Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I found myself at a bar, “The Thirsty Wolf.”

The neon sign flickered overhead like some cosmic joke. Real wolves drowning their sorrows at a bar with a wolf in its name – the Moon Goddess must be laughing her ass off right now.

I checked my reflection in the darkened window. Mascara smeared under my eyes, hair wild from running. At least I still had my fancy blazer on, even if it was wrinkled. Just another corporate girl having a rough night, not a newly rejected werewolf whose entire life had imploded.

The bouncer barely glanced at my ID. Good thing, since my hands were shaking so bad I nearly dropped it. My wolf was still restless, pacing beneath my skin, wanting to howl our pain to the moon. Instead, I headed straight for the bar.

“Whiskey. Double. Keep them coming.”

The bartender – a burly guy with knowing eyes – gave me that look all bartenders seem to master. The “who broke your heart, honey?” look. If he only knew.

My enhanced senses picked out at least three other wolves in the bar, all carefully maintaining their human facades. One of them caught my eye and quickly looked away. Word travels fast in the supernatural community. By tomorrow, every pack in the tri-state area would know about my humiliation.

Three drinks in, and the broken mate bond still throbbed like an open wound. Werewolf metabolism was a bitch – it would take half the bottle to even get buzzed. Still, the burn of alcohol gave me something to focus on besides the empty space in my chest where Tom used to be.

The dance floor pulsed with humans lost in their simple dramas. Break-ups, hook-ups, office politics. None of them worried about pack hierarchy or mate bonds or best friends who'd been plotting their downfall for months.

“Is this seat taken?”

I turned to tell whoever it was to fuck off, but the words died in my throat. The man was gorgeous in that classic tall-dark-handsome way, but that's not what caught my attention. Power rolled off him in waves – Alpha power.

Great. Just what I needed.

“Free country,” I muttered, turning back to my drink.

He sat anyway, signaling the bartender. “Bourbon. Neat.”

His scent hit me – pine and rain and something wild. My wolf suddenly snapped to attention, interested despite my determination to wallow in misery.

“Danger”, my instincts whispered. But after the day I'd had, danger felt like an improvement.

“Rough night?” His voice carried natural authority, though he was clearly trying to tone it down.

I laughed, the sound sharp enough to make the bartender wince. “You could say that.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.” I drank the rest of my whiskey, gesturing for another.

“Fair enough.” He sipped his bourbon, seemingly content with silence.

The bar's crappy speakers started playing some pop song about betrayal and broken hearts. Because apparently the universe wasn't done mocking me yet.

“My mate rejected me for my best friend in front of our entire pack,” I blurted out. “After I caught them fucking in his bed. On that day, I was going to tell him about my dream job.”

I waited for him to walk away. Instead, he just nodded and signaled the bartender. “We're going to need the good stuff for this conversation.”

The “good stuff” turned out to be a bottle of high-end bourbon that probably cost more than my fancy blazer.

“I'm Christian,” he said, pouring us both generous measures.

“Sophie.” I didn't offer my pack name. I didn't have one anymore.

“Well, Sophie, it sounds like your ex-mate is an idiot.”

My wolf perked up at the growl underlying his words. Alpha wolves tended to be traditionalists about mate bonds. The fact that this one seemed angry on my behalf was… interesting.

“The whole pack seems to think I'm the idiot,” I said, staring into my glass. “Too strong, too ambitious, too everything.”

Christian's eyes flashed amber for a split second. “There's no such thing as too strong.”

Something in his tone made me look up. He was watching me with an intensity that should have been uncomfortable. Instead, it felt… right.

My wolf pushed forward, wanting to be closer to him. The broken mate bond ached less in his presence, like his power somehow dulled the pain.

“Want to hear something really pathetic?” The bourbon was finally hitting my system. “I just got this wonderful job at Knight Industries. Corporate world, corner office, the entire dream. I was so excited to tell Tom. Thought he'd be proud.”

Christian's hand tightened on his glass. “Knight Industries?”

“Yeah. I start Monday.” I laughed bitterly. “Well, I was supposed to. Now I'll probably be too busy being a cautionary tale about rejected mates to show up.”

“You should go.”

“What?”

Christian turned to face me fully, his expression serious. “Go to the job. Be brilliant. Show them all what they lost.”

My wolf practically purred at his words. “Strong Alpha. Good Alpha.”

I told her to shut up.

“You don't know me,” I said. “I could be terrible.”

“I'm an excellent judge of character.” His smile held secrets. “And you, Sophie, are anything but terrible.”

The bar announced the last call, making me jump. Had we really been talking for hours?

Christian stood, his full height and power apparent. The other wolves in the bar immediately looked away, submitting instinctively. Interesting.

“Let me give you a ride home,” he said.

I thought about my empty apartment, full of pack memories and lost status. Thought about Lily's text about “taking care” of my things.

“I don't have a home anymore,” I admitted.

Christian extended his hand to me. The gesture was both a question and an invitation.

“Then let me take you somewhere better.”

My wolf howled “yes”, pushing me to accept. The broken mate bond felt distant, unimportant.

Everything I knew about pack politics and wolf safety screamed that going anywhere with an unknown Alpha was a terrible idea.

But as I looked at his offered hand, I realized something – I had nothing left to lose.

And maybe, just maybe, that meant I had everything to gain.

“Where did you have in mind?” I asked.

Christian's smile held promises of danger and possibility. “Why don't we find out together?”

I placed my hand in his.

The night was about to get a lot more interesting.