Chapter One – Would You Sleep with Me?

“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you in. Mr. Pembroke has retired for the night.” The nasal tone of the young man in a suit guarding the entrance to the tall tower added to the several annoyances Ryder had experienced since entering the city. “You don’t have an appointment.”

Ryder approached the desk, placing his palms on the smooth surface reflecting the artificial lights above, and leaned forward. The clairvoyant had been clear: this tower belonged to his fated mate, and he lived on the top of it, like a king among humans, superior in every way. The old woman had warned him not to do what he was about to do next, but it was important that he got to his mate before his next heat began. Just any partner wouldn’t do this time, Cassandra the clairvoyant had warned him; he needed his mate more than ever.

His eyes bore into the feeble young man’s, his eyebrows furrowed, a growl rumbling in his chest. “You will abide my request, human.”

The human let out a small yelp and grabbed the phone on his desk. He aimed the receiver at Ryder, as if he was wielding a weapon. “Don’t make me call security, sir.”

Cassandra had foreseen this too; in the city, his wolf skills would dull under the pressure of the synthetic lights and many foul smells. It had been a way to verify the truth of her words, and so far, she had been right in every way, including the difficulty he would have reaching Theodore Pembroke, the wolf residing in the big city of Glasstone, and his fated mate. The clairvoyant had warned him not to fight his way through. Else his actions would draw the unnecessary attention of the powers that be governing the city.

He pushed himself back on his heels. “Good night,” he said abruptly.

He would have to stalk the entrance tomorrow. The moment he’d see his mate, he’d know him in ways that a phone screen couldn’t offer him. Thomas Pembroke was tall, slender, elegant; he was very handsome but distant, and the pictures Ryder had seen of him had convinced him that his mate was attractive. Without seeing him in person, sniffing his personal scent, Ryder couldn’t tell how strong that attraction would be. The urgency he felt in the beating of his heart assured him that it would be spectacular and reciprocal.

With a short growl thrown over his shoulder that made the desk attendant cower, he walked out of the building into the smelly street. In this place, one couldn’t even see the stars. He stared in vain at the sky above. The billboards and neon lights flickered incessantly, a mockery of the luminous bodies that guided all creatures’ paths on this earth.

***

“Dan, Danny, D, baby,” Vince slurred while wrapping one arm around his shoulders and pressing him into the bar, “stop selling yourself short.”

Daniel tried to shrug his friend off, but it looked like his efforts were in vain. Even if he was sober, his friend half-drunk, and Vince could easily overpower him, it was no longer funny. “Look,” he said, pushing his glass away, “I have to be realistic here. I’m plain, average, I work retail, there’s nothing about me that screams ‘I’m a good catch so catch me already’. This is the third time this month I’ve been stood up. I won’t even tell you how many times this has happened this year. It’s too embarrassing.”

“That’s because you’re so dead set against doctoring your photos. Everyone does it these days,” Vince said and slumped in the stool next to Daniel.

“You think I’d have better chances of landing a date if I shopped my pics? In real life,” he gestured at himself, “I’d still be me. Once they see me, they won’t even bother.”

Vince put a finger in his face. “That’s where you’re wrong. The reason you’re getting stood up so often is because the guys you try to hook up with think they found someone better when they get swiped right by someone with shopped pics.”

“I don’t follow your logic,” Daniel insisted.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain it to you. Are you going to drink that?”

Daniel pushed his drink toward his friend. “You’re welcome to it. I’d rather be sober and miserable than drunk and miserable. Less need to deal with a hangover the day after.”

“Damn, you’re such a goody two shoes I want to kiss you. In a friendly way,” Vince added quickly and grabbed the glass. “Do something with your profile pics. Thing is, the guy you get on a date will have gone through the trouble to come to see you. And even if you’re not the way you look in the pics, he’ll have already put in the effort, you know? He showered, he put on some new t-shirt and jeans, and he’s ready to fuck. That’s why he won’t give up. The way I see it, you’re getting something out of it. A fuck, in case you didn’t get it when I said it before.”

Daniel groaned and rubbed his eyes. “When you put it like that, I have a sudden urge to become a monk.”

“I need to save you.” Vince downed his drink and grabbed Daniel’s shoulder, squeezing and shaking it. “Tonight, we’ll work on your confidence. So, you’re Average Joe. Big deal. We’ll go outside, and I’m going to pick a guy for you. One that’s way out of your league. You’ll walk over to him--”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Daniel groaned again.

“Nah, nah, nah, listen to me. You’ll walk over to him, and you’ll say this: ‘Hi, I’m Average Joe. Would you sleep with me?’”

“For real? You think my profile pics will look better with a black eye or something?”

“Chill, dude,” Vince kept on at it. “It’s the gay district, as far as our eyes can see.” He gestured wildly. “If guys aren’t used to being propositioned like that, they’re in the wrong neighborhood. Also, I’ll be right there. Any wrong move, and I’ll teach the motherfucker a lesson.”

“I have a feeling our night out might end up badly for us. Especially for you,” Daniel warned his friend.

Vince shook him harder. “Stop being so damn cautious all the time. Live a little.”

“You only live once is a motto that outlived its life expectancy,” Daniel warned him.

“Do it for me. Do it quickly. Say it so fast that the guy doesn’t have time to react. Do it and run back to me. I’ll hug you and pretend to be your boyfriend. You know what sort of impression I make on people.”

His friend did make strangers look him over carefully before any interaction with his quarterback shoulders and impressive physique, accompanied by a rugged face that belonged on the wrong side of the tracks. Even if Vince had lived his entire childhood and teenage years in the same cookie cutter, middle class suburb as Daniel.

Next to him, Daniel was sure he looked even plainer. Nothing about him made him stand out. At least he wasn’t what people considered downright ugly, his mom used to tell him. That was her way of encouraging him. Somehow, he thought that she might have missed the mark.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh. “But only because I’m sure you’ll hound me to death with this stupid thing until I’m old and gray.”

There was another reason why he was indulging Vince’s crazy idea. A part of him wanted to do something wild once in a blue moon. A vague awareness that his Average Joe stamp of approval came from how predictable he was in everything he did, day in and day out. Playing into Vince’s scheme looked like a good way to expose himself to the unpredictable.

It didn’t mean that he was ready for it. He stared dejectedly at the empty glass in front of Vince. It was too late to order another drink, he decided, and he had to do this thing quickly, anyway, before he got the chance to change his mind.

***