She wanted me to meet this woman. This is the third one in the past few months that she’s attempted to hook me up with.
Rux cordially introduced himself, shaking the woman’s hand as well as shooting his sister an irritated glare. The woman’s name was Stella, and although she was without a doubt attractive and polite, she didn’t strike Rux to the bone.
That was what he had wanted. He knew about mates and had heard stories about how meeting them was like having lighting strike your insides.
Stella does not strike me. There is nothing wrong with her, but that fated mate feeling is my main requirement.
They spoke at length about Rux’s business and how Nyssa and Stella had met while working at the Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Oh,” Rux said, raising his eyebrows. “That’s quite an achievement.”
Stella chuckled, lifting the glass to her lips.
“That’s nothing compared to your conductor sister over here,” she said, motioning to Nyssa.
Rux was charming, complimenting Stella’s apparent skill and overall appearance, but he felt nothing to latch onto. His mind kept drifting to his two favorite parts of his life, his thriving business and the freedom that came with jaunting through the woods in his panther form.
He had begun the ritual a few years ago and relied on it the way an addict relies on that next hit. It was not only a way for him to physically escape his responsibilities but also a way to outrun any emotion that came bubbling up and got in his way.
He would simply gallop through the rain, snow, mud, whatever was present. The exhaustion was thrilling.
Nyssa shot Rux a few wide-eyed glances during their dinner. Rux took every opportunity to try as much as he could, but his heart wasn’t in it, nor were his bones.
They said their goodbyes outside, with Rux shaking Stella’s hand kindly and wishing her a goodnight. When she drove away, his sister smacked his arm with her purse as they waited for their driver.
“Ouch!” he said drastically.
“What the hell was that?” Nyssa asked.
Rux rubbed at his forearm as if she had hurt him.
“What the hell was what?”
“Jesus,” Nyssa said. “You truly are something else, Rux Cohen!”
Rux’s driver pulled up in front of them, and they both climbed into the back seat. Rux stretched his legs out and relaxed, feeling like he had held his breath the entire night.
Nyssa used the opportunity to place her fingers on her brother’s knee and squeeze it hard. He reacted the way only siblings could when their family members teased them.
“You can’t be alone forever, Rux,” she said.
“What’s wrong with that?” Rux said, slumping into the seat.
Nyssa rolled her eyes.
“Both Mom and I want to see you settle down. Business can’t be everything in your life,” she said, scolding him.
Rux had heard the lecture many times before. He was the oldest male in the family, which meant he was the Alpha. The Alpha had a responsibility to carry on the family name, but that wasn’t a world Rux had agreed to be a part of.
He knew of some shifters who found mates, some who didn’t, and some who lost their hearts to a mate who didn’t want them. He had experienced enough emotional pain in his life to want to stay away from all that.
“What about you?” he said, changing the subject. “Why don’t you find someone to put a baby in that belly, hmm?”
Nyssa scoffed, rolling her eyes again so hard that Rux thought she might lose them up there.
“It’s not the same with me, and you know it,” Nyssa replied.
Rux blew his hair out of his face, staring forward into the abyss of the back of his driver’s head.