Seth

“You’re going through with it, then?” Jared asked.

There was a thread of shock in my beta’s voice. He shouldn’t have been surprised since I’d told him a week ago about Damien’s idea. We’d discussed the pros and cons when I’d brought it up, and I’d come to the conclusion that using the matchmaker was worth a shot. “Have you ever known me to change my mind once I’d made it up?”

“No,” he conceded. “But I’ve also never known you to agree to a crazy-ass idea like this.”

“It sounded insane to me, too, when Damien first suggested it, but then I did some digging into Gerri Wilder. I was surprised to discover how many mated couples have her to thank for setting them up. She has a damn good track record.”

“Fuck, really?” The shock had been replaced by a spark of interest. “Maybe I should come with you for this meeting.”

“I see how it is,” I chuckled. “When it was a crazy-assed idea, you were all about staying behind and protecting the pack. But when there’s a possibility that the matchmaker might be for real, you want to elbow your way in and meet her for your own selfish reasons.”

“I’m always about protecting the pack. A mated alpha and a mated beta would make it stronger,” he argued.

“True,” I conceded. He had a valid point. It just wasn’t one that swayed me into changing my mind. “But you’re going to stay behind this time. If it works out, then we can discuss the possibility of you meeting with the matchmaker in the future.”

“You never were good at sharing.”

“What alpha is?”

“None that I’ve ever met,” he sighed.

The same was true for me, and I’d met a ton of alphas in my role as head of the council. “Even if I was, I’m not sure that I’d choose to bring you with me anyway. I wouldn’t want to run the risk of pissing off the matchmaker and having her decide that she doesn’t want to help me.” Thinking about the research I’d done into the woman, another possibility popped into my head. “Or for her to decide that what I really need is a triad with you and someone she deems as our fated mate.”

Jared’s expression turned horrified. “It would take you what, an hour or two before you decided to kill me if that happened?”

“You’re my best friend.”

“Three hours. Tops.”

“Maybe four,” I laughed, knowing he was right. He hadn’t been joking when he’d said I wasn’t big on sharing; not even with my best friend. My toys had been all mine when we’d been little. Snagging food from my plate was liable to get you hurt. Even as alpha, I was selective about who I let into my private space. Nobody but me got to drive my car. And I sure as fuck wasn’t going to share the woman fate intended to be mine and mine alone. Not that I had anything against triad relationships—for other people.

* * *

I accomplished quite a bit of council and pack business using the speaker phone when I made the five-hour drive to Gerri Wilder’s apartment building the next day. The first two of those hours were spent talking to Jared, who had been shouldering more than usual for the pack over the past six months since the council was keeping me busier than normal. Once I had the pack business under control, I switched my focus to the council and that kept me occupied for the rest of the drive.

Finding a parking spot in front of her building was hard as fuck. I ended up a couple of blocks down the street. Big cities were definitely not for me. Living in one would have left me frustrated to no end. “At least I got shit done during the drive,” I muttered to myself as I waited for the doorman to call up to Gerri’s apartment.

“She says you can go straight up. She’s on the top floor,” he told me, flashing me an oddly toothy grin that had my wolf pushing against my skin.

I kept my eyes locked on his, my alpha vibes thickening the air around us, waiting for him to drop his gaze. The wait wasn’t long, only a few seconds, before he looked down. It was short enough for me to know he didn’t have a lick of alpha tendencies inside him, and that was all I needed for my wolf to back down, content in the knowledge that he was the strongest male present.

His smugness faded away when the door to Gerri’s apartment was opened and she waved me into her home. “Come in, Alpha Bashar.”

“Please call me Seth,” I offered. “If you’re going to help me find my fated mate, we don’t need to stand on formalities.” And wasn’t that a kicker? I was depending on this tiny as hell woman to help me with something as vital as my mate.

“If we aren’t going to be formal, then let me grab my stepstool. All you alphas are always so damn tall,” she grumbled as she dragged a stool over and climbed on it. Even with the extra inches it gave her, she had to crane her neck up while I bent low so she could give me a peck on the cheek. Then she clamored down, put the stool back where it belonged, and gestured towards her living room. She settled on a love seat, and I chose the chair next to it.

“I have to admit that I was surprised to hear from you. It isn’t often that I have a shifter as powerful as you who’s willing to make the practical decision to use my services. The head of the shifter council, asking little old me for help.” Her blue eyes were twinkling with humor.

“Damien was... persuasive in his argument.”

She smiled knowingly. “At least you aren’t too hardheaded.”

“There are plenty of people who would be more than happy to argue that point with you.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that Damien can be hardheaded, too.”

She was tiny, but I was starting to understand why Damien hadn’t wanted me to share his crack about her being a desperate measure. She seemed to have a knack for putting powerful shifters in their place, with very little effort.

“How does this work?” I thought about the commercials I’d seen for dating sites geared towards humans. “Do you have a survey of some kind that you need me to fill out?”

“I’m not an amateur who has to resort to those kinds of tricks,” she scoffed, scowling at me.

It had seemed like a reasonable question when I’d asked it. “Then how will you know what I want?”

Her eyes swirled from blue to a golden color. “I’m not worried about what you want, Seth. Not when I already know what you need.”

It was uncomfortable, giving that much control to another person. But when I stopped and really thought about it, my preferences didn’t matter to fate either. How Gerri managed to find my fated mate wasn’t important. I needed to remember it was all just a means to an end—my mate, right where she belonged, with me. “Is there anything I can do to help you find what I need?”

“As a matter of fact, there is.” She rose from her seat and marched into her kitchen. When she came back, she handed a brown paper bag to me. “Take this with you.”

I peeked inside the bag and the scent of freshly baked goods wafted up at me. “How will muffins and cookies help me find my fated mate?”

“You’d be surprised what some women will do for freshly baked goods.” Her answer didn’t clue me in to what she was thinking, and she didn’t look like she was going to explain it any further.

“I guess I’d better head back. I have a long drive ahead of me.”

“Where did you park?”

“A couple of blocks down the street.”

Her focus sharpened on me. “To the east or west?”

“East.”

“Perfect.” She flashed me a satisfied smile. “There’s a wonderful little tea shop near where you’re parked. You should stop in before you start the drive back home.”

“I can do that.” I didn’t actually say that I would since tea shops weren’t my thing, but I didn’t want to offend her.

I was thinking about my strange meeting with the matchmaker as I neared my car, and my wolf unexpectedly pushed for control. I reined him in, but it took more effort than it should have. Glancing around me, I tried to figure out what had set him off. I didn’t see anything suspicious, though. There weren’t many people on the sidewalk. Nothing seemed off with the traffic driving past. With all of my senses wide open, a sweet scent drifted my way. I realized what had gotten my wolf all riled up—my mate was near.