Chapter Six
Zac
I was having all kinds of firsts today. First time at the Mates Motel. First time meeting my mate.
And now, first time at the Howling Heart bar.
I walked in, and no one batted an eye. They were all focused on their drinks or their dates. Or both.
Plopping down on one of the empty barstools, I rested my forehead on the sticky bar, not giving a shit about what kind of germs were populating on my skin.
“That bad, huh?” the bartender said.
“That bad. Give me whatever gets you drunk the fastest.”
The slim omega snickered. “Nothing is fast with us wolves, but let’s give it a shot.”
I lifted my head to see a shot glass full of clear liquid in front of me.
Goddess, this was not a good idea.
But, so far, this day was topsy-turvy, so there was a chance the wrong decision might make things right.
Nothing was making sense today, especially me.
Maybe alcohol would help.
I stopped debating and drank the shot in one go. It burned the fuck out of my throat and then down my chest. I coughed and made a noise that caused the other patrons to look at me.
“Another one,” I said.
“Are you sure?” the bartender asked, walking over. “You seem like a lightweight.”
“Well, today, I have been up almost twenty-four hours. My water pump broke. I have to stay in a motel until it’s done, and the cherry on top? I met my mate, and he’s an asshole.”
The omega’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “That calls for more shots. I’ll bring the bottle over.”
My outburst not only earned me the prestige of a bottle of silver tequila to myself, but it also garnered the attention of the people around me.
Some of them came to sit next to me and while the bartender poured shot after shot, I poured out so many details about the day and my life, it was embarrassing.
But thank the goddess the tequila took away my inhibitions. All embarrassment simply floated away.
Why didn’t I drink more often? This was amazing.
“He said all of this the first time you spoke to him?” one older man asked me. He had a trucker hat and a flannel shirt. He was a passer-through, his words. Somehow that made him safer to spill my guts to.
“Well, when we went to the motel room.”
The man shook his head. “No way for an alpha to behave if you ask me.”
“One more,” I said to the bartender.
“I don’t know, Zac. You’re drunk already. You’ve downed an entire bottle of tequila. That would kill a human.”
I scoffed. Oh, the anger was pouring in. We were at that part of the heartbreak. “But I’m not human, am I?”
“No, but I’m cutting you off. You’re done.”
“Fine.” I put a bill on the counter and began to walk off when flannel-shirt man caught my elbow.
“Hey, you don’t meet your mate every day, and Fate wouldn’t give you someone you were incompatible with.
Give the alpha a second chance. Some of us make mistakes.
Trust me. Don’t let your mate pass you by. ”
My mate. He was still at the motel.
He was next on my list, now that I was more angry than sad.
Move to the city! As though I’d never had that thought.
I had. I considered it. Considered getting the penthouse and being some hotshot healer for the rich omegas.
They would fill my pockets and I’d be living the high life.
But my conscience got the best of me. I wanted to help people, not just be rich for doing the same thing.
There were couples and omegas who needed a safe place to give birth and to have prenatal care without worry about if one of those visits would mean they couldn’t fill up the fridge that month.
Everyone deserved health care.
My grandfather’s money had given me a choice in the matter, and I didn’t take that lightly. With no mortgage and no car payment, I was free to take a lower-paying job, but the benefits to shifter kind and my community far outweighed any salary I could make in the city.
And that wasn’t the only issue with the bear.
He expected me to just throw my arms around him and give up my entire life, my roots, my friends, my career because he floated into town after his luxury car broke down.
Poor, alpha bear. His overpriced car cost more than I made in a year.
It was time for me to give him a piece of my mind.
First, I had to find the motel. I knew it was around here somewhere. Oh, maybe I was drunker than I thought.
“Let me give you a ride,” Kael said, pulling up next to me.
“Hey! Kael! Where did you come from?”
He looked at me with some disappointment. Too bad. He could join the club. I was the founding member today. We were disappointed with life in general. “The bartender called me. Let’s get you to the motel so you can rest.”
“First!” I pointed my finger in the air. Oh, the moon was big tonight. “First, I have some things to say to that big, burly, handsome bear.”
Kael shook his head. “Get in.”
Minutes later, because small town, I was dropped off at my motel room and given more advice to get some rest.
No. No rest for the wicked or the drunk. And right now, I felt like a bit of both.
“Hey, you big jerk!” I banged on the motel door. No chance of waking up any other patrons because there were none. Not even flannel guy was here. “You suck!”
There. That oughta get him right in the gut.
Ugh. I shook my head. I wasn’t making sense.
“You come in here and say, oh, hi, little mate. You’re so beautiful.” I banged louder, this time with both fists. “And then you say, come live with me in the city with my fancy car and my fancy job and my big handsome face and you don’t give two shits that I have a life here.”
I heard a groan inside. I’d woken the bear. Good. He’d come here and stirred things up. It was my turn now.
This time, I kicked the door. “Did you even hear yourself? Don’t worry. I’m big man alpha bear. I take care of you. Let me throw you over my shoulder and drag you home to my cave. Me wins!”
He said none of that, but that was how it made me feel.
I kicked some more, but the day and the tiredness and the tequila were all rearing their heads, showing me how powerful they could be.
“And now…” I said, much weaker than I’d intended. “And now you won’t come to the door, and you broke my heart and that’s not how it’s supposed to work. And…and you suck!”