Chapter 36

The meeting had somehow gone smoothly even though Owen felt his wolf growl in irritation several times when the red-haired female smiled or looked at him with a smirk. Owen’s wolf hated this whole plan and didn’t waste any time reminding him to see his mate as soon as possible. So as soon as the meeting ended, Owen headed out as quick as he could. Liam distracted the visitors long enough to let Owen get out of there before he could be stopped. He walked straight back to his house and climbed into his car, and racing toward the entrance of the pack lands. He was desperate to see Amelia now, after watching another female look at him with want and ownership. It felt wrong in every way, and he wanted to forget all about it.

Only he wouldn’t be able to forget about it because that female was now, at least to everyone else, in some sense his fiancé. He would have to see her again and be seen with her. His wolf was furious at him by this point and refused any attempt at an explanation. To a wolf a mate was sacred, and in his eyes they had betrayed his mate by doing this. Owen had been in such a hurry to come up with a plan he hadn’t considered what the consequences would be on that front, would his wolf even allow him to shift? How long would he be angry for?

Owen pushed this all aside for now and tried to focus on getting to Amelia. He felt like he was crawling out of his skin by the time he made it to the café, and when he stepped inside, he picked up her scent right away. He looked around and his eyes landed on her smiling face soon after, she was standing behind the counter and speaking to a customer. She hadn’t noticed him yet, and he took this brief moment to admire her beauty and really take it in. She was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he didn’t care if that was the mate bond talking. It was true! That other female was nothing compared to his true mate, and he swelled with pride knowing she was his.

He is quickly snapped out of his trance by a rough hand slapping his back.

“Hey! You finally came!” Alexander says.

Owen rolls his eyes and turns to him. “How is she?”

Alexander looks to their mate and smiles. “She is amazing, and never stops smiling. But she misses you a lot!”

Owen smiles at that and follows Alexander to a nearby table. They hadn’t been apart long, but as mated wolves, any time apart felt hard, so Owen understood exactly how Amelia was feeling. He sighed and crossed his arms in front of him, earning a chuckle from Alexander.

“You look like crap.” The man says teasingly.

“Yeah, I just had the first meeting with Alpha Cole and his daughter. It was as fun as you would expect for a fake arranged engagement or whatever it could be called.” Owen says with a sigh, messaging his eyes with his hands.

“What was the girl like? Pretty?” Alexander asks.

Owen’s head snaps up comically fast and he glares at Alexander.

“Does that matter? I don’t give a damn about that woman.” Owen says angrily, and a little loudly.

The people sitting next to them give him a weary glance and he smiles at them in apology. Alexander found it amusing and continued to chuckle to himself.

“You’re hilarious. Why would you ask me that?” Owen asked through gritted teeth.

Admittedly this anger was mostly his wolf lashing out at the idea that he would even look at another woman in that way.

“I was just curious, and you are so easy to rile up I just had to.” Alexander admits with an exaggerated and annoying grin.

“Shut up. But to answer your question, she is nothing compared to Amelia. Not even close, but I guess to someone else she would be considered hot, in kind of a night at the club way.” Owen tries to explain.

He didn’t like to use terms like slut or worse, but she looked like she was trying to attract every male eye to her. Her make-up and dress alone were all too much. Owen didn’t find it attractive at all, but maybe that was just not his type. He wouldn’t lie, he may have given a girl like that a look once when he was in need for a release, but he had never indulged in that more than a couple of times. He was a grown man and had lost hope of finding his mate any time soon, so regrettably he had given in to his needs before he ever met Amelia. A decision that made him feel sick thinking about, the fact that he had touched another woman before.

“So, what do you do while she is working all day?” Owen asks Alexander trying to push his tormenting thoughts away.

Alexander shrugged and glanced over at Amelia. “I mostly just sit here and watch her.”

