My Peculiar Human Mate

1. My so-called Mate

HEIDI POV

Why did I think it was such a great idea to run off to San Francisco when my stepdad remarried? I was upset and may have been a little impulsive. I’m nineteen after all. I’m supposed to make shitty decisions I’ll regret later. I may have felt like an unwanted guest in the house I grew up in when Priscilla moved in, but neither of them ever openly told me to leave.

In fact, Joel gave me the option to stay as long as I went to college. Something he and my mother had been pushing me to do. College had never been in my dreams and when my mom got cancer… it seemed so inconsequential. After she died, I was lost without her. She had been an orphan, so there were no aunts, uncles, or grandparents to mourn with.

My father didn’t exist in my life. All I had was my stepdad and he seemed to accept me just fine. I never imagined that might have been because if he wanted to be with my mom, he had to accept me. He loved her so much that he was willing to be a father even though he admitted that he hadn’t planned on having kids of his own.

I guess both my mom and I believed the three of us could be a family. I was only nine when they met, and they were married shortly after I turned ten. Everything seemed fine up until last year, when she got sick. It felt as though everything happened so fast, she died not even three months after they found the cancer.

While she was still with us, he was depressed and cold at times, but he did his best to treat me kindly. When she was gone, all the kindness faded away and indifference replaced it. Barely six months after my mom was buried, he brought Pricilla around. It irked me that he could move on so fast. I wasn’t against him moving on, but it seemed so soon. To make matters worse, she was his secretary! Had they been seeing each other before she passed? Was he seeing her while my mother was lying in bed suffering?!

I couldn’t stay in that house. Being out on my own scared me to death, but it was killing my soul being there. It’s not as if my living conditions were poor or anything. I’d grown up in Toluca Lake, California, privileged and spoiled. It was my heart that couldn’t take it anymore. Everything in this house reminded me of my mother and it was all being erased by Pricilla. If that happened it would only confirm what I felt. I didn't belong.

With what I had in my bank account, I got on a plane and decided to go north. For a month, I worked as hostess at a small diner and managed to find a room for rent because that’s all I could afford. Still, I didn’t see leaving as my biggest mistake. Looking back on everything that happened. It had to be partying with those sketchy losers that was my downfall.

In my defense, at the time, they did not seem sketchy. That may be why, after a few drinks, I may have let it slip that my stepfather is Joel Whitmore. Anyone with Google can figure out his net worth and that’s something I took for granted. When they invited me on a camping trip, I jumped at the chance. All I had been doing since I got to San Francisco was working. Something I wasn’t used to.

When we drove away from the city, our surroundings became nothing but nature. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. That was until we were deep in the forest and, instead of seeing a campsite, there were four strange men waiting to greet us. That’s when I began to mentally slap myself for being so stupid.

I barely knew these people and I let them take me away from civilization willingly. Since then, I’ve been caged, starved, berated, beaten and now I find myself in the most unbelievable of circumstances. How else can I explain the reality that I’m among werewolves, that I have been surrounded by them for months?

Especially since before that prick bought me, none of the ones who took me had exposed that side of themselves to me. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared out of my gore. The first thing I thought when I was taken by those men was are they going to kill, hurt or rape me? I was thankful that they only hurt me to get me to listen.

My big mouth got me slapped around more than once and by the time Win came along I was already used to it. Nothing prepared me for what I saw that night, in that dungeon. I thought I had gone crazy. That was the only explanation I could come up with for what I saw. I reasoned that it was as if the evil I saw in my head had manifested itself, turning him into a monster. But now, I’m being told otherwise.

I’ve accepted what they are telling me because it makes sense, and everyone seems to have the same story. It hasn’t been easy to trust these people, but so far, all they’ve done is take care of me and the other girls before they left with Rob. At first, I had worried they were taking them away for more of the same, but two of the girls called me this morning to let me know they were getting settled in their new places.

Everything seems on the up and up. Why would they lie about something so… ridiculous? I am tempted to have them prove that what they say is true. I’m just not sure seeing that won’t send me off the deep end. Maybe if I asked Becky to show me it wouldn’t be so bad. She’s tiny after all. I can’t imagine her wolf would be all that scary. I picture her wolf looking like a mix of a chihuahua and a Pomeranian.

Then there’s Alex, or Alpha Alex as everyone calls him. Why did my heart just tremble thinking about him? My so-called Mate. It’s not that I don’t believe it to be true. My body’s reaction to the simple thought of him is proof enough. No boy, man or even heart throb actor has even made me feel the tingles in the pit of my belly like he does.

