TACFR 3 - Dangerous stunt

Manu couldn't believe he'd found his mate that same night.

It was Kiera.

But it bothered him that besides the strawberry scent he undoubtedly liked the first time he caught a whiff of it, that was just that. He did feel the mate bond as Cole was obviously over the moon they found their mate.

Kiera's wolf, Fia and Cole, connected well. But Manu didn't feel as much connection with Kiera. Wasn't it supposed to be the same way since he and Cole were typically one?

"Can you believe it?" Kiera was still ecstatic. "I've been far away from home for a long time thinking that I could find my mate somewhere else. But here you are all along… I missed so much time with you!"

Selina was right. Kiera had blossomed into a very beautiful and fine woman. His last memory of her was when she was just ten years old and he was twelve. Her family migrated overseas and they lost touch since.

It was the first in nearly two decades that they saw each other again.

Kiera was no longer the thin, pale looking little girl he remembered. She was a lady now. A sexy, beautiful and elegant looking lady. And she was his mate.

"Yes. Who would've thought. Had I known, I wouldn't have let you leave this place," he answered, trying to find it within himself that he was also happy.

Of course, he was happy. It was just that he felt that something was lacking. Why was his experience different from all the finding your mate stories he heard from others?

His Beta, Emmet, said that he was at once madly in love with his mate, Jena, the first time they met. He was expecting the same.

But why did he feel like he had to work on his feelings for Kiera to let it grow?

Maybe the experience was different from one wolf to another, Manu decided.

"Had I known, I would have gone home a long time ago," Kiera added, though it sounded the same, it was different.

He said he wouldn't have let her leave and she answered, she would've gone home sooner. They weren't thinking the same. She would've still left him but would've returned earlier.

"Mom will surely be so happy to know that my mate is the famous Alpha Magnus! Gosh, I still couldn't believe this!" Kiera carried on, clinging to his arm like it wasn't just tonight that they met again after a long time.

He let her be even if he wasn't exactly comfortable.

He was born into werewolves. He knew that they'd been destined to a mate at a point in their lives. While it meant they were assured not to live single in their lifetime, there's something he wished they were the same with humans.

He wanted the mystery of not knowing whom to fall in love with. He liked the idea of courtship. He wanted to let his heart decide…

"Well, you have no idea how happy you made my Mom feel," he shared.

Manu didn't realize until that very minute that his mother's request wasn't so impossible at all. However, now was not the time to decide if he was going to marry Kiera on Selina's birthday.

It just didn't sit well, the idea was a little off that he couldn't understand why…

—

MANU didn't get a good night's rest. So, waking up the next day was like a chore he dreaded. But he wasn't also the type who would sleep off a potential best day of his life and his pack. So he dragged his feet to the shower and prepared for work.

"Magnus, aren't you going to eat breakfast first?" Selina called when he was about to leave for work.

"I'm running late for work, Ma. I have a meeting in an hour," he answered, stopping to give his mother a peck on her forehead.

"You always act like you're just an employee. Give yourself some credit. You are the boss, you are certainly allowed to be late once in a while!"

"Ma, I'm meeting an investor who traveled from the other side of the world to come and see me," he gently explained.

"Okay. But do come home early. I've invited Kiera and Lima to dine with us tonight," Selina's eyes shone with excitement.

"Alright, Ma. Got to go. See you tonight."

"Take care, Magnus!"

"Thanks, Ma."

He then hurried to his black convertible.

Manu and his mother didn't live in a pack house. They had their own mansion, with a bunch of househelps and security details and that was it. The other pack members had lives of their own just like the humans mingling with them.

He liked the idea of independence while maintaining their pack bond. Once in a while, they would all gather so the personal touch was still there. And also because wolves were supposed to be stronger when they're bonded together.

Manu was busy with his thoughts about his pack and the sudden appearance of his mate, Kiera, when out of the blue, a girl appeared in the middle of the road.

She seemed unaware that she ran a green light and had put her life in danger as Manu's speeding car was too close to make a sudden stop.

It was a near miss as Manu barely managed to turn the steering wheel away from her direction. His ears were pierced by the loud screeching of tires as he made an abrupt halt. He hastily got out of his car to check whether the impact still injured the girl.

The accident involving the Alpha created a commotion with his Beta at his service at once.

"Check the girl," he commanded, as he made his own way to the girl who was sitting on the road while holding her foot.

"Are you hurt?" He squatted down to see her injury, but the moment the girl looked up at him, the two of them were surprised when they recognized each other. "It's you again!"

