Ch. 4 Mate!

Ryan's POV

As I pulled into the drive of the RedWoods Beta’s house, I wondered about the man I would be meeting with. Ian Connor and my dad had been best friends for most of their lives. Despite belonging to separate packs, they had attended the same private school growing up. As a future Alpha and Beta they immediately clicked, bonding over the responsibilities of their ranks as well as their shared Irish heritage.

Fortunately for them, our pack territories bordered each other so they were able to stay in touch over the years. Our families never spent much time together but Ian would come by the pack house to see dad fairly often. As a kid, I found him a little scary.  He was a huge guy and always wore a serious expression. I remembered thinking he could easily crush me with one hand. He was a man of few words but when he did talk to Reegan or me, he was friendly enough.

I was sad to hear his wife passed away a few years ago now. One day my dad seemed really down. When I asked him what was bothering him, he told me about Ian’s wife and what a devastating thing it was for a wolf to lose a mate. He mentioned they had a daughter too and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. I couldn’t imagine ever losing my own mother. 

As I approached the front door to Ian’s home, I wondered what kind of man he was now after all life had thrown at him. I hoped he had been able to overcome his grief and find happiness again, for his sake and his daughter’s.

When I first heard that Alpha Klein and his current Beta had conflicting meetings and would need his former Beta to step in for him today, I was admittedly a bit disappointed. I was anxious to make a personal connection with him. We had spoken on the phone many times, and even had several video conferences. This meeting was really just a formality to drop off the alliance contract. All the details had been ironed out. Alpha Klein would just need his legal team to review it and sign off. 

Still, I wanted to look him in the eye and shake his hand. It was a lot harder for a man to change his mind once you’d done that. This alliance was as beneficial to RedWoods as it was to Glass Lake so I didn’t expect him to back out at the last minute but I wouldn’t truly rest easy until the ink was dry. 

Dad had been super excited to hear I would be seeing Ian and was anxious for me to pass along his request that they meet for a round of golf soon. I supposed if a delayed in-person meeting for me meant an opportunity to make the old folks happy, I would gladly comply. 

I rang the doorbell and took in my surroundings while I waited for someone to answer. Ian no longer lived in the pack house, but in a stone cottage on the outskirts of town. The house was close enough to town to be walking distance but just far enough out that the forest crept up along the back and sides of the property. Ivy vines snaked their way up the stone walls and colorful flowers lined the walkway and front porch. It was an idyllic setting, like something out of a fairytale and I had to wonder if it had been his wife’s vision or his daughter’s. I was guessing it wasn’t based on male inspiration.

I didn’t have too long to wonder about landscape design before Ian himself came to let me in. I had even less time to contemplate the man in front of me because as soon as he opened the door I was hit by the most delicious scent I’d ever encountered. It smelled like the sweetest honey and the most fragrant wildflowers. I was instantly intoxicated. Teague was going crazy in my head, trying to come forward. It felt like he was clawing at my brain.

“MATE!” Teague and I said together. I didn’t even realize I had shoved past Ian and started following the scent deeper into the house until I felt him grip the collar of my shirt and yank me back. I turned on him and growled, my eyes flashing silver as my wolf instinctively prepared to fight anyone who would try to keep us from our mate. 

Ian didn’t flinch. He kept a tight grip on me and stared me down. I had to fight hard to push Teague to the back of my mind but thankfully, I was able to hang on to the shred of sanity that told me it would not be a good idea to maul my mate’s father and my dad’s best friend. Once he saw that I was back in control, Ian gently forced me into the nearest chair. 

“Let’s take care of business first. Then we will have a little chat about my daughter,” he stated in a tone that brooked no argument. 

I nodded in agreement, still too drunk on her scent to form words.  Ian must have realized he was going to have to steer the conversation when he cleared his throat and I still didn’t respond. 

“I understand you have some paperwork for me. Something to do with some big alliance between our packs,” he said somewhat facetiously. 

That got my attention. I might not have been an eloquent speaker at the moment but I had worked too hard on this deal to drop the ball now. 

“Uh, yes sir. I have the contract right here,” I managed to say as I handed it over. “I’m sorry Alpha Klein was unable to join us today but the contract reflects the details just as we discussed. Signing should just be a formality at this point.” There, that was a bit more articulate. Teague was still pacing in my head so it was a challenge to focus on the conversation.

“I’m not privy to any of the details but if your dad is happy with it then it must be mutually beneficial.” Ian offered. “I’m glad you and our Alpha were able to come to an agreement. Raphe and I always hoped an alliance between our packs would happen in our lifetime. I’m happy to be able to step in and take this meeting to wrap up something your dad and I started all those years ago.” 

Ian had a small smile on his face and a nostalgic, far-off look in his eye. He was still a tall man with a massive build but the small part of my brain I could spare at the moment registered the change in him. He was a shell of the man I remembered from my childhood. I briefly wondered what memories he was seeing in his mind’s eye at that moment. Just as soon as that thought occurred to me, Teague was wrestling for my attention again. It was like he was chanting a mantra in my head. 

