TWENTY-ONE. Petrol Station **

POV – Elijah

A few days ago…

- This is wrong – Blaze, my wolf, growls in my head. I push him out of my mind as I focus on Olivia beneath me. For days Blaze had been getting antsy with me, complaining that Olivia was not our mate and a horrible person, and although I agreed with him, I wanted one more time to have fun with her.

I know she’s not my mate, but she’s made herself available to me, so why not? I’m twenty-four and still mateless. Olivia was the first wolf in this pack to approach me. She seemed nice at the time. And although I now know her intentions, I can’t help but enjoy what she has to offer. It helps that she is pretty, even though her heart isn’t. But I’m not a fool. I know I won’t settle down with her, make her my Luna or have her bear my pups. No matter what she says or does.

Olivia trails her hands down my body to my arse, pushing down on my butt cheeks as I grind into her.

“More baby, please,” she moans. I ignore her pleas. I don’t want to have sex with her today. I just want to kiss and play. But it seems that lately, whenever we spend time together, it’s all she wants from me. I think that’s why Blaze has been antsy. Our playing days are coming to an end, I’ve had my fun, and now I want to settle down and be a bit more serious.

I continue to kiss Olivia when I feel her hands reach for the elastic band of my pants. Yeah, I’m hard right now, but I don’t want her to touch me. It feels wrong, revolting.

“No, Olivia, not today,” I say, pulling her hand away.

“What’s wrong, babe? Don’t you want me? You’ve never denied me before,” Olivia pouts, pulling away from our kiss. Her voice is beginning to annoy me.

“Can’t we just lie here and make out? Do we need to, you know, be skin-to-skin?” I ask.

“But babe, you’re my mate. This is what mates do,” she says, her face beginning to look sad.

“You’re not my mate,” I growl, sitting up and getting off her.

“I know, but, you know, I haven’t found my mate, you haven’t found your mate…. I love you, and we’d be great together….” Olivia says, softly tracing her fingers across my groin.

- Nope – Blaze links me.

“No, Olivia. I think we should stop,” I say, getting up and straightening my clothes.

“What? We’ve been together two years Elijah! You can’t just stop like that!” Olivia cries.

“You’re not my mate, Olivia. I think we need a break,” I state. I grab my phone, wallet and keys and slip them back into my pockets.

“Elijah, if you walk out that door, I won’t take you back!” Olivia cries out. I think about that for a slight moment. Nope, she’s still not my mate. I keep walking and open the door.

“I mean it!” Olivia yells. Aha. She can mean it. No skin off my nose.

I’ve been in Redclaw Pack for two years now. I remember when Royal Elder Michael visited my pack clearly as if it had been yesterday. Having a Royal Elder visit is a big event. We held a banquet in his honour and had a public holiday for our pack members in his honour.

The reason he came to my pack was because of me. I returned from Alpha Training Academy six months earlier and wanted to be a delta, a pack warrior. I love sparring and using weapons, and I proved myself at Alpha Training. I must have done well because Royal Elder Michael asked me to take over the Alphaship of Redwood Pack when the current Alpha retired. I was told Alpha Brent, the Alpha of Redwood, lost his only heir eighteen years ago and had no one to replace him.

Secondborn Alphas, Betas and Gammas are trained to take over and support their packs when needed. I know this happens from time to time. But I was surprised to be asked to lead the Redwood pack. It’s one of the biggest packs in the North.

I walk through the hallways of the pack house and head for the bar, the next building over. Redwood is a large pack, bigger than my home one, and I’m nervous about taking over. Usually, Alphas don’t take over their predecessors till after they’ve turned twenty-five, and I’ve been here learning and getting to know the pack members.

Alpha Brent is a good role model. He is happy and friendly and treats everyone in his pack equally. Yes, he and the Beta and Gamma make the final decisions, but everything important goes to a vote.

“Kev, want to go for a ride?” I ask my friend Kevin when I see him at the bar. Kevin is one of my friends who came to this pack with me. He’s not the next Beta; the next Beta is Beta Danni and Beta Liam’s son Preston, who is only fourteen. Until Preston is ready, I’ll work with Beta Liam, who is a good man.

