The dark moon rises

Chapter 3

Hayden pov

“And that is the end of the tour. What do you think?” Joel, my general manager of all the bars and clubs in this area asks. I have just opened up a new bar in the local town and finally having a look at it finished. The last time I was here it was a shell, my interior designer has outdone himself on this one.

“It’s great. Just what I pictured. And how is it doing now the enigma of it being new has worn off?” I haven’t been around much lately. I’ve been busy taking over the pack. Thankfully I have an amazing team of people who work for me and help keep things running smoothly.

“Fantastic. We always have a queue around the block of patrons wanting to get in.” Joel says with such pep in his voice.

“That’s fantastic. Thank you, Joel. I will be on my way then. I will be around more now so call me anytime.”

“I will do sir.”

“Please call me Hayden.” I hated it when people called me sir. It made me feel old.

I walked out having one last glance around the club. It was truly spectacular.

I needed to talk with Milo about some other business so I decided to call him.

“Hey, how’s it going?” He answered the phone after a few rings. He sounded chirpy. He always did though.

“Not much, I’ve just been to look at Entice. What are you up to now? I wanted to run some ideas past you about getting more clientele into some of the smaller bars and maybe updating some of the older looking ones.” Milo worked as my marketing manager but I had known him all my life, he was one of my closest friends.

“I have a date later but I can meet you now.”

“Great. I’ll see you soon. Same place as usual.” I asked, we always met at a bar in town so we could grab a drink whilst talking business.

“Yep. I won’t be long.” He hangs up and I start the car to go meet him.

•••

After I’ve finished catching up with Milo I spot one of the she-wolves who lives locally that I usually hook up with when I’m in town. My pack's territory is only half an hour away so quite a few pack members live in the local town.

She slinks over to me, emphasizing her hips as she sways them from side to side.

I can already smell her perfume, it stings my nose slightly but I don’t mind I’ve not let loose for a while now.

“Good evening Alpha.” Her voice is high pitched but she’s trying to be seductive, I’m not sure how other wolves can stand to be around her for too long, we don’t usually do much talking.

“Hello, Zoe. How are you?” I ask her as she slithers in beside me and waves her hand for the waitress to come take her drink order.

“I’m much better now.” She says fluttering her eyelashes at me.

After a few drinks, Zoe turns to look at me with her eyes darkening with lust.

“It’s getting late. Maybe we should forget the next drink and go back to my place?” That’s more than fine with me. I pull my phone out but she places her hand on mine pushing it down slightly.

“There’s a cab office down the road. It will be quicker if we just walk there.” She stands up and pulls me up with her. She pulls my tie down towards herself and pushes her tongue into my mouth. I kiss her back, it’s quite pleasurable and now I can’t wait to get back to her house. She drapes herself over me and I have to wrap my arm around her waist to stop her from falling over. I run my hand down towards her ass and make small circles on it with my finger. The wind is blowing against us but due to being a werewolf, I don’t feel the cold as much as humans so it’s not really a bother to me. Zoe tries to pull me down some dark alleyway, she pulls at my tie, running her hands down my front and grabbing my d**k. Usually, I would be all over this but for some reason, Zoe is annoying the s**t out of me at this moment in time. Usually, she gives me great pleasure and I love fücking Zoe into next week but tonight I feel disgusted by her touch.

I suddenly catch a scent in the wind. My wolf starts to stir in my head. I keep walking forward with Zoe hanging on to me like a lifeline, the smell is getting stronger. It smells like jasmine with a hint of spearmint.

“MATE!” my wolf screams in my head.

“Amelia, can I jump in there? Thanks, you are the best!” Zoe shouts to a girl as a cab pulls up. Zoe pulls on my arm as she slides into the taxi but I don’t want to move. The girl who is standing beside me is where the amazing smell is coming from. Zoe somehow manages to pull me inside the cab, I think it’s because I’m too distracted and enticed by the woman next to me. My mind clouds with her scent. It’s intoxicating. f**k! I don’t want to be inside the cab. I want to go and talk to the stranger outside. Suddenly the front passenger door opens and the girl gets in and buckles her seat belt up whilst telling the driver her address. Her voice is like angels singing.

