6. Niles
6
NILES
It took a few seconds before I realized I was awake. My face hurt, but I managed to force my eyes open and look around. Everything was unfamiliar, including the bare walls in front of me. I wasn’t at the bar anymore.
Someone's hand was wrapped around my wrist, and I instinctively pulled away.
A foggy memory of some grabby guy at the bar came to me, and I was fairly sure I fell…but I couldn't remember anything else.
Where was I? I wasn't home, and I wasn’t alone. “You’re safe, Niles.”
My heart started racing, but then I picked up the scent. His scent. My mate. Like fire and smoke and wet earth all at once, the delicious aroma wrapped around me and made me feel safe. It’s him. He’s here. Our mate.
A guy stood there—an alpha—tall and lanky and watching me too closely. He looked like a stranger, but when I inhaled deeply, the unmistakable scent of my mate hit me again. My gut twisted with hope and fear and…need. If this guy wasn't one of my mates, how did he smell like them? And why did my heart catch like it recognized him?
"Am I going crazy?" My voice sounded weak and shaky, even to me. He wasn’t the man from the breakroom or the guy at the table… He was someone new. "Where are the other guys? Where are my mates?" The more I spoke, the more ridiculous I sounded. “Who are you?”
The guy looked almost guilty. Like a kid who’d stolen a cookie but wasn’t going to give it back. "You hit your head pretty hard."
"You’re telling me I imagined those other guys? You? Them? That we aren’t—" The words stuck in my throat.
He watched me as he spoke, weighing his words. "You've been out a while, Niles. I saw you at the bar and wanted to get you somewhere safe, but you're still confused."
"Confused?" The word broke into a laugh, more wild and ragged than I meant it to be. "You're just another one, aren't you? Another you."
Why did my wolf seem completely calm when I was losing my mind?
He winced. “Not exactly.”
I didn’t get it. I couldn’t let myself get it. He looked different, but I still sensed who he was. The man beside me was my mate. "It is you." My voice was pleading for something real and solid to hold on to. “Please tell me the truth.”
"Okay, fine. I'm Rigg." He sighed and came to sit beside me. “I’m the one you met in the breakroom…and at the table.”
I didn't know why that name made so much sense. "But you don’t look?—"
"I know." I almost didn’t hear his whispered confession, and even though I did hear it, I still didn’t understand. "I'm him. I’m your mate, omega."
Rigg kept his eyes on mine, searching like I was a code he had to crack. Then he stopped and took a deep breath. “Don’t be afraid.”
What? “I’m not.” It was true. I should have been, but I wasn’t. My wolf knew with certainty that we were safe with Rigg. “Why would?—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Rigg changed into a completely different person. A gorgeous man who looked slightly wider and older than the guy in the breakroom but younger and sexier than the guy at the table. And the complete opposite of the man I’d woken up next to. He was watching me closely, keeping a cautious gaze on me. “This is the real me.”
I wanted to touch him and feel the solidness of his arms to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. “How?”
“Same way you turn into a wolf.” He smiled softly, keeping his voice low. “I don’t have any animals in me, but I shift into people.”
“Where are we?” His explanation felt genuine, so I skipped the obvious questions about his genetics and focused on where we were. “Do you live here?”
“No, we’re next door to the bar in an empty restaurant. But you're safe.” Rigg reached for my hand, and as soon as he was holding it, we both sighed out loud. “I just needed to make sure you were safe.”
A flush came over my face when I remembered what I did in the breakroom. “Oh, um, sorry about earlier. I promise I’ve never attacked a stranger before, but…I just knew, and my wolf couldn’t be stopped.”
He grinned and gave my hand a squeeze. “Don’t apologize. I was pretty hot.”
Would he be different every time I saw him? “This is what you really look like? Do you have a permanent face?”
“This is me.” He smirked. “Hope you’re not disappointed.”
Now that I knew who he was, I couldn’t see him any other way. “You’re gorgeous.” The words came out before I could censor them. “I mean, no, I’m not disappointed.”
He chuckled and pulled my hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across my knuckles. “You’re pretty gorgeous yourself. And that mouth…” His eyes glinted with desire as his gaze lingered on my lips.
“So, now what?” I sat up and wrapped my other hand around his and held on so he couldn’t disappear again. “I’ve never had a mate before.”
“That’s a relief.” He grinned, and I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Neither have I. But now, I guess we need to get you home. Did you drive to work?”
“Yeah.” I pressed my hand to a bump on the back of my head. “I think I’m fine now. I should get back to work.”
“You’re concussed. And even if you’re not, you’re not well enough to be on your feet for a few more hours.”
That was a good point. My head was pounding, and it wouldn’t feel better until I shifted. “I need to let my wolf out. Shifting will make me feel better.”
Rigg bit his lip like I’d said something fascinating to him. But he already knew my secret. He’d just asked me about it. “Yeah, good idea.” He stood up and reached for my hand. “Let’s go find a place.”