Unexpected Mate

It was closing time at the bar, that quiet time after the jukebox had been unplugged and the last drinkers were finishing up and telling their final jokes.

Jason—the bartender and Kai’s close friend—was wiping down tables and putting chairs upside-down on top so the floor could be mopped.

Kai listened to the sound of fading laughter as the last customer went out the door. Then, feeling content, he went downstairs to haul up some cases of beer for tomorrow.

He moved behind the bar and set the three cases he was carrying down. As he stood up, a girl—at least he thought it was a girl—slipped in the door.

She was dressed in an oversized hoodie and a black pair of sweatpants that were at least two sizes too big. She was barefoot. Golden hair hung down from just one side of the hood, which hid her entire face.

She was gripping her right side tightly, and Kai’s gaze shifted to her hand. It was bloody. Almost silently, the girl slid into a booth and sidled deep into the corner.

Jason gave him a look over the bar, so Kai grabbed a glass of water, then went over to the booth and set the glass down in front of the girl. He could smell the fear rolling off her.

Keeping her eyes down, she reached for the glass with her free hand. “Thank you,” she whispered weakly, then picked up the water and drank it all down.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ll be okay. Just need to rest.”

“Kai!”

He turned to see Jason pointing at his ears and nodding toward the outside.

Kai looked back at the little thing cowering in the corner of the booth. “You running?” he asked as he heard hurried footsteps—boots—approaching outside.

“I’ll leave.” She slid over and tried to stand, but a moan of pain escaped her lips.

“Which pack? I smell wolf all over you.”

She peered into his eyes, then hung her head. “Red Dawn,” she whispered.

“That’s all I need to know. Follow me.” He turned and led her to the back hallway. “Red Dawn, Jason!” he called out over his shoulder.

“Shit!” he heard Jason exclaim.

Kai stopped in front of the women’s room. “Take off your hoodie,” he ordered.

She eyed him but complied, lifting the hoodie over her head. She was wearing a bloodstained white tank top underneath, and there were lash marks up and down her bare arms.

It was obvious this girl had been badly abused.

Kai took the hoodie into the bathroom and draped it over a stall door, then stepped back into the hall and handed her a small bottle from his pocket. “Spray yourself. It’s a scent blocker.”

She took the bottle and sprayed her neck, and he nodded and went to open another door just down the hall. “My office. Sit tight in here while Jason and I talk to your pack members. They’re coming in hot.”

“Not my pack,” she mumbled as she slipped by him.

She sat down in a chair, still gripping her side. Blood oozed between her fingers. He frowned.

~“Three coming in, boss,” Jason mind-linked.

Kai returned to the bar after he closed and locked the office door. Jason was restocking the cases of beer, so Kai grabbed a towel and started wiping down the bar top.

When three males walked in, he looked up. “Sorry, fellas. Bar’s closing.”

“Don’t want a drink,” the biggest one growled. “Looking for someone.”

They were a mangy bunch. Dirty and rough-looking. Hair all wild, with almost feral snarls on their faces.

“You’re looking at all who’s here.” He stood taller.

“We can smell her!” a second guy growled.

Kai came around the bar and met their stares head-on. “I’m Kai Winslow. This is my bar and my pack. Which pack you from?” He was not liking the attitude of these men.

“Red Dawn,” the first one answered, pushing his chest out. He was clearly their leader.

Kai stared him down, his alpha aura pushing forward till the guy backed up a step. “As I said, we’re the last ones here.”

“Yeah, well…we can smell her,” the skinniest one of the bunch repeated nervously.

Kai moved his eyes to him. “Go ahead and look around. Ain’t much to see.” He waved his arm, and the skinny one moved toward the back hallway while the other two looked under the tables and in the booths.

Skinny hollered out and came back with the hoodie in his hands. “Found this in the ladies’ room! Got her scent all over it.”

The big one grabbed it and shoved his nose into the fabric. “It’s her.” He turned to Kai. “Where did the girl wearing this hoodie go?”

Kai glanced back at Jason. “You serve a girl wearing this hoodie?”

“No. But she could have come in during the pack meet we had. We were pretty busy,” Jason responded.

“Sorry, fellas. Can’t help ya.” He shrugged. “She a runaway?”

“Ain’t none of your business,” the big one said.

Big Guy gulped. “She belongs to our alpha. He…he wants her back. They had a disagreement and she took off is all.”

Kai could hear the lie in his words. “What does she look like?” he asked. “Apparently she’s hurt—I can smell the blood on that hoodie—so maybe she’ll look for help here in my town.”

“Small,” the second answered. “Little thing, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Scar above her left eye. I think she’s around sixteen, maybe seventeen years old.”

“She your alpha’s mate?” Kai asked.

“He just wants her back,” the big one snapped. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Yeah? Well, tell your alpha he needs to check with me before hunting down anyone on my pack lands. Next time I might take it as an act of aggression and retaliate.”

“Do you know who our alpha is?” Big Guy asked.

“Yes, I do. Draiden Meyers. Son, Cole. I know very well who he is. He was my uncle. Which one is asking for the return of this girl?”

“Cole. He’s the alpha now. Alpha Draiden retired,” the second answered.

“Well, you tell my cousin I expect a phone call. I want an explanation. In the morning!” Kai pointed at the front door and growled, his wolf surfacing. “You gentlemen are done here.”

The three Red Dawn wolves turned around and left. Taking the bloody hoodie with them.

Meadow sat quietly in the office chair, her hand pressing into her side to try to stop the blood flow. She was getting lightheaded. The dirty son of a bitch had used a silver knife on her—that must be why it was taking so long to heal.

She knew she was in another wolf pack’s territory. She didn’t know the name of this one, but she felt safer here than she’d felt in a long time.

The Red Dawn was a bunch of misfits. The current alpha picked up strays and made them pack members willy-nilly.

Alpha Draiden had never hit her or singled her out for abuse, but his son Cole was always finding ways to make her suffer.

She had to clean the entire pack house all on her own. She cooked, cleaned, and did the books. She was brutalized any time the whim overtook him.

And now he’d tried forcing himself on her. He was drunk of course, but that didn’t mean the next time he wouldn’t be successful.

She heard a noise at the door, and her eyes shot in that direction.