I laughed at the conversation between Gabe and his cousin, I know they are close as he speaks about his family all the time but you can see it just in the way they interact together., I noted when Lexi spoke she said they’d come out to cheer Lilah up, I wondered what was wrong, was she upset over something? Though listening to the bombshell Lexi then dropped in it seems they came out to cheer her up due to matters of the heart, what had she said?…. A d**k of an ex and a psycho new mate? Guessing she’d been dating then, not unusual I guess but bit of a kick to the teeth if he found his mate so soon after shifting which I guess is what happened. Most guys would shrug that off, but I know having two sisters that they don’t take matters of the heart quite so lightly., I can imagine she would be devastated. Though she must have known it would happen at some point, unless she thought he was her mate? I hope she is ok… wait, why should I be bothered? Why is my mind drawn to this girl? Because it did bother me. Maybe it’s the damsel in distress aura she has going on, maybe my Alpha instinct is to want to protect her or something like that, who knows., But what was the psycho new mate description for? You’d just say new mate surely? Was she having issues with the new mate? f**k why did I care? None of my business? Clearly bothered Lilah enough she needed to get out and drink her sorrows away. And going off the look she gave Lexi, one so harsh if looks could kill she’d be burning in hell right about now I’d say it wasn’t information Lilah wanted sharing about either. It seemed complicated, was why I didn’t bother with relationships no more, weren’t worth the pain or the hassle. Have to say she did her best to play it off lightly to distract attention from herself, though I still hadn’t taken my eyes off her…., She was sat looking awkward, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger, now looking like she didn’t want to join in with conversations, her aqua eyes almost glazed over, staring off into the distance, I could hear her quietly singing along to the words of Summer of 69 that was currently playing in the bar., She seemed to know each word, making me smile, had to say I knew them too, one of the many songs played frequently at our family BBQs growing up. Fond memories flooded my brain of family members both past and present in my parents back garden, all laughing and joking while my dad and my grandad manned the grill, music playing loudly as kids played around……..wow, not sure where that came from, amazing what a song can do…., I looked back to Lilah, she looked so down I felt there was more going on than I knew and this girl was putting on a brave face, I don’t know why but I put my arm round her shoulder to give her a hug “you ok?” I asked., Lilah jumped at the contact, she’d been in almost like a trance state, think she was blocking out a lot of what was going on around her, I expected her to move away from my touch but she actually moved slightly toward me – did she want me to hug her?, “Maybe the night didn’t do so good at cheering me up as we’d planned….”she mused. I gave her a squeeze, the contact with her feeling good I had to say, and the fact she didn’t move away surprised me., MAKING A MOVE BOSS? Manuel joked through the mindlink., Jackass., NO SHE LOOKED UPSET, I WAS BEING A GENTLEMAN AND CHECKING SHE WAS OK, SEEING AS HER FRIENDS ARE ALL OCCUPIED, MAYBE YOU’D KNOW IF YOU WEREN’T SO CLUELESS WITH LADIES HEY? I mindlinked back knowing it was a low blow but he’d pissed me off. Manuel sheepishly looked away., I looked back to Lilah, she was back to gazing into the distance again, now singing along to the next song that had come on, weirdly the song was I will survive – thing is though, would she? Because from where I was sitting she looked to be struggling with that., She seemed to be off in another world almost, I loosened my hold on her, so my arm was still around her shoulder, more resting on the back of the booth than holding her in a hug but was there if she felt she wanted to move closer….. was it bad there was part of me that wanted her to?……, I didn’t realise the girls were quite as young as they were, hearing Lilah was only 18 shocked me, she looked a year or so older I had to say. She acted older too. I’m guessing Dan’s new mate must be a similar age or maybe a little older, not that it was important as when you found your mate that was it for a wolf, we wanted them and wanted to be with them and that was it., Most people believe it was better to find your mate soon after shifting, unfortunately for me and the guys here we were all at least 5 years past shifting and hadn’t found mates yet, well that was until tonight for Dan at least., He seemed to be completely besotted with his new mate, I was happy for him, they were engrossed chatting to each other, seemingly barely aware of anyone else around them. I can imagine they wish they were anywhere else but in a bar right now as their wolves must be going crazy inside wanting to get out to complete the mating process., We sat chatting back and forth across the booth as we drank, the music from the DJ still pumping. Lilah had since sat up so I’d moved my arm from behind her, maybe I’d been presumptuous in thinking she’d be ok with me having my arm there, maybe the moment we’d had was just a moment of weakness she’d had where she needed comforting after Lexi’s faux pas of spilling her secrets to a group of strangers., So now we sat awkwardly next to one another, her thigh next to mine…… she had nice legs I’m not ashamed to say I’d checked them out a few times, long and tanned, nice and toned though most she-wolves would have due to the amount of running they did. I could feel the heat from her thigh through the trouser leg of my pants, though the contact didn’t seem to bother her, I’m not even sure she’d noticed., Every now and again I caught the sound of Lilah singing along to the words of the songs playing which made me smile. I noticed she didn’t seem to join in with the talking much, unless directly spoken to, maybe she wasn’t comfortable or maybe she hadn’t been cheered up as her friend had hoped, that’s certainly what she’d implied when she’d spoken earlier, though I think right now her friend had other priorities., “You ok?” I nudged her slightly with my elbow., She looked a little taken aback but nodded “yeah sure”, “Lexi said they brought you out to cheer you up, maybe I shouldn’t ask but is everything ok?” I dared to ask with a small smile. oh ok, the look of shock on her face was evident, maybe that wasn’t a good question… f**k… erm.. I’m an Alpha, how can I be this bad with ladies. Maybe it’s because I’m an Alpha that I ask stupid question like this? The incessant need to know what was going on., I could see her brow furrowing with either confusion or annoyance, I wasn’t sure which? Why did I speak? Seriously now?! “Sorry maybe I shouldn’t have asked, they say they brought you out to cheer you up but you don’t look that happy to be fair sweet”, What the actual f**k?! That was even worse, I’d turned into a complete blathering fool now! I’d literally took the piss out of Manuel for being no good with the ladies and here I was being just as bad!Not only had I asked her what was wrong I pretty much told her she looked miserable! Wow! Not to mention calling her sweet again!, She looked at me with her eyebrows raised clearly in shock, her face a mixture of emotions, I thought for a second I had upset her and felt like a complete arse, but then she laughed, and it was the sweetest sound I’ve heard “oh thanks for that Alpha” she said as she prodded me in my ribs with her finger ” so I look miserable do I?” the contact took me by surprise but yet it seemed a natural thing for her to do., “Hmm maybe a just a little” I winked, as she feigned shock before sticking her tongue out at me. This girl was something else, definitely sweet I could see that, almost addictive in her smile and her laugh, a hint of cheekiness there to tease if I pressed the right buttons, maybe sitting here chatting to her for the night wouldn’t be so bad…….., Search the website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.