Ch.18 Boy talk

SAMANTHA:

*Eeekkk* Samantha yelped as her phone vibrated in her pocket and woke her up.

She pushed herself off the bathroom floor and picked up the call so fast that she forgot to look at the ID. "Hello?"

"Samantha! I- You sound horrible. What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"Are you ok?!"

"Yeah- I."

Samantha shook herself out of her daze, her friend's voice had sounded panicked when she first picked up. "Rachel, you called, are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just... I'm worried about Will..."

Samantha recalled with a cringe, Rachel explaining, in detail, her exploits with her best friend with benefits, Will.

'Lots and lots of benefits,' Rachel would say while wiggling her eyebrows. She said they met at a bar and realized instantly that they both got along great. Neither wanted a relationship, and both could hold their own without asking for more. They started calling each other when they were feeling lonely or frustrated. But then set up days to meet up on top of the occasional booty call. They would either satiate their appetite first and then go out clubbing together or they would go straight to the club and be the other's wingman. If no one took the bait, then they would leave together. If he had work or already had found the side piece for the weekend, he would always call to cancel, so Rachel claimed.

Samantha had heard a lot about Will, a man who at the age of 25 still hadn't found his mate (she thought she meant soul mate) and had resigned that he probably never would. So instead, he decided the bachelor lifestyle was for him. Never getting attached to anyone or settling down.

Rachel only had good things to say about Will, typically things bedroom related. However, he had stopped contacting Rachel a few months before Samantha moved into the apartment, so she never met him. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

"I know you don't have the best opinion of him, and we've had this conversation before and you think he's probably just 'moved on.' But I don't think so. I think something is seriously wrong. Well, I... well. I hoped maybe he was just taking a long vacation and his cell phone got stolen or something, but three days ago I saw him. He was in town! In town! He didn't even call! I saw him in an alley and I followed him. I was ready to confront him, but when he stopped, a group of men I'd never seen before came out of a side door and started an argument with him. They were wolves, but I couldn't recognize them from any pack I've seen. Yet, the men seemed to be linked to each other... And to Will.

Will caught me staring and mind-linked me to get out of there. I left before I got caught and tried to call him, but it went straight to voicemail. I tried going out to look for him again, and have been for the last few nights. But I haven't seen him, and I can't track his smell. I really think something is wrong."

Rachel talked a mile a minute and Samantha could barely keep up with what she was saying, werewolf hearing and all. Besides asking about mind links and being able to tell between packs, Samantha didn't know what to say. Could Will actually be in trouble? And if he was, would he even want help?

"I'm sorry, I don't know Rache. Is it possible that-"

Rachel cut her off. "No. Samantha, I don't want to hear it. I know something has to be wrong. I know it. You don't know him, and you haven't met him. And if you did, he probably wouldn't be your cup of tea at first, but once you get to know him, he's great. But I'll leave you out of it. I'll figure it out on my own."

"Rache. Please, be careful. I don't want you getting yourself hurt or in danger."

Samantha was careful not to add 'because of him.' to the sentence. And though she wanted to yell at Rachel for following him in the first place, she held back, because she knew how much Rachel hated being scolded like a kid.

"Don't worry Sam, I'll be ok. But what about you? Are you ok? You were really out of it when I called."

Samantha bit her lip. Talking to Rachel should have been easy. She is her best friend and a wolf and would know better about the situation with Alester than anyone else. But she knew if she told Rachel she found her mate, she would make a big deal out of it. She would go off on tangents right away, probably ask if they had done 'it' yet.

But no matter how much, she didn't want Rachel to make a big deal out of it. She couldn't keep this from her.

Samantha whispered into the phone. "I found my mate."

"OMG!!! Samantha! That's huge!!! Have you done it yet?! Was he bad? Is that why you are upset? I have to meet him! Who is he? What's his name? Why are you even on the phone with me? You should be locked in the bedroom with him for days!"

Rachel's questions were like a ton of bricks pummeling Samantha's brain. She rubbed her temples, trying to fight off the migraine.

"It's complicated. I don't think he knows he's my mate."

"What?! How would he not know?"

Rachel gasped "Samantha! you cougar! A younger man? How old is he? Please tell me he's older than 15!!"

"Ew! Rachel, No!! He's not that young, he's 18. So I guess still kinda young... I hadn't really thought about that before. But he already has a mate..."

"..."

"Samantha, you can't have two mates. I don't think he's your -"

"He's my mate Rachel. Every cell in my body tells me so. I think he feels it too, but she came to him first. Announced it first. I-I don't understand it."

"Sam. Are you really sure? A wolf only has one mate. If they are mates, then he isn't yours."

"How do you know? Just because it's never happened doesn't mean it's not possible. I don't know much about being a wolf, but I do know I've never wanted someone so badly before. Everything in me wants him. I've never felt that way before. And his smell...Nothing has ever smelled so much like home."

"... I- Does he feel the same way?"

"I think so. When we first met, he kept asking me about what I was serving. He started sniffing me, coming closer to me like he was searching for the smell of it, but no one else was serving it except me. Then... he... he became crazed, and we almost kissed..."

Samantha blushed as she said the words out loud.

"OMG. Samantha, that's HUGE! Then are you sure that she is his mate?"

"He has said so. But he doesn't like her, but she loves him and..."

"I've never heard of someone hating their mate before. Are. you. sure. She IS his mate?"

The words made the floor sway again and twisted Samantha's stomach.

"Is there a way to fake it?"

"No. there isn't. But like you said, just because there hasn't been before doesn't mean it's impossible."