The Protector of Wolves

Chapter 11: Am I Imagining Things?

Jacob's Point of View

"OH MY GOD. I'm so sorry!" I hear a woman sarcastically exclaim. I look up to see a man and a beautiful, young brunette woman angrily staring each other down. There is a tipped beer glass on the top of the bar, and the guy has liquid all over his shirt and pants.

She is speaking much softer now, but with my wolf hearing I can pick up the conversation easily. "I just watched him put a tablet in his date's drink," she says to the bartender. Before I can fully process what is happening, I watch the man race out the door just as a blond-haired woman walks up to the bar with a shocked look on her face.

I hear the brunette woman explaining what happened to the other woman, and I can't help but think how soothing and comforting her voice is.

She doesn’t notice me, but I catch a glimpse of her eyes. They are a rich shade of brown, matching the color of her long, wavy hair and complimenting her smooth, fair skin. She has a soft, sincere look on her face as she consoles the other woman. I hear her introduce herself as "Lacy."

"Hello! EARTH TO JAKE!" Kyle, my beta, says to me while waving his hand in front of my face. Tyler and Chloe laugh.

"What!" I quietly bark as I snap my attention from Lacy to back to my friends.

"Tyler was just asking if you found your mate!" Chloe giggles. "You're staring at that woman." Her eyes point to Lacy.

"A human mate? Mmm, I don't think so," I retort. Human mates happen on occasion, but it's especially rare for high-ranking wolves to have human mates. However, I can’t seem to keep my attention away from this girl, and Ryker, my wolf, hasn’t told me if she is my mate or not. Maybe we need to be closer to know for sure.

"I don't know. You look pretty smitten with her. She could be our new Luna," Tyler teases.

"Oh, come on, Tyler, a human Luna?" I raise my eyebrow. "That would not be good.”

I highly doubt the Moon Goddess would give me a human mate. It's a huge weakness for not only the Alpha, but also for the entire pack. The smaller packs might be able to get away with it, but larger packs like mine attract all kinds of enemies – hunters, vampires, etc. – and she would be a weak point for them to use against us.

If my mate were human, I'd constantly be fearful of something happening to her, since she wouldn't be able to defend herself as easily. It would also be a tough go for a human to become Luna of a large werewolf pack, knowing next to nothing about our kind. But, I don't think I could ever reject my fated mate, even if she were human. I would hope that whomever the Moon Goddess fated to me would be my perfect Luna.

Some days I'm not so sure I even have a fated mate. Even though my friends all mean well, it's a little painful to think about my Luna. I'm well past the mating age and I still haven't found my mate. I've traveled to countless packs all over, and we have had many different packs come visit us over the years. The search is starting to feel hopeless.

And unfortunately, an Alpha needs his Luna, fated or not, and I’m starting to fear that I won’t be taken as seriously without one. I have been thinking more so lately that it's time for me to start considering a chosen mate. I’ll have to ask Kyle, Chloe, and Tyler what they think of me possibly choosing Kara for my mate and Luna. I hear Ryker wine at the mere thought.

I pick up the beer glass and take a huge swig.

“Are you seriously considering Kara?” my wolf grumbles at me.

Tyler quickly jumps up from the table, pulling me from my thoughts. "Well,” he announces, “now that the bartender is no longer preoccupied, I'm gonna go order us some more drinks!"

I watch him walk up right next to Lacy, who is now sitting at the bar alone, looking a little tense. Seeing her that way makes me sad, and I wish there was something I could do to help her.

But, I need to find a strong Luna for my pack and I don't have time to be distracted - and by a human no less, no matter how beautiful and kind she may be. I need to ask my friends about Kara. No distractions. I wait for Tyler to come back before bringing up the conversation.

What is taking him so long?

I glance over to Tyler and notice that he is chatting with Lacy. I hear him quietly say, "My friend there in the blue shirt has been staring at you all night. He won't admit it, but I think he has a thing for you."

"Way to be subtle, Tyler.” I mutter to myself, too quietly for humans to hear but loud enough for him to pick up. He shoots me a triumphant grin.

In my chest I feel a mixture of emotions. Tyler sure isn’t making this easy on me. I notice that both him and Lacy are both looking at me now. I should be furious with him, but Lacy's eyes catch mine and I feel my lungs stop working for a second. I wait and secretly hope for Ryker to tell me she's my mate, but again he doesn't say anything, and I feel a little disappointed.

Tyler walks over to our table, bringing Lacy along with him, and I catch her scent. It's human, yet different somehow? I can't quite discern it, but it smells incredibly wonderful, though it's faint.

"Hi, I'm Lacy! Your friend said I could join you all. I hope that's okay," she says with uncertainty as she looks at me.

"Yes, come sit next to us." Ryker hums in my head.

“She’s not mate, but you want her to sit next to us?” I question him.

“I don’t know what she is to us, but I want to be around her.” He replies, adding to my confusion. I push him out of my mind for now, but I agree – I want her to sit close to me.

"Hi Lacy. I'm Jake,” I reply to her with a soft smile. “You've met Tyler, and this is Kyle and Chloe. We would love for you to join us. You can sit here,” I say as I motion to the empty seat next to me.

"Nice to meet you all!" she says, cheerfully. I don't know what it is about her, but her smile instantly fills me with joy and warmth.

As Lacy walks closer and sits next to me. Ryker starts stirring in my head. "What is going on? Why does she have such an effect on us if she isn't our mate?" Ryker doesn't answer.

She's making small talk with the others, but her plump, pink lips distract me as her mouth moves and all I can think about is what my lips would feel like on hers.

"Dude, stop staring at her and say something." I hear Kyle mind-link me. I glance at him and he gives a subtle nod towards her.

"So Lacy," I begin. "We saw a little of what happened earlier. That girl was lucky you were here."

I see her cheeks flush. She is so adorable.

"Thanks! Yeah, I think I was just in the right place at the right time. It took all I had in me not to throat punch that guy though!" She chuckles as she rolls her eyes.

"Well, he sure looked like he wanted to hurt you, too, but you didn't back down. I'm impressed."

Lacy did look very confident against him. She seems very confident in general, yet not overly so. An extremely attractive quality in my eyes.

"I do know how to fight, actually! I mostly learned it to protect myself. I could have taken him, easily." she says to me with a smirk and a wink. I feel my heart start to race and all I can think about is how badly I want to pull her into my lap and touch her smooth, soft skin. Goddess, Lacy, what are you doing to me...

Before I can say anything back, Chloe saves me from myself by shifting the conversation to a new topic by asking Lacy what she likes to do in her free time. She gushes about how she enjoys being outdoors and hiking, especially if a waterfall is involved.

"Oh, you like waterfalls? I actually know of this spot with a secluded waterfall. It's a bit of a hike and hard to find if you don't know where you're going. But I'd love to show you it sometime if you're up for it." The words came out of my mouth before I even had a chance to think about them. The waterfall is on the packlands, on the very edge of the property. Not a good place to take a human.

Her eyes light up. "Yes, I would love that!"

Chloe looks very excited, but I can tell Kyle and Tyler are echoing my concern. I will just have to tell my patrols to steer clear of that area when we're there.

"Here," I pull out my phone. "Put your number in here and I will text you." My hand lightly grazes hers as I'm handing her my phone and I feel an extremely faint, yet pleasurable, tingling sensation.

"Ryker, were those the sparks indicative of the mate bond, or am I imagining things?"