After watching Becky and her older version of Alex shamelessly displaying their PDA, I wonder if that could be us. Before Win left, I witnessed her and her mate being sickly sweet to each other. It’s so different from anything I’d seen back home but I find myself yearning for that. For something I never knew existed, let alone wanted.

Joel and my mom expressed their love and were irksome at times. Nothing like that though. This is much more intense. The one boyfriend I had in high school was more interested in dry humping me than caring about my feelings. The way Alex looks at me is more intense than anything I have ever experienced from the opposite s*x.

Does that mean I can just accept what he claims is my fate? To live in a pack of wolves and be his Luna. His Queen. Sure, it sounds amazing to claim that prime cut of beef and be his everything. The thing is, I've been listening in on their conversations and along with the meeting he insisted I sit in. All of it is very intense and reeks of extreme adulting.

As Alpha, Alex leads his pack. I haven’t asked him what a Luna does, or what that title means on a deeper level. Because in my pea brain I correlate that with accepting the title. I'm still working on owning the adult title and something tells me that a Luna doesn’t sit around all day watching Dr. Phil and eating funions. Don’t judge me.

ALPHA ALEX POV

Ten days. I’ve been away from my pack for ten days and with the notices going out this morning. I’m worried something might happen in my absence. “We can’t leave without our Luna.” Logan deadpanned. “I know, but we can’t stay here.” I reminded him. So far, she’s become more comfortable with me and everyone else, but nothing to the extent of leaving here with me.

I think she’s pushing the reality that there are werewolves to the back of her mind. She hasn’t asked to see me or anyone else shift, to prove what we are saying is true. Though she claims to believe what we are saying. I haven’t pushed the matter, but I think I need to. I asked the kitchen to prepare lunch and deliver it to the suite where she is staying.

I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes before she answered. She was in a pair of jeggings and a white t-shirt that fit snugly on her perky chest. I tried not to focus on her perfect petite body that had curves in all the right places and willed myself to speak. “I thought we could have lunch together.” I spoke and, as if on queue, the kitchen staff arrived with our food.

She nodded and opened the door further for us. The food was placed on the table, and we were left alone. I never imagined having my mate in front of me would be so frustrating. Because she’s a human, she doesn’t feel what I felt the moment I saw her. The connection, the overwhelming urge to have her as close as possible without suffocating her. Marking her as mine on the spot.

To make matters worse, I knew that after what she'd been through, she probably needed even more time. Logan was angry and proud at the same time. “Our Luna is strong.” He stated. “After lunch, would you like to meet my wolf?” I asked cautiously and ignored Logan, who was jumping up and down with excitement.

She seemed a little reluctant to accept but nodded her head, her golden hair swaying around behind her. “I won’t be able to eat in anticipation. Can you show me now.” I wondered where her reservations had gone. Suddenly, I couldn’t show her fast enough. “She knows what she wants.” Logan said smugly. I wasn’t so sure she was ready. “Her hands are trembling, we need to be careful.” I warned him.

I got to my feet, but her hand reached out for mine, still trembling. “It’s still going to be you, right?” I squatted down to her level and locked eyes with her. “My wolf, Logan and I are one. It will still be me, but he will be present as well. We would never hurt you.” I assured her before taking a few steps away from her.

Instead of removing my clothes first and freaking her out, I took a few steps back. “Don’t scare her.” I commanded Logan. “b***h please.” He barked back. Here goes nothing. I watched as her gorgeous blue eyes widened and she scooted further onto the sofa, clutching the edges of the cushion below her. My bones snapped and my clothes shredded off me and fell to the floor on my hands.

“Wow… no way…” She looked a little scared but also amazed. When I was fully shifted, Logan laid on the floor in front of her. Trying to make himself small. She began muttering to herself, assuring herself she wasn’t crazy and that there was a gigantic wolf in front of her, taking up most of the living room area. “Part of me thought this was a really elaborate prank.” She admitted, her eyes examining me.

After a few minutes of letting her get used to the sight of me in wolf form, I got up and she raised her legs onto the couch, forming a little ball with her body. Very slowly, I neared her, lowering my head. “Stop! Don’t hurt…” She had closed her eyes but stopped pleading with me when she felt me nuzzle her face and whine. I had known that her strong front was hiding her true fears. I also suspected seeing what she claimed to believe would bring out that fear.

When Heidi opened her eyes, Logan gave her his best sad puppy dog eyes. She frowned and looked at us quizzically. Slowly her hand came up and petted his huge head. I could see in her eyes that she was more curious than scared now. She was in a room with an oversized wolf who was acting like a puppy. “This is f****d up.” She stated with a chortle. “Is that a good thing?” Logan asked. How the hell should I know?