Island Stripe Pride - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Okay. So, Alex may have freaked out a little bit when the Wolf fucker touched his mate. His unclaimed mate, but mate, nonetheless. And that SOB had tugged on her ponytail, leaned right in, invading her space, and then he smiled at her, as if he had the fucking right.
Should’ve killed him, snarled his Cat. Okay, that was taking it a bit far.
Should’ve maimed him then, the Tiger insisted. He could live with that. Next time, he told the beast.
Alex exhaled and closed his eyes. He felt as if he’d just run a fucking marathon in seconds. Like he’d gone ten rounds on the Tilt-a-Whirl after scoffing down a shit ton of cotton candy.
No. Not cotton candy. Salted caramels. Oh damn, her taste was still on his lips. Kissing Maggie, feeling her come apart in his arms, was better than anything he could have ever dreamed about. Like every other sexual experience in his life had simply vanished under the innocent submission of his mate’s seductive kiss.
Her plump lips had welcomed his invasion, and fuck yeah, he dove right in. Could still taste her caramel flavored essence on his tongue after he’d licked his fingers clean. Next time, he would drink from the source, he promised himself.
His Tiger demanded he follow her out the door, but he forced himself to remain inside the office. She needed time and space. Plus, he’d dropped the L-bomb.
Shit. I did, didn’t I? Fuck yeah, he did, and he meant it. Alex was in love with her. Like head over heels, ass over tails. However the fuck the saying went, he was all in. She was it for him.
It was difficult to accept, but he knew he had to do things on a slower timeline than he wanted. She was a human and would not have the same feelings as quickly as he did.
Sad growl. His beast mourned the idea that she did not love him in all his awesomeness already, but Alex soothed his inner Cat with promises of future praise and acceptance from his mate. After all, he and Maggie were fated.
She simply could not know what they were to each other. Normals did not have the same instincts he did when it came to discerning the one undeniable fact in all this, they were meant for one another.
The soul-deep craving he had for Maggie Flint was something he accepted would be a constant in his life from now on. She was his other half. Made for him, as he was made for her, and he would strive for the rest of their lives to be worthy of such a female.
He waited ten minutes before heading to his room, where he showered and dressed. It was odd to forego the expensive silk shirts and tailored suits in exchange for jeans and cotton t-shirts, but he had to admit, he enjoyed the freedom of it. After he went through his daily emails, he grabbed his cell phone. This was a call he’d been putting off, but it wasn’t something he could ignore any longer.
“Alex,” the voice of his Neta sounded pleasant over the line, and he knew his Nari must be with him, “What can I do for you?”
“Neta,” he greeted him formally, “I met her.”
“Her?”
“I have met her,” he said again, and waited for the knowing silence that transpired between them.
“I see,” Dean said, and fucker that he was, Alex could hear the smile in his tone, “and is she amenable to your mating?”
“Well, it’s complicated,” Alex began, “I tried to stay away, but now she thinks I was ignoring her. Her sister is a Wolf, but she is a normal. Fuck, everyone in this town is a Wolf, and one of their males touched her, and I-”
“Did you do anything to start a war?”
“What? No, I didn’t touch him. It was her-”
“You hit her?!”
“Fuck no! I kissed her. A bit,” he said, “okay, a lot.”
“I see,” Dean said, “explain.”
After a few more minutes of going over what had happened, Alex bristled while Dean remained silent on the other line. His Tiger was stressed. He needed his Neta to tell him how to proceed. That was the guy’s job, for fuck’s sake. Alex wanted his mate, but this was a delicate situation.
“You do realize you might have fucked this up, Alex?”
“Yes, I know that. Fuck, Dean, help me out here,” he growled, and ran a hand through his hair.
“Are you growling at your Neta?”
“Shit. No. I’m sorry, Dean,” he said, “I just, that is, I could use some advice.”
“Got a pen? You’ll need to write this down, my friend,” Dean’s smile was practically glowing through the phone, but Alex knew better than to disobey.
After ten minutes of taking dictation, he ended his call. With his new plan mapped out, Alex grabbed his laptop and started operation woo his mate.
His first call was to Moonlight Blossoms. After ordering enough flowers to keep the small shop in the black for the next six months, he did a search for local chocolatiers.
Luckily, Candy’s Confections, a new store that had come quite recently to Maccon City, was open for business prior to summer. Most of the town was not opened until Memorial Day weekend, when the tourist season officially began, but they were an exception to that unwritten rule. Thank fuck.
He was unsure what to purchase exactly, so he’d decided on a sample tower. Then he tripled it. Because why not?
