Tory’s green gaze glittered as she stared him down. Her anger only served to make her more attractive, though, and Pierce found himself smiling against his better judgment. He was being far too bold, he knew that, but the chemistry between them was too strong to ignore.

Tory had to be feeling it, too. He had heard her heartbeat speed up when their eyes first met. That was something you couldn’t fake.

“You can’t be serious,” Tory huffed. “Has that line ever worked?”

“Don’t know, haven’t used it before,” Pierce shrugged. “Thought I’d break out some new material to try and impress you.”

“Well, it’s not working,” she replied.

“I could show you around town,” he offered. “I know all the best places. Do you like steak?”

Narrowing her eyes at him, Tory cocked her hip.

“Did you not hear me tell you I was unimpressed?” she asked.

“I did,” he replied. “But nowhere in there did you actually turn me down. I think you like this little banter we have going on,” he teased, waggling a brow at her.

For a moment, he thought he spotted the barest hint of a smile on Tory’s soft, full lips, but he couldn’t be sure.

“The class isn’t over yet and I’m working on being more polite,” she replied, and he sensed there was some truth to that.

“Ah, so you have a temper?” he asked.

“It has been said that I can come across a little rough around the edges,” she admitted, before suddenly scowling at him. “Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. If you’re here to dance, dance. If you’re here to flirt… Well, there’s the door.”

Pierce rubbed his jaw, putting on a thoughtful expression.

“Hmm,” he murmured. “And this is you being more polite, you said?”

“I haven’t punched you yet, have I?” she said, quirking a brow at him.

Pierce chuckled, unable to help it. So his new dance teacher was not only smoking hot, she was also a firecracker. His bear let out a pleased little growl. Ms. Jones was full of surprises, and he liked her more with every passing second.

“And for that, I am very grateful,” he replied, with Tory’s expression softening just a fraction. “Still, I would like to at least buy you a drink. As a thanks, for putting up with me stepping on your feet.”

“Your friends are already paying me for that,” was her matter-of-fact response.

Before Pierce could say anything else, Will interjected, raising his voice to be heard over the soft music.

“Hey, stop hogging the teacher,” he called out. “I know you’re the most in need of help, but…” he trailed off, earning a laugh from Gage.

“Is he hitting on you?” Joanne chimed in. “For the love of god, Pierce, we’re here to dance,” she chided.

Throwing up his hands, Pierce turned to look at his friends.

“Just talking,” he replied.

Joanne rolled her eyes at him.

“Right,” she commented.

“Okay,” Tory interjected, her voice carefully professional, almost no hint of her former snarky self. “Let’s move on to the right foot change.”

She turned away, walking back to the front of the room, but not before glancing over at Pierce for just a second. Was it wishful thinking, or did she look a little reluctant to end their conversation?

Either way, he didn’t get another chance to talk to Tory as the class went on, with her pairing him up with either Tina or Cindy. Pierce’s bear clawed at him, unsatisfied at having Tory so close yet having to keep their distance.

As the lesson started to wind down, with Tory going around and giving everyone some personalized advice, Pierce couldn’t take his eyes off her. Everything from the way she walked, to the way she carried herself, even to the way her hands moved when she talked was so smooth and elegant, she hardly looked real.

And the more Pierce listened to his animal side as he waited in the corner of the room for Tory to get to him, the clearer everything became.

The way he felt was familiar, even though he had never felt anything quite like it before. Things that Will had confided in him when he first met Joanne came floating back, pieces of memories swimming to the surface.

Will had never been a very poetic man, but when it came to Joanne… He had described this draw to Joanne that was impossible to resist. Pierce had teased Will then, knowing from the love-struck look on his friend’s face what was going on.

It was the sort of thing shifters always heard about, that sense that you have found something you didn’t even know you were looking for. Yet in a way, they were all looking for it, all the time. Searching for that one person.

Their mate.

The realization stunned Pierce for a moment, as he watched Tory adjust Jason’s hand on Cindy’s upper back. His bear nudged and needled him, as if to let him know he had come to the right conclusion.

Tory was meant for him. And now that the thought had entered his mind, he could no longer shake it.

He hadn’t thought himself ready for a commitment like that. Not to mention the timing wasn’t the best. He was still transitioning into filling his father’s shoes at the construction company, and he had a lot to prove.

Yet he knew logic was of little use in this kind of a situation. This was pure instinct, a primal pull, a feeling of certainty that permeated his every cell. And it was a gift. To have your soul mate, that one person in the entire world that’s meant only for you, just fall into your lap?

That was luck on a scale he couldn’t even fully fathom.

To his disappointment, though, Tory didn’t come over to speak to him as the lesson ended, like she had with everyone else. Instead, she addressed everyone from the front of the room, her hands clasped in front of her.

“You all did wonderfully, and I couldn’t have hoped for a better group for my first day,” she smiled. “Thank you, and have a nice day.”

With that, everyone started to disperse. Jason and Cindy were looking awfully cozy as they made their way to the hallway. Gage and Tina exchanged polite smiles before going their separate ways.

Pierce, though, was waiting for a moment alone with Tory. But, as he hung back watching everyone leave, his plan was foiled by Will and Joanne. Arm in arm, they cornered Tory, welcoming her to Black Oak and offering their thanks.

Slowly strolling closer, Pierce waited for his opening, only to earn a glare from Joanne. And Tory was pointedly avoiding looking his way altogether.

Sighing to himself, Pierce had to admit that perhaps this wasn’t the best time to try and win Tory over. Not only did he not want to interrupt the bride and groom, he guessed that Tory had another class coming in, and since she was already not his biggest fan, the last thing he wanted to do was inconvenience her at work.

So he slunk past the three of them, catching a part of their conversation as he went.

“…they’ll do fine,” Tory was saying.

“Yes, but I think we could use a private lesson,” Joanne replied. “I want our first dance to be perfect.”

“Of course,” Tory said, her voice echoing out into the hallway.

Pierce couldn’t help but grin.

Now that gives me an idea…