A werewolf's life is a constant battle, but a chance to meet your soulmate eases the trials for most. Trae is happy with the mate he's given, a cute and daring girl who meets all of his expectations, but his brother Leroy... not so much. He is sure...
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I was lucky I had already paid for my goddamn chicken.
There I was, putting my card away at the checkout, when I felt it. A sort of chill. That feeling you get when you think someone is watching you, which was what my soulmate was doing, though I didn't know it yet. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't turn around, if I didn't look into his eyes. Maybe I wouldn't have known who he was. Maybe I would've met someone else.
But I did, and the moment our gazes crossed, my heart jumped. I frowned and rubbed my chest as he smiled at me. I almost forgot to smile back. It didn't even occur to me what had happened until I started toward the exit and felt my pants getting tighter.
"You get hard when you meet your soulmate, remember?"
"Shit," I whispered, moving my bag in front of me.
There was a row of chairs by the exit of the grocery store that always seemed to me like a waste of space, but today I raced over. My blood was going to all the wrong places, and it left me feeling both hot and cold. My head was throwing around a million questions and no answers.
This didn't make any sense. It shouldn't be him—it shouldn't be a man.
I had never even considered the option. I wasn't attracted to men. I never had been. Even when a kid at my school came out, I didn't spend a moment questioning my preference. Just as he'd always known he was gay, I'd always known I was straight. So what the fuck was going on? When I'd thought about wanting to meet my mate, this was not what I meant.
He was young—barely out of high school, probably. Then again, East Asian men often looked young. Pretty, too. Which he was. Not feminine, but . . . delicate. His limbs were lean and smooth, and black hair framed his face in a disheveled way, much like his clothes. Knee-cut jeans and a wrinkled black t-shirt with a print of some movie or video game. His dark eyes sought me out again as he finished paying, and I pulled my gaze away with my heart in my throat. I reached inside my pocket and found it empty. I'd left my phone at home.
There wasn't anything my brother could say that I didn't already know anyway. Unless I wanted to live the rest of my life by myself, I'd have to talk to this guy, but it was hard to see the point. He was a man, for God's sake. If I believed in Mother Nature, I'd curse Her.
Shit, this was almost enough to make me believe. I met my soulmate the day after my brother. What are the chances of that? My soulmate being a man on top of that . . . ? It must be Her idea of a joke.
Funny.
I wasn't sure what I'd done to deserve it.
The weirdest part of it all was the way my body reacted to meeting my soulmate. I could see he was good-looking, but I wasn't attracted to him, so there was no reason for me to be aroused by his image. Not that I imagined all werewolves went into a frenzy at the sight of a beautiful man or woman, but it didn't make sense that I would feel this way. Instincts were all that mattered, apparently. Soulmate equals arousal.
