3 Alec

Three months passed by in a flash. No Alec - or whatever-his-name-was - anywhere.

The first week since they met, Maia was all fidgety and excited to see him again, and hopefully this time with less hair. She started to notice her surroundings more eveytime she went outside the house - which was unsual for her - on the look out for a tall, handsome stranger with eight-pack abs.

The next few weeks, she was providing him with excuses she would find acceptable. She was renting the cabin after under her friend's aunt's name (the aunt had an emergency and the rent was non-refundable so she asked her niece to go instead but she was swamped with work so she decided to give her bestfriend a treat), so tracking her down could be difficult. Plus, he's a magical being, maybe there's a pretty good magical reason why he couldn't find her sooner and her normal human understanding might not fathom such circumstances yet.

A month after that, she started to doubt herself - was she under an illusion after all? Was she so sexually frustrated that she made everything up in her mind, wanting to get rid of her virginity? Because, really, how could a beautiful human bein - err.. creature as perfect as that want someone as plain as her?

Now, she's just fuckin' pissed. He was probably just messing with her, he never meant to find her again. What would you expect from a casanova-grade werewolf? He got want he came for so why would he see her again. She was just a simple one-night stand who was foolish enough to believe they could be more. If didn't want her, then so be it.

She was just glad she didn't tell anyone about him yet. She couldn't find to courage to tell her bestfriend, Jeanne, that she willingly gave herself to a total stranger who happens to be a shapeshifting wolf just because he was so freakin' hot. Her pride wouldn't let her.

After a meeting with her editor, Maia dropped by at a cafe. It was near her apartment so she was practically a regular there.

The barista greeted her, "Hi, Maia. Good morning."

"Good morning, Rick." She adjusted the glasses she was wearing. However you look at her, she's just a nerd-looking individual who loves her caffeine.

"The usual?"

"Yes, please."

"Do you want to try the silvanas? We just added it to the menu. I think they're pretty delicious."

"Okay then, I'll try them," she said without much thought. Her mind's still running over the meeting earlier. Noah, her editor, was as fuzzy as always. She was grateful with him though. If not for him, her novels would be all over the place.

She sat down on her favorite spot at the cafe, the very corner settee. It was partly secluded but she has a full view of the entire place.

She was sipping her macchiato while browsing through the internet with her phone when a man walked in. Normally, she wouldn't notice such a thing but the guy was over six feet tall and very well-built.

He was looking around the cafe, as if searching for someone. The chattering effectively stopped inside the usually bustling cafe. She heard the women's gasps followed by dreamy sighs as soon as he turned his face towards them.

She might have done the same if not for the pounding of her heart. She knew his man. She could recognize that chiseled features anywhere. He looked straight out of a Levi's brochure with his fitted white t-shirt inside a khaki military jacket and faded jeans. He's even more gorgeous in broad fucking daylight. And she had sex with such a guy!

She freaked out when he turned to her direction, she bowed her head and started wringing her fingers. Did he know it was her? Was he really looking for her?

A few nerve-racking moments passed, she didn't dare to look up. He was headed to her seat, she knew it. She decided to avoid him and stood up and headed for the restrooms through the opposte lane but she didn't get far. She was pulled back and was embraced by a pair of strong arms from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" He buried his face on her shoulder and inhaled her scent. "God, I missed your scent," he whispered.

She wanted to struggle but knees grew weak at his gruff claim. It didn't help that he's gently rubbing his nose against her sensitive skin.

He must be doing it on purpose, she'd be too embarrass to make a scene in front of these people. Not that they weren't looking at them with weird looks as it was.

Left with no choice, she led him outside, away from the curious eyes of the other customers. He quietly let her take him away.

They were well away from the cafe when she finally let go of his wrist. She faced him and crossed her arms in front of her. "Well, what do you want?" She can't be swayed by his charming ways.

"You."

She was taken aback. The women chatting happily on the nearby bench stopped talking. Not only that, he was starting to attract the attention of everyone within the vicinity just by standing there.

Oh, curse him. "It's daylight and it's not the full moon so stop talking nonsense."

He sighed. He glanced at the people looking in their direction. He didn't seem anxious with their audience, just a bit... aware. "I am so sorry I made you wait-"

"I wasn't waiting," she interjected.

He couldn't help the smug look on his face. "Of course you weren't, it was presumptuous of me." The glint in his eyes told her he wasn't the least bit contrite nor did he believe her. "I just really want to get back to you as soon as possible but there has been an emergency back home that I had to attend to. In fact, I even went back to the cabin to tell you I'd be gone for a while but I'd definitely come back. But you were gone by the time I got there."

