I’m your fated mate?

Chapter 3: Love at first sight.

LIAM POV:

“Ryan I can’t explain why I have to visit here this week. I understand I’m Alpha and have business at the pack house but this is still in the pack boundaries. I get that you are worried, but my father said to come out here and I have a weird feeling to follow that request. Plus, what kind of Alpha would I be if I didn’t check on the pack borders?” I roll my eyes as I mind-link my Beta. You would think as an Alpha I would not have to comfort my Beta so much and he would just accept my trip without asking. But he is definitely is a worry-wart.

“Hey I’m almost to the ranch, I’ll keep you posted,” I say before closing the connection.

My father, the previous Alpha to the Black Moon pack, wanted me to do a favor for him and check on the human couple at the outer limits of our pack territory. I found his request rather sudden but agreed. He had explained previously that when he was a young Alpha, they had taken him in when he was injured and on Death’s doorstep. They patched him up and hid him there for a couple days while he healed. They have always kept his secret, so as a show of appreciation he checks on them here and there. I visited them every couple of months while growing up and became close to them. They are like an extra set of grandparents. I haven't seen them much since taking over as Alpha so the visit will be nice. I’m still trying to figure out why I’m going alone this time instead of having my father join, but I shrug it off as finally taking over all of the Alpha duties.

“I don’t know how you put up with that whiney Beta of yours, his wolf Enzo is the scrawniest Beta I’ve ever seen and doesn’t hold enough power to even take down half the warriors during training,” Dante complains as he shakes out his fur.

I pull up to the gate and type in the code my father wrote down, you would think I had it memorized, but I didn’t. The gate swings open allowing me entrance. I drive around to the back of the house where the stables are and hop out of my truck, glancing around. I catch a glimpse of Tom and walk towards him as he is tossing the last pail of feed into the pig trough.

“Tom!” I holler as I trot over to him. Tom looks up and raises a hand in acknowledgement.

“Well, howdy Alpha Liam! You got here earlier than I was expecting,” he stands up straight and starts walking towards me. We meet in the middle and shake hands before he bows his head a bit.

“Oh Tom, you don’t have to be so formal, and you don’t have to call me Alpha,” I say as I run my hand through my hair trying to hide my embarrassment.

The Langley's are human and don’t have to show any kind of submission to a pack member, even an Alpha. That’s just how the pack rules go, we treat humans as humans when we have to interact with them because they are not anywhere close to our strength or authority.

“Sorry Alpha Liam, your father said the same thing when he was your age, but if you ask him how we treated him all these years, he would say we still called him our Alpha for allowing us to stay in the safety of your pack boundaries,” Tom tries to explain with a grin still on his face.

“Go Park your truck up front and meet me inside. There’s someone I want you to meet.” Someone to meet. Hmmm. I’m not so sure how I feel about that. I stand still for a minute while Tom smirks and walks to the front door. I inhale deeply to take in all the smells around me. I smell the animals, Tom and Billie, and something sweet that has my wolf pacing in the back of my mind.

“Dante, what do you sense?” I ask my wolf.

“Go inside! We gotta go, just hurry up I wanna see her!”

I shake my head at his words. Can you say demanding much? But I too feel a sense of urgency so I turn on my heels to move my truck so I can hurry inside. I walk up to the porch and breathe in deeply again. What is that smell? It’s the sweetest smell like maple syrup and cinnamon mixed with apples and something else… Something almost earthy?

“HURRY UP AND FIND HER!” Dante growls.

I scowl at his impatience and step inside. Here we go. I walk into the entrance of the kitchen and stop in my tracks. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen is sitting right in front of me, her bright green eyes glance up to mine and she seems startled and begins looking between Billie and Tom, almost as if she is panicking because I’m there. Tom pats her hand and nods as if to signal all is well before he smirks at me. I slightly tilt my head as I feel Dante pacing, trying to get a better look through my eyes while chanting.

“She’s here, she’s here! Our mate is here!”MATE?! Did I just hear him correctly? I push him back before I bring my focus back to the kitchen when Tom looks my way.

“Come sit with us we were just about to eat.” I nod and sit down next to her. I can’t take my eyes off her beauty as she continues to stare at her coffee, but I can tell I’m affecting her by the sound of her racing heart.

