Dire Wolf Mates - Chapter 61: Chapter 61

“Need something, bro?” Weylin asked.
“Miss Higgins?” he questioned out of courtesy only.
“I will have a white wine,” she replied and seemed quite pleased with herself.
“I’ll have a mineral water,” he told Weylin.
“I have been dying to meet the genius behind Serious Moonlight’s innovative menu, and now that I have,” she began, her eyes roaming over him again, making him squirm uncomfortably. “I can tell this deal is going to be my pleasure entirely. I don’t normally offer our exclusive meat line to just anyone, you know.”
Brock was feeling like a piece of meat himself. He even backed up, putting a stool between them, pointing towards the glass of wine Weylin set down on the bar before she could stand and follow him.
Sheesh, get a hint, lady.
Cornelia’s offer was basic. She wanted to move their account to her management and give him the personal attention he was presumably missing. But Brock had already stopped listening. A familiar, delicious musk seemed to float across the room and wrap around him. He recognized the scent. It belonged to the only person he was interested in handling his accounts.
Clearly, Miss Higgins was used to conducting business in a certain manner—like on her back. Something he would never pursue, especially not with her. Not even in the slightest. There was only one feline he was interested in.
As if on cue, Ariella Golden chose that moment to walk in. Cornelia droned on, clearly delusional. Her badly veiled innuendos were obvious, and cliché. Her intent to seal the deal with a night in the sack was distasteful to both him and his Wolf.
As if he would ever be interested in her. But the idea did get him thinking. He turned his head and met Ariella’s large amber eyes. They glowed gold with her Lioness for a moment as she seemed to take in the situation before she turned and left.
Oh, that wouldn’t do. Not at all.
“Excuse me, Miss Higgins, you seem to be operating under the misinformation that we don’t have an account handler with Eat Well Live Proud, which I am sure if you looked, you would see we do, with Ariella Golden. Secondly, you seem to think I would be interested in you sexually, and you are using that imagined sexual interest to misguide you. If you came here thinking I would take you up on your offer to sleep with you in exchange for our business, well, you are grossly mistaken. The answer is no,” he said and moved to leave.
Unfortunately, what Cornelia Higgins lacked in scruples, she made up for in speed. The wily feline stood in front of him and placed a hand over the semi-hard erection in his pants.
“I think you look and feel plenty interested. This is really quite the package you have here, Mr. Laurent. Better to go with a woman who knows how to handle it then some virgin who might faint on sight,” Cornelia said, biting her lip and blinking up at him with the same practiced look she must have given dozens of men.
Of course, his semi-hard state was pretty much the norm for whenever Ariella was in the same zip code as him. It had nothing whatsoever to do with this aggressive female. She grinned again, gave his cock another squeeze, angering both him and his Wolf.
Brock growled and removed her hand with perhaps a tad bit more force than necessary. She was a Shifter, and quite strong. The fact she had attacked his one area of weakness aside, Brock could see Cornelia had issues of her own. Unfortunately for her, he didn’t care one whit for them. His concern was for Ariella alone.
“I am not interested in you or your offer, Miss Higgins. I can’t say it any plainer than that. You see, I’ve found my fated mate. Now, I will say this once and only once—Do. Not. Touch. Me. Ever. Again.”
Cornelia gasped at whatever she saw in his gaze and backed up rubbing her hands Together. He would have felt guilty, but she was too damn pushy and needed the reality check.
“B-but what about the deal? There’s a quarterly contest and the prize is an island vacation. I intend to win it. If you help me, you can be my plus one, Mr. Laurent.”
“A contest? You would spread your legs for a man who clearly is not interested, for a contest? No deal, Ms. Higgins, and I suggest you get some help.”
“How dare you! Look, I will overlook your lack of taste, but if I have your account then⁠—”
“I already said we have a rep. If you want to win something, I suggest you work harder. Now, I suggest you leave and don’t come back, Ms. Higgins.”
Brock turned around and chased the enticing trail of musk and spice that Ariella had left in her wake. Shit, that encounter took too long. Was he too late?
He jogged, then ran out the side door. Fuck. Where was she? The sun had already set for the evening, and it was dark and chilly in the Spring breeze. The sound of leaves rustling caught his attention, and he rounded the back, searching behind the small outdoor storage closet. Another rustle of leaves and branches sounded, and he stepped into the woods where Brock’s eyes zeroed in on the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Ariella Golden stood in her skin and nothing else. Her eyes flashed at him, and she hissed angrily before changing into her fierce and magnificent Lioness. Her shift was fast, though not as fast as his. The sound of bones cracking and muscles reknitting themselves was loud in the back of the restaurant, but he understood. She was upset and it was his fault.
The she-Cat roared before sprinting off into the woods and Brock grinned. He wasn’t leaving well enough alone. Not tonight. If a chase was what she wanted, she was about to get one. He ran towards the stand of trees where the glorious golden feline had just disappeared. Without a thought for his clothing, he called his Dire Wolf forward.
After decades of shifting, his change was instantaneous. His animal was enormous, far larger than the average Wolf Shifter, and he had light, buff-colored fur that was almost white on his chest and face and darkest on his back. In his Wolf form, all of his senses seemed to increase tenfold. Including, his sense of smell.
The intoxicating fragrance coming from his mate was almost overwhelming. He didn’t need to see or hear her to find her, he just had to follow his nose.
He loosed a howl and sprinted after her. All his earlier fears about their mating forgotten when he was in his fur. The beast had no such qualms, knowing in his heart that he was the perfect mate for his sweet kitten.
Brock’s Wolf growled with the knowledge that he was the only male in the entire universe who could give her everything she could ever need or want. It was why he was born, after all, to be Ariella’s mate.
Mating fever.
The thought crashed into him as his stomach tightened and he pumped his legs faster, straining his muscles to catch up to her. The pull of the near full moon was making his desire even stronger.
Hell, he felt it in his very soul. The strength of his need for her was undeniable. Brock tossed his lupine head back and sniffed good and long.
This way.
The sound of leaves and twigs snapping under his massive paws only fed his predatory instincts. He had to reach her. His Wolf knew she was upset, that she had misinterpreted what she’d seen, and he was pissed as hell at Brock for not pushing the other woman off immediately. But that was to be expected, mates were often very possessive of one another, and his animal’s nature didn’t always follow or approve of his human side’s need to act with a certain degree of civility.
Things like manners and decorum were not important to a Dire Wolf. He had to make it right, to prove that she was his one and only. The sound of a splash caught his attention, and he turned right.
Was she headed back to their stream?
Seemed like his kitty wanted to go for a swim. Brock’s Wolf howled once more into the night air before he took off in that direction. His sassy little mate had no idea what was coming for her.
Game on.