Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series (8 page)

“Ms. Gray,” he nodded curtly, stepping aside to let her by.

“Mr. Vrost,” she greeted in return, passing by him. Alex was there, waiting by Jared’s desk. “Hey Alex!” she called out. “Waiting for the Alpha?”

He nodded. “Yeah, got the overnight shift tonight.”

“Ah good, let’s grab a cup of coffee when you get off in the morning, ok,? At the usual place?” she said, stopping by Jared’s desk to get a folder. “I need to go over a couple of things with you.”

“Sure, Cades,” he said, flashing her a flirtatious smile. “It’ll be a good way to end a long night.”

“Alex, let’s go,” a chilly voice from behind barked at them.
 

Cady turned around and saw Nick Vrost’s frowning face. She thought he had gone inside Grant’s office. She shrugged as she waved to Alex and then walked to the elevators.
 

Alynna’s life remained the same somewhat normal, at least for the next week or so, except for a few things. She agreed to go to Cady’s “lessons” for an hour or two a day for five days a week, more if she could stay longer or come earlier, as she was eager to get them over with. They were mostly self-study, and she spend a lot of time reading books in a little conference room at the Fenrir Headquarters and Cady would come in when she could to answer her questions. She had made it through early Lycan history in Romania starting from the rule of Michael I and ending in the first Lycan wars (there were two, plus an aborted one). Grant was super busy, stopping in once or twice during the last week, checking up on her, but barely having time to stay more than five minutes.

The rest of her humdrum life seemed normal. She still went on client calls and finalized her surveillance schedule for Mrs. Garson. Of course, there were her new “bodyguards” though she’d warn Grant and Cady that unless she was on Fenrir property, they were to stay as far away as possible, especially when she was on a case or else all, bets were off. Whether she was slightly disappointed that Alex wasn’t assigned to her, she hadn’t quite decided yet. There was a weird, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she tried to sniff out his scent and couldn’t find it.
 

On Friday afternoon after 2 hours, she finally closed the book she was reading. “Are you sure this isn’t some form of Lycan torture? Another chapter or two and I’ll be your mindless slave,” she sighed dramatically when she heard the door behind her open.

There was a discreet cough and she didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. Her body practically leapt up when the familiar scent hit her nose. “Alex,” she said in an embarrassed tone. “I thought you were Cady. Lycan history, you know,” she laughed nervously. “How did you ever learn this all?”

 
“It’s something we all learn as kids, so it’s pretty much ingrained. It’s like learning American History, but with more magic and gore,” he quipped, a slight smile on his face.

Someone cleared his throat behind Alex. “Alex, if you would,” said Nick Vrost in a serious tone.
 

“Yes, Al Doilea,” he bowed and stepped aside. Alynna remembered him calling Nick that before, which meant “the second” in Romanian, but she wasn’t quite sure when to use it. She made a mental note to ask Cady.

“Ms. Anderson,” he began.

“Chase. It’s Chase,” she corrected, slightly annoyed. “Or Alynna.”

“Ms.
Chase
,” he emphasized her last name. “Mr. Anderson requests that you join him for dinner tonight. He says you are to come with us to the Red Door Spa and they will take care of you.”

“Uhm, where’s Cady?” she asked, biting her lip. “Shouldn’t she be the one to accompany me to these types of appointments?”

“Ms. Gray is busy,” he explained. “But don’t worry, we will not be accompanying you into the spa, only to take you there and pick you up, to make sure to bring you to the restaurant for dinner.”

“Do I get a say in this?”

He gave her a dry smile. “I’m afraid not.”

“Lead the way then,” she resigned, picking up her books.

“Alex will be the one to bring you there and back. Ms. Gray will have an outfit sent to the spa for you,” Nick explained.

“Wow, must be a swanky place, then eh?” she said, with an exaggerate wiggle or her eyebrow, her poor man’s Groucho Marx impression. He merely nodded. Geez, she thought. Does no one around here have a sense of humor?
 

“Ooookay then…so I’ll see ya around, Nicky boy,” she teased. She’d only seen him crack once and made it her personal mission to see him do it again. “Let’s go get me all pretty then,” she walked towards the elevators with Alex following behind her.
 