Lastly, was a call to the best restaurant in town according to their ratings. He booked a reservation for that Friday night. What if she didn’t like Italian food” He panicked after he hung up the phone but shook his head.
Who didn’t like Italian food? Besides, this was authentic Southern Italian cuisine, not pizzeria food. Not that he had anything against pizza, or chicken parm, but this place served upscale dishes. Everything from homemade pastas, truffle oil focaccias, perfectly cooked risottos, to grilled steaks. Lamb chops, poached salmon, and pan seared scallops.
‘Iamo Bella was owned by members of the Macconwood Pack, and according to the internet, they made the best agnolotti in all of South Jersey. Yeah, his mate would like it. And if she didn’t, he’d take her somewhere else.
Leaving his room, Alex intended on inspecting the progress of the construction crews on the various jobs he’d hired out The new Oasis Beachside Resort needed a serious sprucing up.
So far, so good. The plumbing was one of the last things to be updated, but they’d finally agreed on a direction. Each guest room was fitted with new fixtures, tubs, showers, and complete re-tiling. Maggie had insisted on environmentally sound toilets and showers as well. Just one more reason to love her.
The floorings throughout each room had been changed. The walls had been painted with their new motif. New furniture was being installed at that exact moment, as he did room to room checks.
Alex smoothed some ruffled feathers, signed a few checks, and told everyone what a great job they were doing. Keeping morale up was good for everyone. He even managed a call to the graphics designer who was going over Maggie’s code for her app.
He’d had her ideas for the look of the thing transcribed and sent to one of Randall Graves’ own employees, and the project was almost ready for the big unveiling he’d prepared for Friday night as well.
Finally, Alex made his way to the roof. He was shocked to find himself feeling anxious and irritable. A little tired, but nothing he couldn’t shake off.
The crew was on break, sitting and munching on sandwiches from a cooler he recognized as belonging to Maggie. Damn, she was sweet. Such a good person to pack lunch for the crew of roofers who’d been working all morning in the unusually hot sun.
Everything he learned about her proved to be better than he could have hoped for. She was an honest, hardworking, generous spirit, and he sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Fates for sending her his way.
“She’s not here,” a voice said from behind him, and his Tiger snarled in displeasure as he rounded on the man.
“Easy bro,” Tim smirked.
The cocky young Wolf lifted one hand in surrender, the other holding firmly to the roast beef and mozzarella sandwich he’d been eating.
Fuck, Alex had it bad. And his actions made him look even worse than a wet behind the ears cub.
Grrrrr.
“You know, I’ve known Mags a long time,” Tim said with platonic affability evident in his voice, but still, Alex wasn’t exactly a fan, “I want you to know I was just checkin’ in to make sure she was okay with the whole thing. I mean, bro, your animal was two seconds away from marking her. I never seen nothin’ like it.”
“Uh, I can understand that,” Alex forced the words out, “You were just being a good friend. That is fine, but you should know she is my mate.”
The two men squared off and looked each other in the eye. Tim nodded in the end and shook Alex’s hand with a wide smile on his face.
“I should probably mention, I thought I smelled something-”
“Dude, I like this truce and all, but if you talk about my mate’s scent, I don’t think my Tiger will be able to help himself.”
“Alrighty then,” Tim scratched his neck, “Be good to her bro.”
“I will,” he said and watched the Wolf walk away to sit by his crew.
The roof looked good far as Alex could tell. He walked to the edge and stared out at the Atlantic.
Fuck. He’d spent so much time away from the Jersey Shore town, he’d forgotten how stunning it was at times.
Like now, with the sun overhead and the whole beach bathed in its warm light. Would he miss the city? Hardly, he shook his head. If Dean needed him, New York was less than an hour away.
His place was here now. With her. Maggie Flint was his entire world, and like any other almost-mated male, he was anxious to claim her as his own.
The beautiful human was perfection itself. Alex had never seen anyone quite so lovely. She called to him, like his own personal symphony. A sonnet above all sonnets. No summer’s day, or sweet flower could ever compare to his mate’s radiance. Fuck, he sounded like an idiot, but he didn’t care.
Grinning like a fool, he replayed the way she’d clung to him. Her sweet kisses were unpracticed. Nothing but pure, honest reaction. Her responses were superb, so much more thrilling than he’d ever hoped for.
Technically, Alex had not spent a lot of time thinking about his one true and fated mate, and he was glad of that now. Anything he might have thought of could never compare to the reality of his sweet kit.
Mine, his Tiger chuffed happily.
“Mine,” he echoed aloud, watching the waves slap against the shore from his perch on the roof.
Soon, he told his beast.