She fell silent, contemplating if she should believe him and deciding if his reason is good enough.

"Uhmm.. Maia?"

She glared at him. "What?"

He raised his arms in surrender. "I just wanna suggest let's move this discussion somewhere? There are a lot of things that are kinda... difficult to talk about in the middle of the street."

She looked around and noticed a few bystanders looking at them and more than enough passers by giving them looks.

They ended up in her apartment. She realized their talk was extremely confidential. She didn't know any restaurant in the area with private rooms. Besides, her place was just a five-minute walk from there.

The moment the door closed behind them, she suddenly felt uneasy. This is the first time she ever brought a guy over and he's not her boyfriend nor her friend. Heck, she didn't even know his last name!

"Well?"

She turned to confront him but as soon as the word her lips, he was already there kissing the life out of her. She didn't even see him move. He crossed the distance between them in half a second. He coaxed her mouth to open up for his tongue's invasion as his hands pressed her body against his.

She gasped, he groaned. He tasted her thoroughly like he was craving for her. His tongue rubbed hers intimately, sucking her breath away. His clean masculine scent only added to her intoxication, she couldn't help but crave for more.

It was only when he ended the kiss that she realized he had literally swept her off her feet. They were both catching their breaths as they gazed straight at each other. He took one look at her slightly swollen lips and dipped in for another kiss.

"You can't just kiss me anytime you want," she admonished. She doubted she was even the least bit convincing while hanging in his arms like that.

"Sorry, I was holding back from the moment I saw you. Heck, I was holding back from the moment I left you in that cabin."

She didn't know what to think. His straightforwardness was clearly reflected in his eyes, they overwhelmed her. "We haven't even met properly, are you fell in love with me? At first sight?"

"No," He cupped her face in his big hands. "I'm saying you are my destined lover, my mate."

Mate. She heard of that before. Werewolves were bound by a predestined matchmaking "system" called "mates". They have no control over it and they couldn't go against it either. In short, he's telling her they're meant to be together that's why he wanted her. She should have known, why the hell would a total stranger - werewolf or not - gets so hung up on her? She's a plain nerd who had never been popular with the opposite sex. It was some cosmic power bullshit's doing that's what.

"Are you sure you got the right person?" she asked, her voice void of any emotion. "I mean, I'm not like you, I'm just a normal human being."

"What's wrong?" he noticed the sudden shift of her mood, he put her down. She immediately put some distance between them.

"Tell me, do werewolves fall in love with someone who's not their mate?"

The question surprised him. "Uh.. I guess so. But as far as I know, that only happens when they haven't met their mates yet. As soon as their fated partner appears, no one else would matter then."

"Have you... fallen in love with someone before?" she asked quietly.

"No, I haven't," his answer was firm, absolute.

"What you feel for me.. they are just the effect of your biological compulsions, you might want to properly fall in love with someone."

"What?" he sounded incredulous, angry even.

She just felt so... sad. "I'm not werewolf like you, I'm just an ordinary person who can fall in love and out of love with someone. I just want to fall in love like normal person."

"Maia, please..." he sounded so broken, it tore at her heart.

"That night was like a dream, my instincts got the better of me. Never in my wildest dreams that I'll make love to a perfect stranger - much less a werewolf. And even now, I.."

He took a step closer to her, she took a step back. His arms dropped to his sides.

Silence filled the entire room. She wouldn't look at him, she was afraid she would start to cry then.

"To tell you the truth, I was dreading meeting my mate for as far as I can remember. I hated the fact that some greater power decided for me."

She finally looked at him. "Then why?"

"Because the moment I looked at you, I realized my life before was bleak, boring. I just couldn't imagine going back to that kind of life anymore. I want you for the rest of my life."

Her tears started to fall. "You only feel that way because I'm your mate."

He reached out for her again, this time she didn't resist. He wrapped his arms around her frail frame and tuck her head under his chin. He soothed her by gently patting her back and kissing the top of her head. "I don't know how this proper way of falling in love that you want works but all I know is that thanks to the fact that you are my mate that I met you that night of the full moon. I found you because I caught your sweet scent even under the influence of the full moon, I recognized you. And thanks to fact that you are my mate that we long for each other, even without knowing each other. We wouldn't have met nor that night would have happened."

She hit his chest. "When did I ever say I "long" for you?"

He lifted her face to his and kissed her tears away. "Did you know? Werewolves' keen sense of smell is not limited to scents? We are also able to tell certain strong emotions from other people, especially their mates. And from the moment we met each other again at the cafe, I've been smelling all these kinds of emotions from you."

Her eyes widened. Flustered, she covered his nose with both hands, much to his amusement.

