In a town the size of a postage stamp, I expected to bump into my mate at least once or twice every once in a while. Nope. I’d seen her exactly zero times since I’d moved to town. She was small, but she wasn’t that small. Luna was doing her best to avoid me. At least, that’s what I assumed. I couldn’t know for sure since I’d only ever seen her twice in my life and she hadn’t spoken to me either time.

I shook my head and stretched out in my hammock. I could barely go a day without visions of her popping into my head. Her white-blonde hair. Her small, soft looking figure. The cute pink blush that crept up her cheeks. It had been months, but even though I was a man obsessed, the last thing I wanted to do was push her. Charlie assured me that the mate bond would bring her to me. But, hell, it sure was taking a long time. I was a patient man, but it got harder every day.

Ever since I laid eyes on the beauty that fate had deemed my mate, I’d been working on self-improvement. A woman like that, well, she didn’t deserve any slouch of a man. Frankly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be what she deserved, but I’d sure as hell spend all the rest of my days trying.

Axel and I had moved his repair shop to a place just outside of Helen’s Corner where I’d purchased a beautiful plot of land and was in the process of building a home for my mate. Of course, she didn’t know it yet since I hadn’t seen her. Hell, she’d come around eventually. We were mates. She couldn’t hide forever.

The sun beat down on me and I tried to stay positive. I had a nice house in the making, I had my hammock, and I was VP of the new motorcycle club Axel and I had formed. Sure, we were super tame. Sure, we didn’t dabble in anything other than some drinking once in a while. Sure, there were no wild parties or sex. That was fine by me. I wasn’t into any of those things anymore. We were still a MC. We had our buddies and our bikes and a shared love of the open road. That’s all that counted.

In my down time, I was bored silly, though. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore the ache of longing for the companionship of a mate. I’d moved to town hoping that I’d have my mate by my side and we’d spice up life together. Instead, I was drinking a sweet tea in my hammock in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, thinking about the one woman that had totally captured me. Hell, I wasn’t bored, I was boring.

I stood up and looked around my yard. The small trailer I’d set up to live in while building the house was an eyesore, but it wouldn’t be there for long. Axel was helping me and together the two of us could get the house up pretty fast. He was off spending the day with his mate, though, so I was working alone. Hence the hammock break.

After a while, I got up and made my way into the trailer to shower and change. I wanted to head into town, like I did at least once a day, to try to catch a sighting of the timid little bunny rabbit. It never panned out, but, but I still had a strong instinct to make the effort of hunting for her. Maybe I could hurry the process along some. Being around her scent without being able to have her was a slow torture to my libido.

My land was on the outskirts of town in the more wooded area. I liked my privacy. The clubhouse would eventually be built somewhere out of the way, too. I got on my bike and headed towards town. I drove the main strip through town and then parked at the end of it so I could walk up Main Street and back down. It wasn’t creepy, I told myself.

Halfway up the street, I saw Axel and Charlie headed towards me. Hand in hand, they were the picture of happiness. My chest twisted into a tight little twinge and I rubbed at it. My day was coming, I tried to remind myself.

Axel grinned a wide, goofy smile when he saw me, something I never saw him do before Charlie. He bumped fists with me and then went back to holding Charlie snug up against his side. “What’s up, brother? Couldn’t handle work on the house without me?”

“You know it. It’s just so lonely out there.” I’d said it as a joke and then realized how true it was. I swore and scrubbed my hand down my face. “That sounded far more pathetic than I meant for it to.”

Charlie patted my arm. “It’s okay. Luna will come around.”

Axel nodded. “Sometimes it takes a woman a little longer. You know how they are.”

I laughed. “It’s been nearly a year. But, yeah, it’s fine.” I shrugged. “When she does, I’ll be here.”

Charlie looked sympathetic. “I’ll keep talking to her.”

“Don’t bother her. She’s obviously got her reasons.” Although, I didn’t know what they could be.

“We’re going over to Denny’s now. She had the baby last night! Two weeks early and healthy as a horse…uh, pup.” Charlie wiggled and slapped Axel’s chest. “I’m so excited to hold that little peanut again.”

“You’ve held that baby more than his mother has already.”

A melancholy look passed over Charlie’s eyes briefly, but Axel caught it and pulled her into his chest for a kiss. He whispered something in her ear that made her smile and then they were lost in each other.

I started to back away and give them their space, but Charlie pulled away and laughed.

“Sorry, sorry! We’re awful, I know. Always in our own little world.”

I shook my head and grinned at her. “You’re fine. I won’t keep you. Go see the baby.”

“Maybe you should come. After all, your mate helped deliver her.”

I had to stop myself from jumping at the chance. “She did?”

“Yeah. She was amazing. She just jumped right in and did everything like a trained professional. Denny wasn’t going to make it to the hospital in time, but Luna saved the day. She’s a hero.” Charlie raised her eyebrows at me. “She’s also got a very interesting job, I just found out. You should come along and if she happens to be there, be sure to ask her about it.”

I wanted to. I wanted to put myself in Luna’s way and force her to acknowledge me, but if she wasn’t ready, I could be setting us back another several months. “No, it’s probably not a good idea. I’ll see you tomorrow, Axel. Charlie.”

“We’ve got work to do at the shop in the morning before we head out to your place.”

I waved to acknowledge what Axel said and kept moving. Knowing that Luna wouldn’t be in town made the excursion pointless. I walked back towards my bike and fired it up, ready to head back to the trailer. As easygoing as I was, my patience was wearing thin. I wanted to crash the baby celebration and snatch Luna away from them. She was mine. My mate, yet I couldn’t even get a second of her time.

I sat on my bike and hung my head. I kept hearing that I had to give her space, that she’d come around. I sighed. I had the patience of Job, but I was beginning to doubt that things would ever change. What if she never did come around? What if everything I was doing—cleaning up my act, moving to Helen’s Corner, working with Axel to establish the shop, building a house for her—was in vain?