Chasing My Unhappy Mate

Chapter 4

Ulric pov

Alice didn’t look around, she pulled out her phone and looked at the time, probably assuming I’d be late. I guess I didn’t seem reliable to her, I’d have to make her change her mind about me. Was it my hair? Maybe I should consider cutting it. She had an annoyed look on her face, her lips pursed as she typed away at her phone. I took the opportunity of her distraction to walk up the steps, knowing I was downwind and she wouldn’t be able to smell my scent until I was right next to her.

‘It’s funny how she’s texting you and you’re right here.’ Leon said with a chuckle.

‘How do you know she's texting me? It could be anyone, you know.’ I said to him.

He barked at me. ‘It is possible, but you're the only one so far that makes her have that annoyed look on her face. Well, you and that Renee b***h that is.’ he said with a snicker.

I smiled at him as I walked slowly. ‘You're right. Yes, it is funny she's texting me when I'm right here. She should have looked up and looked around first.’ I said back to him.

Her long dark gray hair was pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, maybe it was her signature look because she did it a lot, but it framed her face beautifully. So many girls did it to their hair but it just didn’t look right on every girl. She didn't have glasses on, so I still wasn't sure if she wore them or not, I could have been wrong about them. Not a lot of wolves had bad vision, it was rare with all the wolf powers we got in our human form, but it did happen. Alice wore her signature black gothic clothes, a black and dark red dress with a corset top and a ruffled skirt, black tights underneath. She had on a black overcoat that cut off under her boobs, the sleeves hanging gracefully against her fingertips. I thought it was funny we matched without even trying, her red was the same color as the red of my shirt. I could tell she noticed, she looked back and forth at my shirt and her dress like she wanted to run back inside and change. Of course, she had her messenger bag with her as well, making me wonder where we were going, or what she had in there.

Suddenly a warrior pulled up in a Porsche and I widened my eyes at it. She looked up and flinched, noticing how close she was to me. Suddenly my phone vibrated and I smirked at her, watching her blush. “I didn’t realize you were already here, I was texting you.” She said with an annoyed tone.

Leon barked out laughter, howling and rolling around in my mind. ‘I told you!’ He yelled out at me.

“Well I’ve been here for a little bit now waiting near my car, and by the look of how long you were texting, I’d say you were reprimanding me for being late even though you didn’t take the time to look first to see if I was here.” I said with a smirk, crossing my arms.

She growled a low warning at me, a light pink covering her face in embarrassment as she stalked forward angrily. Then she turned around, holding out her hand towards me. I raised an eyebrow at her and she huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. “Give me your phone.” She said with an annoyed sigh. I chuckled at her, pulling it out of my pocket and handing it to her. She looked at it and growled again. “What is your password?” She asked.

I chuckled, leaning against the railing. The warrior looked at me and grinned, coughing slightly as he tried to cover it. She glared at him and he held up his hands in surrender, giving me a fist bump and walking away. Looks like not everyone in this pack is ridiculous. Maybe I only met the stupid ones so far. “It’s just four numbers, 0623.” I said after he walked off. She nodded at her as she started typing it.

“What does that stand for?” She asked absently as she unlocked the phone.

“It’s my brother’s birthday.” I said. Her eyes widened and her face turned bright red as she noticed my background.

“I didn’t know you had a brother. And this picture is me. It’s a criminal offense taking a picture of someone without their permission.” She said, clicking her tongue as she deleted her text message she sent me.

I chuckled, she was so cute. How she could stand there lecturing me as she’s going through my phone to make sure I didn’t read whatever lecture she texted me. “I do and I don’t. Derrick was my best friend, he was my Alpha. He was my best friend since I was born. We were raised as brothers.” I said to her.

She stopped and looked at me, a saddened look on her face as her beautiful light violet eyes softened at me. I drew in a deep breath of surprise, but just as fast she threw her walls up again, her face wiped free of emotion. “I see. I understand. I had a little sister as well. I’m sure you know all about that already though.” She said in clipped tones, trying to hide her pain behind her disinterested tone.

I leaned forward, my hand stopping next to her cheek as she flinched backward away from me. Furiously she slammed my phone into my hand and walked to her car. I noticed that she didn’t change my background or delete the picture, but the happy feeling was short-lived as I felt her anger rolling off of her through our bond in waves. I sighed as I followed her, my face down as I stared at the ground.

