All Chapters of Warrior's human mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

JamesI took her hand and led her to the bar. Catching the bartender’s eye, I waited as he came over. I sat down on a barstool."Do you want some water again?" I asked."No, virgin mojito please." She said it loud enough for the bartender to hear."Virgin?" I raised an eyebrow, smirking teasingly.She rolled her eyes."Non-alcoholic!" Her tone was slightly annoyed, but I couldn’t help but smile at her."Why mojito?" I asked, curious to learn about her preferences."It’s refreshing, with peppermint and Sprite. I need sugar in my system after all that dancing." She smiled softly as she explained."And by the way, you’re a good dancer. I’m impressed!" She said with genuine approval.Yes! I mentally fist-bumped the air. Her compliments warmed my heart in ways as if I’ve never been praised before."You’re not the first one!" I shot back with a teasing smile. Inside, I was grinning like an idiot. She liked me more and more. I could feel it."Ha ha!" Laila threw her head back in laughter."Go

LailaI woke up to sunlight streaming through my window, its warmth a stark contrast to the dull ache spreading through my body. Stretching across my bed, I groaned as pain radiated from my neck, arms, legs—hell, even my feet and abdomen. Oh, man. I grunted again. Every inch of me hurt.But the dancing… The dancing was so nice. A small smile tugged at my lips.Then, like a stampede of wild elephants, the memories of last night crashed into my mind.His firm grip as he pulled me through the crowd. That smoldering gaze. His body pressed against mine. The heat of his touch. The way his lips grazed my neck… how he lingered, teasing, just before brushing against my lips. My breath hitched.What the f.uck did I do?Groaning, I covered my face with my hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. I should have never danced with him. Shouldn’t have taken that tequila shot. And I definitely shouldn’t have let myself hug him. Or kiss his cheek.I’d spent so much time resisting him, keeping my distance, and

LailaMy Sunday was slow—at least until noon. That’s when my boss called, sounding frantic, telling me there was some kind of disaster and begging me to help out with another project due first thing Monday morning.After grumbling and negotiating an extra payment, I agreed. For the next three hours, I typed like my life depended on it, skimming and editing at lightning speed. But by three p.m., the panic set in—I still needed to get ready for my date. I typed even faster, reread everything in record time, and finally hit send.3:20 p.m. I had fourty minutes. I could pull this off.Wasting no time, I jumped in the shower. My head was pounding from all the intense work—hopefully, the hot water would help clear it. I lathered shampoo into my hair and rinsed it out, moving on to shaving. Ugh. Why did this beauty standard even exist? Just sixty or so years ago, women didn’t shave at all, and no one cared. My spiteful self wanted to rebel, but I was too much of a coward to challenge centurie

James I smirked. “What?”"James!"Her voice carried a sharp warning. What now?"How much did this cost?" she demanded, almost angry.I hesitated. The way she asked made me want to spill the beans, but—"Why does it matter?" I said instead. "It was nothing."Her eyes narrowed, but before she could press further, the waitress arrived with our desserts—chocolate cake. I murmured a quick thanks, hoping the interruption would shift the mood. No such luck."You rich people!" she scolded the moment we were alone again. "I can’t accept this, James!"Her defiant tone threw me off."Why not?" I asked, frustration creeping into my voice.She shook her head. " I feel…Because it makes me feel uncomfortable."I frowned. "Because they're diamonds?" What was the issue here?"Because it’s expensive, James!" She exhaled sharply. "This is probably the most expensive thing I’ve ever received.""So what?"I would buy her a thousand gifts like this if she let me. She needed to start getting used to it.Her

JamesIt was Monday morning when I entered the kitchen, fresh after a shower. The morning training was the perfect way to release my frustration after the disastrous date. It was the second time in a few weeks that I had screwed things up. Lucas noticed my sour mood as he kept eating dirt during our sparring session. He commented on me being upset a lot lately, but I just growled and kept on sparring. I remember how he danced with Laila and how I kicked his a.ss badly. Since we were cousins, we were pretty evenly matched. Though he was the Beta of the pack, our sparring matches were usually 50/50. But today, I was pissed and upset, so I gave everything I had in training. It helped—I felt like I had unwound most of the pent-up energy.As I entered the kitchen, my family was sitting around the breakfast table. I plopped down on the closest chair and huffed. All the heads turned to me, four pairs of eyes filled with questions. I looked at my plate and shook my head. I didn’t want to talk