by Lola Gabriel
Laila left her house, heading in the direction of the post office as she was sure the other town amenities would be in that vicinity. She walked the couple of blocks to Main Street, taking in the small houses and slightly bigger cottages that lined the streets. The town was picturesque, there was no denying that. Everywhere she looked was clean and crisp and bright, the houses, like her own, all rendered brilliant white.
She reached Main Street, but instead of walking up it, she veered past it, wanting to explore the other half of the town. There was one big house on this side of the town, almost a mansion, and Laila wondered briefly who owned this house. It must be someone rich who liked a quiet life, she thought to herself. Her exploration of the nearby residences didn’t take long, and her rough estimate told her there were about forty houses in the town.
She meandered her way back toward Main Street, passing the school on her way. The school was small, only the size of a good-sized house, but the playground was a decent size and the building looked inviting. She smiled to herself, wondering what her classroom would look like and what her students would be like. God, I hope they like me, she thought to herself.
She circled back around to the post office and began her journey up Main Street. It didn’t take long. Main Street was as short as all of the other streets she had wandered through. It contained the post office, a tiny store, an even tinier library, and a pub. It’s going to take some getting used to, Laila thought to herself. There’s the quiet life, and then there’s this. There isn’t even a café or a take-out place. Oh well, I guess I’d better accept that I’ll be cooking a lot more, she thought with a smile. It was something she always told herself and never did, but now it seemed she would have to.
She popped into the store and bought enough things to see her through for the week, and she went into the library to enquire about joining. She was given a form to fill out and handed a credit-card-sized card within fifteen minutes. She browsed the shelves and chose a couple of thrillers. Leaving the library, she checked her watch. She had been out of her house for just under an hour.
She wasn’t ready to go back yet, but she was starting to feel a bit peckish and she decided to go into the pub and have a pub lunch. Even that wouldn’t save her from home cooking, though. The chalkboard outside advertised a Sunday roast, served from twelve until three, and that was it for their menu.
Going into a pub alone was something Laila never would have considered back home, but here, it seemed okay. The pub didn’t look like the sort of place that got rowdy. It looked like the sort of place where people did what she was planning on doing—grabbing lunch and maybe reading a book to pass the time.
The decision made, Laila opened the door to the pub. She was greeted with the smell of home-cooked food that made her stomach growl. The pub was fairly large, decorated like what Laila thought of when she thought of a proper country pub. It was all wooden rafters and garish patterned carpet, but it worked, and it came together to give a welcoming atmosphere.
The pub was quiet. A family sat around a table in one corner eating a Sunday roast and two men sat at the bar, one dark-haired, one fair. The dark-haired man turned around when the door banged closed behind Laila. For a moment, their eyes met and Laila felt something she had never felt before. She felt as though somehow, she had an instant connection with this man. He looked tall, even seated, and his body was ripped, like he worked out a lot. His dark hair framed his face perfectly, drawing Laila’s eye to his somewhat delicate features. He had a small nose and a clean-shaven jaw. His skin looked smooth and unblemished and Laila felt an urge to touch it.
When his eyes locked on hers, she saw they were a beautiful emerald green color, brighter than any eyes she had ever seen before. As she looked at him, she felt her insides stirring. Somehow, Laila felt as though this man was her destiny. Like he was her soulmate. She tried to dismiss the idea as ridiculous, but it was hard when he was looking at her with those eyes, searching her face as though he, too, felt this connection between them.
He smiled at her then and she felt her heart skip a beat. His smile lit his whole face up, making him look warm and approachable, and like someone she could definitely enjoy getting to know a little bit better.
She dismissed the thought, forcing herself to look away from his mesmerizing gaze. She felt her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment, and for just a second, she felt a flutter of fear in her stomach. She couldn’t explain the fear, but for a second, she had a bad feeling about Greer. She dismissed the idea as nonsense.
She wasn’t in any danger. A handsome man had smiled at her and she let herself get carried away, that was it. She realized she was still standing in the doorway to the pub, looking lost, so she began to head for a table that was slightly around a corner from the bar, a table where she couldn’t be distracted by the man at the bar.
She had barely sat down when a waitress appeared and Laila smiled at her, grateful for the interruption to her thoughts.
“Hi,” the waitress smiled. “I’m Tess. Do you need a moment or are you ready to order?”
“I’m ready,” Laila said. “Can I have a small roast dinner and a large white wine, please?”
She hadn’t been planning on the wine, but she felt as though she needed it now.
“Sure,” Tess said. “Would you like beef, chicken, or pork?”
“Beef, please,” Laila said.
Tess smiled and left her table, and Laila pulled one of the books she had borrowed from the library from her bag. She opened it and started to read, but she couldn’t concentrate. All of the words seemed to merge into one. All she could think about was the handsome stranger and the way his eyes had sparkled when he had smiled at her.
Laila shook her head, telling herself she was twenty-three, not some dumb teenager. Despite her thoughts, she couldn’t keep the half-smile off her face as she imagined what the handsome man would look like with his clothes off. She felt herself blushing again and she shook her head slightly.