“What are you doing Amelia! Can’t you see I wanted to be alone.” Zoe says from beside me. Amelia! Her name is so beautiful. I try to pull away from her grasp and put some distance between myself and Zoe.

“You live down the road from me so if you’re gonna steal my cab you can at least drop me off!” Amelia is feisty and I love it.

I catch her looking back at me through the rearview mirror of the cab. Her beautiful eyes pierce into my soul. I clear my throat wanting her to turn again to look at me properly this time but she doesn’t. She doesn’t even look in the mirror again. I’m desperate to see her face. I got a glimpse of her eyes but it was too dark in the car and she refuses to acknowledge my presence. The cab pulls up to a house that seems vaguely familiar to me, Amelia gets out of the cab and slams the door shut behind her. I watch as she walks up a driveway and inside of the house. The cab pulls away and stops just down the road slightly. I pay the fare and get out. Zoe is now unconscious so I have to lift her up and carry her into her home. Before I open the door of Zoe’s house I glance back at the house Amelia went into. A light turns off at the front of the house and I assume that it’s Amelia’s room. I close my eyes remembering the way that she smelt. Her scent is forever ingrained into my brain. She seemed so familiar to me. I walk inside Zoe’s house and gently close the door behind me. I don’t want Zoe to wake up. I place her in her bed and pull the cover up over her body and make my way down the stairs. I sit down on the sofa with every intention of calling a cab but my body refuses to leave until I can find out something else about Amelia or maybe even see her again. Why did she seem so familiar to me? I would remember if I had met her before. As I’m wracking my brain trying to think of how I know Amelia I fall asleep thinking of the beautiful blue eyes that looked into my soul.

•••

I woke up startled with my surroundings, then I remembered I was at Zoe's house and that my mate was asleep in a house over the road.

I grab my things and make my way outside. I glance over at Amelia’s house and spot the curtain in her window moving. I wonder if she’s awake yet and if that was her looking out the window. I wonder if she was looking at me. Walking out of another girl's house. Shít! What the fück am I going to do. No wonder she wouldn’t even look at me last night. I was with another woman. I make my way towards her house not really sure of what I am going to do when she walks out. I stop in my tracks and just watch her. She has a robe on and it’s pulled tight around her tiny waist. Her legs are long and toned and look silky smooth. Her hair blows gently in the breeze and she tries to brush it out of her eyes. She bends down and picks something up off the floor. My legs move on their own but I don’t mind. I want to see her close up. Her scent envelopes around me dulling all my other senses.

“Good morning,” I say, making her jump.

“Good morning.” She turns around and I finally get a proper look at her. She’s even more beautiful than I imagined, her skin is a nice bronze color from the sun and it looks like it would be softer than silk to touch. Her eyes are like pools of the clearest water. I could drown looking into her eyes. Her lips are so plump and look so juicy. I wish I could taste them. Her face flashes from friendly to angry. Shít, this is definitely not good.

“I’m Hayden.”

I hold my hand out craving her touch but she scoffs at me, turns on her heel, and walks away. I stand watching her, mesmerized by the way her body moves with grace.

•••

I pull my phone out and call a cab to take me back to my car. I spend the day at my office just thinking of Amelia. I can’t get her out of my mind. My phone buzzes in my jacket pocket so I pull it out to see who it is.

‘Hey, you bought the bar my sister works at’ Milo texts me.

I decided to call him instead of texting him back.

“Hey Hayden what’s up” I have him on loudspeaker so I can make a cup of coffee as I talk.

“I was going to check it out tonight. It seems like a really good investment and it didn’t look like it needed much doing to it. Do you think your sister would meet with me so I can get her opinion on what needs improving?” I asked.

“Sure Amelia won’t mind at all,” Milo said. I stopped what I was doing and stared at the phone. Of course, how could I have been so stupid to forget that Milo and Zak had a sister called Amelia? No wonder her house looked familiar to me although it has been a long time since I visited Milo there.

“Hayden are you still there?” Milo asked.

“Yes. Sorry. I’m here. So do you think your sister would be happy to talk with me tonight?” I wanted to see her again and now I had a reason to. But would she want anything to do with me if she thought I was her boss?

“Yeah I’ll call her now and ask.”

