*Noah*
“You really don’t have anything better to do than pester , Matchmaker?” I asked. I let out a grunt, currently lifting weights at the pack mansion workout room.
Zara’s eyes lingered on for a while. My wolf pushed to bench press her instead, the urge to take her in almost overwhelming. I ignored it. She was getting on my nerves.
“This would be a lot smoother if you would work with ,” she said.
I rolled my eyes, letting out a snort as I continued to lift weights. I could feel her stare.
“Enjoying the view?” I asked sarcastically. It was the second ti I’d caught her staring at .
The lightest hint of blush tinged her cheeks. Despite that, she snorted. “You’re sothing else,” she muttered.
“I know. Sweetheart, I am a very busy man, and this situation continues to be a waste of our ti.”
She shook her head, annoyingly patient through all of this. “Noah. I just want to help you find the right Luna.”
I rolled my eyes, dropping the weights with a thud and turning toward her. My gaze locked on hers as her eyes widened. I studied her reaction, noting the quickening pulse leaping on the side of her delicate neck.
Did I scare her? Maybe she would leave alone now.
“The sooner we get started, the sooner I will leave you to your activities,” she said, causing to sigh.
Nope, no such luck.
I left my workout station. Clearly, she wasn’t going to leave alone, and having her hovering was stressful. As I moved to get past her, I noticed a beautiful floral scent billowing from her.
Damn it.
My wolf grew even more excited, urging to make her mine.
She was unperturbed, lifting her chin defiantly as she kept up with my hurried pace from the workout room to my study.
I ignored her until we reached the door and put up an arm to bar her from entering. I turned to face her head-on, but as she stopped short, I found myself much closer to her than I wanted to be, close enough to see specs of amber floating in her green eyes.
Our closeness seed to make her breath quicken, and I ran my tongue over my lips.
Up this close, her scent beca even more tantalizing and delicious. She had to know what that perfu was doing to . Otherwise, why bother putting it on? She had to be playing so type of ga with .
I looked away from her and quickly gathered my thoughts.
“I have other things to do right now,” I said dismissively.
“It will only take twenty minutes to go over your likes and dislikes, that’s all.”
“I don’t care if it only takes twenty seconds. Take a hint and get lost.”
“When might be a better ti for you?” she asked with a patient smile.
“Never.”
She didn’t budge.
“I’ll be working all day and into the night. If you really want to go over my likes and dislikes, co to my room later this evening. I promise you can get to know all you like then.”
I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, and she shook her head with a huff.
“Take it or leave it, matchmaker,” I said, stepping into my study and shutting the door on her.
I doubted she would take up on my bedroom invitation. But I was certain she would be dogging my every step again tomorrow.
In the end, it wouldn’t matter. I wasn’t interested. She would eventually give up. Then I could dismiss her and this mate business from my mind and focus on more important things.
***
At the end of the day, I let out a sigh, relaxing as the warm water from my shower flowed over my muscles. I was looking forward to a quiet night after finishing this up.
That changed when I left the bathroom and entered my living room. I was lost in thought, facing my bedroom, when I realized I wasn’t alone there.
“Oh, there you are,” a familiar voice said.
I whirled, wearing just a towel around my waist after having just left the shower. When my eyes locked on Zara’s, I noted hers were wide with shock.
Shit.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.
“You told this would be a better ti to et with you,” she reminded as she averted her eyes from my nearly naked body. She thrust the questionnaire at blindly and I looked at it dangling from her fingertips.
“I have this questionnaire here. We don’t need to do it verbally. You can simply fill it out and I will leave you alone.”
I’d truly forgotten I told her to et here, but never in a million years would I have thought she would actually show up in my room at this ti of night, unless she was after more than a questionnaire.
She looked around my room, taking it all in for a mont.
The place was done up in warm colors, with appropriate woodsy decorations like the rest of the mansion and plenty of shelves with books.
When Zara finished studying the room, her eyes landing on my table full of open notebooks and maps, she looked at .
“Is that really why you’re here?” I asked.
“Of course it is,” she insisted.
I twitched an eyebrow and slowly approached her again. Like in my study, she was backed up against the wall, and I placed one hand on the side of her face, leaning into it. I felt my wolf’s excitent growing even more now, wanting to claim her.
“Look. I don’t know what my parents paid you, but I will pay you double to get the hell out of here. It would be better for both of us, you especially. Trust .”
A shudder ran through her, but she once again stood her ground, the defiant little vixen.
“No, thank you.”
