The Alpha and His Irresistible Mate

The Doctor

This mate bond is going to kill me. Jack groaned inwardly as he walked next to Snow White toward the library.  He was attempting to act normal, as if walking next to his mate, smelling his amazing scent, hearing his voice playing in his ears, wasn`t making his heart race, as if he wasn`t glancing down at Snow White to check his reaction to their closeness, as if he didn`t almost reach out to take a hold of his hand, just to see what it would feel like.

Holding back his emotions was clearly not Jack`s forte, he`d realized belatedly since he`d discovered his mate.  He`d never really had a need to before.  Jack had always been straightforward with what he thought and felt.  So keeping it all in check was so foreign and his chest ached from it.  He might have a heart attack from the stress.

But not only was he not ready for others to know; he was nowhere ready to tell his mate anything.

If his mate would even believe him if he did.  Jack had heard about the mate bond all his life and even he had seriously doubted it before, though he couldn’t deny it anymore.

But Snow White, being human, would be hearing about it for the first time, hearing about werewolves for the first time.  And worse, he was a true man of science.  Jack had paid attention in his classes.  How would a man of science feel if his student turned into a wolf and proclaimed him his mate for life?  Jack didn’t really want to know.  But maybe the mate bond would be enough to sway him…

Jack frowned.  But Snow White still hadn’t shown any signs of feeling different about him.

Even now, Jack glanced over again, Snow White wore the same stone-faced expression as he had before.  He`d thanked him again for his assistance and started telling him about the subjects Jack should expect for the year, as if there was nothing at all between them beyond teacher and student.

“Was there something you wanted to ask me, Mr. Lunar?” Snow White suddenly said, glancing questioningly over at Jack. “You keep looking this way and frowning.  Was this not a good time for you?”

Jack reddened. “No, no, I’m happy to help, I was just…” He paused, then forced himself forward.  “How is it that you can go the entire day without expressing any emotion?”

Snow White steps paused for a second before he continued walking.  “…You weren`t listening to anything I was saying, were you?”

Jack frowned. That wasn’t an answer.

They reached the library and Snow White led the way in.  On one table near the door, there were boxes clearly left for them, full of various textbooks.  As Snow White moved to lift one, Jack came up behind him and deliberately put his mouth close to his ear.

“Do you feel… anything?” Jack ask softly, huskily.

As soon as Jack spoke, Snow White stilled, his hands still on the box.  Jack’s heart was beating erratically, loud in his own ears, waiting.  s**t, s**t, I can't believe I did that.

“Mr. Lunar…that’s really none of your concern,” his mate said slowly, coldly, then lifted the box and turned towards Jack. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Jack’s heart sank.  His mate’s face was now even more stony than before.  Embarrassed, he looked away and grabbed a box, then laid a box on top of that.  “Of course I am.”  He quickly walked out the door, heading toward the parking lot.

[You gave up too easily, Alpha,] his wolf chose that moment to pipe up.

I didn’t hear you offering any ideas. Jack was thoroughly embarrassed, and unreasonably angry, listening to his mate’s calm footsteps behind him.

[You would have listened to me?]

No.

[Hmmph.  Perhaps you should.  I could get our mate to react to us.  We are stronger than him.  Let’s just take him to a secluded place and--]

We are not doing anything like that.  I don’t want him to hate me.

Jack stopped suddenly.  When had it gotten to the point when Jack had stopped thinking of rejecting his mate and started thinking of..of making him like me.  His wolf grinned in his mind.

“Whoa.” Came a surprised voice from behind him.  His mate came around from behind him. “Mr. Lunar, kindly refrain from stopping in the middle of the hallway without warning,” he was told icily.

In short order, the boxes were packed into the back of the school’s van, executed efficiently and in silence, until Jack had placed the last one inside.

When he turned to Snow White, his mate nodded at him and then looked down the road, saying briskly, “Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Lunar.  I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t you want me to come with you?”

Snow White’s head whipped back towards Jack but the sun setting shadowed his face from view. “Uh.. no.  Thank you.”  He headed for the driver’s seat and opened the door.

“Are you sure?  Don’t you need help carrying them into the other building?”

“No, thank you.” Snow White didn’t even pause before getting into the van and closing the door.

Jack’s heart was strangely racing again.  There was something about Snow White’s voice… he wasn’t yet done with him.  He rushed over to the other side, yanked open the door, and jumped in, slamming the door shut.

Snow White sat shocked in the driver’s seat, staring at him.

