His Human Mate

Confused

Vee's POV:

I head back to my room after that confusing interaction with Max. I can't stop thinking about the way he smiled at me. What a smile, I sigh to myself. But that surely wasn't a normal reaction to someone telling you their marriage is broken. He seemed happy, not sad for me. Could it be true that he does like me? A small smile pulls at the corner of my lips as I allow myself to imagine the possibility that he might want me. It's hard for me to deny that I am completely affected by him. What was that when his hand touched my thigh? Such a simple gesture and yet I was basically panting for him after. I wonder what it would feel like to have him wrap his arms around my body and kiss me all over.

For goodness sake Vee, pull yourself together! Your marriage is only just breaking up! I mentally shake myself. I've been in a wave of emotions and my thoughts have been everywhere since Friday when I saw Edward f*****g another woman in our bed. I guess it isn't unreasonable for me to be shaken. But surely this is crazy, my husband just cheated on me, but other than the initial wave of anger, I don't really feel anything else. I don't feel heartbroken, I just seem to be unnaturally horny. However, thinking back, Max has always had a way of disarming me, ever since I met him. I've always felt a temptation towards him, he makes me feel flustered in a good way, in a way no one has ever made me feel before... Eurgh I'm so confused!

Back in my classroom I pop my coffee down and sit myself down at my desk, pulling a stack of papers towards me and grabbing my red pen. I settle my mind and decide to quickly get lost in marking. I have no idea how much time has gone by until I hear a knock at my door and I check my phone for the time. Phew 9:45am, I still have time to set up. I look at the door and gesture for whoever it is to come in. Kate from the Humanities department pops her head in, they work in the same building as us so we all know each other very well.

"Hey hun, how was your weekend?" She asks in her usual cheery manner. Kate is so lovely and uncomplicated. She is definitely my closest work friend and she comes over every now and then for girls' night with Emily and I.

"Oh it wasn't the best, but I will catch you all up at some point soon! How was yours?"

"You know, the usual, lots of marking, lots of drinking, even more .. napping..." She winks and giggles and I join in. Kate is always at the top of her game. She works extremely hard, and she plays even harder. She is roughly the same age as me and is still living, and loving, the single life. Committed relationships don't seem to interest her in the slightest. Having seen where mine has gotten me, I can't say I blame her at all.

"So a few of us are going out for drinks on Friday, fancy joining us?" I don't usually say yes to these invites. Edward doesn't like the idea of me going out without him. But Kate always asks me anyway and I love that.

I am about to start making an excuse as to why I can't come when a familiar voice enters the room and I feel butterflies erupt in my stomach and my heart jump.

"Of course she does!" He says. "It's just what you need Vee!" Max smiles as he approaches my desk and perches on one of the tables. As he gets nearer he looks me directly in the eye, holding my gaze. I am utterly helpless.

"Erm, yes, that actually does sound like fun", I mutter, feeling my cheeks start to warm. Kate grins

and claps her hands. I drag my eyes away from Max's to look back at her.

"Amazing! So excited! You haven't been out in ages! Oo let's get ready together!"

"Yeh sure, that sounds like fun." I smile. "Um how about you come to mine? Oh um, not mine, Emily's?" She raises her eyebrows and shoots a glance at Max before deciding not to question this at this time.

"Yes! Oo, maybe we can convince Em to come as well". She dances out of the room, giving me a slightly longer look that promises follow up questions later.

I watch her leave before turning my attention back to Max. I hesitantly raise my eyes back up to meet his and find him still watching me intensely. I'm not sure how much of this intensity I can take. My eyes drift slightly to his full lips, I imagine kissing those lips. How soft are they? Is he a good kisser? My mouth feels dry and I lick my lips to moisten them. I look back up and see that his eyes look black. He is still sat rigidly on the desk, his hands gripping the table. I inhale deeply through my nose and catch the smell of his aftershave. It smells so enticing. How have I not noticed this before? He smells of musk and lavender. Simultaneously turning me on and making me feel calm.

Neither of us say anything but it doesn't feel strange sitting in silence drinking him in. In fact it almost feels right. Another knock at the door makes me jump and I realise that it's time for my lecture to start. I quickly get up and move out of the way. Max is going to start this lecture today and give the students their beginning task. Then I'll take over. I move to the door to welcome the students and then move to the back of the room to take a seat and watch.

