Alone Until I Met You

I could feel the vibrations from Colt’s growl through my fingertips since they were lying carelessly on top of his chest. His sudden flash of anger didn’t faze me though and I even went so far as to tuck my head back under his chin while the warm rumbles continued. Colt’s arm, that was lazily holding me against him, tightened until my chest was pressed up against his side. My heart rate spiked at the feel of his hard warm side pressing into me, making me purr quietly with both pleasure and adoration.

“I thought we were done discussing this Allie.” His rough voice held a hint of aggravation to it.

Colt had told me earlier that he had to get up early in the morning to go to work with Linc and I assumed that meant that he wanted this conversation to stop so that he could get some rest, but the question had been nagging me ever since Six had thrown herself against him.

I felt myself sigh against his thick neck and slowly let my eyes flutter open. “No, you neglected to answer me the first time I asked.”

He started to pull out from under me and I whined low in the back of my throat as he arms slid away. My head hit the cold untouched pillow below me making me shiver and pull away instantly. Colt sat up using his elbows and looked down at me squirming under the blankets. His deep warning growl made me stop and look up at him.

“Why is it so important for me to answer?”

Even though I couldn’t really see him in the dark I felt his eyes glaring down at me. Out of habit I brought my lower lip into my mouth and started to bite on it nervously. Why was it so important for him to answer? I mean it wasn’t like we were mated or anything so I had no real reason to pry into his business. I could feel my mood drop instantly at thought of one simple word; mate. A warm surge coursed through my body causing me tremble and reach out for something important, something that I suddenly craved to touch.

My fingers frantically hit the sheets on the bed as I searched for what my body wanted desperately. When my fingers finally hit the firm hot flesh of Colt’s body my insides went crazy as the sudden craving subsided. For a moment I just touched his skin in adoration until I realized what I was doing and yanked my hand back. I frowned at my own strange reaction towards Colt. It wasn’t odd for me to want to touch him but for me to need it so badly…that was definitely strange.

Colt growled down at me making me snap back into our conversation. I blinked up at his dark figure, “Because it made me upset.”

I could hear Colt’s jaw clamp shut at my response and a strange silence lapsed between us. The awkward quietness made me squirm under the covers as I waited for him to speak.

“Why did it make you upset?” His voice had taken on a more tolerant tone and I could feel him turn his body onto its side to that he was facing me.

“I don’t know.” I mumbled embarrassedly before burying my face into the cold pillow.

Colt’s warm hand came down and moved my hair away from the side of my face. I turned into his touch and when I opened my eyes I could have sworn I saw a flash of gold. “Allie,” He whispered warmly as he turned me onto my back. I felt his hot bare chest slide against my chest and I couldn’t help but tremble from the heat. His hand moved lazily to the back of my head, entangling his fingers in my long brown hair, and stealing the breath right out of my lungs.

Hopelessly entranced by his warm caresses and soothing voice, I blinked up at him mindlessly and muttered something incoherent. Colt pulled me against his chest and settled his chin back on my head. The heat radiating off of him was as hot and comforting as a fire. I snuggled myself against him and sighed blissfully when he started to speak again only this time his voice was back to its normal tone. “Six caught me off guard back at the bar. If I had known that she was going to do something like that it would have played out a lot differently. I can promise you this though, it won’t happen again.”

I smiled against his chest as my heart thudded happily inside my chest. “Thank you.” I mumbled.

I could feel Colt nodding his head. “Now if you don’t have any more pestering questions, I’d like to go to sleep.”

“Actually I do have one more question.” I yawned against him.

Colt let out an annoyed growl, “What?”

“Why are you working so hard to protect me?” I managed to muttered out the words even though I was already half asleep. As I waited for his answer I listened to the sound of his heartbeat. The long hard thuds of it sounded throughout his chest creating a soothing lullaby. After a few heartbeats I heard the sound of his thick raspy voice but I was too far gone to make out a single word. I fell asleep oblivious to what his reply had been.