“Oh, you do make expressions.” Jack was extremely pleased with himself and grinned at Snow White.

But then he watched the shock evaporate and Snow White’s stony expression return as always, except there was a tiny furrow between his brows.  “Mr. Lunar, what do you think you are doing?”

“It’s Jack, actually,” Jack smiled at him, feeling much better now that he’d seen a crack in his Snow White’s armour. “And come on, I’m just helping you out to the end.”

Snow White stared at him at him for a second, then nodded and sighed.  “All right then.  Thank you again,” he spoke woodenly.

Unfortunately, much to Jack’s disappointment, Snow White’s stone wall was up for the entire trip.  He started asking Jack about his current studies in Chemistry and Physics and cleanly avoided directly answering any questions about his personal life Jack put to him, clearly in teacher-mode all the way until they returned to the school.

When they parked the van behind the school and got out, Snow White headed into the school with a curt, “Until tomorrow, Mr. Lunar.”

“I can’t wait,” Jack responded as he leaned on the van and watched him go, deciding to poke at him one more time.

Snow White paused for a second on the steps, then continued into the building, saying nothing in response.

Jack stared a while after his mate had gone, and then sighed.  All he had gotten today was a scolding and a surprised reaction.  His mate really was a stone wall.

Jack’s eyebrows lifted.  Maybe that’s it.  Even after clearly being provoked today, Snow White kept his emotions hidden underneath the surface.  Hmmm…  Jack needed to put this to the test.

But first… Jack grimaced.  He had to learn more about a human’s reaction to his mate.  He had to talk to that doctor.

[You reap what you sow.]

Oh, shut up.

For a second day in a row, Jack found himself staring at the door to the pack hospital house, not really wanting to enter.  He sighed and then opened the door.

His entrance clearly surprised the receptionist, a shewolf by the name of Katie, he thought, as she jumped out of her chair, unconsciously touched her curly chocolate-brown hair and walked over to him.

“Jack! It’s so nice to see you.  Are you unwell?”  She looked him up and down. “You look great to me!” Ah yes, she was one of the girls who had hoped to be his mate, he remembered now.  Though he never had the heart to turn her down outright, since he’d always found her to be a pretty girl with a good heart, he hadn’t given her any signals either.  Too focused on his training, Jack had never gone further than flirtation with the women interested in him.  Not that any of them knew that.

[That is one thing I’ve always liked about you.  You knew you are destined to be with your mate, and your mate alone.]

Jack didn’t get into that old argument with his wolf and responded instead to Katie.

“No, I’m fine, but I did have something I wanted to discuss with the doctor.”

When she looked at him expectantly, he added, “Privately?”

Though she looked a little down, Katie took her job seriously.  “Of course, he’s in right now and has no clients due for another half hour.  You can see him now.”  She waved him to the hallway beyond the foyer.

Breathing in deeply, Jack headed to Dr. Stephens’ office and knocked on the partially open door, spotting the doctor at the same time Dr. Stephens’ looked up from whatever he was reading on his desktop computer.

Henry Stephens eyebrows rose at seeing Jack at his doorstep.  “Jack, this is a surprise.  This must be serious,” he said even as he grinned, leaning back and steepling his fingers together, his interest clearly peaked.

Jack gritted his teeth and contemplated turning around and leaving.  But he’d come this far.  And he needed to know.  He walked in and closed the door behind him.

“Yes, it is so I would like to expect some privacy on this matter.”

Dr. Stephens spread his hands wide.  “Of course, Jack, I am a professional.”

“Even from Grandfather and Aunt Mel.”

The doctor’s eyebrows rose again and he sat up straight.  “Jack, what is it?”

“Do I have doctor-client confidentiality?”

Dr. Stephens sighs.  “Yes, Jack.  As I said, I am a professional.  Unless of course it threatens the pack?”

Jack was silent for a moment.  Technically having a Luna was male and human wasn’t a threat.  “No… it doesn’t.”

“Your pause is worrisome, Jack.”

“Never mind that.  Do you want to know or not?”

“Oh absolutely.  Anything that puts you this out of sorts, but doesn’t threaten the pack, I want to know.” Dr. Stephens grinned.

“Ugh, why did I think this was a good idea?” Jack turned to leave.

“Now, now, Jack, no more theatrics,” Stephens voice grated behind him.  “I know very well that you wouldn’t have come to me unless you absolutely had to so why don’t you sit down and cut to the chase.”

He was right.  Jack sighed and turned around, then moved to sit in one of the swivel chairs in front of the doctor’s desk.

