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Mateo

Stalking werewolves wasn’t Mateo’s usual business.

He preferred his hunts to be a bit more…

fun. But when they spotted a group of wolves roaming the Brighton mall, business suddenly mixed with pleasure.

It wasn’t unusual. After all they only lived a few blocks away, but Ezra had gotten bored and as soon as the wolves had picked up on their presence, it was game on.

Ezra had always been one to play with fire—sometimes quite literally.

So instead of buying themselves new clothes as planned, they trailed after the wolves to get under their fur.

No, they weren’t following actual wolves through the mall—they were in their human form.

Vince wasn’t far away either, but the third part of the trio preferred to linger in the shadows until his presence was absolutely necessary.

Mateo was often left to babysit Ezra and make sure he didn’t stir up needless trouble.

“I believe that’s the little alpha princess with them.”

Mateo followed Ezra’s line of sight and sure enough, his eyes landed on the alpha’s only daughter.

Her bright grey eyes gave her away, the ones that matched her father’s.

It was no secret that her father often kept her locked away in the Moonlight skyscraper.

Seeing her out in the human world was a shock.

“Maybe we should ruffle their furs just a little.” Ezra nearly purred the thought, lips curling into a sinister grin.

But Mateo was barely listening, his eyes fixed on the petite brunette with eyes the colour of the clouds preceding a summer thunderstorm.

They were… striking , the most beautiful shade of grey he’d ever seen.

As if she could feel his stare, her head turned and their eyes locked.

The wolf princess seemed to stare straight into his soul and when her mouth fell open in surprise, Mateo’s breath hitched.

Shit.

His mind spun but before he could grasp what had just happened, she followed her friends into the nearest shop without looking back.

Almost of their own accord, Mateo’s feet carried him toward the same shop. Although he knew what was happening, he needed to be sure. “Stay here,” he barked at Ezra who was trailing behind him.

“Fuck that,” Ezra snarled, mischief and curiosity lacing his tone.

Mateo stepped into the store, Vince appearing by his side.

“Spread out and try not to get caught,” he hissed, scanning the space for her .

She wasn’t on the first floor, so he went up the escalator while Ezra went for the elevator. Vince stayed glued to his side, mind laced with worry. Even as curious as he was, he didn’t utter a word.

The group of wolves hovered by the changing rooms, but she wasn’t with them. He walked in the opposite direction and found her strolling along the clearance section hidden in the back of the store. The second he saw her, his suspicions were confirmed.

He was her mate.

Her hands brushed the fabric in front of her, her eyes lifting to find him. His heart raced as he closed the distance between them and tried his hardest to remember her name.

But then her gaze flicked to Vince beside him. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Oh no,” she whispered and spun, only to bump into Ezra’s hard chest.

Ezra had his signature devilish grin on his face, but to Mateo’s surprise it softened into something genuine. “Seems we may have found ourselves in a tricky situation.”

“Oh no,” the woman repeated, attempting to stumble away just to fall into a rack of clothes.

“What will your precious father think of this?” Ezra sneered with a dirty laugh. Mateo felt Ezra’s mind push against theirs, but he laughed out loud again. “Three fucking hunters bonding with his precious princess.”

Mateo simply stared at his mate, thoughts flicking through his mind so rapidly that he struggled to grasp onto a single one. Their mate’s eyes flickered between the three men closing in on her. Her hand shook, eyes wide with panic. “We won’t hurt you,” Mateo softly assured her.

But before they could say anything else, someone called from the other side of the store. “Scarlett?”

Her head whipped to the direction of the sound. Mateo stepped aside, giving her space to leave. Without a word, she slid past him.

“You know to keep close,” someone scolded her—a man. “And what are you doing in the clearings section anyway? You have your father’s credit card! What is wrong with you?”

“I feel bad for wasting pack money, that’s all,” Scarlett retorted, but Mateo didn’t miss the hint of fear in her voice.

Before he could hear the rest of the conversation, a hand wrapped around his throat and Ezra’s pitch-black eyes bore into him. “You let her go.”

He whipped his dagger out of the holster, holding it to Ezra’s carotid. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to keep his friend in check by drawing blood—wouldn’t be the last either. “What would you have done, hm?”

“Take her home so we can play a little with our new toy.”

Vince had a gun pressed to Ezra’s temple before his sentence was even finished. “No.”

Fuck. Vince hadn’t spoken a word in an entire week.

“Look at our little mute finding his voice again,” Ezra cackled, taking a step back.

“Dick,” Mateo spat, turning on his heel to get one last look at Scarlett—but Vince’s hand held him in place. “I’m not going after her,” Mateo defended. “I just want to see her.”

“You sound like a lovesick puppy,” Ezra snarled.

“You just wanted to take her home, you fucker.”

“She’s been caged in the alpha’s home every fucking day of her miserable life. Do you know how much she could tell us if we ask her oh so sweetly .”

Judging by the sinister curl to Ezra’s mouth, “oh so sweetly” meant nothing less than torture.

Instead of walking after his mate, Mateo traced the dagger up the side of Ezra’s face, stopping just millimetres from his friend’s black eyeball.

“You so much as touch a single hair on her head, and I’ll destroy you. ”

Ezra laughed, spreading his arms wide in invitation. “It would be my pleasure.”

Mateo took a step back, blood boiling at the idea that Ezra would even think about hurting their mate.

He fought to stay still, waiting for Vince’s signal that the wolves were gone.

Though he didn’t want to, Mateo followed Vince out of the mall and to their truck.