I only half-listen to what he's actually saying, but I am captivated and so is the rest of the room. He knows how to command an audience. There is something about the way he moves and speaks that radiates confidence and importance. I can hardly take my eyes off of him. I feel slightly intimidated about trying to follow his lead.

But it's my lecture and I can't just sit back for the whole thing. When he is finished I make my way back to the front of the room and decide to keep the discussion going to give the students their chance to input and give me the chance to steel myself to look as confident and poised. I feel his eyes on me the whole time and I squirm uncomfortably as I try to focus on my teaching.

The last thirty minutes really seem to drag but eventually I can dismiss the class and take a long, deep breathe to release the tension built up during the last hour. I turn away from him as I do this so I can close my eyes to focus only on breathing, this is a technique I've learnt from yoga practice, it always helps me when I am feeling stressed at work. I remember that I did use it to help me calm down after I found Edward and that other woman as well. Hold on, let's not go there right now.

As I inhale for the second time, I breathe in the smell of his aftershave again and realise he has moved from the back of the room and is now standing quite close behind me. Goodness, he smells heavenly. My eyes snap open and I whip around.

"Sorry Vee, just need to get my memory stick from the computer".

"s**t, sorry, of course." I move out of his way and he steps forward to get to the computer, accidentally brushing past me. I freeze as a shock of electricity seems to travel up my arm. I yank it away and move further from him. He looks at me questioningly but turns to pull out his memory stick and then heads towards the door.

"I'm not in for the rest of the week, Vee".

"Ok", I try to hide my disappointment, but don't think I manage very well. A small smirk plays on his lips.

"See you on Friday mate", he winks and leaves. I'm left feeling a sense of loneliness that wasn't there before.

Max's POV:

"See you on Friday, Mate". I can't help but put the emphasis on that word. I am so looking forward to Friday. We'll finally get to have a conversation in a social setting. I had to get her there. I knew she was about to come up with an excuse not to come out on Friday. For as long as I've known her, she doesn't come out with work. I know she hangs out with Kate and her best friend Emily from time to time, but mostly they have girls' nights-in from the conversations I've heard between them.

Unfortunately, since our two interactions this morning, I have realised that I can't run the risk of being too close to her for too long at the moment, especially not at work. Now that she is going through a separation from her current mate, my self-control seems to be waning. Even just her licking her lips earlier had me hard and Jack ready to pounce. I also need to do some more research into this human mate thing. I am convinced that this morning she actually felt something each time we touched. I need to know if this is possible without us being mated.

So while I watched her take over from me during the lecture and admired her natural beauty and easy confidence standing at the front of the room, I also decided that I needed to take the rest of the week off and stay at the pack. It wouldn't be so hard knowing that Friday is coming and I have that to look forward to.

I was sure she almost sounded disappointed when I told her I wouldn't be in, another positive sign.

Yes, Friday should be great!

...

"Hmm, so it is not impossible..." Back at the pack, Mia and Andrew were helping me pour over any book I could find in the pack library that had any mention of human mates.

"Look here," Mia continues. "Basically, it says that if a human mate has a love connection with another before meeting their true mate, then when they meet their true mate, they might not feel any form of a mate bond. However, if their relationship with the first love connection were to be broken, then this could cause a strong influx of the emotions and side-effects of the mate bond that they have been lacking from the beginning".

"OK, so because Vee was married and in love with her husband, she shouldn't have been able to feel any kind of connection to me. But now that her marriage is basically over, she is starting to feel all the feelings of the bond but stronger than she would have before?"

"Like making up for lost time?" Andrew chimes in.

"I guess so", Mia said. "But it's just a theory. From the looks of it, it is extremely uncommon and so there is not much evidence. It does seem like since the breakdown of her marriage, she could be feeling stronger emotions towards you. You said that she reacted quite strongly to your touch today and she hasn't done that before."

"Yeh, I mean I've always thought that there was a chance that she liked me and felt something. But I've not been able to sense her arousal like that before. And the way she flinched when our arms touched".

"Honestly, my advice would be to put the books away. They aren't helping. I think you just need to spend more time with her and see where it goes. You have a real chance now. No more husband getting in the way, and you didn't ruin the marriage. It's win-win".

"You're right, I'll start with Friday".