Laila had never really believed in love at first sight before, yet now she found herself questioning that belief. Because something had passed between her and the man when he had smiled at her. She could try to deny it all she liked, but that wouldn’t change the fact that it had happened.
4
Cedric Waters picked his glass up off the bar and took a long sip of his beer. He hadn’t been planning on coming to the pub today—he rarely came here at all—but when Josh, one of his pack members, had suggested a quick drink, he had found himself agreeing to it. He didn’t know why, but his fae instincts had kicked in, telling him he should go, and he had learned a long time ago to listen to them.
He had been the fae king, the leader of his pack of fairies, for over a century, and when his instincts kicked in like that, there was always a good reason for it, even if he didn’t always see why immediately. His instincts had told him to bring the pack back to Greer, the tiny town his father had lived in back when was the pack’s alpha. And now, they had led Cedric to the pub. There had to be a reason for both of those things.
If there was, it wasn’t apparent, and for the first time in a long time, he was starting to doubt his instincts. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on in the pub. A small family sat eating a Sunday roast, and other than that, he and Josh were the only customers.
Josh was talking about something he was working on at work, but it was nothing Cedric thought they needed to be in the pub for. So then why had his instincts told him to come here?
“Earth to Cedric,” Josh said.
Cedric shook his head and looked at Josh, who was grinning at him.
“Sorry, I was a million miles away there. What were you saying?” Cedric asked.
“Nothing important,” Josh said, waving his hand. “I was just moaning about work. What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing really,” Cedric said.
“And that’s a bad thing because…?” Josh prompted him.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Ced
ric smiled. “I didn’t say that. I just… I don’t know. Something told me to come here today and I’m trying to work out what it was. I don’t like it when my instincts are off, that’s all.”
“Maybe it wasn’t your instincts telling you to come here. Maybe you just finally accepted coming to the pub is pretty much the only thing there is to do in Greer,” Josh said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Cedric said.
He didn’t believe it, though. Today was no different from yesterday or the day before, or the day before that. In fact, it was the same as it had been almost a decade ago when the pack returned to Greer with him and he had taken up residence in his father’s old house. And he had never had this strong an urge to come in here before now.
He pondered it, worrying that he was losing his touch, thinking maybe he was getting too old for this alpha thing. It didn’t matter if he felt too old to do it now, though. He had no choice unless he wanted to abandon his pack and leave them leaderless, which wasn’t an option to him. His pack was his family, loyal to a fault, and he wasn’t about to let them all down. And he didn’t have an heir to take over leadership of the pack. He didn’t even have a mate. That had never bothered him before now, but questioning his instincts led to him questioning it all.
The door to the pub opened while Cedric was questioning his very existence. He glanced over his shoulder, looking to see who had come in. He knew in that moment why his instincts had told him to come to Greer, why they had brought him here today, and why they had led him down the path of questioning his decision not to actively seek a mate.
He turned a little more so he could get a proper look at the woman who had just stepped into the pub. She wasn’t just pretty; she was a vision. Just looking at her took Cedric’s breath away and made his cock twitch in his jeans. She looked like she was in her early twenties, with long, blonde hair that sat in wispy curls around her face, and she had the face of angel. She also had a little rosebud mouth and beautiful blue eyes. Cedric couldn’t help imagining that mouth on his.
As he looked at her, she looked back at him, and something told him that she was also feeling this sensation that churned inside of him, the feeling that told him this woman was meant to be his mate. Her lips parted slightly as she looked at him, their eyes locked on each other. Her cheeks colored slightly as she gazed at him. Cedric smiled at her, his heart racing, and she smiled back, her eyes lighting up with her smile.
It took everything Cedric had not to jump off his stool and go over there and kiss this woman, but he held himself back. He didn’t want to scare her away, and although she smiled when he did, he saw something flicker through her eyes for a second. Something that looked like fear.
She looked away from him and he felt lost for a moment, like losing eye contact with her took a little part of him away. He watched her, a little bit more subtly now, but unable to take his eyes off her all the same. He couldn’t help but notice the curve of her breasts, of her hips. She wasn’t very tall, but her legs still seemed to go on for miles, and the parts he could see beneath the hem of her dress were a beautiful tanned color.
He ached to touch her, to kiss her, to fuck her. She had to be his. She just had to be.
She moved to a table that was blocked from his view by a wall and he sighed and turned back to the bar. He was already missing the sight of her, craving her beauty. There was nothing at all wrong with his instincts. They had brought him here to meet her.
Josh elbowed Cedric and grinned.
“Smitten much?” he said.
Cedric nodded. There was no point in denying it. Josh had seen the way he had looked at the woman, how his eyes had followed her across the room.
“So, go ask her out. What have you got to lose?” Josh said.
“Oh, I don’t know. My dignity,” Cedric said.
“Bullshit,” Josh said. “I saw the way she looked at you, man. She’s into you. Go talk to her.”
