TWO

ELOISE

"Who hurt him?" One of my coworkers mouthed, looking into the distance. Particularly at a man who I had served coffee six times. The question was directed at me and while a snarky replay would have sufficed. I didn't know the girl's name. I didn't care to. What was the point of it anyway? But she was right. The man seemed to be troubled. He had been in the Cafe all morning. The sky was dark. The time was almost 7 PM. We were supposed to be closed minutes before but I wanted to stay. The Cafe was my only escape from my adoptive parent's constant concern. I planned to work all the way till eight before leaving. They ate and slept early. I had a spare key. It was a win-win situation.

"None of my concern." I retorted. "As long as he keeps patronizing us, he can stay as late as he wants."

"I see you are insensitive as always Eloise." The girl chuckled, wearing her bag. "Good night."

"Good night," I whispered back and watched her leave. Now. It was just me and the handsome stranger someone believed was dying of a broken heart. I poured a hot cup of coffee into a pearly white cup and sauntered toward him. My goal was simple really. The coffee was an avenue to make money and strike a conversation. I didn't care about his life. Only to inform him that the Cafe was due to be closed and it was best he prepared to take his leave.

"Hey," I sent, sliding the steaming hot cup of black coffee his way. It was the only thing he had ordered all morning.

The hot cup stroking his arms was what provoked his attention. "Sheesh," He winced, making eye contact. His eyes were like liquid gold. Maybe it was the lights but they were bewitching. I felt myself drawn to this stranger. So much that I didn't notice when a smile curved my mouth.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"It's alright." He said. "Thanks for the coffee."

"You know what, Coffee is on the house."

"That is actually very nice."

"How long do you plan to stay?" I continued. "The Cafe will be closing for the night in the next thirty minutes."

"Is that so?" The man mused, lifting the teaspoon in his coffee and pouring a strange powder into it. He was a junkie. That truly killed everything about him or so I thought. When he poured the powder into his coffee and whipped it away, I noticed a tattoo along his arm. It said Hijo de la luna which roughly translated to son of the moon. No one randomly had that tattooed to their body. I would have asked my wolf for some assistance regarding this mystery man since my human knowledge concerning all things werewolf was a bit rusty but my wolf had been deadly quiet since the night of the incident. At first, I had believed that the trauma of that night had been too great for it to bear and it died. Maybe that was true but I would never know. I was still able to shift when I willed. The only difference was the guiding voice in my head was lost and perhaps that was a good thing. I wanted nothing to do with that extension of myself.

"Cocaine?" I quizzed.

"No." He replied, taking a sip of the now polluted beverage. "Something stronger. You wouldn't know it?"

"Why? Is it something peculiar to only Alpha werewolves?"

He almost snorted out his drink in surprise and in so doing implied that I was right about him.

"This is new." He mused again, his pearly white teeth having their red carpet moment when he smiled. "I didn't know you were a shifter. Do you mask your scent?"

I had no idea what that meant or how to do it but I nodded. An Alpha werewolf in town. That meant a pack followed.

"Also, I am not an Alpha. I am a Beta."

"But your arm..."

"This?" He pointed, turning in his sleeves. "It says Hijo de la luna. Son of the moon. If I were an Alpha, it would be Amado de la luna." He paused to gauge my reaction. A tiny smile made its way to his mouth when our eyes met. "How do you not know this?"

"Rusty memory." I lied, taking that question as a cue to leave before things got out of hand but he threw in another question before my brain could even make a move.

"I was not aware that Ashlake had werewolves. What is the brand of your pack?"

"I'm a lone wolf Mr..."

"Matthan." He finished.

"Thank you. I am a lone wolf, Mr. Matthan. I do not have a pack. Enjoy your coffee and the Cafe's scenery while you still can." I immediately turned to leave.

"You haven't told me your name?"

I stopped in my tracks, fighting and failing the urge to ignore him and keep up my professional front. There was just something about him. Something alluring and enthralling. It was like you knew you were walking right into a trap yet didn't mind because it was worth it. But was it? Mingling with werewolves was not a thing Eloise Carter would have done. Werewolves came with trouble but on second thought, what big trouble could conversing with a Beta cause? I turned to face him.

"The name is Eloise Carter."

"I am Matthan Gardenia Beta of the Gardenia pack but you can call me Matt for short."

My snarky self came right in time. "I don't care Matt."

"Good," Was his instant reply. "Can we talk?"

I rolled my eyes. "I just said I didn't care. But creeps that come on to me like you usually call me a bitch and get on with their sorry and pathetic life after that sock burn."

"Maybe." He reasoned. "But I am no creep and I simply want your audience. Someone who couldn't care less but would listen all the same."

I remained where I was. I couldn't believe I was considering it. Was the gift of the Gardenia pack one of Siren's suggestion? "What makes you think I would even want to listen?"

"We are completely alone and I can smell the curiosity on you." He gave me another one of those dashing smiles as if you seal the deal and I hated to admit it hit I immediately caved.

Heaving out a sigh, I walked to the door and flicked the open sign over then I joined Matt. "Well, spill."

"I have been having a really shitty day." He began.

"Haven't we all?"

"I thought my life was perfectly aligned. My duties in the pack have been top notch. I finally got my own apartment and I found my fated mate. Those are the things of fairytales. My life was a fairytale."

"I am yet to see where the shit comes in." I chipped in.

"My fated mate rejected me." He sighed. "A fated match is a rarity in our community. Though, I am sure you already knew that. She was someone I knew and already had a somewhat close relationship with. Nothing romantic of course. But I believed we could work. Only for her to immediately reject me in front of my pack. I keep trying to understand why. Why would she reject something set in the stars?"

He was poisoning himself because some girl rejected him? I found it almost hilarious and in all honesty, I would have laughed if he didn't already look like he was going through an episode. I could easily tell the rejection took its toll on him. I grabbed his beverage out of reflex and took a sip. The liquid burned and stung the back of my throat as it made its way deep down. It tasted like alcohol. Like tonic that rotted the brain and switched off your prefrontal cortex. Except when it hit your bell, it felt different. It felt stronger. My parents wanted therapy. I wanted to get rid of the nightmares. Maybe this stranger was heaven-sent. The nightmares only started after John left Ashlake for college. My therapist would believe it was a result of repressed pain and she would have been right. I hadn't admitted it to my adoptive parents because I knew the step they would take next would involve money. Fortune we did not have in abundance. That was where Matt came into the picture. A high ranking werewolf whose pack was not in town and with that came a high possibility of never having to meet again. The opportunity. I took it of course. That and another large gulp of the poisoned coffee before speaking.

"Sometimes it isn't all you," I told him. "It might not be her rejecting fate like you think. Maybe she is just figuring things out. I have hurt a boy I liked in my past."

"What did you do?" Matt inquired.

"I broke his heart because I was afraid of change. I did it because I didn't want to leave this town. I don't want to have to go to a bigger town where I know nothing and no one. It doesn't feel safe and I didn't appreciate that a part of the world wasn't going to be my oyster."

"That sounds sad and depressing," Matt remarked.

"I know."

He fetched his drug patch and nudged it my way. "You should take more of that." He urged. "It will help you relax."

One look at the patch and I should have refused his generous offer. But I didn't. The words of his life were hypnotic. I opened the patch and sniffed it in. I stopped to look at Matt and found myself grinning. The effect was instant. I was getting high. I should have known that was a big mistake on my part.