When I woke up the next morning I was alone in his bed. I instantly shot up and looked around for any sign of Colt but judging by how cold his side of the bed was I knew that he was long gone. The sheets on his side of the bed were still tangled from when he had gotten out of it and his pillow was carefully pressed against my side so that I wouldn’t notice his absence while asleep. Remembering what had happened the last time I had woken up like this I quickly scrambled out of my bed with my stomach growling. What kind of food would Colt have prepared for me today? I wondered curiously, Maybe more of those sausages or eggs.

My jump onto the floor was quieted by the carpet and I couldn’t help but smile at that. With predatory instinct pumping through my veins I stalked over to the door and slowly whisked it open so that I could take in the smell of Colt’s freshly cooked meal. When I opened the door however and eagerly sniffed the air I was met with no sort of fabulous flavors and instead I just got a nose full of human.

My nose crinkled at the unmasked odor of sweat and automatically my eyes fell to Linc. The man’s grin instantly dropped from his face and morphed into a curious frown. I shrugged off his change in attitude and looked over at the beautiful woman that was standing beside him. Jackie wore a long flowing blue dress that kissed her delicate ankles. Her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders in long curls. Jackie, whose smile broadened once her eyes fell onto me, took a happy step towards me.

“Good morning Allie.” She greeted musically.

I smiled warmly back at her before walking over to stand besides Colt who had somehow managed to magically appear. “Morning,”

I had meant for the greeting to go to Jackie but I ended up looking at Colt. His thick arms were folded over his chest and his face was drawn into a softer frown. He nodded his head at me before mumbling back the same greeting. I could feel my heart beat quicken a little as I stared into his wonderfully brilliant eyes. For a moment I became completely mesmerized by them until Linc snapped me out of it.

“Are you wearing Colt’s clothes again?” Linc practically yelled.

I glanced over at him with a frown forming on my face before looking down at my clothes. My gaze fell onto the big grey T-shirt and baggy black sweatpants that were in question. “Yeah,”

Linc frowned at me before lifting his chin and gesturing over to Colt’s bedroom. “And did I not just see you sneaking out of Colt’s room?”

Uncomfortable but his strange questions I started to shift my weight. “Yeah,”

Linc gasped at my answer and then turned a cold eye towards Colt. “You sly dog you, you’ve only been seeing her for three days now and already you’ve soiled her!” Linc then took a dramatic step towards me, before he grabbed hold of my wrist, and yanked me into his arms. “It’s all right Allie, that big brute won’t hurt you anymore!”

I pushed against his flat yet firm chest, trying to get away but he hardened his grip. “Come Jackie, we must flee with the poor maiden before Colt can molester her anymore!”

“I don’t molester her.” Colt growled annoyingly.

Linc, who was surprisingly strong for a human started to drag me along the carpet. “His in denial, quickly Jackie get the door.”

I heard a loud smack happened before Linc suddenly released me. I staggered around for balance until a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist. A warm liquid slid down from my chest into my lower stomach at the feel of the hard but gentle embrace. I knew who it was without even looking but when I lifted my head back to say ‘thank you’ to him the words became lost in my throat.

Those gorgeous green eyes flashed a brilliant gold color and I was entranced all over again. His hot breath blew against my face in a long dreamy sigh before he planted me back on my feet and took a step back. Even though we were no longer touching each other my heart was still doing strange flip flops inside of my chest. I blew out a heavy breath to try and calm myself done but it did little help.

“Why did you smack me in the back of the head?” Linc pouted over to his wife.

Jackie fisted her hands on her hips and glared playfully back at her husband. “Maybe it was because you were feeling up another woman.”

Appalled that she would suggest something like that Linc held his hand over his heart. “I was just being the gallant knight that you’ve always wanted me to be by saving a damsel in distress.”

Jackie smile broke through as she took a step closer to her husband. She lifted her pale slim hand up to his cheek and move bits of hair away from his brow. Her dark brown eyes were heated with adoration.

“I’ve never had a need for a knight in shining armor,” In one smooth motion she raised herself up onto her tip toe and kissed him soundly on the lips. “Besides I think that Allie can handle Colt by herself.” She turned her head slyly over to me and winked. I had no clue what she meant by handling Colt on my own but I felt flustered none the less.