Cedric shook his head, remembering the flicker of fear in her eyes as she looked at him. He didn’t know why she might fear him, or maybe Josh was right and she felt this connection too and that was what scared her. Either way, he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare her off.
“Maybe another time,” Cedric said. He didn’t want to tell Josh about the fear he had seen in the woman’s eyes. Not until he could at least explain it. “I don’t want her to think I’m in the habit of picking up every pretty girl who steps into a bar. It’s not like Greer is exactly massive, is it? I’m sure I’ll see her around again.”
“And what if, by then, someone with some actual balls has beaten you to it?” Josh asked.
“Then it was never meant to be,” Cedric replied.
Josh shook his head.
“God, you really are smitten, aren’t you?” he laughed. “You never would have let me get away with implying you had no balls on any other day.”
“Well, I don’t want her first impression of me to be of someone who punches their friend in a bar, do I?” Cedric laughed.
“Fair enough,” Josh grinned. He lifted his almost empty glass. “Another one?”
“No, thanks,” Cedric said, making a point of looking at his watch. “I have to get going. I have a meeting with Cassie at one.”
“Okay, catch you later,” Josh said. He winked at Cedric. “Hey, while you’re gone, maybe I’ll introduce myself to your future wife.”
“You’ll do no such thing. I don’t want her being put off me before I even speak to her,” Cedric said.
He was laughing, but he knew Josh knew he meant it. Josh laughed with him.
“I’m just messing with you. Now, get out of here before you’re late for the meeting and Cassie blames me for leading you astray,” Josh said.
Cedric left the pub. As he stepped through the door, he risked one more glance at the woman now that he could see her again. She was sitting sipping a glass of wine, an open book in her hand. God, she’s gorgeous, Cedric thought to himself. He let the door close before she could catch him watching her.
He had lied to Josh about having a meeting with Cassie. He just knew if he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from approaching the woman. He didn’t want to freak her out by coming on too strong, and if he just marched over there and asked her out and she said no, he would have missed his chance. He wanted to find a way to run into her again, hopefully talk to her and let her see she had nothing to fear from him. And then he would ask her out. Because whatever happened, he knew with a certainty that she was meant to be his.
Cedric headed toward Cassie’s place anyway. He wanted to tell her he had found his mate. As the pack’s beta, he knew it would relieve her to know he was finally taking an interest in finding a mate and giving the pack an heir, but he also knew that as his sister, she would be happy for him on a personal level too. She had found her mate centuries ago, before they had even reached twenty-nine and stopped aging.
Now that he had seen the woman, he knew he would never be happy alone again—he would never be happy until she was his for all of eternity. But even when he had been happy to be alone and wasn’t overly worried about finding a mate, he had envied Stuart, Cassie’s mate, a little. He had been lucky finding a female fairy to mate with. Long ago, a witch had cursed the immortals, stopping them from having female children. Only humans who had been turned could produce female children now, and female immortals were like gold dust. Stuart and Cassie had fallen in love and Stuart had never had to worry about all of the things Cedric had to worry about.
Even if the woman agreed to date him, at some point, he would have to come clean about who he was, what he was. If she didn’t run screaming for the hills, then the only way she could become his mate was if she carried a special protein in her blood called Sanmere, a protein that was rare. Without it, she wouldn’t be able to become a fairy and that would mean they could never have children and that she would age and die.
Cedric felt so strongly about her that he already decided that didn’t matter to him. It w
ould be better to have half a century, maybe longer, with the woman than no time at all, but the thought of her not being by his side for all eternity hurt his heart.
He told himself he was getting way ahead of himself. He hadn’t even spoken to the woman and he was already planning their future together. It felt right, though. He knew she would be his. His instincts told him so, and his instincts were fae instincts, much sharper than human instincts. If they spoke to him, then they spoke the truth.
He reached Cassie’s place and rang the bell. She yelled for him to come in and he entered. She was in the living room with Stuart. She took one look at his face and frowned.
“You look happy,” she said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Cedric laughed.
“I’m not saying it’s bad; I’m saying it’s unlike you,” Cassie teased him.
“Yeah, I’m just a walking ball of misery,” he joked.
“Spill the beans, then. What’s got you all riled up like this?” Cassie said.
Cedric clammed up a little. Telling Cassie about the woman was one thing, but he didn’t want to be the talk of the pack. Josh was his best friend—he would keep his secret, but Stuart was likely to talk. Stuart seemed to get the hint and he stood up.
“I’ve got some work to be getting on with. I’ll let you two talk,” he said.
“You don’t have to…” Cedric started.
“I know,” Stuart interrupted. “But if it’s pack business, it’s really not my place to hear it before the others.”
Cedric smiled and clapped him on the shoulder as he left the room. Was it technically pack business? It would be if the woman had Sanmere in her blood and was willing to become a fae. She would be the mother of his children, the mother of the heir to the pack.
He sat down beside Cassie.
“I’ve met my mate,” he announced. “Or at least I’ve seen her.”
Cassie squealed with excitement and hugged Cedric. He laughed and let her hug him. She pulled back.
