Chapter Eight
Quill
My mind was still reeling from everything that had happened in the last few hours.
I had two mates. Two. The prospect had never occurred to me. Not even in my deepest, most private fantasies.
Rafe was gorgeous, sharp-witted, smart. And he was an alpha. I didn’t have any problems with that part of it. Alpha/alpha pairings weren’t uncommon in my prickle. I just never really thought about it much. And now, I had the best of both worlds, or I would soon if we could locate and contact our human omega, Pierce.
“We need to find him and talk to him, at least,” Rafe said.
“He’s human. He doesn’t even know about this world. Our world. Will he even feel the pull of Fate like we do?”
“Of course he does. He’s a human omega. That’s very rare, but it means he’s compatible with us. It means, he’ll feel the pull even if he doesn’t understand it. We need to find him and be there for him. If we don’t, he could suffer.”
The thought of one of my mates suffering made my heart squeeze uncomfortably. I reached out to Rafe and took his hand in mine. Skin-to-skin contact sent a surge of longing throughout my body. My thoughts went back to our shift. How beautiful he was in his human form as he gracefully took his wolf shape, all golden and sleek in the woodsy shadows.
He is our mate for life, my porcupine tittered. I love wolves. I want him.
“You used to be afraid of them,” I muttered under my breath.
Rafe looked up. “What?”
“Sorry, sometimes I talk out loud to my beast.”
“I do that, too.”
“My porcupine just said he loves wolves.” I smiled, pressing my lips tightly together. “He’s always been afraid of them. But not anymore.”
“I hope our omega is as quick to accept me. Us.”
“Are you sure you don’t have any more information on him than just that text to meet?”
“Just his first name and phone number, and he isn’t answering.”
“Try again.”
Rafe picked up his phone and pressed call. I couldn’t hear anything over the noise around us in the club, but I could see the screen. It was ringing. Finally, it went dark. There wasn’t even a way to leave voice mail.
Our eyes met. “He’s scared,” I said.
“No. Not scared. Disappointed. I was looking for someone to play a role for me so I could get a promotion. I’m not proud of that, but you have to understand I really thought we all only had one mate in a lifetime. Mine’s gone forever. When Pierce walked up to me, I was unprepared. Totally caught off guard.”
“Maybe when the feelings get powerful enough for him, he’ll call back.”
“Or maybe, if we concentrate really hard, we can call him back through the fated mate bond,” Rafe said.
“I’ve never even met him. I think I feel something, but doesn’t a bond take time to form?” I asked.
“I don’t know. All I know is when I saw you, there was instant recognition in my mind, like a conduit opening up after being closed off for too many years. I feel like I know you—or have known you my whole life.” He gripped my hand harder, warm and strong.
“It was the same for me.” I took a deep breath. “Tell me more about Pierce. Is he tall? Short? What color is his hair?”
“Brown hair. Intensely beautiful blue eyes. Definitely shorter than we are.” He sighed loudly. “He’s lovely, actually. The most beautiful omega ever.”
“That’s easy for me to picture. I can almost see him in your mind’s eye.”
“Also,” he added, “he smelled of peaches.”
“That must’ve been the peach cobbler scent I smelled before my interview.”
Rafe tilted his head. “That’s exactly it. Peach cobbler.”
We stared at each other, continuing to bask in the memory of that scent. Clearly, it got our blood flowing. He was ours. There was no doubt.
“He’s got to be feeling like he wants to come back. This is too strong of an urge to ignore.”
Rafe shrugged. “Maybe humans are different.”
“We may be shifters, but we have a human form and live in a human world, too. I don’t think we’re all that different.”
“Me, either.”
“What will we do if he doesn’t return?”
Rafe’s eyebrows came together as his mouth turned down. “I don’t know.”
“I couldn’t live without you now that we’ve met. If it was just us…”
“I feel the same. But without Pierce…” His words fell away.
I leaned closer to him. “It would be like losing another mate. I know.” I clasped him on the shoulder with my free hand.
“Let’s wait a little longer,” Rafe said. “The club closes late. Let’s stay until closing. He knows where we are right now. If he comes back, we’ll be here.”
It was a sound plan. And the only plan we had going for us at the moment.
We ordered more drinks and caught ourselves gazing into each other’s eyes at least half a dozen times.
Rafe bent to me just before I looked away and kissed me on the cheek. “You’re so perfect. I’d go home with you in a flat minute. But someone’s missing.”
“Too bad. But I completely agree.” I put my hand on the top of his thigh and ran it down to his knee. My eyes warmed, the emotion of not being able to touch him intimately or even just kiss him, hitting hard.
“What if our little omega doesn’t return?” I asked.
“Trust Fate, I guess.”
“I guess.”
“It’s hard for me to trust when I found my first mate too late. Fate has not been friendly.”
“Until now hopefully.”
He lowered his gaze.
I lifted my hand to the bartender and ordered another round of drinks.
Soon it would be me behind that long bar. I’d only applied for the job in the hopes of finding new people and my mate. But before I could even begin, I’d done that. I didn’t need to keep the job. But as I thought about it, I loved the idea of working here. The atmosphere felt energetic and different. Corporate had been a totally different vibe, and I was ready for change. Slinging drinks would be fun. The starting pay was lower than I was used to, but I reminded myself there’d be tips. And as I observed the crowd, I noted most customers were tipping big.
“If Pierce doesn’t come back tonight, maybe he’ll come another night. I’ll be working here. I’ll definitely scent him as soon as he walks in.”
Rafe nodded. “He’ll feel the pull. He’ll come. He’s got to.”
“Right. That’s what will happen. I’m sure of it.”