I couldn’t stop thinking about the omega mechanic at the garage. His cute, lilting voice ran through my dreams all night, leaving me little time to rest.

This was new.

I swiped the fog from my bathroom mirror and stared at myself. I was good-looking, I supposed. I’d been told that before, and not just by my mother. I was tall, I worked out, I ate well, I got semi regular haircuts. I had my fair share of drinks bought for me and plenty of eye-sex from omegas at bars and restaurants when I went out. Which wasn’t often. What would Rudy think of me?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter what some omega car mechanic thought of me. I didn’t have time to get involved with someone right now. I was starting grad school and my own business, all while working in my family’s real estate development and construction company. I was a busy guy. A busy guy who couldn’t stop thinking about a car mechanic.

Tossing my towel at the mirror, I turned away. There was only one way to get the omega out of my head and that was to meet him. Once I saw him, probably dirty from being in a garage, whatever little spark of attraction we had over the phone would dissipate. There was no way he was as adorable as his voice.

That thought stayed in my mind as I dressed and called down for a car. Sitting in the backseat of the driverless cab, I watched the city flash by outside the windows. As we passed over the river and headed toward the Paisley neighborhood in the northeast of the city, I wondered where the mechanic lived.

Did he live in the Paisley? It… wasn’t the best neighborhood in the city, but how much did mechanics make? Stelline was modern in all respects and we’d come a long way in improving the lives of the citizens. There was free medical care, free public transport, even hostels that gave new citizens two free weeks of board, but that didn’t mean we were without problems. The Paisley was a poorer area of town. Most of the manufacturing businesses were located along the edges of the Paisley and the working poor made their homes in the brick high-rises that towered above the defunct smokestacks. It was also where businesses like garages and scrap yards were located. That was the only reason I was headed there now.

After a few twists and turns through the Paisley’s littered streets, the cab pulled up to the garage where my car was located. The building was spotless but ragged at the edges, run down in a way speaking of wear, not neglect. The dark grey head of an older man was visible through the wide office windows.

I swiped my thumb over the paypad and stepped out of the cab. It pulled away from the curb without a sound.

I turned back to the windows. There was no way the grey-haired man inside was Rudy. It wasn’t possible the adorably flustered voice belonged to the craggy man behind the counter. I tugged at the lapels of my overcoat and pushed open the door. The air inside was warm and faintly metallic.

“Help you?” the older man grunted in my direction without looking up.

“Good morning, yes. I’m Jason Marks. I’m here to pick up my Triad X.”

“Tech just finished. I’ll get your paperwork.”

The tech. He must have meant Rudy. Looking around, I searched the building for someone younger, someone who stayed in my dreams all night.

“Need you to fingerprint these,” the older man mumbled, and shoved a dirty machine across the counter toward me. I pressed my thumb to the dingy glass plate and scanned the rest of the room. An old printer rumbled behind the counter and spat out a stack of papers. The man grabbed them and shoved them at me. I didn’t think he meant actual paperwork. Who used real paper anymore?

“In the bay.” The man jerked his thumb toward a door to the side. “Rudy’ll help you.”

Rudy. He was here. Just beyond the metal door with the strips of peeling paint. Suddenly I was more than a little apprehensive about stepping out into the garage bay. Something in me wanted to keep him just a voice on the phone. A small voice inside was telling me that if I stepped through that door, that if I laid eyes on Rudy, my life would change forever.

Fated mates. It was something I’d heard of before, of course. All shifters had. That one person, that perfect person, destined just for you, as you were for them. Joined by some force bigger than any one person. A union that could only be broken by death. A need that was all-consuming. Shifters had done unspeakable things in the name of the fated mates. Was that what was waiting for me behind the garage door? Destiny?

“You can go on through, ain’t locked,” the man behind the counter grumbled at me.

I guessed I was going through the door. I stepped forward and pushed at the bar, swinging the door out, then I stepped through and into the dimly lit garage.

My car was parked a few feet from me, gleaming in the low light. Chuckling, I tried to remember what Rudy called it the night before. A silver sex machine. There was something sensual in its curving lines, I’d give him. Suddenly, I had a new appreciation for what before was just a hunk of metal that got me from point A to point B.

But there was no one around. I scanned the garage, looking for someone dressed in whatever it is garage mechanics wore. Coveralls, maybe?

“Hello?” I called out.

Faint shuffling reached my ears. I peered to the other side of the garage and saw an outline of a person standing near a stack of tires.

“Rudy? Hi, it’s Jason Marks. I’m here for my car.” I stepped toward the figure. “The Triad X,” I added when he didn’t respond.

“I know,” he finally said.

Oh, yes. That was him. I’d have recognized that sweet voice anywhere. I stepped closer. Why wouldn’t he come out?

“It’s ready to go,” Rudy said to me. “Thanks for your business.”

“I just, I wanted to thank you for staying so late to fix it. I know you were here last night working on it.”

“No big deal, it’s my job.” I could hear the untruth in his voice. And there was something else too. I could smell him. My heart pounded in my throat as sweet muskiness filled my nostrils. He was spiced honeysuckle, sweet and tart. It almost made my mouth water.

