Chapter~13~The walk of shame.

Harley~

My eyes fluttered open, and I smiled at the sight before me of the massive chest my head was lying on. I snuggled into him further, thinking This is one hell of a fantasy I am having! Heat runs through me as I inhale his scent, fighting the urge not to rub my face all over every inch of him in front of me.

Then reality set in, and my bliss lasted about half a minute more before I knew I wasn't dreaming. The wolfman was real, last night happened, and I had just mated him! Rae is growling at me in protest as I ease away from him and off the bed.

Oh my goddess, what have I done?! Thankfully, much of last night is foggy still; I am no better than the prostitutes I ran off from McGilleys. Wolfman stretched in the bed, and I froze in my tracks for a moment, thinking I had woken him up.

'His name is Nick!' Rea said. 'Where are you going?'

I scrambled in the dark to find my strewn clothes and get dressed. ‘Back to reality, Rae.’ I'm already moving toward the door and easing it open.

'You can't just leave; they're our mates, Harley. I don't want to leave them, and neither do you.'

'Shut it, Rae,' I eased the door closed behind me and slumped against it. 'He can't be, not now.'

Across the street and into the parking lot, I ran to my car and got in. I've felt his dark chocolate eyes on me since I exited the motel. From the driver’s window, I saw him in front of the window in the room I had fled. I swallowed hard at the sight. Nick is, hands down, the most gorgeous man I have ever seen.

He has to be over 6ft tall and is as broad as a board, with a body made for loving. His dark, wavy hair hung to his shoulders and felt soft between my fingers. And his lips, oh my, were they delicious and long for another taste? I can't deny my attraction to him, nor can I explain his pull on me. The need to be close to him clouds my better judgment, but that doesn't make him my fated mate.

'No, Selene did that for us. You can't fight destiny, Harley.'

'Mating with anyone is not possible for me, especially an Alpha. In doing so, I might as well paint a bullseye on both our backs.'

Before I change my mind, I peel out of the parking lot. The past few hours with Nick were also hands down the best sex I’ve ever had. I park the car and drag myself up the stairs to my apartment. Washing his scent from my skin is something I dread, but I won’t ever forget it. My bed is calling to me, but I dry off, dress, and head back to the boulevard to snuff out Peter.

He is right on the corner where the shop owner said he would be. He spots me before I get out of my car and packs up his merchandise as I approach him.

"Where are you going in such a rush, Pete? Drop the bag and step away."

He does. "Detective, I didn’t steal any of it, I swear. I found the items in a dumpster behind the strip mall."

Before responding, I kneel and go through the bag. "Did you find any gloves in the dumpster, Peter?"

"They took all the gloves from the truck before I got there." The look on his face was one of shock, then regret for the slip of the tongue.

"Did you get a good look at anyone other than yourself looting the truck?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe a couple."

Standing, I picked the bag up from the ground. "Ok, Mr. Piper, I’ll make you a deal. I won't cause a scene hauling your ass out of here for receiving stolen merchandise. If you come down to the station and give a description of who you saw."

"No one can see me going all free Willy into the police station. I could kiss my business goodbye!"

"Okay, let's go. Then, put your hands behind your back; you just picked your poison." My hand goes to my back to retrieve my handcuffs.

"Alright. Alright, I will come this afternoon."

"Good choice, Pete, my man, didn't make me have to come find you."

I walked back to my car, tossed the duffel bag of stolen goods into the backseat, and got inside. I called into the station to inform the captain that I had found our dealer and that he would bring his pickled, peppered, picking ass into the station. My next stop was the city impound. I put my car into gear as my mind filled with my wolfman.

If he had come here looking for his Luna, I can't blame him for deciding I am not the right choice. Running off into the night with an unknown man to make passionate love wasn't something I did every day or had ever done before, but he didn't know that. Why what he thinks of me is suddenly so important, I didn't know, but I decided instead to go back to the motel and straighten out a few things.

The eyes on me don’t seem to matter as I exit my car and head for his door, expecting him to be waiting on the other side, but he wasn't. My heart sank with the realization that he was gone. Housekeeping hadn't cleaned the room yet, so I closed the door behind me and moved over to the bed. I picked up his pillow and held it to my face. That's the stuff! I removed it, folded it, and tucked the pillowcase into my jacket before quickly exiting the room.

The disappointment that goes through my wolf's heart hurts mine as well. ‘Rae, I am sorry.’

'You should have stayed with them.'

'Stop dismissing the fact that they left us, too. No good could have come from it. Would you want me to drag them in the middle of my father and the stalker if they are our mates? Not to mention that the alpha will not leave his pack to come help me chase bad guys. Either way, I don't see a future between us and the Wolfman.'