A smirk made its way to his lips as the girl in front of him paled.

She stole some bills from him last night and just when he thought to let the incident slide, she appeared out of nowhere again.

"What do you mean?" She made a lousy attempt to deny any knowledge of their previous encounter. "You hit me just now! Look at my foot! I am injured! You should pay me!" she demanded.

Manu was astounded. The girl got the nerve to ask for payment for an injury that she obviously got the previous night when she tripped on her own.

"Miss—" Emmet was about to answer for Manu, but the latter was quick to mindlink every werewolf around to back off and leave him alone and the girl.

The several humans who had gathered to see what the commotion was about also left when they saw everyone else leaving. They didn't dare stay in the presence of the Alpha.

"Tell me again why I should pay you," he told her, he remained squatting to see the girl eye to eye.

While at it, Manu realized she wasn't too young. She was eighteen or nineteen at most. Her doe eyes were screaming innocence but a little longer look would say she wasn't very naive. She was a thief to begin with.

And just now, the stunt she pulled told Manu she was an expert mugger. A robbery in broad daylight by pretending to be a victim of her own dangerous stunt and then asking for payment.

"You hit me, Mister! Can't you see? I might have broken a bone," she pretended to be hurt and flinching in pain from small movements in her ankle. "But I understand if you're in a hurry, just pay me and I'll bring myself to the hospital!"

"I'm positive that I didn't hit you, Miss. But, I'm willing to bring you to the hospital to have your foot treated. How about that?" he negotiated.

Manu couldn't understand where his patience was coming from. On another occasion, being accused like that had already unleashed his wolf out.

But strange, he was actually enjoying the encounter with the little human thief. Manu supposed that she was new in the city. Although her eyes said many things about her lies, knowing him wasn't one of them.

There was a clear sign she didn't know whom she was going against. And for the life of him, he found that amusing and made him want to play her game.

"You're obviously in a hurry, Mister. Just pay me now and go wherever you're supposed to go," she insisted.

"I couldn't run away from responsibility, right? I suggest, let's get you to the hospital first. If you agree, I might even consider paying you. What do you think?"

"If you're not in a hurry, then I'm the one who's in a hurry! I don't have the luxury of time to waste with you! If you're not going to pay me, then leave!" she suddenly burst out crying.

So, she was hurrying now? Ain't his offer not good enough?

And tears card again? He already fell for it last night and he wouldn't be fooled twice.

"Okay," he shrugged and stood up. The heck was he even trying to bargain with her?

The girl struggled to stand up as well. Manu realized she was really small as her full height barely reached his shoulders.

"Ah such bad luck!" He heard her frustratingly murmur before limping away.

SASHA's tears were genuine. Her foot really hurts. She wasn't making it up. However, the man, who unluckily was the same reason she had a foot injury, was right. He didn't hit her as she got the injury from running away from him last night.

But he was wrong if he thought she intentionally risked her life just now. It was an honest miscalculation as she was only trying to avoid getting caught after pickpocketing some guy's wallet.

At one point, she even felt real fear when she saw him from the crowd that gathered to see what happened to her. Luckily, he still seemed oblivious that he was missing his wallet.

And then this arrogant guy refused to buy her pretense of getting hit by him. She didn't plan it though. Had she known he was the same guy from last night, she wouldn't even have tried to blow up the issue even after seeing he could afford paying.

But her greedy heart thought she could use some more cash to add to the thin wallet she got from a random person by the street.

But all she got was an accusing stare from the b*stard. He seemed to have read through her, despite of course the truth that he knew she was a thief.

And now, she had no choice but to back down.

"Stupid foot," she muttered. "Why now? I badly needed to earn!"

"Hey!" She heard the man call out after she had limped off a considerable distance.

She didn't look back. She even wished she would never see him again. It didn't feel good to have multiple encounters with her pickpocket victim. Most especially because with more than a decade in her resume, no one had yet to catch her in the act.

It was a first when the same person caught her twice in less than twenty-four hours! What an insult to her untarnished record! She hated him already.

"I said, let me bring you to the hospital!"

Sasha nearly had a heart attack when all of a sudden, she heard the man's voice just right behind her. How did he move so fast?

"And I say don't bother. I can— whoah!" She screamed when she felt his hands around her waist, lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder like an empty bag of flour. Was she that lightweight? "What are you doing?! Put me down!!!"

"Shut your mouth, you little thief!"

For the first time in Sasha's dangerous hell may care life, she was stunned to speak at the tone that the man used on her.

Who was he?