Torn between two lives

My Mate

He knew something was off the moment he made eye contact with the woman pulling out of the parking lot. His heightened senses had picked up the most minute details for seemingly no reason, from the music playing in their truck to the wisps of strawberry blonde hair falling in her eyes, her beautiful, hazel eyes. Looking at her was feeling a flame and not getting burned, all warmth and safety and without even smelling her, his wolf stood to attention in the back of his mind. Eric didn’t even realize he had turned around and began to follow the older Chevy, his feet simply moved on their own accord. He watched as she cranked the wheel, backing into a semi-tight spot with relative ease and turned off the engine. He almost missed making him recognise the sound, Marc was pulling into campus and texting him he was here.

Eric was hypersensitive to the girl’s movements and could hear her gasp, he looked up to see her seemingly brace for impact just as the large truck barrelled past him and straight at where she stood in front of the open car door. The wind shifted as he sprinted towards her, his wolf howling, “Mate, mine, mate!” Eric didn’t think as he used his advanced, werewolf speed to pounce on her, his foot accidentally hooking the edge of the door so it was left ajar.

He had meant to get her out of harms way but in the enclosed truck, the smell of her overwhelmed him: mint, earth and apples. A scent he could never not smell again. Eric had her pinned to the seat, the cooler pushed to the far side of the passenger seat, his knees locked around raised ones, when he had gone to push her, he accidentally tackled her, leaving his face buried in her neck, his wolf demanding he mark her immediately. The hint of her arousal permeated the enclosed space and he almost gave into his animalistic instinct.

She was breathing heavily and when he lifted his head to make eye contact, she was blinking rapidly, as if processing what had just happened. Finally, she quietly whispered in a dumb founded voice, “You…you were in the parking lot.” He could see her trying to piece together what had just happened and failing so he quickly made up an excuse.

“Yeah, parking is a b***h and I forgot my pen in the car….” Eric almost cursed, realizing she might as to go with him there, when in reality he had jogged from the woods, where the pack house was hidden a few miles back. Parking was a mess on the small campus and he had no desire to deal with it, although Marc did, with his stupid truck he had gotten for his birthday. He almost growled out loud, thinking that his pack brother had almost killed his mate, his Luna. Eric stroked the girl’s bangs from her eyes, using it as an excuse to touch her, as if he were checking for injuries and not marking his scent further on her. “Are you alright?”

She grinned sheepishly and was about to reply when the passenger door swung open, ruining the moment and revealing them in a compromising position, if John didn’t know better, he would think his friend and roommate was using the truck for the purpose he had bought it for, as the man was looming over her and her face was flushed.

“I swear to god, Liz, if you hadn’t just almost died, I’d kill you myself right now.” For a moment, Eric thought the man to be her boyfriend as both of their scents were in the cab of the truck and his wolf began to pace, demanding the removal of his would be competition.

His mate laughed, an adrenaline-fueled smile on her face, “For what? For almost getting hit by that asshole or for almost making you late to the hot professor?” Eric studied the two from his vantage point and noticed the book in John’s hand, the required reading for Bayne’s course and he almost sighed in relief.

“Um, as nice as this is, could you get off of me?” A sheepish voice, Liz, he thought, asked, he could hear her elevated heart rate and wanted to bury his face into her pulse point but begrudgingly kicked open the skewed driver’s side door instead and climbed off of her, reaching out a hand to help her up, not quite ready to give up physical contact just yet. “Take her and run home, claim her” His wolf was insistent but Eric knew immediately she was a normal human, not quite open to the idea of being bitten by a guy she had just met and most likely not aware of their bond at all. For the first time since he was a child, Eric felt he could cry from frustration.

She took his hand and he heard her gasp slightly, did she feel the electricity of their touch, too? Lurching herself forward, still blushing, his mate spoke, “I’m Eliza, by the way. Thanks for saving me from being roadkill.” Eliza, the love of his life’s name was Eliza. The name rattled him to the core, Luna Eliza, his Eliza. She stared at him questioningly for a moment before asking, “And my knight in shining armor's name is?”

He smiled breathlessly, “Eric…” He had to remind himself not to include his rank and pack, he would tell her everything soon enough. Eliza giggled, so pure and innocent, he was addicted to the sound and didn’t even realize she was laughing because he was still holding her hand until she let go first and he had to hide his disappointment.

“It’s nice to meet you Eric,” She glanced behind her and Eric followed her gaze just in time to see John shooting her an approving look and then glance at his watch. Eliza frowned, realizing the time herself and they both realized they still each had classes to get to. “I’d say I’d buy you a coffee to say thank you but I have to get to class, rain check?” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, opening it to the contact page and handing it to him. He wanted to never leave her side, but coffee was a good place to start. How did she like it, he wondered, sweet and with too much creamer, black and bitter, a stop along the way between the two? He wanted to know everything about her.

Eric took her phone and typed his name and number, hoping that maybe she would add an emoji next to it later. He was so busy staring at her he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching until John starting yelling, “Hey asshole! Maybe get your face out of your f*****g phone before you kill somebody!” Eliza was wide-eyed but not seemingly not surprised, turning to glare herself at the man approaching.

“What?” Marc asked quietly, phone still in hand and using it to track Eric’s location. Eric opened the mindlink between them and unleashed his fury, “You were texting and almost killed her. MY MATE.” Marc almost jumped out of his skin and quickly began to apologize to the trio before him.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea!” He almost whimpered, more scared of what Eric would do to him later than anything. It was Eliza’s turn to be angry and Eric thought she looked surprising fierce for having no wolf, perhaps the mate bond coated her with his alpha aura.

“That makes it worse! Keep your phone away, you i***t! You think I wanted to get tackled by some hot stranger on my first day of class?!” Eliza lost all ferocity the moment the words left her mouth, her hand darting up to cover her oh so kissable lips. Eric’s wolf growled with pride, she thought they were hot.

“So we’re going to go…” John quickly cut in, grabbing Eliza gently by the shoulder and pulling her away from the two other men. Very quietly, Eric growled at the sight of another man touching his mate. It didn’t matter to his wolf whether John was attracted to women or not, she was his. When John and Eliza were a few feet away, far enough that a normal person couldn’t hear them, Eric and Mark listened intently to their conversation.

“Did I say that out loud? Oh god…” Eric could feel her blushing from here.

“Yes, yes you did. Would you prefer carnations or lilies at your funeral after you die from embarrassment?” John asked in a jokingly serious tone. Eliza rubbed her face as if she could scrub the embarrassment away.

“Lilies, please.” She groaned.