Ezra skipped along behind them, far more delighted than Mateo was comfortable with.

He could feel Ezra’s excitement through their shared bond, while Vince was awfully quiet.

Though that wasn’t unusual. Vince was the kind of man who kept his emotions in check, and it was typically much easier to ignore his feelings over Ezra’s, but right now they were frozen completely.

The two-hour ride home felt wrong, as if they’d left something behind they couldn’t go back to get.

Mateo had spent months reading about mate bonds, and he knew that the void in his chest was simply from leaving his mate behind.

Mates weren’t supposed to be separated like that and with every mile gained, his soul ripped a little bit more.

Ezra humming like a fucking psycho and playing with his dagger in the back seat didn’t help either.

Wasn’t a mate bond supposed to make everyone fall in love?

As Vince drove down the dirt road onto their land, the feeling of coming home—of being home—was different this time.

It was as if something was missing. Vince parked in front of their farmhouse, the lake beyond sparkling in the late-afternoon sun.

This place was their safe haven, one of the few places where they didn’t have to hide who they were.

Mateo had known as much from the first time he’d laid eyes on it, and it hadn’t taken long to convince his friends of the same.

It was far off any main roads, giving them total privacy.

Once inside Ezra skipped up the stairs to his room, humming a song of how “his little princess” would enjoy the silver they had scattered all over the house.

Mateo looked around, worried what would happen once Scarlett did set foot into their home. Then he looked at his own hand, groaning at the sight of his ring. Pure silver and engraved with his family’s crest: a bleeding rose stabbed by a silver dagger.

Shit , what if he’d accidentally touched her with it?

He tugged the ring off, setting it aside as he took note of every piece of silver they had in the house.

Vince went upstairs himself, leaving Mateo alone and without anyone to talk to.

Frustrated, he stormed off to his own room, hoping a hot shower would ease his mind.

Instead, he stared at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He’d always thought of himself as the gentlest of his friends, his warm, brown eyes much softer than those of his companions.

He wondered if Scarlett had seen the same.

She hadn’t looked frightened until she’d laid eyes on Ezra and Vince, realising she’d bonded with all three of them.

Did his appearance please her as much as hers had taken his breath away?

He tried to see himself through her eyes.

His brown hair was always just the right kind of messy and his figure, though muscular, wasn’t as bear-like as Vince’s.

In bed that night, Mateo tossed and turned, only able to see fields of stormy grey every time he closed his eyes. Was she dreaming of him too?

He threw his blanket back, unable to lay down any longer.

She was miles away and all he wanted to do was go after her and hold her in his arms. Maybe even bring her home.

She’d been so terrified of them that all he wanted to do was assure her that she’d be safe with them.

But as he walked past Ezra’s door, he couldn’t help but feel that it might be a lie.

Once a soulmate was found, it was impossible not to fall head over heels for them.

Two souls were magically woven together, gifting unconditional love at first sight.

At least, that’s what he’d read when studying werewolf mythology.

Downstairs, he was surprised to see that he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. While Vince ravaged through their kitchen, Ezra sat on the counter, playing with his dagger and dangling his feet like a child.

“Where’s the fun in purging our home?”

Vince glared at Ezra disapprovingly, throwing their cutlery into a box.

Mateo stepped closer, peeking into the box, and found silver upon silver. “So, does this mean you want to bring her home?”

“No,” Vince grunted, picking up a lone silver bullet and slipping it into his pocket.

“Then why are you purging all the silver?”

“We can’t bring her home.”

Mateo stared at his friend, unsure of what he was talking about. “What—”

“We can’t bring her home,” Vince repeated. “She has to choose this on her own.”

“And here I thought you were smart,” Ezra quipped.

“Shut up,” Mateo barked in return and opened a drawer to reveal more silver bullets.

“She needs to make that decision. Otherwise, she will hate us for the rest of her life. Her pack is her family. Going rogue for us needs to be on her terms.”

Mateo turned and stared at Vince, who was now busy packing away silver cups and plates. “So, what do we do?”

“I think we should court our little rogue,” Ezra purred.

“Ezra,” Vince warned, wrapping the plates in newspaper.

“Oh c’mon, we can have a little fun, can’t we?”

Mateo shook his head. “Your definition of fun usually involves smashing someone’s skull or cursing them with your spells.”

“That’s actually a fantastic idea. Maybe I should find a spell that will speed up the process.”

“You are not carving runes into her skin!” Mateo ordered.

“Fine, maybe a simple potion will do.” Ezra hopped off the counter and disappeared into his room, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

“She will not inhale a thing he puts close to her,” Mateo hissed.

Vince sighed and silently continued to wrap the porcelain.

The more Mateo thought about it the more he liked Ezra’s idea. Well, part of it. “Maybe we should court her.”

Vince paused, simply crooking a brow as if to tell Mateo he’d lost his mind.

“I’m not saying we’ll show up at her place with flowers and chocolates every day. More like showing her that we’re there for her, without forcing her to reveal us to her family.”

Vince thought about it for a few moments that likely felt longer than they were, but he finally nodded.

“But we need to keep an eye on our little warlock up there,” Mateo added.

They spent the rest of the night quietly disposing of every piece of silver in their home.

The frames holding pictures he’d forced Vince and Ezra to take with him, the family heirlooms Ezra had stolen from his parents’ when he’d left at sixteen.

Ezra had insisted on displaying the silver goblets that had been in his family’s possession for over ten generations.

Without most of the decorations, the house seemed empty.

Or maybe, Mateo thought, it just felt empty because they hadn’t brought her home yet.