She wanted to drive so I sat in her passenger seat, trying not to ogle the expensive car. I looked over at her, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as she started driving. ‘What do I do? What do I say?’ I asked Leon.

‘I’m, I’m not sure honestly.’ He said sadly. I sighed, clenching my fists.

“I’m sorry Adaline told me things. But like I said before, she didn’t get the whole story, and neither did I. There’s so much about you I don’t know, but I’d love to know all of it. I want you to trust me, and I know in time you will. I’m not rushing you, I just want you to know that when you do want to tell me something, I’m here to listen. And I’m not going to care about you any less no matter what you say.” I said to her.

Somehow, that made her even angrier. I felt the waves of her anger rolling through our mate bond again as she stomped on the brake at the red light. She turned to look at me with a growl, closing her eyes as she tried to calm down.

The light changed and she sighed deeply, driving again. I thought she wouldn’t speak to me, but it seems she’s the type of person who takes a great deal of time to think before speaking. Choosing her words carefully instead of blurting them out. “How can you care about me when you don’t know me?” She finally asked me after a few minutes.

I widened my eyes at her in surprise as I contemplating how to answer her. “I can feel it. I feel the bond between us. I feel the attraction, the need. You’re all I think about even when I’m not with you. I mean, we’re true mates, we belong to each other. Of course, I care about you.” I said to her.

‘Exactly.’ Leon huffed. ‘Well said buddy.’

She frowned, and I could feel the turmoil inside of her as she thought. “We are mates because we were assigned to each other. If we were just two regular people not mated to each other, we’d have to get to know each other first to fall in love and make sure we’re not secretly crazy or psychotic or something.” She said harshly.

I gapped at her, shocked. I never thought of it like that. “But we are wolves, we don’t need to take time to do all of that for years before marriage like humans do. We are destined for our true mates, picked by the moon Goddess. We can feel each other’s intentions, each other’s thoughts and feelings. Sure most wolves take a few days or weeks at the most to get to know each other, but usually, they accept each other fairly fast because they know each other on a deeper level by the bond blessed on them by the moon goddess.” I said softly to her as she pulled into a Mexican looking restaurant.

She glared at me, her beautiful violet eyes blazing. “Exactly. Wolves just automatically accept who is given to them without care for who they are deep inside. But they change, just like humans do. Something traumatic can happen to make someone become someone else entirely, change them into someone else. You never know when that will happen. And when they snap, everyone suffers.” She said.

I sighed, knowing she was talking about her father. ‘Because the death of his son happened. It turned him into a completely different person from what her mother married.’ Leon said sadly.

“I’m not your father, Alice. And if you want to wait years like a human to marry me, to accept me, then I’ll wait.” I said to her.

“And what would happen if I was pregnant with a boy and he died? What would happen if I didn’t want kids at all?” She asked me.

I frowned, saddened. “I mean, I would want kids eventually, or at least one kid. I wouldn’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, I love kids. But it’s not about wanting a kid to carry on my name or anything like it. It’s about falling in love with the woman I am with and creating a child with her, a perfect happy family. But if the child died from an accident, I wouldn’t blame you, or take it out on you. I wouldn’t do that.” I said to her with a frown.

She bit her lip, her eyes flashing in pain, fear, before her mask came back and wiped all her emotions away. “It’s impossible. I won’t repeat the cycle.” She said harshly. “Come on.” With that she got out of the car, slamming her door as she stomped to the restaurant. I had to walk fast to catch up with her.

She was muttering under her breath as I followed her, and I sighed, trying to think of what to say to her. Honestly I never even dated anyone before, and I only kissed Michelle once before she died, I only kissed Adaline once before she said it didn’t feel right. I was completely out of my element with this woman. I was half tempted to text Kurt about pointers since he was a playboy before Lilian got kidnapped.

When we finally got inside the restaurant we sat down in the alcove waiting for a table, her glaring at her phone as we waited. I tried a few times to talk to her but she ignored me, so I stopped. She needed time to calm down, and I needed to think about what to say to her. ‘We can’t give up on her.’ Leon exclaimed suddenly.

I frowned, biting my lip as I tightened my ponytail. ‘I don’t plan on giving up on her. I doubt the moon goddess would give us a third chance, it’s never happened before. But I don’t want anyone else, I just want her. Every part of me is throbbing for her, and I know she feels it too. I just have to figure out how to break down her walls, no matter how long it takes.’ I said firmly to him. He barked at me, accepting the challenge.