Mate

Leaning against the counter, boredom was present on the features of brooding man. He held on to a glass of whiskey whilst watching the boisterous and unrestrained teenagers dance to the music.

Seated on the counter was Julia Knights. Her red locks was pulled into a bun, and she had mesmerizing, androgynous visuals. She held on to a glass of wine.

“What got your knickers in a twist, Ash?” She questioned. Being his niece, only she was able to get free pass for such disrespectful behavior towards him.

“He is probably agitated that he hadn’t yet met his mate,” Louis commented, “And I do hope he doesn’t meet her. I don’t know who she is, but I feel bad for that poor soul.”

“Don’t agitate him further. Last time it ended up with a broken jaw for you,” Aiden Hayes reminded, patting on Louis’ shoulder.

His feral instincts were especially riled up today, and not in the mood to deal with these nuisances, he voiced out, “Going out for a smoke.”

As he made his way over to the door, no one dared to approach him due to the overbearing, dangerous aura around him. He wouldn’t be hesitant to strike down anyone who tries to stop his path.

Stepping out into the porch, he stared at disgust towards the mess outside, and just as he was on the lookout for a quiet corner, an intoxicating scent hit him. Notes of raspberry and rose drowned his senses, causing his desires to be triggered, and his eyes flashed golden momentarily before he brought them under control.

No longer was he controlled by rationality as he followed after the alluring scent that drove his inner wolf to be delirious.

°°°

Once done getting the groceries, her sister drove with her to the party. After saying that she would find someone to drive Esther home, Amy got out of the car. Knowing how responsible Amy could be, Esther wasn’t worried about that.

Therefore, she was on the shotgun seat and ate the mini-doughnuts to curb her hunger for time being. Moments like these were when she hated her inability to drive.

As Esther was about to reach out for the carbonated juice, she heard knocks on the window. This made her lift her head, and she was met with a pair of familiar eyes glaring at her. Her natural instincts made her feel akin to a prey.

Although she was frightened, Esther didn’t refuse when Asher asked of her to pull down the window. Cautiously staring at him, she slowly let the glass down, causing the cool breeze to hit her face. This made her shudder.

Asher stared at tiny and delicate girl in front of him. Her skin was pale, and she had a pair of dull brown eyes. She had a hoodie on her similar colored hair, and he could easily detect the fear on her.

“A human,” he mumbled. A frown formed on his face.

Having humans as mates for werewolves wasn’t unprecedented even though they were considered a rarity. Nevertheless, the idea of mating with a human didn’t appeal to him, especially when one looked so fragile. He would easily be able to break her in one hand.

She observed her inquisitively, not quite letting her guard down. Although she didn’t understand what was it about her, she could see he felt greatly displeased. Could it be because she showed up here uninvited?

“How old are you?”

His question took her aback, and she let out, “Eh?”, confused about the situation.

However, his fierce stare prompted her to answer, “Eighteen.”

He assessed her thoughtfully. The girl didn’t look a day older than fourteen. Her behavior added on to that made the corner of his lips twitch.

“What are you doing here?”

His harsh tone made Esther flinch for a second before she responded, “My sister will send someone to drive me home.”

“You can’t drive?”

His voice ridiculed her, and as much as offensive she found it, there was no courage inside her to pick a bone with him. She merely shook her head.

He ran his hand through his hair. Signs of frustrations showed on his face, showing how he was close to bursting off. Although she had love for him, that did little to erase the fear.

“Open up,” he ordered.

Her lips parted in shock, and she looked at him with pure caution prior to asking, “Why?”

“What else? Obviously, I will drive you home,” he said before muttering under his breath: “I don’t even know why I am signing up for this.”

There was no way Asher would be sent by her sister to drive Esther home, and his record didn’t make Esther feel any sense of safety. All it did was cause her to be guarded.

“There is no need for that. I will wait for by sister.”

“Sister, sister, how pathetic! Are you a child from elementary!? This is so fucking annoying!”

After that, he slammed his hand against the car and stared at her intensely. The thick hostility in his eyes caused her heart to clench painfully, causing her to grip the seatbelt tightly.

“Look, you are going to listen to what I have to say if you don’t want the matters to get worse for you. Do you understand?” His domineering tone made her shudder.

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice was small.

He merely scoffed at her.

There was no winning against Asher for her. She didn’t want to end up being on his wrong side. There was no way she would be able to handle that. That’s why, she hesitantly unlocked the car and left a message to her sister about it.

Asher opened the car’s door. Entering in, he slammed the door shut, creating a loud noise and making Esther jump in her position a little.

“Can you fucking stop being on edge? It’s aggravating honestly. I am not going to murder you, not yet at least.”

Catching the words ‘not yet’ from him, her eyes widened. Did that mean he was planning to murder her? Could this imply she gave the responsibility to drive her home to someone who would potentially kill her off?

She clutched on to the door handle tightly, ready to jump off when anything seems off. Her actions didn’t go unnoticed by him as he started the car, and a smirk formed on his features while he locked the car.

Esther felt perplexed.

Nonetheless, not even an ounce of courage was inside her to argue. His figure that was at least twice as large as hers made her feel afraid. All he needed to do was swing that muscular arm of his to get her to fall unconscious.

Esther hated pain.

“Put in your location,” he ordered, pointing at the navigation system.

This provided her with a sense of assurance. If he followed the path exactly to her home, there wouldn’t be a need to fear him. A sparkle was there in her eyes, and she hurriedly did as his words entailed.

After that, the whole ride was drowned in silence. Esther stared at pathway on the screen, carefully making sure he wasn’t diverting in any way. As for Asher, he had his own thoughts.

The reason he chose to drive her was to observe his mate, and few minutes into knowing her, he has an intense distaste towards her. There was no way he would be a accepting pathetic being like her with no backbone whatsoever.

On top of that, she is a mere human who can easily be blown away by wind.

When the car stopped in front of their two story house, a small smile appeared on Esther’s face. Relief spread through her. She looked at Asher with gratefulness in her eyes.

But before she could utter a word, he opened the door and stepped out, harshly shutting the door following this. His aggravated behavior was disheartening.

Not delving deeper into this, she got out of the car as well and expressed, “Thank you.”

With that said, she took out the grocery bags from the backseat of the car. If it was some other situation, she would have slowly unloaded the bags, but the pressurizing presence of Asher made her balance all the bags in both of her hands.

Although he wasn’t looking at her, she had a deep feeling that he would be biting her head off if she disappear as soon as possible.

But the weight of the groceries was no joke. She swayed slightly whilst walking. The uneasiness caused her to stumble on few stones, and before she could fall, she was balanced by a pull on her hoodie.

“Seriously troublesome.”

A scowl was set on his face as he grabbed the bags from her hands and made his way over to her house’s door. He beckoned her to open the door following that, and she rushed over, doing so.

After that, he placed the bags on the floor and took a step closer to her. Esther’s back collided against the wall as she looked at him questioningly and nervously. Her heart was hammering against her chest due to various sets of emotions.

“You,” he enunciated. His deep voice sent shivers through her. “Don’t fall into my line of sight or else I will kill you off for real.”

Esther protruded her bottom lip and stared down at the ground. She played with her fingers as she nodded, and he could almost imagine the drooping rabbit ears on her.

Feeling increasingly agitated, he reached out for the cigarette pack in his pocket before walking away.

Esther, not wasting a second, clambered into her house and locked the door behind her. Her speed caused the corner of Asher’s lips to twitch, and staring at the cigarette pack in his hand, he threw it against the ground harshly.

He needed something more stimulating.