“No! Sorry. Don’t call her. Don’t tell her anything. I will go and just scope the place out first. See how things run there for myself before I talk with anyone.” This isn’t unusual for me. I will go and sit in a corner getting the feel for the place before I make any changes. Sometimes Milo will join me and we go through ideas together.

“That’s a good idea. I will be there myself. I have a date and the food is amazing there.”

“Another date?” I ask him looking at the phone.

“What can I say?” He laughs, making me smile. “Hey gotta go man just pulling up to the office.”

“Thanks, Milo.”

“No problem.” He hangs up the phone and I see him a few minutes later walking out of the elevator into his office.

•••

My day seems to drag by. It feels like every time I look at the clock the minutes start to go slower.

I’ve had enough of this. I leave the office and head home to the packhouse. I get a quick shower and dressed into something simple and head back out to the bar that I now know Amelia will be at. I park my car in the parking lot and make my way to the entrance. Her scent hits me before I even walk into the bar. I take a deep breath as I push the door open and walk inside. She is standing by the bar talking with another girl. I look around and spot a table so I go sit down. A woman comes over to take my order and as I look up I spot Amelia looking right at me. She looks away quickly and starts laughing with the girl at the bar. I can’t keep my eyes off her. I sip the drink I have in my hand watching her intently.

“Hayden, this place is great.” Devon, one of my pack members says as he sits down at the table. He’s with Preston, Leo, Joey, and Gabriel. They are some of my pack warriors and closest friends.

“Yeah I know. Will you excuse me for a moment?” I say as I stand up. I saw Amelia walking towards a group of people with some menus in her hand. I just wanted to hear her voice again. I walk towards her but she has her head down paying more attention to the floor than where she is walking. I see this as my opportunity and walk directly towards her. She walks straight into my chest, little tingles explode on my chest where she touched me, she drops all the menus she had onto the floor.

“Sorry about that!” She said as she bent down to collect the menus. I just stood watching her like a fücking moron.

“I'm sorry. I thought I would come to say hello.” I replied.

“Are you stalking me?” Her head snapped up fast and her words were clipped and harsh. She is definitely a firecracker. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She was adorable when she was feisty.

“No, just merely in the right place at the right time.” I smiled at her, I know what effect I have on women but she resisted all my charms and it intrigued me to no end.

“Excuse me, I have to get back to work.” She looked straight into my eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled in the light. She held her breath giving me hope that I was affecting her just as much as she was affecting me.

“Of course don’t let me keep you.” I moved over slightly so that she would have to squeeze past me to get to the table she was heading to. I heard her inhale a deep breath as she walked past. I watched her walk back towards the girl she was talking to earlier.

“What did the hottie say?” I heard the girl say. I smiled to myself. I hope she thinks of me as a hottie.

She glanced over her shoulder at me before turning back around. A blush crept over her cheeks.

I went and sat back down with Devon and the guys never taking my eyes off her for too long.

She was standing at the bar when a man walked straight towards her and started to talk to her. It was clear from his movements he liked Amelia. I saw her visibly stiffen, Something seemed off with him. I was about to stand up and go over to her when I saw Milo walking over to the bar. Amelia looked over at him before walking over, leaving the man alone. Relief flooded me. I watched him give one last longing look at Amelia before walking out of the bar. Milo made his way over to us and started to catch up with Devon and Preston.

“Milo, is that your sister?” I asked. I knew it was his sister but I wanted an excuse to look at her. I’m still trying to work her out. When a wolf finds their mate nothing can keep them apart. He turned around looking at Amelia and I did the same.

“Yeah, that’s Amelia.” He said a hint of pride laced his words. I watched her leave through a door carrying a large tub and my instincts screamed at me to help her but I already know one thing about Amelia, she was independent. She wouldn’t accept help from me or like it.

“See you later,” Preston said to Milo, I looked back to see Devon had his jacket in his hand ready to leave.

“Are you staying?” Devon asked me, Devon and Preston were always loyal to me and wanted to always make sure I was safe even though I’m an Alpha and can take care of myself. It was nice knowing I had people like him watching my back.

“Yeah I’ll be fine. Go home to your wife Devon.” He nodded his head at me and left.

