Alpha Ruby

Office

Ruby

"Mate." s**t! I didn't want to say it out loud, I hope Gabby didn't hear that. Based on her shocked facial expression, she definitely did. "No f*****g way. Who?!" She quietly whispered to me as her eyes roam around the pub. "It doesn't matter." I state through gritted teeth, hoping she would drop the matter. "DOESN'T MATTER!" She exclaims through mind link. "You've only been searching for your mate for the past three years!" She continues to say through link.

"Hello, welcome to Ruby's. Can I start you ladies off with some drinks?" Mm, he smells like peppermint, my favorite. "Hello handsome, today is my friend's 21st birthday, so I think we will start her off with a strawberry daquari and water. I'll have the same." Gabby gives my mate a flirty smile as she gives our drink order. Involuntarily, I let out a low growl that only she could hear.

"Well, happy birthday beautiful." Ugh. My heart speeds up at the mention of being called beautiful by my mate. "Thanks." I bluntly reply. "I'll go get those drinks while you ladies look over the menu." His mood had taken a swift one eighty. Clearly, he's not use to being rejected. Great, not only is he a clumsy human, he's a manwhore.

"So, that's him? Ruby! He's sexy. Who cares if he's human? You have to at least give him a chance. Plus, don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical?" I glare at her with anger.

"Don't you dare mention this to Xander."

"Why not? You told him to give his mate a chance if he finds her. Why won't you do the same? Hmm?"

"Gabby. Stop. We're not talking about this." She throws her hands up in a dramatic surrender motion. "Fine! Whatever!" I knew she was pissed, but she doesn't understand. "Neither do I. Why can't we have mate?" Great. Now my wolf is against me as well.

We're an Alpha! We need someone strong and faithful, who is not a human waiter. Apparently, my response was not what my wolf wanted to hear, causing her to growl at me. "You're being a fool! I want mate!" Can we talk about this another time? I just want to enjoy my birthday and you and Gabby are ruining it! I felt guilty as soon as I said that to my wolf, but I am really stressing the f**k out right now. Apologizing to my wolf, I then turn my attention back to Gabby. "I'm sorry Gabby, can we just enjoy my birthday then talk about the whole mate thing?" She gives me a flashy grin, "Of course, birthday girl!"

"Here you go ladies, have you decided on lunch?" I keep my eyes locked on the menu, not daring to look at our waiter. "Thank you! What do you recommend handsome? Everything looks so good, we can't decide." I instantly felt enraged that Gabby was still calling the waiter handsome after finding out he's my mate. "Honestly, my taste is different than most. I love liver with mushrooms and gravy. However, I find lot of people feel repulsive at the mention of that. So, I would recommend chicken Alfredo and a glass of red wine."

"You hear that! Mate's favorite food is the same as ours!" Knowing this, Gabby smiles widely. "Wow, really? That's Ruby's favorite as well. So, let's order the liver for birthday girl and I'll go with the chicken alfredo. Thank you." Handing him the menus, he heads to another table.

"Will you stop telling him I'm the birthday girl."

"Why? Maybe he'll give you free dessert." She winks at me and I begin to blush.

"Also, you flirt with him one more time, I won't hesitate to claw your eyes out." I firmly tell her through link. I thought she would have flinched or bow her head, but she just smirks at me. "I thought you weren't interested in him?"

"I'm not." I reply, but my wolf started to laugh at that. She clearly didn't believe me and I wasn't sure if I did either.

The strong scent of peppermint hits me, and I look toward the direction it's coming from. Oh, s**t. He's heading to our table and I accidently made eye contact. Oh my goddess, those eyes. Those baby blue eyes have me melting and feeling things I shouldn't. Flashing me a grin, I feel my panties begin to moisten. I swear he's looking at me as if he knows what effect he's having on my body. "Ruby! Damn girl, control yourself." Gabby snickers in my head. "Shut up!" I say out loud to her, feeling embarrassed.

"Ladies. The finest bottle of wine on the house, to celebrate the birthday girl." He never stops staring at me with a smile, even as Gabby thanks him, since I'm suddenly incapable of forming together words. "I'll be back in a bit with your food." He kindly informs us before leaving once more.

"See, calling you birthday girl gets you free stuff!" Gabby gloats happily as she effortlessly pops the cork off the bottle. The strawberry daqauri was delicious, and this wine looks and smells divine as well. "Thank you, Gabby." Lifting her glass up, I clink mine with hers before we both begin to sip.

"I bet mate taste better than all of this." I almost choke on my wine at hearing my wolf's words. "You okay?" Gabby worriedly asks. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good."

When a young woman comes to our table to deliver our food, I feel slightly disappointed. "Thank you, ma'am. If you don't mind me asking, where is he other waiter who was serving us?" I was silently thankful that Gabby asked the question since I sure as hell wasn't going to.

"Oh, Max? He got called into a meeting with our boss. He'll be back with your check." Gabby thanks her and I do as well.

The food is delicious, and Gabby is always great fun to be with. I was so lost in conversation with her, but his peppermint aroma brought my attention to the gorgeous man approaching our table.

I don't know what happened in that office meeting, but he did not look as happy as earlier. He had a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. What the hell happened in there?