Chapter Three

The three men watched from a distance when the woman left the house. One watched her every move as she got into her car and drove off.

The back of the car was long out of sight before he heard his companions chuckling. "Earth to Cole, Earth to Cole, come in Cole."

Cole turned to face his friends and smiled sheepishly. "What? If that were your mate you'd be doing the same!"

Trey and James couldn't stop laughing as Cole tried to defend himself. They had to give him a hard time since he was always the first to make fun of any besotted male who couldn't take his eyes off his future mate.

They just couldn't let this go by without getting in a few digs.

"Hey guys, time to get serious. There he is." Trey and James stopped their joking and looked in the direction Cole was pointing.

The male was walking the opposite direction of the woman which immediately made Cole relax. The further that lone Were was from his mate, the better.

Cole's wolf was close to the surface, and both Trey and James did not want to set him off.

Gary didn't notice the black Suburban shadowing him. They were doing their best to stay out of his line of sight.

Trying to follow a Werewolf without being detected was not the easiest task, but the threesome was the best surveillance team the pack had.

And since this was personal for Cole, they had to be even better. They continued to follow until they reached the edge of the wildlife preserve.

They watched him climb the fence and walk towards a stand of trees. A few minutes later they heard the howling of a lone wolf on the hunt.

The three looked at each other, all realizing at once that this answered a problem they had been wrestling with for months. There had been recent reports of wild animal attacks on protected lands.

Half eaten carcasses of deer and elk had been found throughout the preserve. The pack knew this was off limits for hunting.

They hunted on their own lands and were sure to stay off any federal and state owned property. The last thing they wanted was for someone to push to start hunting wolves in the area.

"Cole, what now? Do we follow him or..." Trey could hear Cole grinding his teeth.

He could tell the wolf wanted to run after this loner and tear him to shreds, but the good of the pack came before any personal grudge.

"No, lets watch him for a few days and make sure he's the only one that's been coming out here.

James, assign a detail to watch the preserve 24/7. I want to know if they spot any other wolf out here.

There've been way too many dead animals for one wolf to have killed on his own. I want to be notified if there are any more kills here." James immediately pulled out his cell phone and started setting up the lookouts.

"Trey, I want this one watched at all times, and I want to know EVERY move he makes, everyone he sees and talks to." Cole's brain was in overdrive.

He wanted so badly to take this wolf down, tear him limb from limb, and listen to his last breaths. But his pack was his life, as much as his mate would become.

He had to think of their interests before his own. If he reacted too quickly he could let a bigger danger loose on the pack, and no matter how much his wolf was calling for blood, he had to wait.

Within minutes two more black Suburbans were pulling up and four large men got out, ready to set to work on their assigned tasks.

While Trey and James made the assignments and coordinated schedules, Cole took off alone to look for his mate.

He already knew where to look. When he'd seen her name on her mail he had started checking into her work history and found that she worked for the local Police Department.

She answered 9-1-1 calls. This would work to his advantage because one of his top security men was also a local police officer. He'd be able to find a way to meet her without any difficulty at all.

A half hour later Cole was having coffee with Brett Hall, decorated Police Officer, and loyal pack Beta.

And even better for Cole, Brett knew Karen and had told her he had a friend that wanted to do a "sit along" on 9-1-1. "Are you ready? Just be sure to keep your wolf at bay Cole, can't tear her clothes off or anything in the communications center you know." Brett snickered to himself as he glanced sideways at Cole.

"Yea yea, everyone thinks I can't control my wolf. I'm a big boy, I'll make it through sitting at a desk next to her for an hour." Cole was hoping he could get through an hour.

He really had to assure his wolf that she would be theirs soon enough, and he would HAVE to be patient.

Soon enough they were walking into the control room where the calltakers and dispatchers worked. Brett walked Cole over to Karen's desk, grabbed the back of her chair and rattled it to get her attention.

"Hey kiddo, I've got my friend here I was telling you about." Brett raised an eyebrow at Cole when he heard the growling coming from deep in his friend's chest. Yeah right, he was going to control his wolf.

Karen turned around with a smile, and then a look of shock came across her face when she looked at Cole.

Oh my God, it was the guy from yesterday! She had to remember to close her mouth that was gaping open at the sight of this Adonis standing next to her.

This was the guy that was supposed to listen to her take calls for an hour? She could already feel her pussy starting to leak.

How was she going to make it an hour without him smelling it? How was she going to even talk to him or her callers when she could already tell she was tongue tied?

"Nice to meet you Karen, have we met before?" Cole flashed his best smile as his wolf was running circles in his head, so excited to be this close to his mate AND to smell her obvious arousal!

He shook her hand and lingered, enjoying the feel of her skin against his. She didn't pull away and just stood, staring at him. He loved looking into her dark brown eyes.

"Ahem, so I'll leave you two to take some emergency, calls and I'll be back for you later Cole. Have a good time you two.

" Brett was shaking his head as he walked away. "We'll see if they make it an hour. Bet I get a message either from Karen saying to get him out of the building or Cole saying to get his wolf out of the building." Brett chuckled on the way to his cruiser.