“No?”
“Hm, no. Now, get out. Unless you truly have other things in mind....”
Her eyes widened, and her nostrils flared a little. I also noticed her cheeks darken.
I added, “You know, you might actually like it.”
Her beautiful eyes locked on mine. “I stayed out of your way all day because you said this was the ti you would have free. So, I am here now and I am not leaving this room until you fill this out. You can threaten all you’d like. I’m not budging.”
A silence passed between us, and I sighed. “Fine,” I growled, moving away from her and taking a seat. I didn’t bother to go into the bathroom and get dressed. I’d do the stupid questionnaire to get rid of her for now as quickly as possible.
Her posture shifted to relief, and she initially sat down next to , placing the clipboard on my lap. Every small move she made caught my attention. Every little detail seed to stand out.
I took in the dress that she was wearing. Red was a beautiful color on her, and it brought out the radiance in her eyes.
When the light caught the highlight of her hair, it glowed almost like a halo. I even noticed the way her delicate fingers held the pen she wrote with.
She had the smallest of pensive dimples as she wrote and thought.
Sohow she’d managed to secure the answers to her questionnaire and without a beat moved into showcasing pictures of interested potentials. I should have pushed her to leave, but what was another five minutes? It wasn’t like I was taking any of it seriously.
“Not my type,” I said in a smooth tone, tossing aside one. Then, I looked at another picture. “Look at the shadows under her eyes. She’s seen so things.” Then for the next one, I said, “She definitely wouldn’t be able to handle .” I purred, snickering.
“You’re not taking this seriously,” Zara said flatly.
“No,” I agreed. “Because I’m not interested.”
“You say that now, Noah Black. But, soday you’ll thank .”
***
*Zara*
There was a strong chance I was in over my head. Despite the outward confidence I tried to show Noah, doubt was creeping into my entire being.
“Now,” I said, not letting my worry show through in my voice. This stubborn shifter would catch on and continue his behavior if I did. “This woman from the Feather Mountain pack has a lot of research experience in dendrology. Your careers could align.”
“Trees. I love trees. Piss on them all the ti,” he told , snickering in amusent.
I refrained from letting out a groan.
He seed determined to sabotage this at every turn. I couldn’t leave before getting this done, though. Giving up now would an failing my first high-stakes job. Plus... even if Noah was being difficult, he deserved happiness after everything he’d been through. Rembering this, I tried reasoning with him.
“Look. I know you’ve been through a lot,” I said softly. “But closing your heart off and denying yourself happiness isn’t sothing you need to do. I can help you. I want to help you, Noah.”
I hoped he could hear how much I ant it. I wasn’t being stubborn for no reason. I knew deep down he was a complex, intelligent, and dominant man with a heart. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be so hung up on the people he loved deeply and had lost.
Noah clenched his jaw. I saw the slightest hint of vulnerability in his expression before it slipped away just as quickly. I wasn’t even sure if I’d seen it to begin with.
“What do you think you know?” he asked, for the first ti being direct and serious.
“I know you have experienced significant loss.”
“Significant loss,” he repeated as if he was turning the words over in his mind. “What do you know about loss, little girl? You’re barely twenty-one years old. What do you know about true love, let alone true mates?”
I leaned back folding my hands in my lap. “I’ve seen–”
“I don’t care what you’ve seen, Ms. Star. Tell what you’ve felt for yourself.”
He rested his hands over mine as he captured my eyes with his penetrating gaze. “Have you ever felt as if the day can’t start right before you hear their voice? Have you ever felt every cell of your body co alive just to look at them? Have you ever held soone and felt as if you would rather die than let them go?”
Another space of silence fell between us, and he removed his hand from mine.
“Until you have felt all of those things with soone only to have that person ripped from your life unexpectedly, then you will never understand the true aning of significant loss.”
I looked into his eyes, which were wide and haunted. My heart went out to him. Without a thought in my head, I lifted my hand and rested it against his cheek. He gripped my hand in his for a mont and slowly pulled it away.
“I’ve answered your questionnaire, Ms. Star. You can leave alone now.”
Shivers cascaded through . I felt a pull to stay and try to comfort him, but I forced myself to stand. He stood as well, his bare chest radiating with a heat that nearly did in as his scent washed over so achingly powerful.
Despite that, I found the strength to nod and saw myself out. My senses ca back to in the cool air of the hallway.
I knew that he was still in pain. I wondered if I should still persist.
Could I ever break through his resolve to never get hurt again?
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