Colt stepped out from behind me and grabbed a jacket that was hanging on the kitchen table. “If you’re done screwing around now Linc, we’d better get going.”

Linc let out a childish groan before sobering up and planting an endearing kiss on Jackie’s forehead. “I’ll see you later babe.”

Jackie bobbed her head slowly in a nod then watched him lovingly as he walked out of the room with Colt on his heels. Colt turned back around in the frame of the apartment door and looked directly back at me. His green eyes holding my attention so completely that I almost forgot how to breathe. Then without saying a single word he shut the door behind him.

I felt a little heartbroken that he hadn’t left me with any endearing words but then I realized that he probably had none to give. I turned my attention over to Jackie who was still staring at the door that her husband had just walked through. Her woodsy brown eyes were filled with such longing that it almost broke my own heart.

How wonderful it must be to be mated to a man like Linc. The two of them seemed to hit things off so well that I had almost forgotten that tragic sadness that shadowed over their happiness. Hesitant to break her out of her trance I fiddled with the edge of Colt’s shirt. Suddenly I started to wonder how a werewolf knew when they had found their mate.

“Hey Jackie,” I causally whispered over to her.

She spun around on her heels breathlessly as she held her chest. “Oh I’m sorry I almost forgot that you were there.” She laughed embarrassedly.

I shook my head at her since it was really no big deal and continued on. “How did you know that Linc was your mate?”

The woman watched me for a second before breaking out into fits of laughter. Confused as to what was so funny about my question I just stood there awkwardly and watched until Jackie realized that I had been serious. She instantly sobered up when I didn’t join in with her. Her thin dark brow rose slightly as she asked,

“Oh you were being serious?” I nodded and then her face instantly flushed a brilliant shade of red. She coughed to try to hide her embarrassment. She ran her hands down her brilliant blue dress and shifted her weight around before answering. “Umm okay, a male wolf can tell who its mate is just by looking at her or smelling her scent, but for a female its takes a little more of a push. We actually have to kiss them to know whether or not we are mates. I thought that all werewolves knew that so I’m sorry for laughing at you.”

I waved off her apology, “I was isolated from other wolves most of my life, but did the same rule apply for you and Linc?”

“You give me a few shots of vodka and I’ll kiss just about any poor sap that sits down next to me. Ha-ha that is basically how I met Linc.”

I giggled at the image of a drunken Jackie doing exactly that at some random bar. “Why is it that the females have to kiss the males to know?”

Jackie shrugged her small shoulder and sighed. “Oh sweetie, if you found the answer to that one I would personally kiss you. Now if you will excuse me I am starving.” She wondered Colt’s kitchen and opened up the fridge door. As if she was right at home she quickly whipped something together for the both of us and then ushered me over.

“What is this?” I asked curiously.

She cocked her eyebrow at me, “Its Mac and Cheese.”

I stared down into the yellow mush and smiled. Happy to finally appease my rumbling stomach I practically ran into the kitchen and inhaled the food. It wasn’t as good as the meal that Colt had prepared the other day but it was satisfying enough. As I ate the rest of the food I thought about what Jackie had just told me.

It was a strange custom for a female to have to kiss the male to know whether or not they were mates but then again I’m sure the male would kiss his mate as soon as he found her. I mean what wolf didn’t want to be mated. A strange thought crossed my mind at that point. What if the male refused to kiss his mate for some reason, does that mean that the female would never know whether or not they were mates?

At that thought I suddenly lost my appetite. Did that mean that Colt and I could still be mates? My fork dropped down to the table with a clank. If Colt knew that I was his mate but didn’t want me to know about it then it would explain so much. I could vaguely hear Jackie calling out my name but I was too deep in my own thoughts to actually hear her. If Colt was actually my mate then it would explain why he wanted to protect me so badly, it explained why he always pulled away from me just when I thought we were going to kiss, it explained everything!

I could feel my heart fill with dread as one last thought went flying through my head. It explained why Kirk was so interested in killing me, because killing a wolf’s mate was the worst thing you could do to a werewolf.