"You know, it's kinda too late for that," he chuckled. "On that note, we never really introduced ourselves, did we?" He took her hands and kissed them, "I'm Alec Rivera, from the del Fuego clan."

"I'm Maia Francesca Navarro, from uhh.. Cebu?"

"Now that's out of the way..." his eyes suddenly changed, her heart pounded against her chest. The look in his eyes told her exactly what he wanted to do with her. Was that because of their destiny as well? That consuming, nagging feeling of possessiveness and desire to monopolize the other competely?

He picked her up so that their lips leveled with each other and kissed her in blatant possession.

She stopped thinking then. She just wanted to feel him against her, skin to skin, without anything between them. She wanted to prove their feelings were real amidst these predestined bullshit. She wanted to know he's for real.

"Which way?" he asked gruffly in the brief moment their lips parted.

She barely knew what he was asking. Bedroom. "Door to the right," she replied before kissing him again. She lifted her legs apart as soon as he started to move towards the said direction. He immediately supported her bum and made her straddle him. His half-hard member snuggled cozily between her thighs. She put her arms around his neck for support and started to move her hips against his. She rubbed herself against the fly of his jeans, provoking him.

He groaned before grabbing her bottom. Instead of stopping her, he guided her hot core against his cock. Within seconds, he was fully erect.

She whimpered. She needed to feel him. Stat! She reached for the zipper of his pants and pulled it down. Her mouth ran dry as she pulled his thing out. It was way bigger than she remembered. And way hotter.

He didn't let up his assault against her mouth as he continued to rub her now wet core with his arousal. She could feel the dampness soaking through her panties and cotton pants.

The next thing she knew, he had put her down on top of her bed. He let go of her lips and propped both of his elbows on either side of her. For several moments, he just gazed at her. As if drinking her image in.

Her toes curled under his gaze. She had never seen anyone look at another person like that. Like she was the most beautiful and the most desirable person he had ever laid his eyes on. All at the same time. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

He smiled. "You're exquisite. I can't believe you're all mine." He removed her glasses and put them on the beside table.

Love must be really blind. Or in his case, mates are blind. "You're not too bad, I guess."

He laughed out loud at her haughtiness. "Then I'm glad you found me.. adequate."

"You'll do," she remarked.

He smiled at her and kissed her lips. "I know you're still unsure about your feelings for me but I'll make you fall in love with me no matter how long it takes."

His lips found the side of her neck and travelled down to her collarbone. She winced at the little nip he made, marking her body as his. His fingers fumbled at her shirt's buttons, different from the first time when he ripped her clothes open with his bare hands.

She couldn't stay still either. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and tried to pull his shirt off next. He noticed what she was trying to do and decided to help her. As he stripped his shirt off, she unhooked her bra and threw it somewhere.

They reached for each other at the same time. His mouth found one of her breasts and her hands moved to feel his hard chest and shoulders. His hot skin burned her, raising a fever in her she couldn't contain. She grew more and more restless as he kneaded her breasts and played with her nipples with his mouth and fingers.

Desperate, her hands moved downwards to his lower rib and hard abs... to his navel. Her hands stopped at the top of his jeans and frantically unbuttoned it, fully releasing his rock-hard manhood. She grabbed him in her hands and started to stroke. She heard his low growl and his body tensed up.

"Fuck."

She laughed at the frustration and urgency in his voice as he frantically pulled her pants off her legs.

But when he pulled her pelvis towards his face, she couldn't laugh anymore. His fingers slid in and out of her feminine folds while his tongue teased her hardened nub. She cried out. Her mind was reeling with pleasure. She unconciously grabbed his hair for anchor else she felt like she would drown.

He spread her thighs wider to get a better access to her arousal. He was looking at her in the eyes as he pushed his tongue inside. She almost came right then and there. Her body jerked violently at the pleasure he forced on her. She could feel his hot soft tongue working its way inside her tight sheath.

"Alec!" she called his name, breathless.

He chuckled. He swiped his tongue across her clit then sucked it hard before releasing her. "Alright."

His fingers found her opening and started to push them in and out of her again. She helplessly moved her hips to meet his assault. The squelching sound mixed with her lusty moans. "You're so wet and hot down here."

She grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in for a open-mouthed kiss, equally wet and hot. "Oh, just shut up and give it to me, you damn wolf."

He could have laughed but in scant seconds, he pulled his fingers out and replaced them with a much bigger and hotter "thing".

She gasped at the invasion. She could feel her insides stretching, molding to his shape.

"Are you alright?" he asked, searching her face.

Worry marred his handsome features.

She kissed him and smiled. "Why don't you move and see for yourself?"