Book 1: Chapter 80

I looked up at the neon sign. Under the name, it had a pool cue hitting a ball. The parking lot was completely empty, save for a black sedan in the back and Charles’ Audi. It took me fifteen minutes but I followed Alpha’s advice and drove to Antone’s. Now, I was standing outside, rethinking this whole thing.

*‘Sam, just go in. Don’t think about all the possibilities. This isn’t something you can just work out. This deals with emotions.’*

I growled. *‘Easy for you to say. You don’t have to do any talking.’*

Renji chuckled. *‘You may be right but so am I.’*

Sighing, I squared my shoulders and headed towards the door. Opening it up, it was exactly like I pictured it. It was completely dark save for the lights over the pool tables. It had the old school stain glass lights and dark wood paneling on the wall. Outside of the bartender, I didn’t see anyone else but there was also a room off to the left side of the bar.

Walking up the bartender, I smiled and looked at the array of alcohols or right now, my liquid courage. “Can I get an old fashioned?”

He raised his eyebrow. “Got your ID kid?”

I blushed as I pulled out my card, handing it to him. He looked it over and nodded.

“Bourbon or whiskey?”

“Whiskey please.”

He grunted and stared to move behind the bar. I looked down to the left and saw Charles playing in the far back table. My hands started to shake.

*‘Sam, right now, Charles needs us to be confident and strong.’*

I snorted. *‘I’m an Omega, I don’t do confident or strong.’*

Renji swished his tail in announce. *‘You do with work. You do when it comes to the important things and this is important. Our mate is struggling and we need to be his foundation. That might not always be the case but it is now.’*

The bartender placed my drink down and I took a drink, downing about half of it.  I continued to stare at Charles as he leaned over and took a shot.

“Best you leave him alone. I’ve know him for years and he’s not in the mood for any shit right now.”

I shot him a smile. “I know. Part of it is my fault.”

His eyebrow rose but he motioned me to go forward. Taking a deep breath, I dropped myself into work mode. Or better yet, when I played pool. I was cold, calculating and there was nothing I couldn’t see when it came to pool.

“How about a second?” I asked, walking up to the table.

Charles looked up at me, shock written all over his face. I placed my drink next to his three beer bottles. Grabbing a pool cue off the wall, I checked it. It had a slight bend in the middle but it would be workable. Getting some chalk, I re-chalked the cue. At first, he just watched me but he grabbed all the balls and set up a new game.

“Did you want to break?”

I shook my head. “I interrupted your game. You go ahead and break.”

He nodded and grabbed the cue he leaned against the wall. I watched and he leaned over to the table to take a shot. If you asked, I would blame Renji, but I openly ogled his ass as he took the shot. Charles stood and I quickly looked down at the table.

“Looks like I’m solids.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

He moved around the table and took a shot but it missed but an inch. Smiling, he waved his hand at the table. Looking over it, my mind ran the calculations. Pool was never random. It was all math and angles. It was velocity and position and everything could be calculated down the degree. Walking around the table, I leaned over and took a quick shot. I pocketed a ball. The calculations changed as I watched my new position. Again, I hit another ball in the corner pocket.

Leaning back, I looked at my options. I wouldn’t be able to hit anything at the angle the ball was and where his balls were. A jump ball would be unnecessary at this point. Rolling my shoulders, I shot to set up the next ball for an easy pocket next time.

Charles was watching me, a beer in his hand. “Silas send you?”

I looked at him, neither a smile or frown on my face. “No. He told me where you might be. If you weren’t here, he gave me two other options you may be.”

He walked around the table and set up a shot. As he hit the ball, he watched a solid drop into the pocket. “So where else might I be if not here?”

“At first he said something about setting fire to your parents house.”

Charles chuckled and leaned down, lining up a shot.

“Then he said you could be packing up your shit and going back to your parents.”

His shot strayed a little wide. While he was able still pocket one, he also managed to pocket one of mine as well. Charles looked up at me. There was a mix of surprise and anger in his face.

“So I’m assuming Silas told you about me…about my family.”

I moved forward to look over the table again. “A little. Not many specifics. Some about Marlene too.”

Leaning over, I made a quick shot and dropped a ball into the pocket. My eyes on the table, I moved around and slid between him and the table. Just barely our bodies brushed and I nearly slipped to the floor. Renji stepped in for a second and held me up.