“We need to see mate now! Go find her! She’s ours and we need to protect her. Make sure she’s okay!” He kept repeating it over and over again between growling, whimpering, and whining. 

Every few minutes he would try to push forward again to take over and I would have to focus all my energy on shoving him to the back of my mind. I felt my claws coming out and looked down to see I was gripping the chair so tightly my knuckles were white. I retracted my claws and looked up to see Ian watching me carefully, probably hoping I wasn’t about to shred the armrests of his chair. 

“I can see you won’t be capable of a coherent conversation until you see her and in the interest of preserving my furniture, I’ll take you to see her now on one condition . . .” he said as he pinned me with his best “don’t test me” look.

“I’ll do anything you want! My wolf and I just need to see her and make sure she’s okay,” I cut him off before he could tell me his condition.

“She’s in her father’s house! Why the hell wouldn’t she be okay? What do you think could possibly be wrong with her?” he boomed, leaning forward to get in my face.

“No! I . . . That’s not what I meant! Please Beta Connor,” I pleaded. “Surely you remember what it was like when you found your mate. My wolf is driving me crazy! He keeps pacing in my head and whining that he needs to see her. I need to see her too. I promise I will calm down once I do!”

“I do remember what it was like. Absolute best day of my life besides my wedding day and the birth of our daughter. That’s the only reason I’m willing to let you anywhere near her right now.”

“I totally understand and-“

“Shut up for a minute boy and listen to me!” he growled, effectively cutting me off. He served his pack as their Beta but he must have some Alpha lineage because the command in his tone was unmistakable. “Katalina worked all night last night. She just came home to get some sleep for a few hours before she has to get up and go back to work. I will take you upstairs and open her door so you can look in and see her. You WILL NOT cross the threshold of her room and you WILL NOT make a sound of any kind that could wake her up! If you so much as whisper or step on a creaky floor board, I will throw you out of this house and you will not see her the rest of the day. Am I understood?”

“Yes sir! Absolutely!” I said confidently. I would do anything he asked for one brief glimpse of this woman. 

As I followed Ian through the house and up the stairs I could hear Teague whispering her name over and over again in my head. 

“Katalina. Katalina, so beautiful,” he said. 

I had to agree with him. I had never heard a more beautiful name in my life. And her smell! The closer we got to her room, the stronger her scent grew. My mouth was watering so much I’m surprised I didn’t start drooling all over myself. For the rest of my life, honey and wildflowers would by far be my favorite scent. But as strong as her smell was in the hall outside her room, nothing could have prepared me for the moment Ian opened her door. The beautiful fragrance hit me like a ton of bricks. My brain was so clouded by it I couldn’t even focus on her sleeping form. 

Once the fog cleared, I immediately fixed my eyes on her face and a gasp escaped from my lips. I could feel her father’s glare burning into me but he didn’t pull me away so I resolved to rein in my labored breathing while I continued to stare. 

She was laying on her side facing the doorway. She was cocooned in blankets up to her shoulders but I could tell from her outline that she was petite. Her long, curly blond hair was fanned out around her and the longest lashes I’d ever seen fluttered over the creamy white skin of her flawless face. Her full, pouty pink lips were turned up into a small smile, like she was having a happy dream. 

So many words flowed through my mind as I took her in- Beautiful, Dazzling, Exquisite, Gorgeous, Goddess. None of them adequately described my mate. She hadn’t yet spoken a word and already I knew I wanted her forever. There was no question Teague wanted her too. He was howling with joy in my head. And I’m sure my eyes were flashing from hazel to silver as he fought to come out to see her through his own eyes.

Then, just when I had fully decided to stand here quietly watching her sleep until she woke up, Ian grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I started to pull back but he must have anticipated it because he yanked even harder and I had no choice but to follow. If there was any hope at all I could talk to her when she woke up, I did not want to give him a reason to throw me out!

“Now, let’s go have that chat I promised you. Then we’ll see if you get to stay long enough to meet her when she wakes up.” He chuckled to himself as he said the words, almost as if he was enjoying making me squirm. 

Ian led me to a small sitting room at the back of the house. The whole back wall was made of glass, affording an amazing view of the surrounding forest. Streaks of sunlight were shining through the trees, highlighting the field of wildflowers in the backyard. 

Those flowers reminded me of my beautiful angel sleeping upstairs and how intoxicating her scent was, making me wish I was back upstairs in her room with her. Once he was fairly certain I wasn’t going to bolt from the room as soon as he turned his back, Ian left but returned minutes later with two glasses of whiskey. He must have thought I was going to need some liquid courage for this “talk” which had me really worried.  

What was he going to tell me about her that he thought required alcohol? My hands were trembling, making the ice clink around in the glass. Meanwhile, Teague was begging me to go back to our mate. 

“We need Mate! We won’t wake her up, just hold her while she sleeps!” he whined. 

“We can’t do that! Do you want her dad to throw us out? Now be quiet so I can concentrate on the conversation. You might want to listen too. He’s going to tell us about her,” I tried reasoning with him. It must have worked because he shut up and stopped pushing forward. We both tried to relax, wanting to learn whatever we could about the woman we hoped would be ours forever.