Hers for the Holidays

Chapter Two

“No mom, I haven’t met anyone yet,” Vincent said into the phone with a roll of his warm brown eyes.

“You need to find someone, so you can take over for your father. You were born to take his place.” His mother nagged at him, in a tone he was becoming more and more accustomed to.

“I’ll find someone eventually mom, stop worrying,” Vincent said soothingly.

“You’re my only pup, I just don’t want you to lead alone. You need to find a nice girl to bring home, let her meet the pack.” She added before saying her goodbyes.

Vincent hung up his cell phone and glared at the small plastic device in his hand, his lips curling in frustration. He slipped on his leather jacket on and grabbed his helmet, tucking his phone and his wallet into his pockets, then he grabbed his keys as he let out a long sigh.

His mother wanted him to settle down, the sooner the better, find someone to lead the pack with him. Whether it was his mate or not, his mother didn’t seem to care that he had other plans. Vincent’s father, on the other hand, was fine with his son taking his time and even if the person he fell in love with wasn’t his mate. His father would accept that, he just wanted his only son to be happy.

That’s all Vincent wanted, to fall in love with some nice girl who would be good for the pack. He locked up his apartment and headed down towards his motorcycle the evening light catching the purple flames of the custom paint job his cousin Dev had done for him, pizza and beer sounded good right now. He could pick up both and then settle in for a long night of gaming, maybe that would help him take his mind off of his family and the responsibilities that awaited him.

Vincent let the ride relax him, as it always did. Something about being on his motorcycle soothed not only his frayed nerves but his wolf as well. He made a quick stop to pick up his beloved dark extra stout lager before heading to his favorite pizzeria. He placed his order and moved to one of the few empty red vinyl booths to wait for it to be done. He was planning to look through his phone and relax for a bit, hopefully, take his mind off of his conversation with his mother.

“Hey Vince, haven’t seen you in a while.” The waitress said practically purring at him as she leaned over the gray Formica tabletop, she bit her pink glossed lower lip coyly as she smiled at him, the top few buttons of her uniform were undone showing her overly tanned cleavage.

“Sophie,” he said stiffly as his coffee-colored eyes met hers, he didn’t want her getting the wrong idea. That he might be interested, he wasn't. Vincent thought she was pretty, but she really wasn’t his type. He preferred a more understated beauty, and Sophie was pretty, but she wasn’t for him with her long false nails, fake tan and overly made-up face.

“You dining in tonight?” She asked sweetly as she brought her pen up to her shiny lips and swept her bleached blonde hair over her shoulder and batting her long fake eyelashes at him in what she must have thought was a come hither look. Vincent thought she looked like she had something in her eye, as he watched the panther shifter eyeing him with a

hungry gleam in her eyes.

“No, I’ve got plans. Just waiting for my pizza.” He answered, not letting her know his plans were a long night of grinding in-game and enjoying his pizza alone.

“We’ll if your plans change, I’m off at nine.” She said still trying to hook him in as she passed him a small pink square of paper with her number on it.

“They won’t,” Vincent said giving her a dismissive glance as he pulled out his phone and started to scroll through social media, ignoring the square of paper sitting in front of him.

The door to the pizzeria pushed open and the world seemed to stop for Vincent, he looked up as she came in. The breeze blowing her scent into the restaurant, peaches and other sweet fruits filled his scenes, making his mouth water, reminding him of desserts from his childhood.

His wolf peeked out in interest at the woman that had just walked in. He watched as she turned back to the heavy glass doors, pulling them closed, another gust of wind knocking her hood off and freeing her thick brunette hair from the dark fabric before she could get the door pulled completely shut. She turned towards the counter and he took in her profile.

Now, she was his type.

She was gorgeous, her pale smooth skin, the pinpricks of a blush staining her cheeks, her hooded green eyes. It all fit together nicely with her lush figure, he figured she was about a foot shorter than his six-foot-six inch frame.

Vincent stood up and moved from the booth, pushing past Sophie in his pursuit of the curvy brunette. He watched her as she spoke to the owner behind the counter, a small smile in greeting playing across her full lips.

“Pick up for Emily,” She said softly, her sweet voice was familiar. He looked down at the hoodie she had on, it had an image on the back of goblins and wizards battling in an all too familiar scene for him.

It couldn’t be, was she the Emily he spoke with almost every day? Vincent wanted to ask her but at the same time, he didn’t want to seem like some kind of stalker or creep, he watched her pay for her pizza and start to move past him. Her heavenly scent hitting him like a wave of comfort, he knew he had to take a chance.

“Hey, Em?” He said hopefully as he looked at her.