I'll be heading to my apartment for the night. I have an early shift tomorrow - Alex

My phone vibrated across the desk when I received the text.  I was just finalising my schedule for next week, beginning with the set of interviews for the admin positions that I had finally set up, at the time.  That was one task that took forever.  I had picked out the ones I thought I could possibly work with and asked Sylvie to set up interviews, which she had done, but next Monday through to Wednesday.

"Why did you not arrange them for this week?" I had complained.  I had wanted to get the whole thing dealt with like yesterday, but seeing as that wasn't possible, tomorrow would work just as well.

"They needed advanced notice," she had said rolling her eyes at me.  "Otherwise how else are they going to arrange time off from their other jobs, spend hours debating on what is suitable to wear, before tossing and turning all night long wondering what questions would be asked and what answers would they need?"  It was official, the woman was not a dwarf, she was a demon.  She loved it when I suffered.

I sighed after reading the text.  I could read between the lines, I knew what it meant.  My little mate had managed to get himself worked up about something again and I could easily guess to what that might be.

Just a few days ago, we were curled up on his sofa together discussing jealousy.  Or rather, he had been curled up, with a cushion acting as a plush shield, while I had been hovering close and itching to be that cushion.  He had been upset because he'd been witness to women aiming at our mate.  Alex had been a mess of emotions, I had already noticed that he seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve.  After I had calmed him down, he had told me about the Fey woman who asked Michael out and didn't appear to want to take no for an answer.  He had then spoke about the woman doctor.

"I probably read to much into it," he had admitted.  "There were girls at school who were touchy feely, but didn't mean anything by it."  Actually, I had thought he was being generous.  I had only heard a few words from Alex about her and I already loathed the woman.  I had remained silent about it though, I hadn't wanted him to feel worse.

We had curled up to sleep in his bed that night, but he had seemed a little more restless than when the three of us shared a bed.  Still, I had liked the fact that I got to scent his sheets first.

Ah, but whatever comfort he did get from me that night, seems to have waned and its all the fault of our too attractive for his own good mate.  Perhaps I should mark the man a little more, let the ladies know that they can look, but not touch.  He is mine and Alex is mine... I should mark him too...

My tiger was purring happily over our plan when I received a second text;

Alex has gone to his place for the night.  He won't need you to pick him up.  So I shall meet you back at home in a couple of hours.

Fuck me, how can a man who amassed credits and was considered one of the professors of our university's favourites, be so dense and stupid!

"Sylvie!  I'm heading out now!"  I called to her as I grabbed my keys.

"Alright, have a good weekend!"

*****

"What are you doing here?" It wasn't difficult to sneak past the late evening security and enter Michael's office ready to ambush him. Frankly, many of the nurses were more interested in ogling me than questioning me. Pity that it was not their attention that I wanted.

"I've come to knock some sense into you," I advised him, when he finally entered the room. He growled, that Alpha superiority of his considering my words a challenge. As this office was his 'territory' not mine, this was not unexpected, even if the words were coming from his mate. Of course, I wasn't the type to back down either and looked him fully in the eye.

"Submit," he insisted, the amber in them declaring that his wolf had surfaced.

"When you tell me what happened to have our mate running back to his apartment to hide."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Michael's muscles were firmly tense as I continued to challenge him.

Finally, I rolled my eyes, tearing my glance from his and allowing his wolf to think that I had submitted to him. I sniffed the air and sneezed. "You stink of perfume," I told him.

"The granddaughter to one of my patients tripped into me while I was speaking with him," Michael explained. He sat down in his chair with a sigh and loosened the tie beneath his white coat. "So are you going to share with me what you think is wrong with our mate? Honestly, when I saw him chatting and laughing with a different patient, he seemed fine." A smile appeared on his face as he recalled the memory, his eyes completely softening. Ah Alex, if you could see how our mate was already wrapped around your little finger, you probably wouldn't be worrying so.

"Was that before or after your encounter with the granddaughter?" I enquired.

