Fated From the Start

3 Day Rule

It had been several agonizing days since my amazing date with Harlow. Callan was adamant that I follow some rule from all the movies about waiting 3 days to contact her so that I didn't seem desperate. The thing was though, I was desperate. I needed her, I needed her more than I needed air. It was her or nothing for me. The guys were finally going to give me back her phone number when they got back from the office tonight and I couldn't wait.

I had convinced the guys to keep Harlow's existence and the locating of my mate a secret for now. Trying to woo my human mate was hard enough without the entire pack gossiping about why I hadn't brought my mate home with me or about what the Alpha's mate being human would mean, especially because I didn't know myself what it would mean. What I did know was that I one of the most powerful, widely feared Alpha's in the entire world and I was damn near being brought to my knees over the mere existence of a human female. The pack house, my sanctuary for my entire life, now felt lonely and cold because she wasn't in it. I felt all alone in crowded rooms because the crowds didn't contain her. My life that I was completely satisfied with a week ago now felt hollow and lacking all because a Harlow shaped hole had been punched through my existence. 

People always said that finding your mate changed everything, but this was nowhere near what I expected. Granted, most wolves found their mates and were happily building a life with them hours later, and I was playing by human rules and waiting seventy-two Goddess forsaken hours just to talk to her for a third time. 

I was slamming through cabinets looking for a snack while lost in thought, my frustration with my predicament being taken out on the hinges. I slammed the last cabinet door to find none other than Maeve Brooks, the most desperate and annoying she-wolf that ever lived.

"Hey there handsome," she cooed, trailing her fingers down my arm. My wolf wretched at her unsolicited touch. "Are you ready to accept our mateless fates and start our lives together yet?" Arching her eyebrow at me. 

"Go away Maeve" I boomed, not using my alpha tone just yet and leaving it a choice for her, but she wouldn't be so lucky if I had to tell her again. This was unfortunately a regular back and forth with her and I. Maeve was a ladder climber in the grossest way, she didn't care what she had to do as long as it got her somewhere closer to the top. She had been implying for the last few years that we should give up on finding our mates and I should make her my Luna and have pups with her. I on the other hand believed in fated mates and how special and important they were. I had no intention on ever accepting anything less than the one fated especially for me by the Moon Goddess. 

Maeve continued to eye hump me for a moment and I shot daggers at her till she finally conceded and strolled off.

"Why do you put up with her s**t? Banish her or behead her or anything that makes her go the hell away." Cedar groaned as he walked passed me, opened a cabinet I'd already angrily rummaged through three times, pulled out a bag of my favorite potato chips, set them in my hand, and then strolled away without waiting for any response from me. 

Cedar was the hardest to understand of the five of us, he was blunt and stated his mind without hesitation, but he literally always knew what you needed, big or small, without you saying a word. It was the most profound gift at times. In this moment it wasn't much, but I'd been looking for a snack agitated beyond belief for like twenty minutes and Cedar had calmed the storm in roughly three seconds and somehow left me feeling calmer than I had all day. 

I decided to take my snack to my office in the pack house to try and conquer at least one of the mountains of work piled on my desk before Brice and Callan got home. Running a large pack and an international business came with more than a little to do.

Before long Callan was leaning in my doorframe holding out his phone tauntingly and like a love sick puppy dog I launched myself at him and snatched it from his hand. Seventy-two hours without talking to Harlow was more than enough and I needed it to end. I typed Harlow's number into my phone and suppressed the urge to word vomit all over her.

Opting to shoot a *Hey* text instead.

Read.

A growl erupted from my chest at the idea that she might be ignoring me. 

Callan let out a snicker beside me and I shoved him, hard.

*Oh, so you are talking to me?* my phone finally chirped. 

I waved my phone in Callan's face, "there's your damn 3 day rule for you."

*I'm sorry, Callan said I had to wait 3 days to talk to you again or I'd seem desperate* I told her honestly. 

*Will was right, this is a RomCom* I waved my phone at Callan again.

"Stop giving me romance movie advice, she's noticing" I quipped.

*I'm doing my best, I've never done this before* I was always overtly honest with this girl.

*Like never?* she inquired.

*Never* that brutal honesty leaking out again.

Read.

*Can I see you again?* I double texted before she has the chance to comment in my awkward lack of dating history.

*I think we can make that work, do we have to wait three days?* she was making jabs at me and I couldn't help but giggle. 

*Eager to see me again?* I jabbed back.

*Honestly, yes…* My heart fluttered at her equal honestly. 

*I can pick you up in an hour?* I quickly offered.

*Harlow Day is sharing her location with you, see where she is in Maps*

*Meet you out front in an hour*

My heart started to race in my chest at the thought of seeing her again and I raced from my office to my room to grab a shower and change clothes.

Harlow POV:

Exactly one hour later Ash's sleek black 1960s mustang rolled up in front of our building, the car was a goddamn wet dream and I'm sure you could see my amazement with it all over my face. Ash was chuckling at me as he put it in park and got out to greet me. He was wearing slim fit dark wash jeans and a black v neck tee. His hair was perfectly disheveled, like he'd simply raked his fingers through it after his shower. This was the first time I'd seen him dressed casually and he was still absolutely stunning, making my heart flutter frantically in my chest. As he moved I could see the ripple of every muscle beneath his clothes and it made my mind go dirty places, and as if he could tell he shot me a cocky smirk. 

"You look beautiful," he whispered as he pulled me into a hug and dropped his head down to the top of mine. His large build practically engulfing my tiny frame. The sparks I'd come accustomed to erupting everywhere our skin touched. It felt weird being so physically comfortable with someone after knowing them for such a short time, but everything felt comfortable with Ash. We'd known each other for all of 6 days and yet it somehow felt like we'd known each other since we were 6 years old. 

"What's the plan boss?" I asked looking up at him, not yet ready to put any space between us. 

"I actually thought I'd let you be the boss. Would you like to go get food? Go to the movies? Go for a walk? Maybe watch the sunset at the beach?" He proposed, looking at me inquisitively. 

This quickly became our normal. On days I didn't have to work he would pick me up in the evenings and rattle off a list of activities for me to choose from, ranging from nature walks to arcade trips to really anything two people could do together. On days I did have to work he'd take me for coffee or lunch on his breaks from work and spend half the time insinuating that he'd really like me to quit my awful job and let him pay my half of the bills until I found something else, but he never tried to push me and understood it was important for me to support myself. We fell into this groove of never going more than two days without seeing each other and texting endlessly. We talked about anything and everything and we just generally enjoyed  company. Sometimes the guys would go do something with us or he'd invite Will along, but no matter what we were doing or who we were doing it with it always just seemed right as long as we were together.