Karen tried to be nonchalant while she explained the 9-1-1 phone system, but every time she looked at him she got lost in his green eyes.

She'd never seen eyes quite that color before. She could feel the change in her heart beat and breathing and tried to will herself to calm down.

Her pussy seemed to have a mind of her own and was swelling and pulsing without a touch. She could feel the wetness in her panties, and the odor was wafting up to her nose. She was mortified.

This gorgeous hunk of male was sitting next to her and she was embarrassing herself! She tried not to look at his face but just couldn't help herself. Once his hand bumped into hers and she almost hung up on her caller she was so flustered.

Here she's known for her calm demeanor with hysterical callers and she can't sit next to a good looking man for an hour!

Cole was overwhelmed by the sweet smell of her pussy on top of her natural lavender and licorice. His wolf was in heaven sitting next to her but in hell because he couldn't touch her.

The briefest brush of their hands had his wolf ready to mate with her on top of her computer terminal. Cole had to use every ounce of mental strength to calm him enough to sit there placidly and pretend he was just listening to the calls.

In some ways the hour passed by so quickly it seemed like minutes, and at times it seemed like hours. But eventually Brett returned to pick up Cole and surprised them both by inviting Karen to go out for a late dinner with the two of them.

At first Cole's hackles went up thinking that Brett was trying to come between he and his mate, but he quickly realized from the sly grin on Brett's face that he was only trying to help. Karen packed up her work station and met Cole and Brett at the local diner.

When they arrived at the restaurant Brett let Karen slide into the booth first and motioned for Cole to slide in next. "Cops always have to sit facing the door. Sorry, hope you two don't mind sitting next to each other, but I never have my back facing a door."

Karen looked down shyly but glanced up in time to see Cole flashing a happy grin at Brett. They'd barely ordered when Brett got a text.

"Uh oh, the wife is calling, gotta run. Have a good dinner you guys, sorry I have to rush out but duty calls. I forgot I promised to bring home milk." Brett waved and was quickly back on the road, on his way home to his mate who he'd let in on the scenario. Perfect timing.

He'd have to find a way to thank her for her help tonight. He leered with the thoughts of how he'd thank his mate. Her heat would be starting any day now. Oh he was going to thank her really really well.

After a very quiet several minutes, they finally started to talk about something other than Karen's work.

Karen asked Cole about his family and what he did for a living. He was head of security in the family business and lived with his extended family not too far out of town.

The chit chat can only go on for so long, and after they finished eating and had run out of superficial subjects, Cole asked Karen if she wanted to leave.

"Let's go for a walk. There's a really nice park across the street. It's beautiful at night. We can walk off dinner and maybe talk about something other than our work." Cole was looking at her with those amazing green eyes, and Karen quickly agreed to go.

This was ending up to be like a blind date. She'd always been kind of leery of strangers, but he was a friend of Brett's, and Brett seemed to trust him.

She didn't think he would have left her alone with a maniac or anything. For the first time in a long time she felt pretty good about being alone with a man she hardly knew.

They walked and talked for what she thought was minutes but soon enough she realized it had been hours. They had talked about so many subjects she couldn't even remember them all, from family, to school, to old romances.

A quick glance at her watch shocked her, and she sadly looked up at Cole. "I have to go. I've got to get up early and have to get some sleep tonight." She really didn't want to leave. She could easily have stayed and talked to him all night long.

He reached down and gently took her hand, forcing himself not to rip off her clothes and take her right there on the park bench.

His wolf was practically howling in his head to stop wasting time and claim their mate! He pulled her hand to his lips and pressed them to her skin, looking in her eyes.

She gave a quiet sigh, and her whole body seemed to relax. What was it about this man that made her feel this way? Her pussy again started to pulsate, and her heart sped up.

If he had tried to fuck her here on the park bench she probably would have given in to him. She felt this need to be with him, to touch him. She was leaning towards him, breathing deeply, waiting. For what?

She wasn't sure, but she would wait for whatever he wanted from her. She had this overwhelming need to belong to him. God, she'd never felt this way before. She was way too old for puppy love. What was wrong with her?

And he was so much younger than her. What was she thinking? He had to be fifteen years younger at least. This was just ridiculous.

He couldn't take his eyes off hers. She was meant for him and he for her. There was no doubt in his mind, and he could tell that she felt it too.

He slowly moved towards her and kissed her lightly on the lips, just a touch, and felt his cock harden in a moment. He could hear her heart pounding, heck so was his.

He could smell her pussy which made it harder not to just let his wolf have his way. But he had to go slow, he had to make sure the other male was out of the picture before he told her what he was, what she would become.

They continued kissing, small, gentle kisses, tentative. He could feel her pushing her body into him.

She wanted more. His wolf was ecstatic. She wanted them as much as they wanted her. Cole obliged his wolf by kissing more forcefully, his lips pressing harder, his mouth opening, and they were both pleased when she opened her mouth and accepted his tongue.

It was a perfect dance, his tongue darted in and hers retreated and then reversed. The kisses melted from one to another until he left her mouth long enough to explore her neck. His wolf was inhaling her scent and howling into Cole's mind. Softly, Cole whispered, "Mine."