***

“Excuse me, Miss,” Alex said as he opened the door for Alynna.

Her delicate brows knotted. “Will you stop with the ‘Miss’, business? It’s making me nervous.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that,” he said. “It’s protocol.”

“Protocol for what?” She turned to face him.

“You’re the Alpha’s sister,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Yes I am. We’ve had this same conversation before as I recall,” she put her hand on her hips. “So what does that matter?”

“It does.”

“How?”

“It just does, alright?” Alex ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Look, there are things that maybe you don’t understand…yet. But you will.”

“Then tell me what’s wrong!” Alynna was getting frustrated and when she got too frustrated, she got angry. “One minute you’re hot, the next you’re cold! That’s not fair Alex. Don’t make me believe one thing and then the opposite the next day!”

“And what is it that I’m making you believe?” he asked matter-of-factly.

Alynna opened her mouth but closed. Her head was spinning with all the words she wanted to say. Ask him. Remind him about the night at the diner. And about key lime pie.

She balled her hands into fists. “I don’t give a shit about this protocol business,” she growled. “Ok, when it’s just you and me, will you just call me Alynna, please?” she looked up, her eyes pleading at him.

“Alright…Alynna,” he relented. “Anyway, Cady wanted me to pick up a dress from Bergdorf for you since we don’t have time to bring you back to your place and we don’t have keys to get something for you.”

“Uhm…does it matter? Why don’t you pick one?” she said flippantly as she was ushered through the spa’s building.

Alynna had never been to a spa, not even a beauty salon to get her nails done, as money had always been tight growing up and by the time she was on her own, there was simply no time for such luxuries. To say she was overwhelmed at all the attention and pampering was an understatement.

The moment she stepped through the door, she had been treated like a VIP. A pleasant-looking Lycan named Grace (who smelled like honeysuckle) ushered her into the private section of the building where she was offered tea and biscuits, then gave her a menu book of treatments. Not quite sure which treatments to take, she shoved the book back to the eager young Lycan and just asked for whichever she thought was best. Looking back, she probably shouldn’t have said “best” because she soon found herself bathing in a tub of goat’s milk and then brought to a luxurious private massage room where a large Swedish woman named Agneta pounded and kneaded away all the knots in her body. After this, she was then directed to a dressing room where a hair and makeup artist did her face and hair before another team of people came to dress her up. At this point, Alynna had had quite enough and grabbed the shoes and dress bag and then (politely) shoved the people out of the dressing room so she could dress in peace.

To her chagrin, the bag contained one of the cocktail dresses she picked but had to send back to adjustments. Except she remembered she had picked a blue dress. The bag instead contained the same dress but in pink. She gave a wry smile, wondering if she should mention something to Alex as she slipped it on.

When she stepped out of the spa, Alex was already waiting for her, holding the door open. She gave him a side smile as she entered the car, enjoying the way his eyes roamed over and appreciated her body.
 

The ride to the restaurant was short, a couple of blocks from Fifth Avenue. The building they stopped at was sleek and modern and gave no indication of what was inside, not even the name of the restaurant. Grant was already there when the severe-looking maître’d brought her to the table.
 

Grant made a motion to stand up, but Alynna waved him down. “Please, I feel uneasy enough in these heels,” she joked. “So, uh, thanks for the invite,” she said as their waiter placed a menu in front of her.

“Well, I know you’ve been busy and so have I, so Cady suggested we have dinner, just the two of us,” he stated. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I had my assistant book us a table here.”

“What is this place?” Alynna asked, peering at the menu.
 

“I’m not sure. I just asked him for somewhere private and nice,” he opened up the menu.

Alynna scanned the restaurant’s offerings. She gulped as she realized it was mainly in French, and she didn’t even understand half of the English translations. Shifting in her seat uncomfortably, she mumbled something and pointed to the first thing she saw when the waiter asked what she wanted.

As soon as the waiter left, Alynna and Grant sat there in uncomfortable silence, as if they were waiting for each other to speak first.

