8. Anders

Chapter 8

Anders

I can't do this anymore!

Exhaustion had seeped into my bones, but it was my head that was tired of playing the hide-and-go-seek-and-never-be-found game. Darcy was kind, showing me some guy who had also been searching.

For what, I wondered. A job? A meal? My aim was to find the guy who was looking for me, not to fill his tummy or his bank account—not that there was anything wrong in wanting a job.

"Look, Anders."

Darcy's voice brought me back to the present, and she indicated a guy chatting to Kyle. But a whooshing past my head blurred my vision as my body swayed and was buffeted by a scent so strong it pricked at my skin, demanding attention.

A man, a shifter, his hair streaked with silver and glitter in his eyes, was in deep conversation with Kyle. I froze, and he looked up. Emotion flashed across his face: confusion, anticipation, anxiety, and gratitude.

Neither of us made a move until Darcy nudged me forward, saying she had work to do. Kyle grinned and whispered in the guy's ear.

But he wasn't any guy; he was the mate I'd been searching for, and now that I'd found him, I had no words. I'n rehearsed what I was doing to say in the grocery store baking products aisle or as he uncooked his post office box. If he'd been shoving the gas pump in his car, I'd have made a joke about holes—no, maybe not, that would have been inappropriate.

We were face to face. My search was over, and my mind was blank. I wished I could rewind time because the knot of anticipation in my belly had dissolved, and I was left wondering what now? There should've been fireworks and a choir singing, but we were on a landing dock assessing one another.

"Hi."

He speaks . My snow leopard was overjoyed. Mark him .

Slow down. He's said one word . While two fated shifters often marked and then introduced themselves, I wasn't about that. I couldn't ignore the mating pull, but I expected more than exchanging one word.

"Hi again."

That's two words.

Repeating a word doesn't count. It's still one .

And you've said none . My beast was having none of my ridiculousness.

"Hello."

Kyle excused himself and went inside, leaving me and my mate regarding one another.

"Brett."

"Anders."

We'd staggered over the first hurdle, but I was balking at the next stage. Which was what?

"I'm a unicorn shifter."

Oh, that was different. I'd never met a unicorn previously. That explained the silvery streak in his hair and the twinkling eyes. Interesting.

"I'm not." My brain needed recircuiting. He had every right to reconsider what fate had handed him and say no thanks.

But Brett grinned. "Snow leopard. Most people in Snowford are."

"Yes." Oh gods, I needed to spit out something other than one syllable words. "You're my mate." There, I did it. Maybe I could lie down and gather my strength now.

"You are, and I'm so excited to finally meet you."

He didn't run away as I struggled to speak, and his smile lit up his whole face. Damn, it wasn't the only thing "lighting up" because my dick was engorging. I was wearing my work clothes and not tight jeans or shorts. There was room to expand.

Not knowing where Brett lived, I suggested he come to my place. "We can…" I lowered my voice, "fuck and mark one another." I was so proud of myself for going from zero to sixty in… not a minute but a tad longer.

Brett smirked and folded his arms. "I am hungry."

"Great." We were thinking alike.

"And as much as I'd like to see you naked," his gaze fell to my crotch, "I'm here to eat."

"Exactly. There will be eating, I assure you."

He chuckled, a sound that tickled my heart. "I look forward to it. But I want food. Maybe pasta or curry—I hear Kyle's curry is excellent."

"Not the duck," I blurted out. "Or have the duck. My friend enjoys it." Why did I care if my mate wanted duck? We could have different likes and dislikes.

"Shall we eat?" He tucked his arm in mine, and we strolled through the kitchen, earning us startled and annoyed glances from the kitchen staff.

"Inside or out?" I surveyed the terrace, and there was one free table.

Brett got up close and placed his lips close to my ear. His scent swept around me, making me his prisoner while his warm breath billowed over me.

"You're talking about eating, right? Not bedroom activities?"

Goosebumps erupted over my skin. "Why restrict them only to the bedroom?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Brett, and I clarified that I was talking about sex in general and not referring to us dining out. "But I'm all for sex in the woods or in the water. Anywhere, really."

"I'll make a note of that. I know a storeroom at work that would be perfect."

I was tempted to say let's go there now, but he wanted food, and I could eat.

Darcy brought us water and the menu and left to serve another table.

"I'm not a big meat eater. My beast doesn't eat flesh, and my human side usually doesn't either."

So I wouldn't be subjected to my mate eating duck. Excellent.

"The vegetable curry looks good."

I wavered between ordering the same, wondering if he would be offended if I ate meat. I didn't have to. My beast was a meat eater. I could give it up.

"Order what you want, Anders." Brett reached across the table and took my hand. "If you want meat, get that."

I ordered fish and chips, one of my favorite dishes, though my beast turned his nose up at deep-fried anything.

"I've been looking for you." I gulped water, and it dribbled over my chin onto my shirt. Brett grabbed a napkin at dabbed at my skin, and I wished we'd chosen the "let's fuck" option.

"And I you. For a small town, Oakheart has a lot of hiding places."

Darcy took our orders. I thought back to my conversation with Dylan and Jonah and how everyone else was coupled up. I inspected the diners around us, wondering if there was another alpha feeling sad at not having a mate. If there was, I wanted to tell him to be patient.

"Do you come here a lot? The chef and the server seem to know you."

I explained that Kyle was mated to my good friend, and yeah, I hung out here quite a bit. "Being across from the community center ensures there are always snow leopards dining here And it's owned by our Alpha Omega."

Brett chewed his lip. "Did you expect your mate would be a snow leopard?"

"I didn't have a preference, just that we were fated to one another." My mate would have easily been human as a shifter. Love was love, whether my mate was the same species as me or not.

"Same here."

Darcy brought the food, and I almost regretted ordering the fish. Brett's curry and rice was aromatic, and when he gave me a taste, I almost converted to vegetarianism.

"We can share." Brett went into the restaurant and came out with another bowl, spooning some of his curry into it and pushing it toward me. He put the bowl of rice between us and we tucked in.

"You're not going to share your fries?" His eyes twinkled.

"Oh, right."

He dunked a fry in the curry and ate it. "Yum. Spicy chili and deep-fried potato. A great combination." Dipping another fry into the sauce, he said, "Open wide."

That was what I hoped I'd be saying to him later. I opened my mouth, and he popped the deep-fried potato between my lips. A multitude of flavors flooded my mouth: chili, garlic, lemon grass, ginger, lime, tamarind, and cilantro.

I swallowed and sniffed. Brett handed me a tissue.

"That's delicious. Hot and spicy but yummy."

"I make a mean vegetable curry." Brett licked around his lips.

"I can't wait to try it." I blew my nose before scooping up some rice with my curry.

Brett asked Darcy for some milk and explained it was better than water when eating spicy food. Good to know because I was drowning in sweat, and I sniffed under my arms, hoping I didn't stink.

"Shall we order dessert?" Brett asked as he wiped curry sauce from his mouth.

I focused on his long, tapered fingers and his plump lips, hardly hearing what he was saying.

"Dessert, Anders?"

"Okay. Kyle makes a delicious key lime pie." That would help ease the heat from the curry.

"I wasn't thinking about that kind of dessert."

Maybe the chili was affecting my brain because what other type of dessert was there?

"The kind where we eat in the bedroom?"

That sounded messy, but we could do that.

"Wait," I grabbed his arm. "When you say dessert in the bedroom, are you saying…"

He shut me up with a kiss.