Carly was clearly upset; then we find out that Cain’s her mate, and today she looks really bad… I mean not bad… just tired, like you had a rough night… and not in a good way.”

“Ugh Dios mío!  Stop talking Kayleigh!”

Worry coursed through the little wolf.  “What did Cain tell you?”

Melanie took her hand.  “Only that he was your mate.  He didn’t seem to know why you ran out of there like you were on fire.”

Didn’t know?!  Carly found that hard to believe!

Melanie squeezed her hand.  “You can tell us anything you know.  We won’t repeat it to anyone but our mates.  If blabbermouth here even tries, I’ll put a spell on her that makes it sound like birds are cheeping whenever she opens her mouth.”

Kayleigh harrumphed at the other witch but smiled encouragingly at Carly.

Taking a deep breath, Carly succinctly told them what happened.

Their eyes bulged a little.  “That’s unfortunate,” muttered Melanie.

Kayleigh wasn’t quite so forgiving.  “Unfortunate?  The guy’s a total dickhead!”

Melanie held up placating hands.  “In his defense, he had no idea he was going to meet you that night, so he wasn’t actually cheating on you.”

Carly looked at her searchingly.  “So, you don’t think there was anything wrong with what he was doing, with those two girls?”

Melanie grimaced and tried to be diplomatic.  “Well, it’s not really something I’d be into… but as far as I’m concerned, consenting adults can do what they like.  People might frown on some of the things I get up to with Hans…”

Melanie colored slightly, but cleared her throat, and continued ignoring Kayleigh curious glance
s.  “But, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it.”

Carly shifted uncomfortably.  Her beast liked what she was hearing, but Carly was still stinging over what happened.  “So you think I should give him a chance?”

“I think it’s your decision, but I spent ages ignoring the mating pull, because I thought my mate was a total jackass…”

“I heard that!” shouted a livid voice from the kitchen. 
Hans
.

Melanie exhaled loudly.  “And it was a huge mistake.  We wasted a lot of time we could have spent together.  I regret not jumping him the moment I met him… even if he was acting like an arrogant tool.”

Carly’s face creased.  “It’s just that I always pictured meeting my mate would be a bit more… fairytale.  He’s not at all like I imagined.”

Melanie chuckled.  “If my life had worked out as expected, I’d be married to some boring dude, and living in the suburbs, with two fat children and a slobbering dog.  I don’t think anyone really ends up with the person they envision when they’re young.  Isn’t that right Kay?”

Kayleigh cocked her head on one side.  “No, I ended up with my dream guy.”

Ugh Kayleigh!
  “Fine!  Almost nobody ends up with the person they thought they would.  And speaking personally, I couldn’t be happier.  Hans is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“That’s more like it,” yelled the kitchen voice.

Kayleigh snorted.  “Careful, I think Hans’ ego is about to explode.”

Melanie’s lips curled up.  “Don’t worry; I’ll beat it down later.”

Carly chewed on her cheek.  Maybe she was a little hard on her mate.  It’s not really like he had been cheating on her.  And it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t fit her ‘perfect mate’ mold.

Whilst she did find his antics with those women off-putting,
to say the least
, there was nothing to suggest he would behave that way again, now that he knew she was his mate.  The bear would surely want to meet her, and be with her.  The mating pull certainly seemed to take hold of him pretty quickly.  He had been desperate to get hold of her last night.  And she doubted it was to talk,
not if the look on his face and the monster between his legs were to be believed
.

Instead of sticking around, she had turned tail and run away.  She at least owed him an apology for that.  Her wolf pranced around at this new turn of events.

“Maybe I could give him a call,” suggested Carly.

Kayleigh nodded.  “Hmm, just make sure you give him hell for what happened last night.”

“Kayleigh!” admonished Melanie.

“What?  Start the relationship as you mean to go on, and let him know you’re not going to put up with any of his crap.”

Melanie groaned.  “Be realistic, she can’t blame him or be jealous of the women he was with before her.”

Kayleigh hooted with laughter.  “Of course she can!  Male shifters are not logical.  They are possessive, irrational cavemen.  Undoubtedly Cain will resent every man Carly has ever been with, and will be upset that she didn’t save herself for him.  Trust me, I went through all this with Don, and he’s a thousand times more rational than other male shifters.  So my advice is if you have the upper hand, grab onto it now...”

“Or you could just behave normally, and not like your relationship is some form of urban warfare.  If you’re reasonable, he’ll be reasonable too,” interrupted Melanie.

Kayleigh lowered her voice.  “So remind me again, how does Hans feel about the fact that his brother asked you out on a date, before the two of you were officially together?”

Melanie bit her lip.  “On second thoughts Kayleigh does have a point.  Just bear what she said in mind, when you talk to your mate.”

Carly nodded as she felt her anxiety rocket.  She’d dated shifters and found their covetous natures a little stifling. 
Would she really be able to cope with a strong willed bear in the grip of the mating pull?