“So tell me about your plans for this place,” Milo asked. He was moving towards a table so I followed him and sat down. We talked for a few minutes, I was actually impressed with the bar and didn’t think I should change much and Milo agreed.

“Hey Amelia, do you want a hand?” Milo shouts to Amelia, she’s now wiping down tables.

“No, but if your new friend wants one more drink he better hurry up and order. Nina is coming back with us as well so we need to swing by the supermarket so I can pick a few things up.” So Nina is her friend.

“Man, I wish we could swap places for the night. Those two together is a nightmare.” Milo if only you knew how much I want to trade places with you right now. I can’t think clearly when Amelia is close by. I need to go home and try to figure out what the hell is going on with her, why she isn’t feeling the mate pull.

“I’ll catch you tomorrow,” I say to Milo.

“Yeah sure. Are you still up for that spar session?” I really wasn’t in the mood for a sparring session with Milo he was f*****g brutal at times.

“I’ll get Amelia to book the ring for us.” This piqued my interest.

“Amelia?” I asked raising an eyebrow at Milo.

“Yeah she works at the gym I work out at, she can book the boxing ring for us so no one is standing around waiting for us and vice versa.” Milo was looking at me with a strange expression. Goddess, I’m probably showing too much interest in his sister and he’s suspicious.

“Ok, I will see you then. Goodbye Amelia, it’s been a pleasure to see you again.” I shout to the goddess walking around the room.

“What do you mean again?” Milo asks with a stern look towards me.

“Your friend there is very good friends with Zoe,” Amelia says with an edge to her voice. Is that jealousy?

“Dude really?” Milo asks me with a smirk. d**k. I know he sleeps around more than I do. Did.

“She’s an old acquaintance, nothing more. I was merely making sure she got home ok,” I said a little too quickly.

“Why the walk of shame this morning then?” So it was Amelia I saw this morning and she was watching me.

“Were you keeping an eye on me, Amelia?” I ask smugly.

“No, I just happened to look out the window and saw you sneaking out of Zoe’s with your tail between your legs. Look no judgment from me Zoe is a nice girl, she’s been around the block a few times but she’s ok.” Amelia seems upset with me.

“Nothing happened with Zoe, she was upset and I made sure she got home ok and fell asleep. That’s all.” It was sort of the truth, she did fall asleep and I didn’t sleep with her.

“It’s none of my business Hugo.”

“Hayden!” I corrected her.

“What?”

“My name is Hayden, not Hugo.”

“Your name is of no relevance to me, Howard. If you're done we need to lock up.” This has got to be a good thing right. Girls don’t get jealous of other girls sleeping with boys they have never met before unless that boy means something to them. I can’t help the smile from forming on my face. She looks so sexy standing there mad as hell at me.

“See you tomorrow Milo. Goodbye Alice!” I grab my jacket off the back of the chair and walk out back to my car.

“Amelia you are definitely going to keep me on my toes,” I say to myself as I start the car up.

•••

I get home but decide against going to bed. I need to talk to someone about Amelia. I walk across the lawn and knock on the door, a light switches on before the door opens.

“Hayden, what’s up?” My mother asks me as she pulls me into the house.

“I found my mate Mom.” She gasped loudly and started to clap with excitement.

“What is going on?” My father's voice came from upstairs. “That’s wonderful news son.” He says as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. Mom must have mind-linked him.

“I’m not so sure Dad. She doesn’t recognize me as her mate. Milo doesn’t seem to know either.” My mom drops her phone onto the floor and stares at me, she goes white as a sheet and starts to shake.

“What is it?” I ask as I help dad move her towards the sofa.

“Who is your mate, Hayden?” Dad asks me.

“Amelia Harris.” They both look at each other then at me.

“Son, there’s something I need to tell you about Amelia. She doesn’t know she is a werewolf. Milo, Zak, and Lyn have been keeping her hidden. She thinks Zak works out of town.” I look at my Mom like she has lost her mind but my dad is sitting nodding his head along with everything Mom is saying.

“Hayden, your mate is in danger.”

***A/N***

If you haven’t already followed me on Dreame then go and hit the follow button, you will get updates on stories and new releases xoxo