“So, nice place--”

“How are the--”

They spoke at the same time and then stopped abruptly.

“What did you--”

“You go ahead--”

More silence. More uncomfortable shifting.
 

Finally Grant cleared his throat. “Is everything going well with Cady? I mean, with the lessons and such…”

Alynna shrugged. “I suppose…I just don’t know why I need to know history and stuff…like when am I going to learn the cool things? Like growing fangs or something?” she joked.

“Well, I agree that shifting is a big part of what you need to learn, though history is important too. You need to learn how the clans work, the high council, important people and such,” he said. “And I’m still not sure who can teach you the basics of controlling your Lycan side.”

“Couldn’t you do it?” she asked. “I mean, it sounds like you don’t have formal teachers and such for that.”

“I’m just afraid that I won’t be able to devote the time to it. It has to be done on a regular basis,” he explained. “But one of the reasons I wanted some private time with you is--”

“Your starters, sir,” said their waiter as he approached. He put two plates of salad in front of them. At least, Alynna thought they were salad, as she did see a couple of piles of leaves on the plate, some raisins, unidentifiable grasses, and a squirt of dressing on the side.
 

They ate in silence, occasionally making a comment about the weather or New York politics. Their salad plates were cleared away and the waiter came with their entrees.
 

“Tripes à la mode de Caen for the lady,” the waiter said, laying the plate down in front of Alynna with a flourish. “And Les Escargots En Petites Tomatoes, for the gentleman. Enjoy your dinner.”

Alynna stared at the dish in front of her. There was a small bowl with pieces of what looked like meat and a couple of potatoes. She looked up at Grant, who seemed to be just as puzzled as she was.

“I think this is the dish I ordered…or at least it looks...digestible if not edible,” he said with a raised brow.

She let out a laugh, which seemed to infect Grant as well as he struggled to keep from chuckling too loud. A couple of patrons glared at them and Alynna cleared her throat to try to suppress the giggles.
 

“Hmmm…so, this is kind of going like a bad first date…what do you say we get out of here and get some real food?”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

***

“So, you’ve lived in New York all your life and never had a slice of Mama Jean’s?” Alynna asked before she put a mouthful of pizza in her mouth. She was starving and it took nearly an hour to get to Brooklyn from Manhattan.
 

“No, never,” Grant admitted as he folded the gigantic slice in half and shoved a bit of it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and went quiet.

“Good, huh?” Alynna asked.

Grant nodded as he swallowed. “Definitely. I can’t believe this place exists in Brooklyn.”

“Spoken like a true Manhattanite,” she joked, taking another slice.

As soon as Grant agreed to leave the awful restaurant, they asked for their food to go (much to the horror of the waiter) and jumped into the waiting town car. Alynna gave Alex (who was driving) directions to Mama Jean’s in Brooklyn. It was a Friday night and the place was packed and so they got two large cheese pizzas to go and walked over to the park nearby. Grant and Alynna sat on a bench, while Alex and Nick stood a few feet away, holding one of the pizza boxes (she made Alex promise to make Nick try at least one bite).
 

“Seriously, how did you know about this place?” Grant asked, as he finished his pizza in two more bites. He reached for another slice from the warm box between them.

“Mom used to take me here all the time,” she said. “Our first apartment is nearby and I grew up oh…three blocks from here.” Alynna cleaned her hands with a napkin, lest she ended up accidentally wiping her greasy fingers on her dress. “The neighborhood’s much nicer now…gentrification and all that…but at least Mama Jean’s is still here.”

They sat in silence, Alynna having one more piece and Grant finishing the rest of the pizza. “That was great, Alynna, thanks. And sorry about the dinner disaster, though that was Jared’s idea.”
 

Alynna smiled. “I’m not much for fancy food you know. If you wanted dinner, I would have been happy with Chinese take out at your place.”

“Well, The Enclave isn’t exactly welcoming to guests,” he stated.

“What’s an Enclave?”

“Yes, it’s a building on the Upper West Side where many of the New York clan live,” he explained. “It’s easier to protect everyone is they are in the same place and most work for Fenrir anyway.”