Finally, he took a step forward and I saw him. The light filtered in through the high, dusty windows, haloing his light brown hair. He was slight, but most omegas were. But he was also well-formed. His coveralls were tight enough that they highlighted his firm build, trim and tight. And his eyes, they were the deepest chocolate brown, like thick hot cocoa, sparkling and warm and fringed with a thick curtain of black lashes that swept to his pink cheeks when he blinks. I’d never seen such mesmerizing eyes on anyone before.

“Hi,” he said, almost shyly.

“Hi.” I offered him my hand and he took it. The spark between us was hot, sharp and almost unnerving. He let go quickly and took a step back.

“So, finally, the voice on the phone.” I smiled down at Rudy. “It’s nice meet you.”

“Same here.”

“Did you have many problems with the car?” I gestured back at the vehicle hulking behind us.

“No, not really. The problem was the garage’s outdated equipment. I finally got it to work, though. You shouldn’t have any problems now. You’re updated and compliant, no fear of Stelline taking your permit and forcing you to ride the bus with us plebs.” He grinned at me.

“If everyone on the bus was like you, I’d ride every day.” I was rewarded with a pleased flush of his cheeks. He scrubbed his fists quickly over his face and stepped around me toward the car.

“It’s ready to go,” he said, and pulled the door open for me. A gentleman. He was definitely not from Stelline City.

“And what about you?” I asked.

“I…what?” His squeak was almost adorable. “Am I ready…to go?”

I smirked slightly. “No. I’m not taking you away from here. Yet. But you could give me your phone number.”

“If there’s something wrong with the car you can just call the garage.” I felt like he was being serious.

“No, your phone number. So I can call you, Rudy. I want to talk to you, not Mr. Buzzcut in there.”

“I… I’m not sure if I’m supposed to give my number to customers.”

I looked around. “We’re the only ones in here.” I leaned closer to him and dropped my voice, “I won’t tell.”

His neck bobbed as he swallowed. I was making him nervous. It was making me horny. He was making me horny.

“I guess I can give it to you.”

That was exactly what I wanted. I wanted him to give it to me, all of it. All of him. I wanted him—under me and moaning and squirming. Begging. I wanted to fill his body and mind. I wanted him to have my pups.

Oh, wait just a minute. That was a thought I didn’t normally have. Yes, I’d thought about a mate before, in only the vaguest of terms. A family, a home, a mate waiting for me when I got home from work. But never with this much intensity. Never with this much longing. And never a specific person.

Until now.

“Give me your number. I’d like to get to know you,” I said to him simply.

I pulled out my phone and he rattled off a string of numbers, the phone automatically making and storing the new contact for me.

“Thanks, I’ll be calling you.” I pushed my hand at his, wrapping his slighter fingers with my own, feeling the electricity jump between us. Then I let go, climbed into my silver sex machine, and left Rudy standing in the dim recesses of the garage as I headed back to downtown Stelline.

My phone dinged as the car maneuvered Stelline’s clean streets toward my apartment. I tapped it and my father’s brisk voice filled the car.

“Jas, where are you?” he barked.

“In my car. I just picked it up from the mechanic.”

“Good. I need you in the office today. Now would be preferable.”

I sigh silently. “I’m a little busy today. Is it an emergency or can it wait until tomorrow?”

“I’ve got some potential buyers coming in about that tract on the other side of the river. It’s likely they’ll want us as contractor. We’ve got the opportunity to see this project all the way through.”

“You know, Dad, this sounds like a great project for Ollie.” Ollie was my younger brother. One of my younger brothers. There were five of us all together. And Ollie was definitely more interested in the family business than I was.

“I don’t think this is right for Ollie. He’s a little inexperienced for a deal this size.” The aggravation was building in my father’s voice.

I put my foot down for once, becoming the alpha I was supposed to be. “No, I don’t think so. I’m busy today. If you need someone, call one of the others. I’m suggesting Ollie because he’s good with numbers. He’ll let you know if we’re not getting a good deal. Just because he’s quiet doesn’t mean he’s not paying attention.”

“Did you just. No…” my father sputtered over the line.

“That’s exactly what I said. I’ll talk to you later, Dad. Call Ollie.” I tapped the phone off quickly.

I took out a tablet and pulled up my newest website design. Website building was what I did in my family’s business, but this one wasn’t family related; it was mine. Guilt filled me briefly, but I tried to push the phone call with my father to the back of my mind. He was insistent I take over the business one day. It was the Marks family legacy—we were leaving our mark (har har) on Stelline, we were part of the fabric of this city—and on and on. He pushed projects at me constantly, leaving me little time to pursue my own interests.

But that was changing. I wanted my own business and my own mate. My website would be dedicated to helping other shifters find their mates. I knew it sounded crazy, but underneath the business suits and the sexy car, I was a romantic at heart. This was truly where my passions lay.

My fingers flicked over the tablet screen. I was working on the business, and if today was any indication, a mate might not be far behind.