To a human, that would probably sound creepy but to Owen it sounded like a perfect day. He and Alexander were similar in a way. Alexander had spent almost his entire life alone without a partner, and Owen had searched for what felt like forever to find his mate. Although Alexander had been waiting far longer, they could both agree that watching Amelia felt like admiring a treasure they had both finally found. They were both watching her now and had soft smiles, which finally caught her attention. She smiled brightly at them and waved before turning and talking to her boss for a moment. Her boss looked passed her and in the direction of the two men and smiled back at Amelia with a nod. Amelia removed her apron and set it down under the counter before turning and walking out from behind the counter and toward the two men.
Owen watched her walk toward him with the biggest smile and when she was in front of him, he tried to stand but she gentle placed a hand on either side of his face, stopping him and smiled down at him.

“Hey stranger!” She says softly before leaning down and kissing him gently.

His breath caught in his throat as the sensation of her kiss flooded him with an intense chill that traveled down every part of him. Was this because they had been apart for a little while? What would happen if they had been apart longer? He didn’t really want to know the answer, but he felt like his body was being awoken. Everything in him was lighting up again, and his mind began to buzz from the energy radiating through him. It felt like he had drunken a dozen espressos in one go! He had never felt a kiss like it before, and when Amelia finally pulled away, he was left stunned. She on the other hand only smiled at him brightly and took a seat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“W-what was that?” Owen asks her still catching his breath.

“I just thought about how much I missed you, and I guess it came pouring out. Are you ok?” Her face shifts into one of concern, but Owen shakes his head quickly.

“Yeah I-I am fine! I just was surprised by it, in a really good way.” He says smiling.

Amelia laughed softly and pressed and soft kiss to his cheek and looked to Alexander. He shook his head and smiled at her cute behavior before reaching out and brushing a strand of her hair away and letting his hand rest against her cheek for a second. He was amazed by her ability to be completely adorable and be one of the most power wolves that has ever lived. Her whole demeaner was just pure sweetness and joy, and yet she had suffered so much in her life. Alexander could never understand how she could smile like she does, and yet she radiates happiness wherever she goes. Even strangers smiled being around her, and it amazed him every time he watched it happen. She was pure light.

“I missed you.” She whispers to Owen resting her head against his and humming happily.

“I missed you too.” Owen says back holding her tighter. “How much longer do you have to work?”

Amelia lifted her head and smiled. “All done for the day! When we left for California my boss hired another part timer, and they should be here in a couple of minutes! So, I am all yours!”

“Perfect! Let’s go!” Owen says standing and carrying Amelia toward the door to her apartment.
She covers her mouth when a yelp escapes and smacks him playfully, Alexander trailing behind them laughing in amusement and apologizing to anyone who looked annoyed. Once they were upstairs Amelia squealed as Owen dropped her on the bed and began nuzzling at her neck and squeezing her tightly. Alexander drops on the couch and turns the tv on and shakes his head in amusement.

“Try not to be too loud, the café is still open!” He calls out to the two and proceeds to entertain himself with whatever show was on.

He found it slightly endearing how cute the two were being now that they were together again. They were simply laughing and cuddling each other and stealing soft kisses between talking, that would make anyone cringe at the utter sweetness of it all. He didn’t understand wolf culture all that well, but it was clear that them being apart was going to take its toll on them and that these kinds of reunions were going to become a regular thing. Alexander glanced at them and smiled at how brightly Amelia’s smile shined as she talked with Owen. He loved when she smiled like that at him, and he wanted to be sure she never loses that smile. They needed to finish follow through with this plan as fast as possible, to be sure that Amelia wasn’t the one hurt in the end.

Alexander respected Owen and accepted him as a friend, but he would protect Amelia no matter what. So, he would give them this time, but he wanted to know what Owen planned to do next. It was clear that it would only hurt them the more the two wolves were separated from each other. Although Amelia never let Alexander feel her sadness, he knew it was there. It didn’t upset him that she missed Owen, but it upset him to see her sad at all. So, he wanted this all resolved as quick as possible, and had a few ideas of his own. A few resources he hoped he would never have to use but would willing take the risk if need be.

A dark cloud filled his mind as he recalls those things from his past, but he tries his best to push them away for now. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to it that he would have to dredge up his past. It was best to leave those times locked away in his memories.