His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Lunch Date (3)

Zahraa POV

I splashed water in my face, taking deep breaths and trying to convince myself there was no way it was as bad as I’d imagined.

The problem with public bathrooms is that they almost always have a very large mirror. This one was no different; when I looked up, I saw myself looking back at me – but I was different. My hair was straight, my golden eyes widened with horror, my lips parted, screaming at me. I flinched, turning my back to the mirror.

What I saw behind me was almost as horrible.

Veronica Slathe had gone to St. Marjorie’s with us. She was part of the West Pack, and a gamma. She had an over-inflated ego, and always had. She hated Ingrid, and by association, she hated me.

“Zahraa, fancy seeing you here,” she purred, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall. “If I were you, I don’t think I could show my face around town. You must’ve taken the rejection really well, huh?” She pouted, as if sympathizing in the bitchiest way possible.

There was no right answer here – anything I said, she would twist and use against me. Bearing that in mind, I huffed. “None of your business, Veronica,” I muttered, attempting to brush past her.

She slapped her palm flat against the door and stepped in front of it, twisting the lock. “Where are you going?” she asked, green eyes flashing menacingly. “We’re just having a talk.”

Bully.

She always had been, and always would be.

She’d never directly targeted me before, and I was sure that it was because everyone feared the unknown – even if it was only a little bit. And I was the biggest unknown in the Wild Fangs pack. I glowered, and tried to lower my voice in a way I hoped made me sound dangerous. “Step aside, Veronica.”

“Oooh, kitty’s got claws,” Veronica laughed, and two of the stall doors opened. Two girls I didn’t recognize stepped out, and I instinctively flattened myself against the tiled wall of the restaurant.

I didn’t realize they had cups of water until my sweater and leggings were coated with toilet water, and they were lobbing handfuls of toilet paper at me. I shrieked, turning my back to the assault and covering my face too late.

My reflection stared back at me with pure pity in her eyes, before vanishing to show my actual reflection.

My makeup was running. My dress was probably ruined, and wet toilet paper hung from me in clumps.

The latch turned, and the door opened. “Don’t worry, Z,” Veronica laughed. “I’ll send someone to clean you up.” The door slammed shut behind her and I grabbed two good handfuls of hand towels, trying to get most of the muck off me.

I couldn’t go back to my friends like this, though. And I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.

Too soon, there was a pounding knock on the door, and a male voice called out, “Bathroom check!”

I acted faster than my brain could register. I went to one of the stalls and opened a Door back to my apartment, slipping inside and disappearing before the employee could see me.

I stood there for a minute, dripping wet and overwhelmed with emotions. What would Alanis have done? I wondered – but I didn’t need to think on that long. Alanis was a vampire, she was strong. She would’ve fought back – so would Tanis. Ingrid had never been singled out like this – she’d been insulted, sure, but as an omega of the pack, she was used to gammas being assholes to her. It slipped off of her like rainwater off a raincoat, refusing to stick, all evidence of it erased with just a little sunshine.

I shivered – I needed more than a little sunshine to get over this.

I stripped my dress off and left it there, running a shower so hot it seared my skin and letting loose the hot, fat tears that had been welling in my eyes.

I wasn’t strong like Alanis and Tanis.

I wasn’t resilient like Ingrid.

I wasn’t sure I was anything at all.

Jacob POV

I’d gotten Zahraa’s number from her file, and I was confident she wouldn’t mind me using it – yet, I found myself hesitating. How did one go about texting their mate, that they’d only just recently met?

I started and erased three messages.

The first had read, Hey, it’s Jacob. When can I see you again? I decided it was too forward – and too soon. She’d woke up at my apartment just this morning, after all.

The second was Hey, guess who? I really liked having coffee with you this morning. Maybe we should do that again soon. Too aloof, with no specified time of meeting.

The third was Breakfast sucked. I hope your ‘Nothing Better To Do’ is going better. That was too… honest.

I put the phone down and sighed. When it went off seconds later, I all but pounced on it, worried I’d accidentally hit send somehow.

But no – it was just Alex.

Dude, you and your little mate are the talk of the pack right now. Hope she didn’t take the rejection too hard.

Rejection?

I frowned. Since our pack was so large, we would often forgo the mind link we shared for emergencies, or important meetings. Otherwise, you could get several incoming links at a time – and nothing was more maddening. I considered linking him, though – this felt important enough. But no, instead, I picked up the phone and called him.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, dude. What’s up?”

“What rejection?” I asked.

“Uh, that girl?” he spoke as if he were reminding me, “Her name was like… Ara?”

“Zahraa,” I corrected. “I didn’t reject her. Why would you think I did?”

“You didn’t?” he asked, sounding surprised. “Why wouldn’t you? We all saw that flinch. Someone recorded it and sent it out to everyone. They think she straight up attacked you – and you looked pissed.”

“Did I?” I furrowed my brow. I hadn’t been – because I’d known ahead of time. Because it had been my fault. But wolves were no better than humans in a lot of ways – one of which being that they saw what they wanted to see in others. “I didn’t reject her, though,” I added. “We stayed the night together. She’s a really sweet girl.”

“Oh,” Alex still sounded shocked, but I could envision him shrugging it off. “Well, that’s cool.”

I massaged my temple. No, it was not cool. If there was a video of Zahraa circulating in which it looked like she attacked me, it could cause problems. “I’ve gotta go – I’ll talk to you later.” I disconnected the call before he could argue, and immediately dialed the number I’d failed to text several times.

It rang several times before it went to voicemail.

Shit.

“Hey, it’s Jacob. I just… wanted to see if I could come visit you for a while. I had something I wanted to talk to you about. Anyways, call me back at this number if you don’t mind. Or text. Whatever works best for you.”

I waited patiently – and by that, I mean, I paced until I was pretty sure I’d made a track in my carpet. My phone vibrated, and this time, the incoming text was from Zahraa.

Sorry. I’m not feeling up to it right now.