Chapter 5: Six Months

-ALEC-

“That is not how I expected that conversation to go.” I muse after a long run to clear my thoughts, feeling in a self-deprecating mood that will turn to depression if I’m not observant of my emotions.

“But, it’s fine, Alec,” I tell myself, “You had really bad timing. First thing in the morning, just had sex last night, just met. I get it. It’s too much to ask of her so soon. Just need to come up with a plan…”

I pack up my belongings as I brainstorm, my camping bag feeling heavier than usual, even though there is nothing new inside.

“I’ll go to her again. I have to try.”

With a final nod, I start my trek from the beach, making it to the boardwalk and to the nearest pay phone, listening to it ring and hoping that they pick up.

“Y-ellooooooo?”

“Thank fuck. Hey Jules, it’s Alec.” It feels like a physical weight off my shoulders hearing a friendly voice.

“Alec, hey! Didn’t recognize the number.”

“Yeah, calling from a pay phone, long story; attached to which, I need some advice.”

“Lay it on me, Alec. Girl troubles?”

“How do you always know?” Julian shouldn’t have such a good sense for when I’m having issues with women. But, somehow, he always knows, despite not being a wolf with a built-in lie detector. Maybe it’s the tone of my voice.

“I met this woman, and she’s the one, Jules. I know it in my heart of hearts. But when I told her, she shot me down without letting me get a word in. How do I approach this in a way that doesn’t come off as—“

“Creep-tastic?”

I snort a laugh, “Yeah, I don’t want her to think I’m a stalker.”

I hear some murmurs from the other line, but the cars on the road around me drown out my ability to hear the conversation, “Well, Alec. Take it from an old gay man, sometimes you really need to put all of yourself out there before someone will really accept you. Take my late husband, rest his soul, married for forty years before his death, but it took ten years before that to even get his number. Take your time, you’re young, if she’s the one, it will work out.”

I take a moment to process, a plan formulating in my forethought, “How do you feel about grand declarations and insane gestures?”

“As long as no one is in danger and the cops aren’t called, go for it.”

We both laugh, his voice tinny from the poor connection of the pay phone.

“Thanks, Jules. I appreciate it. I’m actually on the coast again, maybe I can stop by town sometime soon. I’ll get you my number when I can get my hands on a phone again. Until then, wish me luck.”

“Knock her dead, champ.” Julian hangs up first, and I click the phone onto the receiver with new motivation.

*****

-LEENA-

“Are you fucking kidding me, Leena?” Bri throws a few flower stems at me from over the counter as I try to explain what happened with Alec.

“Bri, we just met yesterday and he said I’m his mate. As in 'mate for life'. Wolf. Remember that detail?” I try not to sound scorned, but her attitude toward the whole situation isn’t helping me get over Alec. It makes me feel like I missed out on an important opportunity.

“Yeah, Leena, I get that,” Bri deadpans, “Remind me again, why did you bulldoze him when he literally bared his soul in front of you? Do you know how often a wolf gets a mate? Once. Maybe twice if they’re lucky. If he says you’re his mate, it’s probably true. It’s also super special, to them it’s meeting their soulmate, the person that completes them. A little sympathy for the poor man. Fuck.”

I suddenly feel like the biggest asshole in the world. Once or twice in a lifetime? It makes me wonder if I’m the only one Alec ever had, or maybe will ever have. The thought makes me wince. How could I have done that to someone who showed me nothing but kindness from the start?

A happy chime breaks my thoughts as someone enters the flower shop, and my magic immediately starts buzzing with interest.

It’s Alec.

Even though I can’t see him from where I am behind the counter, I know it’s him.

“Hi, I’m looking for Leena. I was told I could find her here, sorry if I’m intruding.”

“Oh, of course, Alec!” Bri’s voice is just a little too loud, putting too much emphasis on words I can obviously already hear. “Leena feels so bad about how you two left things off, I’m glad you were able to stay in town and come see her again so she could apologize.”

I groan quietly, leave it to Bri to make a bad situation worse.

“Oh—” Alec sounds taken aback, “She doesn’t need to apologize, I just—”

“Leena!” Bri calls, cutting Alec off. And I finally dare to peek my head around the corner.

It’s only been a handful of hours since I’ve last seen Alec, but he seems brand new somehow. His outfit is all black, joggers and a tee shirt with a heavy, fur-lined winter jacket open on top. It’s not elaborate, but so different from his soft, warm-toned outfit yesterday I almost need to double-take. He looks more like himself in this, like the dangerous wolf he acts like he’s not.

I must have dropped a few stems, because Bri is picking them up off the floor, giving me a shove, and disappearing behind the shop door into the back room to give us privacy.

“Leena,” Alec starts, eyes down and arms folded across his chest, like he’s afraid I’m going to reach my hand into it and rip his heart out, “I know what I said might have been abrupt, and I probably should have led into it a little better. But please, just hear me out. If you want nothing to do with me after you’ve heard what I have to say, I’ll leave, just, please?”

Something about the way he says it makes me think that even if I say no, he’ll never give up on me. So I do what I have to do as an adult, make the right decision.

“I’ll hear you out, Alec.”

His face lights up, straightening his posture and a grin splitting his face, “Excellent, do you want to meet after work and we can get coffee or—“

“No, Alec. Here. If it’s a convincing enough case I’ll think about what you’ve told me. But I’m not making any promises.”

