The Contrary Mate

As soon as the keynote speaker was finished, the quartet began playing again and everyone began to mill around. I finished my champagne and got another, and made more inane conversation with those around me. The dance floor opened up, as did a silent auction. I didn't bother bidding, but Lenora ensured Meteor made a hefty tax-deductable donation to the charity via the app. After chatting with me for a while, Vander and Kylie went to the dance floor.

They moved together as if they were two halves of the same person. My wolf whined. I looked away, and walked to the bar, and ordered myself a whiskey on the rocks. No need to water it down with mix when I was just going to spike it anyway.

The bartender passed me my beverage with practiced efficiency. I milled about and talked to influential people about things that didn't really interest me. Everywhere I looked was glittering finery and dazzling smiles, but it was empty.

"And how are you tonight, Wright?" Brevard moved towards me, a swagger in his step, a glass of alcohol in his hand, and apparently the most recent of a long string of women on his arm.

I was not in the mood for his posturing, but I pasted on a smug smirk just to annoy him. "Wonderful. And yourself, Alex? Are you going to introduce me to your lovely partner?" I turned my gaze onto the beautiful redhead beside him. She had wide hazel eyes and full lips that turned up in an appreciative smile as she looked back at me.

Her reaction did not get by Brevard and he frowned as he told me her name. He resentfully added to her, "This is Jack Wright."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, bringing her hand to my lips, almost entirely to piss Brevard off. Her heart raced and he tensed up. He was as territorial as a werewolf, so it was easy to wind him up if he wanted to keep challenging me like this. I hid my grin under another slight smirk while he tried to master his anger.

He opened his mouth, and his smugness had returned. "So, I hear your company's growth slowed this quarter."

He thought that would bother me, did he? I shrugged. "We were climbing at such an exponential rate, it had to begin to level out sometime. Maybe you'll have the same experience one day." It was unlikely. We'd absolutely cornered the market at the intersection of magic and tech, and there was no way that an oblivious human was going to be able to compete with that.

Before he could recoup, Vander and Kylie came back over. I pulled them into the conversation. "Let me introduce you to my partner, Vander Brenton and his wife Kylie. In the beginning, it was just he and I in my garage." We'd met back when we had studied computer science at the same college, and he'd met my sister when he came with me to visit my pack during a break. I remembered their excitement when they found each other as if it had been yesterday. That had also been the moment when my wolf had actively started longing for us to find our other half.

Shaking off my reminiscing, I clapped Vander on the back. "He's the genius behind Meteor."

Vander looked at me incredulously. "It was you as much as me, you had just the right talents to supplement where I lacked and vice versa."

Kylie smiled at Brevard sweetly before looking at Vander adoringly. I wondered if she could hear the human grinding his teeth from where she was standing. If only I could have linked them to ask.

I turned my attention back to Brevard. "Well, I should really make the rounds, but I hope to speak with you later." I looked very deliberately at the woman beside him as I finished the sentence. She smiled back at me flirtatiously.

Vander said something diplomatic, and they followed me back towards the bar. Kylie decided to check out the silent auction and Vander took her. He'd barely left her side the entire night and I couldn't blame him with all the second glances she was getting from the human males.

I watched them walk away and I turned to walk back towards my table. Across the room, I spotted an unfamiliar woman looking directly at me. She was all curves, and her sleek dark hair flowed down her shoulders like an embrace. My heart skipped a beat. Could it be?

She walked towards me, and I was sure that she was a werewolf by the flash of her wolf in her eyes. I had never seen her before, but since we weren't in official pack territory, she could be from anywhere and visiting the city. But even before she reached me, I knew the truth. She smelled good, definitely a pack wolf, but my own wolf was completely disinterested. She wasn't the one, just like hundreds before her were not, and I cursed whatever fate was messing with me yet again. For one moment I had truly believed she might be my mate.

If I were a human, I could pick any of these women to settle down with, and surely I could be content, have a good life with them. But I was a werewolf, so there was only one person who could do that for me in the most satisfying way. And she was nowhere to be found. If she even existed at all. I was starting to doubt I even had a mate out there.

"Hello," the beauty said, unaware of my rampant disappointment. Her long eyelashes swept over her dark chocolate eyes as she looked up at me. For a moment I could have sworn I detected a hint of desperation, but her smile was all friendly confidence.

"Hello, yourself," I agreed with a smile.

"My name's Charlie. Would you like to dance with me?" she asked.

I glanced towards the dance floor, then back to her, my eyes catching on the sway of her hips and the cleavage where her dress dipped. Her neck was clear of a mark and there was no trace of another male's scent, so she wasn't taken. She really was a sight for my sore lonely eyes. Any resistance melted. "I would."

She smiled more widely, and I followed her to the floor. Her body moved with sexy grace, and my interest in her rose. It had been a long time since my wolf's depression had let me feel interest in any female beyond the most superficial interactions so my interest was doubly peaked. We continued to dance, and got more drinks, and spoke, a genuinely enjoyable experience. She seemed quite tech savvy, and we seemed to have much more than even that in common. I was genuinely enjoying myself and it had been a while since I had been able to really enjoy myself at one of these galas.

Vander came by where we were sitting, Kylie on his arm. "I think we're going to call it a night, if you don't mind."

I nodded. "Just get Paul to drive you home, I'll grab a cab." If I headed home, at all. Who could say where I would end up? I mind linked my driver to take them home and not worry about me.

"Thanks for everything," Kylie said with a smile. With a little wave of her hand at Charlie, they left.

I turned my attention back to her. She smiled at me coyly. "Would you like to get out of here, too, Jack?"

"I would." The answer fell out of my mouth, and for once my wolf didn't protest.

I wrapped my arm around her, and we made our way to the door. As soon as we left the building, she pulled me around the side. I followed her happily enough and in the shadows, she pulled my mouth down to her own.

She was sweet, and I deepened the kiss as I pressed her up against the wall, her soft flesh against mine. I had been craving this for so long.

I knew that we couldn't take this much further here. I may have drank enough fairy juice to dampen my inhibitions, but it didn't take a completely clear mind to know that getting caught making out with a woman in the shadows outside the gala was not the sort of press that Meteor needed.

I broke the kiss, and whispered in her ear, "We should go somewhere else, Charlie."

Her smile was of pure satisfaction, and she grabbed my hand and pulled me back further into the darkness towards the back of the building. That was not what I had meant. I was torn between my rational mind and my appetites, and my hunger won. When we rounded the back of the building she pressed herself up against me again, and any contrary thoughts scattered.

I lifted her and pinned her up against the side of the building, my hands on her ass, her legs wrapped around me. Her breathy moans made me want to shed the layers between us. And why not, she was willing, and what was the point of—