Our Mate
The next day, Sultan stepped onto the city's busy streets, his senses heightened to the point of overload. The air was thick with the scent of humans—sweat, perfumes, exhaust fumes, all distracting and overwhelming. But beneath it all, there was something else. A faint trace of something familiar, something that called to him in a way nothing else ever had.
"She's close," his wolf growled in his mind, its voice low and eager. "I can feel her."
Sultan's eyes narrowed as he moved through the crowd, his body tense, every muscle coiled and ready. His wolf was restless, pacing inside him, its instincts screaming at him to run, to find her. But he had to be patient and keep control. The city was no place for recklessness.
He turned a corner near the hospital, his heart pounding in his chest. And then he felt it—sharp, unmistakable—a pull, deep in his soul as if an invisible thick thread were tugging him forward.
"There." His wolf's voice was a low snarl. "She's here. I know it."
Sultan's eyes locked onto the entrance of the hospital, his pulse quickening as he scanned the people coming and going. And then he saw her.
She was standing near a window talking to another nurse, her dark curls catching the setting sun's light. She was petite and curvy, her frame delicate and shapely but firm, with an energy that seemed to radiate from her, even from a distance. His wolf growled in recognition, the connection hitting him like a punch to the gut.
"Mate, mate, mate ." The wolf's voice chanted fierce and possessive. "Our mate."
Sultan's breath caught in his throat as he watched her, his entire body tense with the intensity of the moment. She was breathtaking and gorgeous, but it wasn't just her appearance that drew him in. It was something deeper, something primal. He could feel it in his entire being. His wolf was practically howling inside him, desperate and ready to claim what was his.
But before he could take a step toward her, she turned and glanced in his direction. Their eyes met for a brief moment.
For a split second, their gazes locked. Sultan's heart thundered in his chest, the world around him fading into nothingness. All he could see was her, his missing half, the one who would make him completely whole. It was as if the universe itself had narrowed down to this one moment, this one person. Her eyes were wide and startled, the soft brown depths that seemed to see right through him, and in that instance, Sultan felt something shift inside him.
His wolf surged forward, almost overpowering him. It roared. "That's her! Ours! Go to her!"
But the woman quickly averted her gaze, her expression unsure, as if she had felt something too but didn't understand it. She turned abruptly, going back to talk to the other nurse, walking away from the window with her and disappearing into a hallway where he could no longer see her.
"No!" The word slipped out as a growl, low and guttural before Sultan could stop it. His fists clenched at his sides, his wolf raging inside him.
"She's getting away! Why aren't we going after her? His wolf's voice was wild, furious. "What are you doing? GO!"
Sultan's entire body was on edge, his instincts screaming at him to chase her down, to follow her inside and claim her right then and there, to make sure she didn't slip through his fingers. But he couldn't—at least, not yet, not now."
"We can't just storm into a hospital. We'll scare her away; she's clearly human and something else," He said, albeit a little shocked that she was a hybrid, but he tried to reason with his wolf, his mind racing. "She doesn't know who we are, what we are. If we push too hard and fast, we'll lose her."
His wolf didn't care about logic. It growled in frustration, pacing inside him. "We've waited too long! She's right there." She felt the connection, too; I could see it. "his voice became almost pleading. "Don't let her get away."
Sultan exhaled, struggling to keep control. His wolf was right in one way: she had felt it. Even if she didn't understand or know what was happening, he had seen the flicker of recognition in her eyes before she turned away. The pull between them was undeniable, raw, and intense. She was his mate, and there was no question about that now.
But if he barged in, if he revealed too much too soon, she would run. And he couldn't risk that. Not when he had finally found her after all this time. He had to find out how much she knew and if she knew anything about the supernatural world.
"Patience," Sultan thought, though the word felt unbearable even to him now. "We have to be smart about this."
The wolf let out a low, bitter snarl. "You always talk about patience. But every second we wait, someone else could find her. What if one of the other packs—"
"No one else is going to find her." Sultan cut his wolf off sharply, his mind cold and focused now. "She's ours. No one is ever taking her from us."
He took a deep breath, forcing his body to relax, his muscles still thrumming with the need to act. The connection between them was still fresh and raw, and he had to trust that it would grow stronger. He could already feel it tugging at him, a constant, unrelenting pull that wouldn't go away.
For now, he had to watch and observe. Then, he would make his move when she left the hospital.
Sultan stepped back into the shadows, his sharp eyes focused on the hospital entrance. His heightened senses were on alert, tracking every scent, every movement. He would wait as long as it took.