“Thanks Tom but I’ll probably just have a coffee before I head to the stables to unpack if that’s alright,” I say as I keep my eyes on this woman Dante is calling our mate. She keeps staring at her coffee but sneaks a glance up at me from under her lashes before standing up and walking to the counter. She pours a cup of coffee and brings it over to me.

I nod in thanks while watching her movements, her hands shake as she sets it down and coffee sloshes over the rim. Fear fills her eyes and she quickly apologizes as she hurries to clean the mess. Her voice is so soft I can barely hear her but it is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. I help clean the small mess while I analyze her little quirks. I see the bright blush of embarrassment, but I smell fear on her scent, which makes no sense over a spilled coffee. I keep looking at her, not really paying attention to what Billie is saying except I hear her call our timid mate “Lacie.” Our mate. Hmmm I like the way that sounds.

I wait until she sits down to glance over at Tom again who is just sipping his coffee in peace. I look over to Lacie who finally looks at me so I smile and reach a hand out towards her.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Lacie,” I try to keep my voice non-threatening. I know being an Alpha can cause humans to fear us just by our tone of voice. I’m hoping she doesn’t think much of my slip using the word “finally.” It’s not like a human knows about Fate’s mates. Hell until today I didn’t humans could BE a Fated mate. She finally reaches out and takes my hand in hers and an electric shock shoots up my arm when our skin touches.

“MATE! My mate!” Dante pants, trying to push to the front of my mind again, but I block him from peering out of my eyes to not scare her more.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” she says in her small angelic voice before she quickly takes her hand back, placing them in lap to tear at a napkin. What a strange creature.

“I appreciate your kindness to let me stay here for the time being. My father sends his apologies for not joining us as well.” Billie smiles and shakes her head.

“No need to think much of it. Your father is like a son, you are both always welcome no matter the circumstances.”

Tom smiles and nods in agreement. I smile and nod as well. I know they are keeping up appearances because Lacie is human. I’m still on Black Moon land so I can stay wherever I please, especially with being Alpha, but it’s still nice of them to have me stay in a room here instead of travelling the 2 hours back to the pack house. I’m not sure why my father wanted me to spend time here but I’m glad he did now! I glance at Lacie who is still staring at her coffee while nibbling on a pancake.

“Liam you are about what, 28 now?” Tom asks with a smile. I sip my coffee before I smirk and glance once more at Lacie before looking back at Tom.

“Yeah, I turned 28 back in February, why do you ask?” What is he planning? … Tom glances at Billie who is already grinning ear to ear while staring at Lacie. Oh, I think I get it now! I smirk and look at Lacie who is sinking lower in her chair, my poor mate.

“Lacie honey, isn’t your birthday coming up in a couple days? You’ll be turning 26 right?” Billie asks with a huge grin as she looks from me to Lacie.

“Uh yeah,” she replies in a little squeak. Can she be any cuter? Tom chimes in just then.

“Ha! Just as I thought Ya’ll are pretty close in age! That’s great, Lacie you should take Liam into town one day this week and show him where everything is. I’m sure he will appreciate the youthful company.”

Dante perks up to this idea and prances around in my head begging to mark his mate, to show himself to her.

"Dude that is NOT a good idea at all. This is gonna take time and we have to be patient, she’s a human, Stupid.” I scold him. Suddenly, Lacie stands up and tipping over her chair by accident.

“I’m gonna go check on Daisy,” she squeaks before darting to the door and heading outside. What a skittish mate I have. I look over to Tom and Billie for answers and they look at each other. A small frown appears on Billie’s face as she shakes her head. They look back to me before she stands up.

“Alpha Liam, I’m so glad you made it here safely. Our home is your home so please feel free to use it as you wish. I’m sorry about Lacie, I’m going to go check on her,” she says with a bowed head before squeezing Tom’s shoulder once and walking out the door to follow Lacie. I look to Tom for clarification and he shrugs his shoulders.

“I was told to keep that information to a need-to-know basis,” he says before sipping his coffee. I nod my head while taking this in. Well, that’s an interesting way to start a morning!

“I’ll say” Dante pipes in as he shakes his fur out.