An Unexpected Mate

Chapter 6 - Illusions

As he was sitting in the meeting, Braxton's mind returned to last week and the chance meeting with Lily at the brewery. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He was currently at a multi-pack meeting a few states away and he felt more anxious than usual. The bond with his mate felt stronger, even though he had intentionally kept away from town.

Brax was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his old friend Elijah saying his name.

"Hey, Brax. You wanna go out for dinner and some drinks? These meetings seem to be getting longer and longer. I swear we could do half this work through emails and phone calls, if not more. I think these guys just want an excuse to socialize."

"You think we are done for the day? I could really use a drink." Brax responded.

"I know a good restaurant on the outskirts of town that has 2-for-1 margaritas and happy hour beer specials." 

A number of the "middle-aged" alphas loaded into vehicles and headed towards town. While a lot of the work could have been done virtually in this day and age, it was good to socialize with people who lived similar lives and had similar obligations. Brax had forgotten how good it was to complain about work with guys who could empathize over a couple of beers.

As he was relaxing and unwinding with his peers, Brax noticed a faintly familiar scent. He couldn't quite place it, although it reminded him a bit of his mate. It wasn't Lily. He would recognize her specific aroma anywhere. Brax tensed up a bit wondering what was going on. 

Trying to nonchalantly look around the room, Brax scanned his surroundings more carefully. All the alphas had done a once over before they sat down and there were warriors stationed about as well. No need to take any chances when multiple pack leaders were in one location. There wasn't any real likelihood of danger, but still Brax was tense.

Continuing his perusal, Brax scanned the room some more as he continued to listen to Elijah discuss some issues he was having with females in his pack not wanting to have pups, but instead work...I couldn't fault the ladies. She-wolves were just as smart as males, if not more. Maybe that was why we were so backwards sometimes as an overall werewolf culture - strong men not liking to be shown up by our women? As Braxton's mind wandered over to his highly educated mate, his eyes were pulled back to a table in the far corner. 

It was a pretty dark and secluded table and Braxton would never have noticed who was there if his mind hand not wandered over to thinking about Lily. The couple at the table was talking with their heads close together, but Brax could swear that it was his mate's husband sitting there...and that woman had straight, black hair. She also appeared to be younger and much better endowed than his Lily was.

Before his mind could go off on unsupported tangents, Braxton reigned in his imagination. Maybe he was making something up here in order to try and get Lily to leave her husband?

"Brax. Brax. Braxton! You here man?"

"Huh. Oh, sorry. My mind was somewhere else? What's up?"

"We were asking your opinion on Elijah's pup-problem. How can he make sure the she-wolves are procreating enough? You're the one that has been arguing about modernization and contemporary trends." One of the other alphas asked.

"Actually, my beta has put together some numbers to support our new policies. One of the feats many packs have is that if the younger generation delays mating and procreating, than our population numbers will decline. We wanted to be able to have a concrete way to alley such fear, so have been tracking our population."

"Smart move man." Elijah interjects. 

"What we have found, is that we are having as many (if not more) pups being born, but their parents are 3-8 years older on average. Instead of having 18 year olds with babies, we are having families starting at 22 or 23. We not have fewer pups being orphaned or left behind by their parents and stronger bonds in the mates. There are still some she-wolves who prefer to have babies early, but now all of our pack has choices. Those choices create stronger links between our pack members and have supported an increase in our land and business holdings. I can have my beta forward along our research. We are pretty proud, since it has all been done in-house by our various pack members with different skill sets."

As he heard a chorus of "send me that" or "that sounds interesting," Braxton tried to make a mental note of who was here to get the data to while simultaneously watching the corner table.

When the pack leaders started heading back to their lodgings, Braxton mentioned that he would prefer to walk around a bit before turning in. What he planned to do was follow the couple. Although he really wasn't sure which way he was hoping this panned out - that Lily's husband was cheating or not - he needed to see what was going on.

Braxton hid in the shadows by the restaurant until he saw the couple leaving. He followed them with his eyes as they walked hand in hand towards a waiting car. It looked like a rental. Brax quickly shifted into wolf form to follow the car, trying to carry his clothes in his snout and not catch attention. Luckily the car turned towards the less lit part of the town. He followed them to a motel near the edge. Shifting back, Braxton kept a steady watch as they left the car.

The man grabbed the woman's butt as she giggled and hurried towards a door on the first floor. Braxton could not quite see the man's features to determine if it was Lily's husband. He had seen the man with her at the carnival and again at the grocery store more recently, but he needed a closer look. Sneaking closer, he overheard the couple talking about how it was their last night and when they could see each other again.

They were making out pretty hard even before they got to the door. Braxton wasn't sure how he could get the man to turn towards him before they went inside. As the woman shuffled in her purse to find the keys, Braxton tossed a rock out into the parking lot to make a noise.

Luckily, the man looked up and over. Braxton sucked in his breath as he saw the clear features of Lily's husband outlined in the motel lighting.

Shit. Now what? 

An internal debate began in Braxton's head on whether he should tell Lily what he saw. On the one hand, she should know. On the other hand, she already thinks he is a stalker...

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