Chapter 8

Daniel POV

I got through the inspection within an hour, I didn’t want to go back to the hotel, so I had the foreman drop me off downtown. I ordered lunch but had no appetite. I paid and tipped generously, the girl was pretty and attentive, it wasn’t her fault she was nothing compared to my mate, and her flirting made me smile at least, I just couldn’t flirt back. There was a time not too long previously, I would’ve taken her into the bathroom and had her in one of the stalls before coming back out and ordering dessert. But once you’ve seen the most beautiful woman in the world, no one else seems worth your time. I took a walk down the street, and I found a sporting goods store, I picked up some running shoes and shorts, I decided a run would probably be the best thing for me. I was heading in the general direction of my hotel when I spotted a barber. Catching sight of myself in the window, I headed in to see if they had time to do something with the mess I had become. The guy was nice, friendly, and chatty, but I couldn’t even muster up a smile. I missed her more than I could put into words, and it had only been a few hours.

“Geez man, who is she?” The barber asked

“Huh?” I realised I hadn’t really heard a word he had said. “Sorry, my mind is elsewhere.”

“What was she your wife? Or what?” He asked again. “Only one thing can make a man as miserable as you, and that’s a woman. So, tell me about her, get it off your chest.”

“It’s kinda hard to explain...” I mumbled.

“Gotta be one hell of a woman to have an Alpha walk in here and not notice he was surrounded by wolves.” My head shot up, and his scent hit me. Fuck, I was screwed, there was no way of getting away without drawing attention to myself. There were only three of them and one was a juvenile so I was confident I could take them, but not without drawing unwanted attention from humans. “Calm down Alpha, we mean you no harm, this was our dad’s place, and we wouldn’t risk it. Especially not when we have no chance of winning and nothing to gain. We aren’t part of a pack, our dad left when he mated our mom, she’s half-human.” He explained, I relaxed a little but kept my eye on all of them just in case.

“Elders didn’t like her?” I asked.

“Nope,” he popped the p, “neither did the Alpha, so Dad left, opened this place and they had us.” He continued cutting, the other two went back to their work, they must have decided I wasn’t going to be violent.

“Some people are just closed-minded,” I stated, I didn’t want them to think I would be prejudiced because of their heritage either. He nodded and sighed like he knew all too well. “How did you know I was an Alpha if you don’t have a pack?” I asked, curious.

“Your aura, screams authority, our dad was a beta and I bet even he wouldn’t have been able to withstand a command from you.” He explained. “So, who’s the girl?” He asked, a smile spreading across his face.

“My mate, and the fact that I haven’t found her yet.” He sucked air through his teeth.

“That can’t be easy, we may not have a pack but even we know every pack needs its Luna.” He sighed, great pity, that makes me feel better, I thought.

“Yeah, it hasn’t been easy.” I murmured; I flexed my hands in frustration. His stopped working, and I tried to relax my posture, I didn’t want them to misconstrue my intention.

“You seem like a man who’s dealing with more than just that though?” He prodded, I shrugged, not sure if I should say more before wondering why not? I’d sought out everyone who I thought could help and came up with nothing. I looked around, I wanted them all to answer my question.

“Can you three keep a secret?” The juvenile laughed, the barber smiled, and the third man who was cleaning, just stopped what he was doing, leaning on his broom. “I’ve been dreaming about her, nearly every night, I can’t eat, I can’t think about anything else. And I can’t find her.” I let out a shaky breath, looking at all three of them, they looked a little shocked but nothing more.

“Damn, that can’t be fun. Seeing something you can’t have, night after night. I can see how that would make you miserable.” The barber replied shaking his head.

“Why don’t you just ask her? Ask her where she is?” The juvenile asked.

“It’s not that simple. When I see her, smell her, I can barely think straight, and there’s an element of not being fully in control because it’s a dream. Believe me, every night I tell myself I’m going to ask her what her name is, where she is so I can find her... but she’s not Lycan, so would she even believe me? Or would it scare her away? I can’t lose what little I get of her; it would kill me if I couldn’t see her in my dreams.” My whole body sagged, I was defeated, finally admitting it out loud. The third man whistled low.

“Alpha, I’m sorry to say that’s the sorriest thing I’ve ever heard.” He walked over and clamped a hand on my shoulder, in comradery, his sympathy clear in his eyes. His brothers both laughed as he went back to his cleaning, I couldn’t help but smile myself. I glanced in the mirror; I was still a bit of a mess.

“So, Alpha, tell us, what’s this mystery mate like?” He went back to trimming my hair. I let out another breath.

“Perfect.” I smiled. “Blonde, blue eyes, pale blue, dazzling. Full lips, tanned, curvy...” My pants were getting tight again. I cleared my throat, the barber laughed. “Call me Daniel, only my pack is obligated to call me Alpha,” I grumbled.

“Andre,” he replied, offering me a hand, I shook it and we nodded. “Your secret’s safe with us, Alph- Daniel. You’re not from here, are you?” He looked at me quizzically.

“No, just passing through, I own an Architectural and Engineering firm, and had to check on a site.” Andre lifted an eyebrow. “I’ve been travelling a lot recently and haven’t had a chance to get a haircut... or the inclination if I’m honest.” He laughed.

“Do you want the full works?” He asked me.

“Sure, why not?” I responded I needed the distraction, and I liked the brothers, they were good at what they did, and they were respectful without sucking up. I hated brownnosers; besides, they had trusted me when they didn’t have to. They seemed like good people. I pulled a card out of my pocket. “Here,” I handed him the card, “If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, give me a call, or if your father ever wants to be part of a pack again, we don’t care about all that pure-blood bullshit.” He took the card with a shaky hand.

“I’ll let him know, thank you Alpha, I mean Daniel, I mean... thank you.” He stumbled over his words, his brothers both had stopped working again, both staring at me in disbelief.

“Don’t mention it, you seem like good, genuine people, I like that. So, think about it. There’s always room for good wolves in Applewood.” Andre pocketed the card still a little shaky and grabbed a warm towel. I leaned back in the chair and finally relaxed a little, leaving him to go about his work.

Charlie POV

It was close to six by the time I had finished my laundry and put it all away. I flopped down on my couch and flicked through the channels on my TV. Nothing appealed to me, I had no energy left after crying all afternoon. Real life was starting to feel like the nightmare I couldn’t wake up from, and my dreams were the only time I was happy. It couldn’t continue, no matter how much it hurt, so I steeled myself against what I had to do and forced myself to get up. I heated up the leftover pizza, grabbed one of the beers I bought that day, and settled back down on my couch. I flicked through the channels for a few hours until I couldn’t keep my eyes open, turned the TV I wasn’t really watching off and headed for my bedroom. I didn’t have the energy to get some pyjamas out, so I just threw my clothes in the hamper and climbed into bed naked. I just wanted to see him again, make love to him again and say goodbye. I needed it to be over, I needed to move on. My sheets were soft and welcoming, and it wasn’t long after I wrapped myself up in them that my eyes grew heavy, and I drifted off to sleep.

I was in my apartment, why was I in my apartment? Where was he? Why wasn’t he here? I got out of bed and walked into the lounge, confused and searching for him, despair filling me. I wasn’t going to see him again, maybe it was over. I headed back to bed and cried, distraught that I didn’t get to say goodbye.