Ch. 3: Kingswood Park

ALEKSANDR

Dustin walks into my office about 30 minutes earlier than we planned.  He appears to be texting someone, so I ignore him and continue my work.  After a few minutes I hear him chuckle as he slides his phone into his pocket. “Are you ready to go Alpha?”

I glance up to be met with that familiar smirk, “Yeah, just give me about five minutes to wrap up this paperwork.  I could definitely go for an early lunch today,” I respond with a sigh of relief.

Dustin takes a seat on the sofa under the window, pulls his phone back out, and starts texting again while he’s waiting.  He continues to chuckle to himself, and I find it quite distracting.  I quickly finish up and we head outsides. 

I raise a brow at him and question, “What’s got you giggling like a schoolgirl?” 

Dustin doesn’t take offense to my comment.  “Emmitt and I were just having a little fun planning a small prank for the patrol groups tonight.  We’re going to--”

“I don’t want to know!” I quickly interrupt him.  I know that I can trust Dustin not to take it too far, but pranks aren’t my thing, and I prefer to be left out of it. Willful ignorance and all that.

I jump into the passenger seat of his gunmetal grey Ford Raptor.  The windows are tinted so dark that no one can see inside unless we roll them down.  The privacy is nice, but today the weather is gorgeous so as soon as Dustin begins driving I roll down my window and rest my arm on the door to enjoy the breeze across my arm and face.

Instead of wasting time going to a restaurant where we have to sit down to eat, we choose a drive through so we can take our food with us and begin our check on the town.  I know fast food is unhealthy, but with our wolves’ fast metabolisms we burn it up so quickly it’s never really been an issue, and we don’t eat that unhealthy garbage all the time.

“I thought we could go to Kingswood Park to eat and check in,” Dustin says as he pulls out of the parking lot. "Then we can drive through the rest of town afterwards if you want."

Kingswood is a fairly nice park now, but about 10 years ago it was overrun with drug users and gang activity.  We spent several months cleaning it up and I made it a requirement for our team to do regular patrols through the park to make sure it stays safe for the human families to enjoy.  Wolves never go here because it’s not big enough.  Besides, it’s usually teeming with humans, which isn’t ideal for us.  No shifting could ever happen there, so we can’t stretch our legs and run.

The park makes a big circular loop, so you enter and exit at the same point.  We drive about one third of the way in and park on the shoulder of the road.  Although the park is busy as usual, everything is calm as Dustin and I eat and talk about yesterday’s alpha meeting.  As my Beta, Dustin was there but he stood off to the side listening.  Beta’s may not be allowed to speak during the meeting, but he can always mink link me with his thoughts, which he often does throughout the meeting.  Sometimes he has so much to say that I almost miss important information and I have to block him out from the mind link so I can stay focused.  I’m not sure how he does it, to be honest.  I think it would be impossible for me to sit through one of those meetings and keep my mouth shut the entire time.

As we are hashing through the finer details of the meeting, I notice that something feels off and my wolf feels it too.  No, not off… just different.  I don’t sense any trouble, but something definitely has me and my wolf both feeling distracted and on edge.

Dustin notices that I seem uneasy and questions, “What is it?  Is there a problem?”

I shake my head in response. “No, nothing is wrong… I’m not sure what it is.  My wolf is feeling restless, but neither of us can figure out why.”

My wolf is now pacing in my head and growing more agitated by the second.  My nostrils flare as my wolf and I check for the scent of rogues or anything else out of the ordinary. Our eyes are scanning the area.  I start with the obvious areas where something or someone could be hiding, like the tree lines, but I don’t see anything.  Then, I begin observing all the people in the area. 

There are a lot of humans in the park today, maybe more than usual, but since I’m not here all the time it’s hard to say.  Some are walking, while others are running or biking. Finally, I catch the faintest smell.  It’s so faint that if my wolf wasn’t already on alert, I might have missed it.  My senses are usually heightened, and I can pick up everything, so why is this so subtle?  Whatever it is must be far away.

Dustin can see that I’m focused on a scent and looking all around so he quietly and patiently waits for my next move.  The smell is very slowly growing stronger, and my wolf is pacing franticly in my mind.  It’s finally strong enough to be distinct.  The smell is a soft combination of milk and honey with just a hint of something else.  Fresh rain?  Yes, they are all subtle scents, but they mix together perfectly.  It’s the most intoxicating thing I’ve ever experienced.

As soon as I identify the scent, a woman jogs past the truck and the scent begins to fade.  She must be the source!  I heard music playing from her phone when she ran past us.  It sounded like… German?  She looks like she might be in her late 20’s.  She is pushing a jogging stroller with a child who looks to be about five years old.  Her hair is a dark brown, almost black, and short.  It hits right at her chin with an undercut on the left side.  Her skin is pretty pale, and she has tattoos on both of her arms and one on her neck.  She’s so pale that if I didn’t know she was human she might be able to pass as a vampire.

She’s not super thin, but she also isn’t severely overweight.  Most of her extra weight is around her stomach which makes sense seeing as how she has a child with her.  Some humans tend to gain weight there after having babies.  Even through her black leggings I can tell that her legs are toned, and it makes sense that they would be if she is out running with a jogging stroller.

I can’t see her eyes because she is wearing sunglasses, but she is moving further away from us when I realize my wolf is trying to get my attention.  My wolf is shouting, “Mate!  Mate!”

I’m so stunned that it takes me a minute to get my brain moving again.  Meanwhile, Dustin is still sitting there staring at me, waiting for me to give him instructions or tell him what’s going on, but I still can’t think straight.  How can this woman be my mate?  First of all, she’s human!  She also has a child, which means she might already be in a relationship with another human.

I’m both fascinated and stunned.  I never thought I would get a second chance mate.  I’m also confused because her scent never got very strong, even when she was right next to the truck.  This doesn’t make any sense.  A mate’s scent is supposed to be overwhelming.  The strongest, most intoxicating scent you’ll ever experience.

Her scent was absolutely enticing, but not strong at all.  If I hadn’t already been scenting the air when she passed by, I might have missed it all together or assumed it was my imagination.  I need to know who she is, and I need to find out more about her.

I need answers. 

It’s a good thing I’m having dinner with my parents tonight.  I just hope this is what my mom was planning to discuss.