*‘Strength, Sam.’*

I leaned over and looked at my shot. Lining it up, I popped the white cue ball up over the yellow solid and easily pocked another one. Standing up, I took in the table.

“What…are you a professional?” Charles was looking at me with a mix of awe and confusion.

“Pool is all calculations. Sometimes, when I get stuck on an issue or I’m stressed, I play pool. Pool has no random factors, no emotional decisions. Everything can be planned, calculated, adjusted, and worked.” I didn’t look at him as I said it. Hitting the ball, I knew I wouldn’t have a shot but at the very least I could set up another shot and ruin one of his.

He cursed and took a drink of his beer. I went over and drank the rest of my old fashioned. Leaning over the table, he tried to do a backhand hit but it went wild, bouncing the ball around. Shaking his head, he leaned the pool cue against the wall.

“You want another?”

I nodded and he walked over to the bartender. I stared at the table. I could easily pocket the two stripes but in order to do that, it would adjust the black 8 ball. Wrinkling my nose, I would just have to do it. Charles handed me my drink and he had two more bottles in his hands. He placed one on the table and kept the other, taking a drink.

Leaning over, I narrowed my eyes. I pulled back the pool que once to check my angle. “You know, I wouldn’t fault you for rejecting me.” The pool cue hit the ball and perfectly pocketed my second to last stripe.

Charles coughed on his beer as I moved slightly over. “Why the hell would you say that?”

“To give you an out.” I looked up at him, completely serious. Renji was about to throw a fit but I pushed him back. He wouldn’t understand and was thinking solely with the mate bond.

“Just because of my parents?” His voice was an octave higher.

I chortled. “I’m not a fucking child, Charles. I can handle two humans with a lot of money.”

Leaning over, I lined up and pocketed my last stripe. As I thought, I had no shot on the 8 ball. Even if I tried to bounce it all the around the table. The probability was less than a percent and that was just stupid.

“What the hell then, Sam? Why would you say that?”

I sighed and pointed to the far right pocket. Hitting the white cue ball, it hit the eight ball but it missed the pocket by at least two inches. Standing up, I glanced around the room. Only the bartender was sitting in the room, his eyes fixated on the TV showing a football game.

“Because it isn’t about just your family. Even if you decided to break from your family, you gave up that inheritance and the ability to take over your father’s company just to be left alone, it doesn’t mean that suddenly we get to be together. I’m not Marlene. I’m not a human.”

Charles slammed his beer bottle down. He picked up his cue. Even angry, he managed to pocket two solids before messing up a hit and the white ball going wide.

“I know you’re not Marlene, Sam. That much is apparent.”

I had four options on the table right now. Three of which were far easier but the fourth involved me hitting the far corner pocket he was standing directing in front of. It would involve a jump and a back spin on the ball but it was doable.

Going over to the table, I took a drink. “I’m a Gamma, Charles. As a mate of the Gamma you would have responsibilities within the pack.”

His eyes widened and he reached out, grabbed another bottle and took a drink.

Taking a deep breath, I had to push the emotions back. Alpha was right. We needed to be all in or this was never going to work. I had to be upfront in all things.

“Even as a human, you would need to be inducted into the pack by Silas. It was give you pack abilities such as mind link as well. If we mated, you would also change. While you wouldn’t become a werewolf, a human who mates with a werewolf becomes stronger, faster, and you can see better in the dark. Never quite the level we can, but it’s far more than a human.”

I took another drink and continued. “You would be required to live with me in the pack house, as all members of leadership need to in case something happens. Of course, you would still be able to keep your job and it wouldn’t interfere with anything but you would have other duties as well to the pack.”

Walking around the table, I leaned over and pointed to his crotch. A slight blush covered his face before he realized I was pointing to the pocket he was standing in front of.

“Oh top of that, I’m an Omega, Charles. While you might understand what that means, its a different thing entirely to be mated to someone who is an Omega. I would have our pups. You would be impregnating a man. The pregnancy experience with a man. While its fairly common in our world, it’s not in yours. You can’t just go around being excited that your wife is pregnant. Not to mention that while you might be dominant, the werewolf gene will always be more dominate. All of our children would be werewolves and you would need to go through first shifts with our children.”

Pulling back, I jumped the ball and it hopped his red solid. As soon as the white cue ball hit the table again, the backspin swung it around and it hit the eight ball, pocketing it directly between Charles’ legs. Standing up, my eyes met his.

“It’s not just a matter of you leaving your rich world behind. You would be basically leaving your human world behind as well.”