MATE

-Joshua POV-

“Ughh..” a moan left my mouth. I feel drowsy, where am I? I scan the room, I’m laying in a bed. There are white walls, a window and a door. Simple, clean. Then I remember: I’m in the medical centre! EVE! With a shock, I realize Eve is gone.. I want to sit up and step out of the bed, but my head is spinning and I feel tired.

*Jaggar, you there? Is it only me, or…?*

*Damn, what did that lady gave us? Man… I feel the ant under an elephant’s leg.*

*Great, so it’s not only me. Can you track Eve? Do you smell her?*

*I’m sorry cowboy, I can’t. I don’t think her wolf is awakened yet. And she, as a human, is not within my ‘smell-range’.*

*How many times do I need to say? DON’T call me cowboy… I hate that. Crap. What the fuck is going on? I’m afraid, Jag. She’s fragile - she still wasn’t healed from the damage the Brown-brothers were responsible for.. And mom - shit, mom! She needs to know...*

*After you fainted, Adam went seeing her. Don’t worry. But there’s something else. I smell something amazing.. GO! We need to leave this bed. I want to go.. That scent…*

*Yo, calm down.. What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere… My head is spinning like hell. I’m not leaving this….*

Then it hits me too. The scent.

*….bed.*

Fuck! It’s the most amazing smell ever! It’s strong and it makes my body react. I have an incredibly urge to leave this freaking bed and find the source that’s responsible for this scent. It smells familiar. I inhale the smell - it remembers me of oranges. The smell of sweet, a bit spicy and fresh oranges. It makes me smile and I almost forget about the situation around Eve. Then I notice Jagger is being impatient and tries to take over.

*Wow, easy Jaggar! I know you want to follow the smell. It’s insane, why is the smell so strong?*

*Grrrrr.. I don’t have ten seconds, human! You have three seconds after I finished this sentence, or I will go by myself!*

*Jeeeezzz.. I’m going!*

I ignore the buzz in my ears and tries to sit up. I refocus my eyes and the moment I stand up, the smell gets stronger. I need that scent! Even when I don’t want to, my body almost take over by instinct. Woow. I’ve never experienced this before..

*NOW!*

Jaggar yells in my head, but before he can make a move, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen enters the room. The smell reaches its peak and hits me, like a wave crashing on the beach. I freeze and I feel Jaggar is coming to the surface. I can’t ignore him anymore, without shifting - Jaggar’s controlling my voice:

“MINE!”

A new wave of energy flows through my body and within two seconds I’m pinning the tiny body of that mysterious woman to the wall. Her back against the wall, my face close to hers. I can feel her anxious breath against my mouth. My hands touch the wall against her head. I bury my nose in her neck and inhale her strong scent. I then turn my head, looking back into her eyes and say: “You’re mine!”

I see a bit of fear in her eyes, but a smile is forming around her lips when she answers me.

“Wow, nice to meet you too, stranger! I see you’re awake. That’s a good sign..” She gently pushes against Joshua’s chest, but he isn’t moving an inch. “It would be nice if you let me breath.. Would you mind?” her eyes pervasive looking in Joshua’s.

I feel my heart is racing in my chest, and under her strong look I decide to give her some space. With some more space between us, I slowly get control over my body again. “I’m so sorry, I have no idea what just happened. My wolf took over. Are you OK?”

She walks over to the only chair in the room and takes a seat. I look at her bright blue eyes and perfectly orange colored hair. She’s stunning.

“Yes, I’m OK. You scared the shit out of me, by the way. I guess you’re a werewolf, right? You’re eyes almost completely turned black. I’ve only seen that with werewolves. Besides, you have to admit, you acted strange. No, weird is a better word. Also a typical wolf-thing.” She rolls her eyes. Then her eyes meet mine and I feel tingles all over my body. She says: “Can we start this weird thing over? What’s your name? How do you feel?”

“Ohh, uuhh. I’m Joshua.” I say to her. “And I’m fine, by the way. Well, since you entered the room.” I wink at her. Then it hits me, her words: “Wait, you’re not a werewolf?”
She shakes her head, “No, Joshua, I’m human. I’m studying for nurse and I’m doing my internship in this hospital. I’m kind of your nurse, right now. After the news of your sister, you fainted. Remember?”

I never stopped looking at her. I just can’t. My eyes want to save every inch of her face, so that I’m able to remember her face when she’s not around me. “Yes, I remember. We’re gonna do something about that later. I just want to talk with you, if I’m being honest.” I smile at her. “There’s something going on over here, I want to figure out what’s happening..”

I’m not sure what I did wrong, what I said wrong, but she starts laughing uncontrollably. “Seriously, Joshua? You’re sure you are a werewolf?” She’s almost falling of her chair, while the sound of her laughing fills the room.

“What did I miss? What’s so funny?” I ask her, getting annoyed. But she doesn’t need to answer my questions. I hear Jaggar’s voice:

*You douchebag… And you say you’re the brains between the two of us. She’s mine! She’s our mate, cowboy!*

I stumble: "Yyy-you're my MATE? I have a human mate?" I'm completely in shock. Is this how it feels, when you find your mate? This incredibly, intense and instinctive feeling that she belongs to me? I look at her, still confused. "Well, you know a lot about werewolves. Then you know what a mate means to us, right?"

She stopped laughing out loud, but I can see she's still amused. She reacts: "Yes, I know how important mates are to you, werewolves. But me being not one of them, I don't care. So, good luck with that!" She then stands up, and wants to leave the room.

I feel the anger of Jaggar growing inside me. *What does she mean, she doesn't care! She belongs to US!!*
I can't blame him, feeling this way. I'm starting to get angry myself too. I reply to her: "Oh no, you don't get it. I'm never gonna leave you ever again. And you will be mine, forever!" I step closer to her, blocking her path. I'm wrapping my right arm around her waist, pulling her against my lower body. The moment our body's make contact, I feel the tingles and sparks jumping over. I can see at her confused face, she's feeling it too.

With my left hand I lift her chin up, forcing her to look into my eyes. "It's gonna be a matter of time, trust me. You are mine." I bend over to kiss her soft lips. They're the softest lips I've ever tasted! I expected her to resist, but to my surprise she answers my kiss! I feel the lust growing in my body and I need to let her go. When I release the grip, I see the questions in her eyes. "I - I don't want to lose myself." I explain myself to her, and then I smile.. "But don't worry, pumpkin, we can continue this later on."

I turn around, and walk away. But before I leave the room I remembered I don't even know her name! So I look over my shoulder, she's still standing at the same spot I kissed her, and ask: "By the way: what's your name, gorgeous?"

She whispers, still in shock. "I'm Cristina, but everyone calls me Crissie."