Chapter 3

Joseph's pov

I'm Joseph, Alpha in training of the Parker Pack.

Now, I was standing in front of the gate of the Parker's Mansion.

Thinking of what I was going to face next, I took a deep breath and walked in.

As soon as I arrived at the living room, I saw my parents with sullen faces and my sister Katrina who gave me a wink.

“You’re finally back!” My father scolded as he struck the floor heavily on the floor, “Why didn’t you answer our calls?!”

"I'm busy at work."

"Joe, I know you're hiding from us, but if it weren't for Kathy saving you back then, you would have been the one sitting in a wheelchair and losing the ability to shift now.” My mother Charlotte Price came over to me. “Plus, I think she’s really a Luna material." 

“Relax, mom! Joe has never said he wouldn't make Kathy his Luna." Katrina comforted our mother while giving me a wink. "Say something, Joe!"

I had predicted what would happen before I came back.

When they all calmed down, I spoke up in a firm tone, "Mom, I've told you many times. I won't make Kathy my Luna. I'll find someone to heal her, but I cannot mark her!"

"Hey—" My mother pointed at me, trembling all over.

Maybe Katrina’s plan was a good idea. Before I came back home, Katrina and I had talked about this matter.

"Hey Joe, why don’t you just pretend to agree to make Katherine your Luna? And then postpone the mating ceremony. At the same time, make every effort to find the best doctor to heal Katherine. Once she gets cured, you can just cancel the ceremony."

"That’s an option indeed. But I don't want to lie and give Katherine false hope. It's unfair for her."

With this in mind, I decided to tell my true feelings.

"Mom, making Katherine my Luna is not a wise choice. That would harm her, because we don’t even share a mate bond. I always treat her as my younger sister.”

However, my words only made my mother even more angrier.

“Kathy became like this because of you! How could she possibly find a mate if you don’t even want her?!” She cursed, her lips trembling.

Realizing that I couldn't possibly change my mother’s mind, I left the Parker's Mansion in frustration.

After driving for over an hour across the city, I finally stopped at Night Bar, hoping to drink away all the bad feelings.

My heart was pounding as I walked into the bar.

Although it was a very familiar place, I felt something different tonight. Something inside the bar was attracting me.

My eyes swept across the crowd and landed on a woman in the corner.

She was facing away from me, drinking one glass after another.

My wolf got excited as I sat down at the counter, almost jumping out of my body.

I ignored my wolf, taking its reactions as the result of the relaxing ambience in the bar.

After taking a few shots, my wolf and I felt even more fretted. So I decided to leave for Empire Hotel to have a good rest.

There was an acquisition meeting early next morning. I gotta get well prepared for that.

******* 

In my room at Empire Hotel...

I ordered wine from service and left my door half open before going for a bath.

“Holy crap!” I muttered to myself as I got out of the bathroom and found a woman in my room.

The one I noticed in the bar!

My wolf got even more fretted, roaring inside my body and urging me to get close to the woman.

I tried my best to calm it down and stop myself from shifting into a wolf.

“Time to do your job, boy.” The woman walked over to me as a strong peach scent lingered at the tip of my nose.

I felt a wave of heat surging inside my body.

The next minute, I came to realize that she was the fated mate I had been looking for!!!

But why was she here? Wasn’t she supposed to be at the bar? Could it be that her wolf recognized me as her mate as well?

Just as I was confused by all these puzzles, her hands had touched my body.

“Sorry miss. But I think you’re in the wrong room.” I tried to suppress the excitement of my wolf before figuring everything out.

But the woman just wouldn’t let it go. Her naughty hands ran here and there on my chest.

Finally, I lost control over myself as she bent over to pick up her phone on the floor, revealing the whole picture of her alluring cleavage and hot thighs.

After a crazy night of pleasure, my long-searched mate fell asleep eventually.

******

Early next morning, I woke up before dawn. 

Looking at my mate’s delicate face in her sleep, I took a photo of her and asked my beta Luke to investigate her identity.

Just as I was about to open the door and leave, a card on the floor attracted my attention.

It was a hotel room card, which read Room 419, Emperor State Hotel.

I knew this hotel. It was frequented by call boys and their clients.

“Now everything adds up!” I muttered to myself while putting the card into my pocket.

My mate was supposed to meet a call boy at the Emperor State Hotel last night, but she mistook it as Emperor Hotel and ended up in my room.

On my way to the acquisition meeting, I received Luke’s message.

"Isabella Watson..." I whispered her name as my heart sank.

According to Luke’s investigation, Isabelle had just returned from abroad and was about to have her mating ceremony with Bruno Sandall in half a month.

The investigation result also said that Bruno had been hanging out with Isabelle’s stepsister Jasmine over the past year.

So Isabelle ordered a call boy because she found out about Bruno and Jasmine?

Throughout the morning, I’d been bothered these questions. And Isabella's pretty face kept surfacing in my mind. I couldn’t focus on the meeting at all.

Feeling still restless after the meeting, I decided to drive around the city.

As I passed by the Sky Hotel downtown, a strong bad feeling rose in me suddenly.

“Mate! Mate needs help!” My wolf kept telling me.

Isabella might be in trouble! I had this ominous premonition.

I pulled over in front of the Hotel and jumped out of the car quickly.

At the entrance of Sky Hotel, I heard someone say, “Miss Isabelle, could you tell us who the man in the photo is? Judging by his physique, it shouldn’t be Mr. Sandall, right?"

Looking at the photos on the screen of Isabella going into my room and me leaving the room at dawn, I was even surer that she had fallen into a trap.

Without further ado, I strode towards the entrance of the banquet hall following the sweet peach scent.

"Is my name really that hard to utter, Bella?" I walked past the crowd to my mate’s side with a smile.