"A bit before... Wait you don't think... shit,". Michael's eyes widened with realisation. "He saw and misinterpreted that?"

Oh, I doubt he misinterpreted. I had seen many of the ploys women used to try and gain Michael's attention and I won't claim that he is so oblivious that he couldn't figure out some of them, but a few would be better off throwing their panties into his face than playing tricks like the old 'trip into your arms' thing.

"I wish he had spoken to me," Michael was saying, "I could have reassured him."

"Like you did with the Fey girl?" I pointed out. "Or the nurses who like to press up against you with their boobs? Or the female doctor who touches your arm every chance she gets?" Michael groaned audibly as these facts of consideration came crashing down over him. "I know... some of those women don't possibly have intentions towards you," (ha ha ha, who am I kidding?) "but imagine how it looks to the kid who has just opened his heart to you."

"I'll talk to him," Michael said, softly. He laughed softly. "You know, he is nothing like how Clover first described him when she was trying to introduce us." I found I was starring at him questioningly. "Don't look at me like that, she had been trying to find him a love interest for over a year and wasn't aware I was mated." A growl escaped his throat and I began to laugh.

"It sounds like a certain wolf doesn't like the sound of his own words!" I chuckled.

"Don't tell me you like the idea of him being possibly being paired with another person?" Michael growled. "If I hadn't started here when I did..." I slipped off the desk and straddled Michael's lap. He automatically wrapped his arms about my waist.

"Of course I don't," I replied. "Which is why, my tiger and I have decided to mark him. We want to remind everyone who he belongs to."

I sensed Michael's wolf approved with the idea of marking Alex and knew that it would not be only my teeth to sink into the delectable, pale flesh. "I don't want to rush him," Michael said firmly. I buried my face into his neck and purred as his scent flowed through me.

"So what did this... Clover say about our mate?" I asked.

"That emotionally he was a little shut off," he replied. "He didn't laugh much and even then it was sort of light, no belly laughs, as she called them. He barely shed a tear when a patient he liked to visit suddenly passed away in the middle of the night. She'd also never seen him angry, not even when a visitor got all into his face about the state of the floor." I felt myself freezing in Michael's hold. Who the hell criticised my sweethearts cleaning abilities? "Admittedly, I don't know the details, but I get the impression that the man was upset about his loved one and was just taking it out on our boy."

"Don't like it," I grumbled, but swallowed down the list of nasty words that I had been developing in my head to describe the bastard. "Clover's description... sounds nothing like Alex. He's more emotional than that she-wolf, Hannah, the one who sobbed and broke down because she realised that she would not be your Luna when she turned eighteen.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that bitch," Michael grimaced. That girl had been chasing Michael's tail since before he even knew what a mate was. He'd even caught her rolling around in his sheets and said if it wasn't for his mother, he would have torn the She-wolf's head off. The Luna had reprimanded her severely and warned her parents to reign the girl in, invading Michael's personal territory aka his bedroom, was completely disrespectful.

"Still, I can't imagine a closed off Alex," I said, tapping my fingers on Michael's shoulders as I pitifully tried. Giving up, too hard.

Michael suddenly cursed and lifted me off his lap. "No, it makes sense," he said suddenly. "Our boy had been hurt, broken-hearted then rejected and crushed. After all that pain, is it any wonder that he decided it was better not to feel anything at all? Then we came along and he couldn't repress them anymore."

"But," I frowned thinking of what simply repressing my natural instincts can do to me after barely five minutes, "wouldn't he explode like a volcano? Oh." He had done that hadn't he, several times. I slapped Michael's arm.

"What was that for?" He asked, his wolf surfacing.

"Next time," I replied, "let the granddaughter fall onto her face." I walked over to the door and glanced back over my shoulder at my confused mate. "I'm going to get some Chinese take out. I'll meet you at Alex's place."

"I don't know the address," he said, suddenly.

"You're a stalker aren't you?" I purred. "So stalk!"