Mates May Meet (Completed)

Ryan and Isobel

Isobel Thomas, Caster, and Librarian balanced the small stack of books as she asended the ladder.

Ryan Lewis, Delta Lycan, was searching for his mate. He had stopped by the library in Liberty to get an updated version of the areas map.

Patty, the young lady at the desk, was being less than helpful.

"I really am sorry. But if you don't have a library card you can't check out–"

"No. You don't understand. I don't want to check anything out."

"You can get a visitor card for fifteen dollars. It's good for a year. You can't check out DVDs, Blu-ray, laptops or CDs but you have access to –"

He rolled his eyes and reached for his wallet. "You know what? Fine, fine." He pulled a twenty from his wallet and tossed it to the counter.

She pulled a piece of paper from a stack and slid it to him. "Fill this," the phone rang, "out." She dismissed him and picked up the phone. "Hello, Liberty Library, this is Patty. How may I help you?"

Ryan filled out the form with one of the complimentary pens. It still took Patty another twenty minutes to hand him his new card.

"The area maps are in the M4L area. The copy machine is -"

"I'll find it, thanks." He nodded, waved his new card in the air and left her.

The building wasn't large but whoever designed the layout took every advantage of the available space. The stacks of books went up three feet above his head, requiring a ladder to access the upper shelves. He had transversed half of the building when he caught the scent of honeysuckle and rain.

The smell was so interesting he paused and took a deep breath. For a moment he felt dizzy. He couldn't have resisted the urge to find the source of the smell. He knew it must be his mate, nothing could smell that good but her.  

By the time the scent of his mate overpowered even the smells of the library his heart rate had doubled.

He rounded the corner of a bookshelf only to stop at the sight of the small female balanced precariously on the ladder. Fear gripped his gut for her safety.

"What are you doing?" He challenged too forcefully.

Caught off guard she turned loosing her balance. The books she held flung upwards as she fell. A yelp escaped her lips but cut off as he snatched her from the air.

Momentarily, she was distracted by the feel of his arms around her. He ruined it with a sharp reprimand. "What the hell, woman? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Brought out of her momentary stupper she slapped his chest, "Put me down you cretin!" She pushed at his chest. His grip didn't lessen but it was gentle. "You nearly scared me to death. I was perfectly fine until you."

"You nearly stopped my heart. You are mine."

Isobel froze. She had to have miss understood. "Y-Yours?"she shook her head. "You're a shifter?"

Ryan smiled. So, she wasn't completely human, or at least knew about Paras. "Lycan, Delta Ryan Lewis at your service."

"I'm not a shifter."

"That doesn't concern me. The Creator made you my mate there must have been a reason."

She laughed but pushed at his chest. "Put me down you neanderthal." She scrambled back as he sat her to her feet. "I don't even know you. You can't just say I'm yours and it all be okay."

For a second he actually looked pained. But it quickly vanished with sudden hope. "Then go out with me. Get to know me." He smiled at her with a dimpled grin.

Well, he is cute, she thought. Her grandmother Ester said that shifters made the best husbands. She never elaborated. Ryan Lewis was really cute and that dimple on his cheek was somehow savagely sexy.

He lifted his eyebrows. Isobel laughed. "Fine. Fine. But I pick the time and place."

He lightly clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Name it."

"7PM. Tomorrow. Fu-Lynns. I'll meet you there."

"I'll be there." He stepped forward, leaned down and dropped a kiss on her lips.

Before she could respond he turned and started to walk away.

The end