Alec stiffens, brows pulled down and his lips curled in a soft sneer, “I want to have time with you, Leena. Be able to really talk it through, it’s not something I can take lightly. As you know from the conversation you had with your sister.”

My brow furrows, and it dawns on me, wolf. He’d heard our conversation, or at least some of it, from outside. The invasion of privacy makes me flush, not in embarrassment, but in anger.

“But I can take it lightly, Alec. What are you to me right now aside from a hookup?” I can tell by the wince in his expression and the defensive body language that my words sting, but he needs to hear it. Needs to know my truth.

“Alright. Okay, okay. We’ll do it your way.” Alec doesn’t sound happy about it, but he’s willing to meet me where I put the marker, that’s a start.

Alec blows out a breath, “How much do you know about mates, Leena?”

“Enough,” I say offhand. And I know it’s unhelpful, but I’m not feeling particularly charitable with anger still bubbling under the surface.

“So, you know the importance of what it means to be an Alpha’s mate?”

My expression must change, because he takes a step closer, challenging me, I don’t step back.

“You’re a rogue wolf…you’ve been traveling for years, you said it yourself.”

“Mm,” Alec hums, taking a final step into my personal space, “Those two things aren’t exclusive.”

I take my first step back, my thighs hitting the counter behind me, “Not going to give me any more than that?”

Alec scoffs, a rude, unusual sound from him, “No, not with how this conversation is going.”

“Well then,” I snap, folding my arms and taking a step to the side, “I guess this conversation is over.” I take another avoiding step, fully resigning myself to being done with this, with him, when he reaches out and holds my arm, not tight enough to hurt, but to keep me from running. His words are a growl when he speaks, frustrated and tight.

“Leena, just give me a minute, fuck. This isn’t easy, okay?”

I pause, looking at his clawed hand on my bicep, “Get your hand off me, and maybe we can continue.” I’ve never seen someone move so fast, his hand gone before I can even blink, looking sheepish.

Alec peers around the shop, finds a bucket that’s empty, and turns it upside down, sitting on it and dropping his head into his hands. It’s a tired, worn gesture that makes me wonder just how long he’s been running from all of these emotions. From his past and himself.

“I can’t tell you what happened, I’m not…” He trails off, words tight with old pain, “My family is gone, Leena. I’m the Alpha of a dead pack. I’m doing what I can with the limited knowledge I have. Please believe me.”

My magic sings when I come close, putting my hand on his shoulder before sitting beside him on the floor, trying to avoid wet spots where funeral flowers dripped from their stems.

“I believe you, Alec. But the past doesn’t explain the present.”

“Getting there,” Alec says, looking at me from the side with a lopsided grin. It’s deflecting, I know this, but it’s still charming, and I return it with a small smile of my own almost against my will. Alec seems to do this to me.

“I had a mate, back before everything. I know what it…what the pull feels like. It’s what I feel with you, Leena. I wasn’t lying when I said I caught your scent and followed it here. It’s you, Leena. Whether you accept or not, you are my mate. I’ll never force you to be with me, stay with me. But I’m not sure…”

“If you can let me go?”

Alec smiles ruefully, “Yeah. That’s why I ran earlier this morning, otherwise, I would’ve just followed you. I knew you needed time, and I…also needed time.”

“We’re so different, Alec,” I try to reason it out, “I have a life here, my sister, my family’s business, how can you expect me to leave it behind on the whim of a stranger?”

Alec brightens, like an idea struck him, “Not a whim. A chance. Come travel with me, Leena, along the coast, and after six months I’ll drop you back here safe and sound. And then you can make your decision whether you want to stay with me, or let me go.”

I feel stuck, frozen in place at the enormity of what he’s asking me to do. At the opportunity he’s giving me. I’ve never left this town, my experience of the world limited to video games and stories I’ve read; the prospect of leaving and traveling with someone as experienced as Alec is tantalizing.

Alec must realize this, see it in my expression or feel it through the clash of our magic, “Come on, Leena. It’s not even a year, I’m sure the town will survive without you for a few months.”

“I don’t know, Alec. I have the shop here, and the hives won’t maintain themselves—”

An angry clacking of items comes from the back room and startles us both, Bri pops out of the back door with a scowl on her face, “Are you fucking kidding me right now, Leena?”

She storms over to us, voice shrill with outrage, “Of course she’ll go, Alec. What a kind and generous opportunity to let Leena travel with you down the coast at no charge, where charters will run you thousands of dollars to do the same exact thing!”

Bri repeats herself through gritted teeth, daring me to say something and derail her so she can magic my mouth shut, “What a kind and generous offer. Thank you, Alec.”

By the time Bri is done talking, she has me under her right arm and Alec under her left, pulling us both in close. The look she’s giving me is deadly, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she’s hexing me with the glare.

“O-of course.” Alec stammers, taken aback by Bri’s intensity.

Bri raises her brows knowingly, “And, of course, you’ll take care of my baby sister while I’m not there to protect her. Right, Alec?”

“With my life.” My heart flutters, and the sincerity in his voice is staggering.

“Right then. Six months? I’ll make preparations for the shop and the hives, Leena, go get packing. I’m so excited for you both! What an adventure!”

Bri drops us both and leaves the room with a smug grin.

“I promise, Leena. You won’t regret it.” Alec says, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it.