I punched Riley's shoulder as we entered the only place that sold alcohol at this time of night. A strip club.

"I wonder if the dancers are any good here." He said playfully wiggling his eyebrows as the three of us looked at the stage.

All of a sudden, I couldn't move.

She was perfect.

Everything about her called to me, begging me to take her in my arms. She smelt of honey and walnuts and if I inhaled deeper I caught a slight scent of roses in her long red as it danced around her highly visible butt. Jake and I growled. "What are you two idiots growling at? This shit is hot." Riley said from behind us. I glared at him heavily and said only one word to get the message across.

"Mate."

I suddenly become very aware of the filthy eyes staring at her longingly. "No offence Alpha, but the girl with the black hair calls to me." Jake said bowing his head to me. I growled, "I mean the other one." Jakes head did not look up, "But Theo, she smells of another." He said, sniffing the air. I followed suit and a wild snarl ripped through my throat.

Another male has marked her. I would kill him, in time.

While I waited for the entertainment to end, I found myself staring. She had a pull on my eyes and the way that Riley was staring at her, she had a pull on all the eyes in the room.

Finally, the song ended and Jake did not hesitate to take his mate into his arms. I approached mine carefully. She was human and I knew, regrettably, the pull would not be very strong for her.

We waited for them while the hungry stares begged longingly for more when the two girls stepped behind the curtain. And there she was not even 10 metres from me.

"Excuse me, miss?" I asked and when her eyes met mine my whole world shifted.

"I'm Theo Lee and, with all due respect mam, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." I said giving her a small smile. My smile widened as her eyelids fluttered and her cheeks coloured. I wanted to pull her into my embrace and hold her, but in doing so the physical contact would leave her skin marked. Warning all male wolves that she had touched her mate. This would freak her out and virtually make her hate me. I couldn't risk that. Not yet.

Without any warning she turned from me and walked away, dragging Jakes mate with her. Jake let out a low growl before my mate turned at glared at him. "Don't you dare growl at me you love sick dog." She said, her chin jutting forward powerfully.

My chest swelled in pride as I watched my human mate put my fellow werewolf's tail between his legs.

I watched depressingly as she kept walking away. I wanted to follow her but she would probably think I was just another creep, longing for her body. I turned around and bowed my head to my friends. "I will follow her scent tonight to find out where she lives. I will probably get over protective and put patrols around her house." I said, smiling sadly at my misfortune.

"I guess you want to stay here for a while when your mate gets back?" I asked Jake as he nodded. "I didn't even get her name or..."

Jakes whine was cut short as my mate's angry cry echoed in our sensitive hearing. I launched into action and followed the sound to the far end of the bar near the dressing rooms. I snarled when I noticed her reason for anger.

A man had her wrist and was trying to force her on to his lap. I sized him up before approaching. He was just about as tall as me and maybe just as buff, but he was also human so that put him at a fair enough disadvantage.

"Come here sweetness... isn't this what they pay you for?"

"Let the f**k go of her now, or I'm going to break every finger you've touched her with." I growled. I knew I sounded inhumane as people began to stare.

"That would be these five fingers a**hole." He said pointing to his left hand as he let go of my mate.

"Nala, come here." Jakes mate said pulling her aside to watch.

'So that's her pretty little name. Nala.' I thought. Returning my attention back to the drunken fool in front of me was comical as he stood up, puffing out his chest in the process. "Please don't get hurt." I heard my precious mate whisper and I glanced across to her pleading eyes as they watched me. I winked at her smiling. "No chance."

The man took a step forward and pointed at Nala. "I hope you know that your risking your life for a whore." He said, smirking. My happiness that Nala was looking out for my safety disappeared as he insulted the beauty in the crowd I let out a feral snarl before kicking his knee in. I felt a piece of my anger disintegrate as I heard a satisfying crack.

Usually I didn't fight dirty, but this thing laying in front of me was pushing my limits. I looked up at Nala and saw her holding her hands to her mouth. Every finger on his pathetic excuse for a body was intact. "I told him I would break them so you should turn around." I said quietly to her and she nodded before hiding her face in her friend's hair.

I stared at the red-faced man on the ground before speaking again. "I like to stay true to my word." And with that, I drove my boot down onto his left hand.