Menagerie

Chapter 6 - Simon

The drive from the University of Alberta to my parents' house took about three hours in decent traffic. That meant six hours of driving total every week during mating season to get back and forth. That was around sixty hours this year alone – two and a half days. It was enough to make finding a mate an appealing prospect. But it was better to wait until next year when I was out of college. I didn't have enough time to devote to a relationship.

My mother believed otherwise. She wouldn't hear of me staying up at school and any time I tried to convince her to allow it just one weekend, she played her trump card: she was paying the part of my housing bill that my research grant didn't cover. I was a dirty card to play, but she had no qualms about using it. If I had for one minute thought she would ease up now that Anita was mated, that ray of hope had been quickly extinguished.

Maybe if my brother, Teddy, also found someone... but she wasn't properly on his case yet. Teddy was only a freshman. He didn't even have to drive back every weekend. No, it seemed there was no escaping Mom's hopes for me.

I pulled into the driveway and allowed myself a few seconds of peace before I went inside. I'd missed brunch this morning and I wouldn't hear the end of it from Mom until dinnertime at least.

Then I opened the door, tugged my overnight bag off of the passenger seat, and headed up the driveway. I opened the front door and stumbled through it- stumbled because of the scent that caught me so off-guard.

I grinned and threw my bag down on the ground. How ironic that I'd missed today's brunch! Though there was no one in sight, I could clearly smell my potential mate. Her scent called to me like no other ever had, gripping me by the throat and demanding that I find her. Had I just been reflecting on not wanting a mate yet? Irony all around. I couldn't help wanting- needing- her.

I left my bag in the foyer, knowing Mom would never fault me for it once she understood the situation. Then I began a quick, methodical sweep of the party. Though it had been a brunch event and it was now a little after noon, room after room was still full. That was the norm at Mom's brunches. They frequently melted seamlessly into dinner.

I quickly cleared the sitting room, living room, and dining room. Then I hurried downstairs to the den. The scent was completely absent, so I dashed back upstairs and headed for the solarium. Or maybe she was outside?

With each area I passed through, my confidence faded until I was left poking into bathrooms and the kitchen. Maybe she had gone back into one of the first rooms I'd previously checked while I was outside or downstairs? Gritting my teeth, I headed back toward the front of the house. By that time, my excitement had been replaced by anxiety. What if she had left? Some people did leave these brunches in the morning. And sometimes they never came back. The point of these kinds of events was to meet new people, to expose the single weres to as many other singles as possible.

She could be gone and I may never find her.

If she wasn't even in the house and her scent was this demanding of me, she was no ordinary potential bondmate. I couldn't let this opportunity pass. I had to find her.

I was just about to start a second lap of all the rooms when Anita caught my elbow. "What's going on with you?" she demanded. "You're acting like a crazy person."

"She's gone," I said, "and now I probably sound like a crazy person, too. I can smell... it's the most incredible draw, but she isn't here."

Anita broke out in a massive grin. "Really! You're that drawn in and she's not even here? Simon! This is amazing!"

"Anita, stop. She's gone. It doesn't matter how intense the pull is when I have no idea who she is or where she went."

Anita waved a hand dismissively and threw in an eyeroll for good measure. "Of course it matters. Come on."