Page 3 of True Wolf

You don’t know a damn thing - Me

I know, Zion. You might lie to others but you won’t lie to yourself. She’s not your mate which is why you didn’t feel a damn thing even after she rejected you. No pain, no disappointment, nothing. Come home. We’ll figure this out. - Laz

I lifted my head in time to see the Alpha shift and take off toward the woods. His pack, including Keerah, followed but just before the darkness below the trees swallowed her, she glanced at me one last time over her shoulder. Our eyes met, still there was nothing, and then she was gone. Keerah leaving wasn’t the problem. Me not caring beyond the frustration I felt for this situation not making sense was.

There was no way she could be my mate, yet everything I felt before today said she was.

CHAPTER TWO

NESSAH MARROCK

“Dark roast, black, no sugar.” I smiled and placed the cup on the counter, gently moving it across the sleek wooden surface. Before I could release it to the customer, his large warm hand covered mine.

My eyes rolled up to find Alec smiling back at me. An insanely gorgeous face I should have been intrigued by angled lower. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I snatched my hand away and his eyes narrowed slightly. For the past couple of months, Alec had been trying to engage me. As handsome as the Beta was, I had no interest in entertaining his advances.

My only goal was to blend in. I didn’t want or need the attention that would come from entertaining a ranked member of my new pack. A pack I was incredibly grateful for after having been cast out of mine.

They welcomed me here after my cousin Mina snuck me into the building, giving me shelter for a few weeks, which meant sleeping in empty units she was supposed to be cleaning. Eventually she presented her case to Jo and Laz that I needed a pack and was petitioning to be a part of theirs.

Jo welcomed me with open arms even after Laz was hesitant about me being here. Things had just gone a bit crazy when their brother Xander came home with a rogue wolf Keerah who completely disrupted things. Then Zion took off after Keerah believing she was his mate even after she spent time with his older brother Xander.

Laz thought accepting new pack members wasn’t the greatest idea until things between his brothers settled down after the Keerah thing, but Jo convinced him not to take his issues with Keerah’s disruption out on me.

I was grateful but also felt terrible knowing I could have prevented some of the disruption by being honest about some of the details surrounding Zion. I could have prevented him from chasing a phantom mate but doing so meant accepting my destiny, which I wasn’t prepared to do. I didn’t want a mate, definitely not one of the Bennett Alphas.

“You’re off at six, right?”

I offered a smile and glanced past him, choosing not to respond. He knew my schedule better than I did which was flattering but also a bit unnerving. Alec wanted my time and I wanted to fade into the background. “Next.”

I hoped he would catch a hint and was grateful when the next customer in line stepped around his large frame.

“Welcome to Bean Bazaar, how can I make your morning better?”

The young woman smiled brightly before rattling off her order. “Caramel macchiato, almond milk, whipped cream, extra shot of espresso.”

“Sure, is that all?”

“Umm…” She pulled her lip between her teeth and glanced at the display glass to the right and pointed. “I’ll also take a cream cheese danish.”

“Got it. That will be…”

“On me…” Alec extended a twenty to the young girl who glanced up and smiled.

“You’re paying?”

“I am, but only if you do me a favor.”

She smiled seductively and I rolled my eyes at how easily she fell under his spell. Truthfully it would be hard not to. The man was gorgeous. He also had the dominant air about him and of course his rank made him that much more attractive. Alec was the next best thing to one of the Bennett Alphas and still very much appealing in his own right.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” she purred. The female wolf was young. Too young for him, barely even legal, but more than willing to do exactly what she said—anything for him.

“I’ll buy your coffee if you convince Nessah to have lunch with me one day soon.”

The young wolf’s expression dropped in a matter of seconds. Her eyes left him and darted over to me as a slight pout tugged at her lips. The disappointment only lingered for a brief moment before she shrugged and turned to me.

“Let him take you to lunch.”

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