MEETING HER MATE

HAZEL

I wake up to the sounds of a conversation going on in the living room. A smell hits my nostrils and wraps around my mind. I blink, roll to my side and look at the time. It's only two in the morning. I roll out of bed. My mouth is dry anyways, so an it's an excuse to see who's here. I don't have the ability to just know that kind of stuff yet. I don't have super powers.

The smell only seems to get stronger as I get closer to the two speaking. I know Trevor's voice from anywhere. I rub my eyes, and finally get to the living room to see who the other person was.

I've never seen this man in my life. He has dark hair, and a beautiful shade of brown eyes. It's not a deep brown, but a creamy chocolate kind of brown. His eyes are on me, and they break from my eyes and take me in fully. I'm quiet and take in a deep breath. I can finally make out what that smell really smelt like. Pine cones. The woods.

His eyes break away from mine, and he turns back to Trevor. I see that as a time to go get my water and go back to bed. I'm still curious of who this man is, but I'm also exhausted from today. I swivel around the two and get into the kitchen where I fill a glass with water and down it rather quickly.

"Im taking her home with me tomorrow." The man mutters as I head back to my room. Trevor sounds a little bit more than angry at that. I wonder what's happening. It can most likely wait until morning, though. I climb the stairs back to my room and crawl back into bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow my eyes go heavy. It's always been so easy for me to fall asleep. Sleep welcomes me in like a warm hug in a matter of minutes, and I'm out like a light that had been switched off for the day.

When I wake up only a few hours later at eight, I'm greeted by the smell of bacon frying. It smells delicious. I think my mouth might have even been watering in my sleep, but I don't remember. Bacon has always been one of my top five favorite foods.

"Good morning, mom." I grin when I get downstairs. Mom smiles and rests her chin in her hands while sitting in the barstool. "Morning Trevor." I say. As much as I like him, I can't bring myself to call him my dad. He's a father figure, yes, but I cannot replace my father with someone else. He was a good family man.

I take a seat next to my mom who is intently watching Ren cook. She never seems to have a filter on what she says in front of me about him. Sometimes it's disgusting to hear that from your mom. A smell hits me. It's better than the smell of bacon, which is hard to beat.

The man from last night walks into the kitchen he glances at me and grins. I smile back, because I was raised to be polite and because I had a strange pull to do it back to him. I turn back to Trevor and wonder what they were talking about last night.

"Hi." I chirp. The man smiles, and doesn't take his eyes off of me. "Hi." He replies. His voice has a hint of an Spanish accent in it. Suddenly I feel a shiver down my spine. I notice that his hair is wet.

"What's your name?" I wonder. I need to at least know this stranger's name. Since my mother or Trevor are yet to tell me who this is and why he had stayed the night. I feel like he's a warrior, but I also feel that there's a higher ranking than that. I can also sense a seriousness just by the depth of his voice. He looks at my family and furrows his eyebrows.

"It's Ramon, dear." His lips curl into a smile when I think further about the name. I don't think I've ever heard someone named that, other than the man who makes underwear for a living.

"I'm Hazel." I introduce myself. Trevor sits, a plate full of bacon down on the counter and my attention momentarily turns to him.

"I know," Ramon says, bringing my attention back to him. "Do you know who I am?" He asks a question that I don't know the answer to. I've never seen this man in my life time. In history I recall seeing someone that dates back to the 1900's that looks like him, but that was only just a black and white picture.

"Ramon?" I guess. I don't know what other kind of answer there was that would be scientifically correct. He rolls his eyes and looks toward my mother.

"Why doesn't she know?" His voice isn't as soft as it was when he was talking to me. I furrow my eyebrows and give him a deadly look because of the tone he has used with my mother.

"She knows who you are. She just has never saw your face before, and she isn't good with taking hints." Mom explains. She's right. Once I got asked to a school dance with a subtle hint and I accidentally turned the guy down. I felt like a total jerk.

I chew on my bottom lip. He looks at me and adverts his eyes quickly. I don't understand why, but I silently turn back towards the plate of fresh bacon and I snatch a piece up. The crunch is more than satisfying and once I'm done with one piece I go for another. Mom slaps my hand away and scowls.

