Fae-ted To The Alpha

Chapter Four- Rik, Is The My Name of My Werewolf Lover.

Daisy

There’s nothing quite like the smell of industrial-grade coffee and microwave-warmed leftovers to remind you that you’re a small cog in a massive machine. The SpaceX cafeteria was a far cry from the luxurious buffet I’d enjoyed on the cruise last month though that memory still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Except for how it ended. I still blush when I daydream of the man’s steamy body... and then I am full of regret because it was a one-night stand. I am a good girl and good girls don’t do things like one-nighters. I was so embarrassed by it that I couldn’t even tell my bestie about it.

Gosh, I didn’t even know his name.

I stirred my coffee absently, staring out the large window overlooking the launch site. Rockets in various stages of assembly stood like giant sentinels, each one a testament to human ingenuity. A shiver of pride coursed through me. I’d made it here as one of the youngest software developers on the team.

But there was no time to bask in that pride now. The pressure of my new role loomed over me every second. Sure, my code was solid, but I was still adjusting to the pace, the endless deadlines, and the sense that I was still proving myself.

And yet, I couldn’t focus. My mind kept drifting back to that night. To him. My nameless werewolf lover.

It had been one night. One stupid, impulsive night where I’d let the alcohol and jealousy get the better of me. I didn’t know what had come over me. Sure, I’d been drunk, but I wasn’t the kind of woman who threw caution to the wind like that.

Except I had.

The memory of that wild chemistry, the magnetic pull, sent a jolt of discomfort through my chest. Even now, with all the distractions of this high-tech environment, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I had messed up.

I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts away. I was here to build a future, not wallow in a one-night mistake. Hmm, what should I get Dale for Christmas this year? I’d already thrown away the idea of the cruise ship tickets for my parents away... one because it left a sour taste in my mouth and two, my parents would never buy the idea of a Christmas on a cruise. Plus, I had to get Pat a gift as well... her birthday was in six days and I still had to get her a gift for that as well. I’m so stressed about the holidays.

“Daisy, right?” The deep, unmistakable voice jolted me out of my thoughts, my pulses racing at the same time as the sound registered to me.

No- what the f- I turned in the direction it came from and nearly spilled my coffee. My eyes encountered the logo, the same as mine, but above it was the sewn-on name, M. Frost, and as soon as I met his eyes, I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

He worked here?

There he was. My no-name werewolf one-nighter, in the flesh, towering over the table like a monolith. He was impossible to miss, broad shoulders filling out his dark SpaceX uniform, sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and a chiseled chin. And those hunter sea-green eyes that had haunted me since that night.

A flash of his nakedness comes to my mind and my mouth goes dry. My pulse quickened. I hadn’t expected him to seek me out even if we somehow ran into each other in the future. Thankfully, we were in completely different departments, by his uniform color charcoal, with subtle silver accents to evoke the high-tech aspect of spacecraft development, indicated he worked with the engineering team, and I was buried in software development. My uniform was navy blue.

He had been working here all along, and we never ran into each other?

He didn’t sit. Instead, he loomed over me, as if trying to intimidate me with his size. The space around us suddenly felt too small, the sounds of the cafeteria muffled by the pressure building in my chest. “Rik,” he said, his voice low and my pores raised. Thankfully, my long sleeves disallowed it from his view, but my heated cheeks were on full display for him- and everyone else who cared to look over.

“Rik,” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper as I scanned around us, to see if others were watching, as if they would judge me knowing about my one night of passion with this man, without knowing his name. Nobody was.

“So, this is where you disappeared to.” His tone was casual, but his eyes betrayed something sharper, something that almost felt like an accusation and my cheeks burned more.

“I didn’t disappear. I-” I paused, fumbling for words. “I had to leave. Early flight.”

He arched an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, and crossed his arms. “To where?”

To where? I had not expected that question as a follow-up. I did not know how a conversation such as this would go. But he seemed to have experience in this department. And seeing he was older than me, yeah, I was positive he had a few. Maybe it was all he did- use women for one night.

My cheeks flush again when I recall exactly what he did to women. Then I bristled under his scrutiny. “Why are you even here? Don’t you have some spaceship to assemble?” Why had I even said something so stupid? I bend my head in embarrassment, my forehead against the tabletop.

