Page 4 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

Braxton Hillard

Riding the elevator down to the executive office of the new Hillard Hotel, I smiled. I was almost against buying the place at first, but after going over the hotel’s figures, I was on board with purchasing it. Typically, I acquire properties in cities like Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, not Tulsa, Oklahoma. It’s a good thing I listened to my best friend slash Beta, Levi Cornell who is my financial advisor as well. He thought expanding to more of the southern States was a good idea, and I agreed.

We flew in on Saturday and checked into a two-bedroom penthouse room on the top floor. I made sure we used alias names because I wanted to see how staff operations ran without them knowing who we were.

For the most part, check-in went well, but I did notice some areas that needed improvement. For instance, the receptionist who did more flirting with us than doing her job. The bellhop Justin took us up to the room told us if we needed anything whether it was girls or party favors, I’m sure that meant drugs, to call the front desk and ask for him. He then stood there waiting for us to tip him. Yeah, I wanted to tip his ass, right off the edge of the balcony.

After getting settled in, Levi and I decided to check out the hotel’s restaurant, then tapas bar. At the restaurant, the food was mediocre and in need of revamping of its menu. The tapas bar had watered down drinks and the appetizers lacked flavor. Shit, I had my work cut out for me with updating those two.

Yesterday, I wanted to stretch my wolf’s legs a bit, it had been a few days since I last shifted. Levi wanted to come with me, but I told him I would be fine on my own. I did my homework onthe local Pack. The Midnight Pack was run by their Alpha, Noah Lightfeather. Their land spans over thousands of acres with Alpha Lightfeather owning majority of it. The Pack pretty much keeps to itself and hasn’t had any issues with the humans except for two hunters who went missing on Alpha Lightfeather’s land some years ago.

Thinking the Pack land would be a good place for me to shift, I dug around and found out where the local shifters lived. I drove to the outskirts of the city. Once there, I turned onto a dirt road, then parked the car. I stripped down, shifted into my wolf before leisurely scoping out the town’s Pack land.

As I ventured through the forest, I came across many scented marks on trees that were probably left by Alpha Lightfeather. Going deeper into the forest, my wolf came across the most beautiful female wolf I had ever laid eyes on. She took down a deer with such ease, she must have been doing it all her life.

One thing about shifters, we can always differentiate a real wolf shifter from those who are naturally produced. One whiff in the air, I knew she was of my kind.

I didn’t want to scare her but at the same time I needed her to understand I was an Alpha, and she needed to submit to me, so I ran towards her before stopping. I lowered my body to the ground and bared my teeth. To my surprise, she did the same thing as her honey eyes grew intense, ready to fight. I don’t know if she thought I was trying to take the deer from her or whatever, but I wasn’t going to clash with her. Clearly, my wolf was three times larger and could do some major damage to her. With a howl, I retreated to where I came from.

The last thing I wanted to do is cause any friction in the local Pack. They didn’t know me, and I didn’t know them. One thing you don’t want to do is rock the boat with an Alpha before being formally introduced. Thinking back on it now, I probablyshould have met up with Alpha Lightfeather before coming onto Midnight land. If I had, all of this would have been avoided.

Returning to the car, I shifted back into my human form, then put my clothes back on. My main concern was to put some distance between me and the Pack land before Alpha Lightfeather and his men came out looking for me.

I sat in the car for almost two hours, unable to start the engine. I knew I should have left when I first got in, but something was stopping me. I don’t know what it was about that wolf, but my wolf and I felt compelled to go back into the forest to see if she would return, so we did.

With my wolf eyes, I was able to navigate through the trees and brushes. Finally, I came across her, the red wolf. I carefully moved downwind of her so she wouldn’t catch my scent. Why was she back out here in the dark? Was she night hunting? My questions were answered when she made a gentle whistle, and a fawn appeared. You could tell that it was scared, but when the wolf slowly approached the fawn, then nuzzled its neck, the fawn seemed at ease. How is that possible? Never had I seen the prey trust the predator.

The wolf nudged the fawn, then started to walk away with the fawn running alongside it. I trailed them closely until a cabin came into view. The wolf stopped in her tracks, looking around. Her honey-colored eyes landed in my direction, and that was one time I wished my yellow eyes were black. She knew I was there. The wolf let out a strange howl that had the biggest black and brown wolf coming from the house as a smaller brown wolf followed. The female wolf latched onto the fawn’s neck before running away. The black and brown wolf let out an Alpha howl before heading to the woods. That was officially my cue to get the Hell out of there. I didn’t know how many other wolves would come out of that house, and I didn’t want to stick around to find out.

I’ve never been one to back down from a fight, but if they would have come for me, I would have been there by myself without Levi or any of my men. Even after all of that, my mind was still occupied by the female wolf who stood her ground with me. I had no idea what she looked like in human form, but her feistiness and boldness intrigued me. Hopefully, before I leave for the next city, I will find out who she is.

The elevator stops and the doors open. Levi and my two guards step out first, then me. With Levi on my right side and one guard in front of us and the other behind us, we walk out of the elevator as the second one chimes, and the doors open. A Black woman carrying a briefcase in one hand, a coffee cup in the other, and a purse strap over her shoulder rushes out, colliding into me. I grunt as the hot liquid hits my suit and the cup hits the floor.

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I am so sorry,” she apologizes, digging in the purse to pull out a tissue.

I grab her wrist as she attempts to wipe the coffee away. Her dark brown eyes fall on my hand touching her, then directly into mine. She might’ve been embarrassed a few seconds ago, but right now it was replaced with anger and disgust. Feeling the pulse of her wrist, it wasn’t rapid like it would be from someone who feared me. No, this woman seemed as if she wanted to rip my throat out than cower away from me.

Leaning closer to her, I say in a deep tone, “You should be more fucking careful when stepping out of an elevator.” My blue eyes flash yellow.

Normally, my words would have most bowing to me, but not her. She mirrored my movements, then whispers, “You should be more fucking careful who you put your hands on.” Her eyes quickly switched to a honey color before returning to normal.

‘I know those eyes,’ I think to myself, mesmerized by their beauty. “Mine,” my wolf growls in my head.

She snatches her wrist out of my hand before walking away. I couldn’t take my eyes from her or off her as she stalked towards the Lady’s room. Who was this woman and more importantly; why was my wolf claiming her and my dick hard as stone from that little interaction?

Adjusting the brick in my pants, Levi asks, “Brax, do you need to go back to the penthouse to change? While you do that, I can find out who the woman is and have her removed from the property for her disrespect.”

I move my head from side to side. “No,” I reply, taking out my own handkerchief and blotting away the excess coffee. “It’s a good thing my suit and dress shirt is all black. You can barely see the wet spots. As for the woman, I’m curious to know who she is. Did you see the way she didn’t back down to me?”

“I did, which is an offense in my book,” Levi counters. “I smelled her scent and know she is of our kind. She too should have sensed you and knew you were an Alpha.”

He was right, but that usually worked in the larger cities where other wolves would rather kiss your feet than show defiance. We’ve entered a shifter world where that doesn’t exist. I heard about these Packs. Whether you’re an Alpha or not, if you’re an outsider, they only recognize their Pack’s Alpha as their true leader.

Chapter 4

Braxton

Tossing my saturated handkerchief in the garbage can, I tell Levi, “This isn’t LA or Miami. Packs out here do things differently. Let’s just get through the meeting and we’ll handle the situation with the she wolf after.”

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