"Save some for when breakfast is ready." She mumbles. I blink. Usually she didn't care if that happens. It's most likely her hormones and the fact that there's a guest in the house.

"I'm going to take a shower." I say, standing to my feet at stretching my arms over my head. My shirt raises a little and I tug it down before walking back up to my bedroom.

I hum while I shower. It's something that I've always done since I started showering by myself and didn't need my mom's help. Even then, back when I was eight I still sang. I don't have a nice singing voice so humming is the next best thing. A song by Michael Jackson gets stuck in my head. When I'm finished, I climb out of the shower and dress in a pair of light colored jeans and a red hoodie. Since it wasn't warm outside the outfit was something I preferred all the time. I cannot stand the winter time. I don't understand how some girls can wear crop tops and short skirts at this time of year.

I throw my dark hair into a pony tail. It's natural color is blonde, but I grew tired of all the jokes and dyed it a black color. Honestly, this color looks better than the blonde that I had.

"Hazel, after breakfast I need you to pack your bags." Mom says softly. I furrow my eyebrows at her request. "Why?" I wonder out loud.

"The King decided that he wanted you to come home with him. I mean it's only reasonable, you're his mate after all." Mom says softly. I purse my lips. The king? Ramon is the alpha king?

"Oh." I say, in almost complete shock. How do I react to something like that? I mean, I've dreamed of finding my mate but I didn't expect it to be a powerful one like him. No wonder he holds so much power in his voice.

"Are you okay with that?" I ask my mom. She's taken back by my question. "Am I okay with it? I want you to be happy and you've always told me how you want your mate." She replies.

"Okay." I say. If she trusts Ramon then I can too. "What about the baby?" I ask and mom blinks.

"I'm his mother, Haze. You're too cute." She laughs a little. I always act like the baby is mine and sometimes I think it is. Just like I did a moment ago.

I fill a plate with scrambled eggs and bacon, and take a seat at the kitchen table. I didn't mean to sit next to Ramon, it was just the only free chair open that wasn't next to Trevor. My mom comes in moments after and takes her seat. I take in a deep breath and dig into my food. I really hope Ramon can cook as good as Trevor, or even better. I can't cook to save my life.

I say goodbye to my parents. It's a heart felt goodbye, but none of us get truly upset for leaving. Every bird has got to leave the nest sometime and explore, but that doesn't mean they won't come back and visit. Plus, Ramon promised that I could come back and see them in two weeks. He had to come back anyways.

The car boards the turnpike. I lean my head against the window and try to think about where we're going. Suddenly I feel Ramon's two arms wrap around my torso and pull me against his chest. I breath out as a sensation of tingles runs through my body at the touch of him. I relax instantly.

I rest my head against his shoulder and close my eyes. "How old are you?" Ramon asks, he looks down at my face and I have to tilt my head up.

"Seventeen, why?" Asking him why was a stupid question. Of course he has to know things about me.

"You know that I'm old enough to be your great great great grandfather, correct?" Ramon furrows his eyebrows. I'm well educated on the Royal family. At least, about the past. Ramon is the only Lycan left in the world. He's half human, half beast. He was created and not born, which gave him the ability to remain the same age, Forever.

"You're not my great grandfather though, right?" I blink. Ramon rolls his eyes and shakes his head against my idiotic question. I was only kidding. As far as anyone knows he has no kids.

"I'm not your grandfather." He chuckles. He runs his fingers through my hair and gently down my neck. I close my eyes and let out a breath.

"Try and stay awake, sweetheart. We'll be getting home at nine and I want you to be able to sleep when we get there." He says softly, pulling his hands away from me that we're soothing me to sleep. A frown sets on my lips and I sit up completely.

"Don't do that." Ramon utters, then presses a finger under my chin and tilts my head towards him. The simple action leaves my skin burning for his touch. No wonder my friends always told me that they felt this sensation that made them want to jump their bones. He smiles and leans into my face, giving me a gentle kiss I close my eyes as feelings I've never felt run through my body. His hands dig into my sides roughly and he acts as if he has to force himself to stop kissing me. If we're to be honest, I didn't mind kissing him.

