Goliath is a mountain of a man. When he walks into a room, he does not go unnoticed. You would think a giant like him would be slower than others. Not a chance! Goliath is faster and stronger than most of us here. He is also very difficult to hide something from. Because of our high span of intuition, it is always impossible for someone to lie to us for long, but with Goliath, he just knows when someone is lying from the onset.
“I’m going into town to get it; do you want to come?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice; I’m climbing the walls just hanging around here,” I state, already making my way toward the pickup that we use sometimes to transport stuff. Grabbing my kutte from the hook by the door, I put it on to hide the bulge of my Glock at my back. Because of the life we live, all of us carry weapons, not just because of the assholes we go after but also because of the Hades MC, whom we are at war with.
As soon as we are on our way, I pull out my phone and send a text to everyone, informing them of the meeting. The last thing I need is for King to jump down my throat for forgetting. Opening the window, I stretch out to feel the wind blow through my hair. Closing my eyes, I savour the feel of freedom that only open spaces and nature can give me.
“Has Blue said anything yet?” I ask. Blue has been away for over two months now, and the place doesn’t seem the same without him. His last gig was supposed to be last week, but he hasn’t come home yet, which to be honest also has King on edge. He doesn’t like it when we aren’t within kicking distance to make sure that the club can get to any of us if we need help.
Blue can sing the birds out of the trees. Every now and again, he will get restless and then shoot out to sing in a few places before coming back home. He could be a well-known musician if he wanted to, but he has shut down every opportunity that has come his way, and there have been a few.
“Nope, but I sure hope he’ll be home soon,” Goliath mutters as he turns onto the main road. Some kind of emotional magnetic wave suddenly crashes into me. My senses sharpen, my heart starts to race, the hairs on my body rise in reaction. My vision sharpens as I look around, up and down the road to try to see where this onslaught is coming from.
“What’s up?” Goliath asks as he looks over at me.
“Can’t you feel it?” I ask in surprise. A pull like the one I’m feeling he should have been able to sense.
“No,” he says with a frown, and I know he’s trying to sense anything different in the air. The pull that I’m feeling is getting stronger, to the point that I want to jump out of the pickup and rush towards it. What the fuck!
“Stop,” I growl, which has Goliath immediately pulling over and looking around for a threat.
“What the hell, Hunter? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, but something is messing with my senses.” I’m trying to pinpoint where it’s coming from, but I can’t pick up on the source yet.
“Is it danger?” Goliath asks as he continues to look around. His question makes me analyse the pull that I’m feeling and the reaction I’m having.
“Fuck me!” I growl when I realize what is happening.
“What?” Goliath places his hand behind his back, preparing for any eventuality.
“It’s my mate!” I state as my mind and senses align, a feeling of desperation to go and find her overtaking my body. We all know that once our wolf senses its mate, it will drop everything and go out to claim her. I can feel the desperation within me, the hunger of the chase. We become volatile at this time, as all we want is our other half. It’s the most dangerous time in our lives. When we find our mate, our wolf becomes predominant. Our animal instincts take over, and we only have complete control once we claim our mate.
“Shit, are you serious?” he asks with a concerned tone in his voice. I nod but don’t respond, as my senses are all on trying to find my mate. I have wondered a few times if I would ever find her, have tried to imagine what she would be like, what I would feel once I found her. I could never have imagined this overwhelming feeling. Even without having seen her, my soul knows that my other half is close.
“I need to go,” I say as I open the door to the pickup. Stepping out, I feel Goliath’s hand on my shoulder. Looking around, I see his worried expression.
“I’ll be close,” he says, but I know that he won’t come anywhere near my woman or me until I have claimed her, or I will kill him. I grunt in anger at myself. Goliath is one of my brothers. He would never do anything that would betray me. This claiming situation is really messing with my head. He squeezes my shoulder in understanding and then lets go. “Well then, what are you waiting for? Go get your mate.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I set out down the road, following my instincts with each step I take. An overwhelming drive to possess pulls me. Then, suddenly, I know exactly where I’m going. A light fragrance catches my attention, and I start to follow its exhilarating power. My senses are all alive, the hard-on I got when I realized that my mate was close becoming painful with its intensity. Thank goodness my T-shirt covers my crotch, or I would be arrested for indecent behaviour.
Realizing that my mate is at the hairdressers, I stop. Shit! Of all the places, she had to be here. The owner, Gloria, has been in and out of my bed more times than I can count. I know she wants a commitment from me, but I have always told her that we weren’t exclusive and that our connection was only physical. Now that I have pinpointed where my woman is, the drive is stronger than ever. I know that in my right mind, I would wait to talk to her until she was away from Gloria, but it’s stronger than me and I’m not going to wait.
I walk up to the door and then enter. The first person I see is Gloria behind the counter. When she sees me, her face lights up. Fuck, I don’t feel like this right now. “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she says with a big smile. I see movement from the corner of my eye as someone walks into the salon from the back, and then everything stands still. I know Gloria is talking to me, but my every sense is focused on the woman who has just come to a standstill.
I can hear my heart racing; she is so beautiful, more than I could ever wish for. Her long auburn hair curling all around her, her light-green eyes staring at me in curiosity. I hear her accelerated heartbeat, telling me that she is as affected by me as I am by her. I can sense her heartbeat start to change its rhythm, matching mine.
“Hunter?” I finally hear Gloria, and by her tone, I can tell that she has been trying to grab my attention for a while. I don’t know how long I have been staring at my mate, but I have the feeling it has been a few minutes. I see her cheeks redden with colour, which tells me that she is caught in the same pull as I am.
“Yeah?” I answer, not taking my eyes away from my woman.
“Are you here for a reason?” I can hear the irritation in Gloria’s voice, but even if I wanted to, I can’t pull myself away from my mate; that is, until Gloria comes to stand right before me. Focusing on her, I see the anger in her eyes and the way her lips are pulling in anger.
“Mmm, I’m here to cut my hair.” What the hell? Since when do I cut my hair at the hairdressers? I see her look of surprise, as she has been hassling me for ages to cut my hair and I have kept away. In general, I keep my hair long, not long enough to be in the way, but not in any way short.
“Really? What brought about this change of heart?” she asks suspiciously, making me shrug in reply.
“Are you going to introduce me to your new girl?” I ask instead of answering her question.