“Yeah, bro. Ed and Hugh will come,” he says, his eyes glazing over as he links them. I nod. Mind linking others without your eyes glazing over is a trick you learn at Alpha Training. I’ve tried to teach Kev, but the lazy bugger refuses.

“I’ll meet you at the garage,” I grin, racing for my rooms. I have my own small two-bedroom apartment in the Packhouse. I don’t live in the Alpha wing in the pack house. Alpha Brent lives there and will move when he retires.

I grab my helmet, gloves and sunglasses and go to the garages, greeting pack members along the way. I’ve started a motorcycle club since I arrived here, and it’s not surprising when I turn up at the garage and see more pack members than just Kev, Ed and Hugh. We even have our own cuts with a picture of five claws dripping in blood on the back in honour of Alpha Brent, whose surname is Redclaw.

- Let’s ride – Kev links us, revving his bike. My fellow pack members howl like wolves, and I grin. I lead the pack through the gated community of our pack house and buildings, outside towards the surrounding forests, countryside and towns.

We’re not an MC club by any means, but it makes me smile how quickly the men and some women of this pack took joining our group. We usually go for rides once a week or when one of us needs to get out but not in our wolf. We are also involved in charity runs and drives, often booked at school galas taking kids for rides on our bikes for five dollars a turn. Two dollars go to us to pay for petrol, while the rest goes to the school.

- John’s hungry Eli, stop off at the next petrol station? - Robbie links as we travel further out towards the edges of our territory.

- On it – I link back. I turn to get out of the side road, the rumbling of bikes following me as I turn down one of the main entry roads into our territory.

A Gull petrol station comes up ahead on the right, and I cross the centre lane and ride my bike into the petrol station’s concourse, parking outside their workshop window. Eight of us came to the station with me, the rest deciding to carry on. I smile as I hear the rumble of my pack’s bikes fades into the distance.

- Hurry, hurry, hurry – Blaze chants in my head.

- What is wrong with you lately? – I ask my wolf. He hasn’t been himself for the past few days, and it’s been hard not to notice his changes. First, with his feelings towards Olivia, and right now. Blaze and I agree with most things, taking little negotiating to get what either of us wants, but lately, I feel his thoughts have been differing from mine.

I follow Kev into the petrol station when a delicious smell hits my nose. It smells like flowers and is sweet. And it doesn’t tickle my nose and make me want to sneeze.

“I’m sorry, what?” a beautiful voice asks the teller.

“Your ID, miss?” he asks her. I see her shrug her shoulders, not knowing what he’s talking about. I like what I can see from behind. She has a nice arse and broad shoulders. Her hair is wavy, with natural blonde highlights streaking through it. She wears a faded black t-shirt, a pink pleated checked skirt and shoes that look like they need replacing.

“Never mind,” the teller says to her.

“Okay,” she replies. As she turns around, I see the features of her face. She has honey-coloured eyes, a long, pert nose, pillowy lips and a round chin.

- She’s beautiful – Blaze pants, drool practically falling from his mouth. The girl, who looks about sixteen or seventeen, doesn’t look up at us big burly men as she walks past, her thoughts elsewhere. As she passes me, I involuntarily take a big sniff of the air around her. She smells good, and my cock practically hardens at her smell. Fuck.

- Who is she?- I ask Blaze.

- I think she’s our mate, but no wolf yet – Blaze smiles happily in my head. I watch as she exits the petrol station, walks past our bikes and heads for a car I didn’t notice before.

“Like what you see?” Robbie asks, nudging me as he walks past.

“Yeah…” I mumble, making him laugh.

“Shut up,” I tell him.

I wander down the lolly aisle and grab a packet of pineapple lumps and a crunchie bar before heading for the fridge for a Pepsi.

“No ID?” I ask the heavy-set man behind the counter.

“No, Alpha. She was clueless. She doesn’t smell like a rogue, so I let her go. I’m sorry about that,” he tells me. I nod.

“You got cameras on the concourse?” I ask. He nods.

“Can you get her license plate details for me and send the information to Beta Liam? I want to find out more about her,” I tell him.

“I will do,” he replies. I thank the man, pay for my junk food, and join my men outside. They nod at me, and I join them, putting my helmet and gloves back on and following them out of the petrol station.

~

Edited with Grammarly