“Good.  Now, what is it you need my help with?”

Jack stared at the doctor for a moment, silent.  This was much harder than he had anticipated.  His face reddened and he looked down.

“Hey…” Stephens’ voice gentled and grew more serious. “This is why I’m here.  Tell me what you need, Jack.”

Without looking up, clenching his fists on the chair arms, Jack decided he might as well go for it.

“I found my mate and it’s a human m—” Actually, let’s not go into that it’s a man—“a human mate.  Do you humans feel the mate bond?”

He looked up then.

The Doctor eyebrows had been raised but he was also smiling from ear to ear.  It was not a nice smile.  “Your mate is a human?”

Jack was grim. “Yes.”

“Well, isn’t that nice.” The sadistic glint of the doctor’s eyes across the desk could not be missed.

“Look,” Jack started, “I know I messed up when we met but I did say I was sorry about it, right?”

“You did.  After losing a fight with Amelia.”

“No, that wasn’t why.  It was because I realized…” Jack swallowed. “I realized I had been prejudiced for no good reason and that a person’s worth isn’t based on how strong they are.” Jack glanced up at the doctor than away to the side, embarrassed now and for how he had acted in the past.

Dr. Stephens was silent, contemplating Jack for a while, forcing Jack to wait silently.  Then he nodded.  “All right, Jack.  I believe you.  I accept your apology.  And I’ll help you.”

Jack let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Okay, so… Do humans feel the mate bond?”

“Yes, we do.  Well, the humans that I’ve spoken with so far about it have all experienced similar feelings.”

“Feelings?”

“Yes.  As soon as I saw Amelia, I wanted to—”

“Whoa, I don’t need specific details.” Jack put his hands up to stop Stephens.

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Yes, but…”

“Be an adult and listen then.”

Jack was silent and nodded, red-faced.

“As I was saying, as soon as I saw Amelia, I wanted to… dominate her.”

“What?”

“Hmm, might be too adult for you.  What I mean is, I wanted to make her mine.”

“Huh.  My mate doesn’t seem to want to do anything with me.” Jack was sullen.

“That is very unlikely the case.  Not only did I want to make her mine, but I was very aware of where she was, what she smelled like, and I couldn’t help but want to watch her every move.  I’m sure you feel the same with your mate?”

Jack nodded.  “Yes, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Well, humans feel the same way, but if it’s for someone we wouldn’t normally be attracted to, we might try to resist it, and we would certainly be confused by it.  Your mate is likely going through that right now and is hiding their true feelings.”

Jack sat silent, a little stunned.  Was Snow White hiding his feelings?  It made sense that he would be.  All of a sudden having feelings for a student, a male student?  Prim and proper Snow White must be going crazy right now.  Jack’s heart raced at the thought.  And yet he felt pain at the same time.  His mate might be suffering, trying to control himself against something he’d think was immoral, but something he was born to feel.

“What the hell was the Moon Goddess thinking?” Jack thought aloud.

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration, Jack?  Your mate might be confused about her new emotions but I’m sure a strapping young lad like yourself can seduce her just fine.” There was a not so subtle hint of sarcasm in the Doctor’s voice.  He was definitely enjoying Jack’s predicament.  Jack shuddered to think how the doctor would laugh if he heard who Jack’s mate really was.

“I could help a lot better if you gave me more information about your mate, Jack,” Stephens pressed.

Jack looked up; his eyes narrowed.  “You just want to know so you can torment me about it.”

“Oh, so it’s someone I could torment you about?” The doctor was clearly delighted.  “Well, let me think then!  She’s something more dreadful than a human?  What in the world could be more terrible a state than that?” Stephens gasped mockingly.  “Is she an old lady?”

“I think I learned enough today,” Jack rose, and added stiffly. “Thank you for your help.”

“But I haven’t finished telling you what humans feel, Jack.” The doctor smiled at him toothily.

“What?  What else do they feel?” Jack couldn’t help but ask.

“I want one more tidbit of information from you first.”

Jack grimaced at him.  “What?”

“Do you like her even if she’s human?”  The doctor’s face was serious for once.

Jack looked down, embarrassed again.

“Jack?”

Jack sighed and admitted what he hadn’t even admitted to himself yet.  “I couldn’t care less that they’re human.”

When the doctor didn’t say anything in response, Jack looked at him again.  “Well, what else do you feel?”

The doctor gave Jack a small smile.  “When you touch your mate, you get the physical sensation of tingles spreading through your body and…” He paused. “And it feels good.”