Ramon looks at the gold watch on his wrist and let's out a breath. "Do you want to stop and get some dinner? My house is only a mile from here." He offers. I nod my head. Of course I want some food. He had bought some burgers for lunch earlier but that was a few hours ago.

I feel as if I'm always hungry. At least, that I'm always in the mood for some good tasting food. That sounds pretty relevant. My mom always said that a wolf eats a lot, but I don't eat a lot, I just eat less during every meal and have more snacks throughout the day.

"Do you like Chinese?" Ramon suggests a restaurant in the shopping centre. Chinese is probably my favorite type of food. Grilled chicken is my all time favorite. Ramon grins, "you're really easy to buy for." Is that a good thing?

"Is that bad?" I ask out loud. I feel self conscious about myself now. I've never grown up asking my mom for expensive things or being spoiled rotten. Hell, I've never done most things a teenager my age has already done. Like sex. My mom let me go out with boys because she believed I would do everything she said not to do if she told me to. Plus, she has a lot of trust in me. I mean, she raised me to be a good person to others.

"Of course not, but I'll buy you anything your little heart desires, Hazel." He smiles cupping my cheeks and pulling my face closer to his. He plants a kiss on my lips and pulls away before I have time to react. I smile at the way he was holding me so close to him. "Like if you told me you wanted Spanish Omelettes for breakfast, we'd be on a plane heading to Spain." He smiles and I smile back.

"I don't need anything fancy." I say, furrowing my eyebrows. "I just want some orange chicken." I smile. Ramon smiles back at me.

"I'm totally going to spoil you." He says softly. I feel his fingers run through my hair and tugs at the ends softly. When he tugs a little harder and pulls my head back my lips part lightly. "But for right now, I just want to get home." He utters. I'm completely exhausted from today. I couldn't agree more.

When we get to his home, our bellies are full of fried rice and grilled chicken. This only makes me feel more tired than before. I'm snuggled against Ramon's side, and I'm nearly asleep.

He lifts me up like a groom would do to his new bride. I sigh and keep my head against his chest. He carries me into a room just down the hall from the front door and sets me on the bed.

A smell surrounds me as i sit in the room. It's Ramon's room. Along the walls are pictures, some dating back as far as when the camera was invented. I looked at the pictures for awhile, until Calvin's voice pulled me back to him.

"Do you want something to sleep in?" Ramon asks. He tugs his shirt over his head revealing his toned body. I have to advert my eyes. He's been working on it for centuries, so obviously it's going to be nice. I choke on my words.

"Yes or no?" He asks, holding out the shirt he had worn today in his hands. A smile is playing on his lips.

I contemplate. I'm wearing a hoodie and some skinny jeans. Would a shirt be better than choking to death on the hood of my top? Yes. "Yeah." I say softly. I'm wearing underwear, so it's not like I'll be naked. Plus, he's a lot bigger than me. Ramon grins, and tosses he shirt my way. I sit frozen when he unbuttons his jeans and kicks them off leaving him in only his underwear.

"I don't think-" I start to tell him that this is a bad idea. Ramon rolls his eyes. "It's fine." He assures me.

"I don't think-" I start to tell him that this is a bad idea. Ramon rolls his eyes. "It's fine." He assures me.

"Okay." I mutter softly. "Just don't look." I say. Ramon furrows his eyebrows. Of course he's confused. "Please." I beg. As happy as I am that I found my mate and I'm with him, I'm still not comfortable with being naked in front of anyone. He let's out a breath but listened to my request and turns away from me. I'm quick to tug the hoodie from my head and change it with the shirt. The smell hits me like a brick. It's comforting. I shimmy out of my jeans and tug the shirt as far as it can go down. I've always had a problem with my bottom being a little too big and I damn hate it!

"Okay," I mumble slipping underneath the blankets. Ramon turns and frowns because of the fact I'm hiding myself from him. He shuts the light off and climbs into bed next to me. I face away from him and snuggle into the blankets. I was almost asleep when he wraps an arm around my lower stomach and pulls me against his chest. My shirt has risen up and I can feel his abdominal muscles on my back. I sigh, "goodnight, baby wolf." Ramon mumbles.

Baby wolf? I can't stop wondering why he just referred to me as such!