“I’m on lunch, same as you. Didn’t realize we’d end up in the same place.” He said it so casually and I know I may be coming off as overreacting to him. Or childish.

Cannot have that. Pulling myself together- or at least pretending to, I lift my head back up and my hand on my forehead I sighed, “This headache I have. Sorry.” It was the best lie I could come up with at the moment. Then I folded my arms defensively, feeling both irritated and... uncomfortably aware of his presence. “Small world, I guess.” I sniff like a crazy cocaine addict and meet his eyes then.

His half-smile faded, and for a moment, something vulnerable flashed in his expression. “You left without saying goodbye, Daisy.”

Dammit. I still had not gotten my heart to settle with the fact that he was working here and now it sped up more. Like a freight train. The way he said my name- deep, almost tender, sent shivers down my spine. I had to fight not to react to the intensity of his gaze. It was like a force of nature, a gravitational pull that I had no choice but to feel.

This Fae part of me. It heightened my sensitivity to energy fields, and Rik’s werewolf aura would be especially strong for me. Werewolves exude a magnetic, almost intoxicating energy that other supernatural beings can sense. For me, this energy feels both familiar and compelling and makes it difficult to ignore or fully resist. It's a deep, instinctive attraction.

Fae are often closely connected to nature, with heightened senses and a connection to the primal forces of the earth. Werewolves are a part of that natural, animalistic world. Naturally, my people were creatures that blended of these two elements- the raw werewolf dominance and the ethereal, magical nature of a Half-Fae, could create a supernatural pull between them that goes beyond the usual attraction. The raw, untamed essence of a werewolf is something that resonates with my Fae nature, even if I don’t fully understand why Rik affects me so strongly because I am half.

Half- Fae. Which means I will blame the attraction to him and the stupidity of that night on the alcohol I consumed. If I did that, then what to blame my attraction towards him from now on? “I’m sure you’re used to people leaving you without saying goodbye,” I shot back, trying to keep the conversation casual, but my words sounded far sharper than I intended.

Rik’s brow furrowed at the unexpected response, but he didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, his expression grew more serious, as though he was analyzing something deeper. I wondered if he could sense how much I was struggling to keep my cool. Of course, he could. He’s older and more experienced. Werewolf too. They were known for sleeping around casually and mostly within their pack-like-cults.

“Look, I-” I started, but my voice faltered. I didn’t know what I was trying to say. What was I supposed to say? “It was a mistake. A one-time thing.”

His eyes narrowed, and the atmosphere around us seemed to thicken, the air charged. It was his energy I sensed- powerful. He was a strong wolf and I am curious about his rank. “A mistake? You think it was a mistake?” He sat then, boring his eyes into me.

I bit my lip, refusing to meet his gaze, answering honestly. “Yes, I do.” He could sense if I was lying. They had this lying dictator installed in their noses I heard.

For a long moment, there was silence, and nervously and a bit scared, I sipped my drink. My heart pounded in my chest, the weight of his unspoken thoughts pressing in on me. I could feel the familiar pull of his presence, the robust energy that radiated off him like an invisible aura, and it made everything inside me stir.

“I don’t think it was a mistake,” he said quietly.

It was the last thing I expected to come from his lips and my breath caught. He was so close now that I could smell the faint scent of musk and sharp, almost like ozone- a form of oxygen that has three oxygen atoms instead of the usual two. When ozone is created -especially during storms or high-energy processes like lightning or electrical discharges, it reacts with other substances in the air, producing that distinct chlorine scent. However, that might just be me because I have heard others describe it as pungent.

My head was clouding in and my stomach was a bundle of nerves.

I pushed back from the table, setting my coffee down with a bit more force than necessary, and turned to leave but his hand juts out and grabs mine in a firm grip. “Don’t think I will forget this conversation needs to continue, Daisy.”

The challenge in his tone was unmistakable. And I wasn’t sure if that thought filled me with dread or excitement. Then I looked at him and see his eyes were glazed over, though not overly so. It was more like a change of color from the brilliant green to a dimmer one.

Crap! Was that the wolf side of him that spoke to me just now?