Jared sighed and rolled his eyes at his Beta. He was very annoyed with him at the moment for winning all of the matches so far. He wasn't shy to admit that pool wasn't his forte - air hockey either, for that matter - but Luke didn't have to rub it in so much.

He relieved a bit of his pent-up frustration by punching his beta in the arm, hard. Jared knew that given his werewolf strength, it would certainly leave a bruise. He was a bit disappointed that their excessive healing would cause it to disappear in seconds.

Luke rubbed his sore arm, the dull pain already fading away. To everyone else in the crowded mall, it would look like nothing more than a playful punch between humans. In reality Jared had punched Luke with only a mere fraction of his true strength.

"I give up!" Jared muttered angrily, throwing his hands up. "I can't win a single game against you!"

Luke smirked at him. "Look, you should have given up after the first four games. Why can't you just accept that I'm better at something than you are? Stop being so jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Jared countered, "I'm much better than you at way more important things than pool and air hockey."

"Nope, you're jealous," Luke stated, refusing to give up.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Fine!" Jared exclaimed, fed up with the ever-reoccurring argument. "If I admit to being jealous, will you finally shut up?"

"Yes," Luke deadpanned. He crossed his arms and waited to hear the words that he had so longed to hear from his Alpha's mouth.

Jared rolled his eyes and looked away. "Yes, I'm jealous." He murmured under his breath.

Luke held a hand to his ear and spoke obnoxiously loud. "I'm sorry Alpha, I didn't quite catch that."

Jared snarled lowly and balled his fists. He took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly. "Yes, Luke, I am jealous. Are you happy now?"

Luke nodded, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "Yes, very."

Jared was most certainly not jealous, at least not in his own mind. Sure he wished that he was a better pool player, but that didn't make him jealous did it?

Jared rolled his eyes at Luke's audacity and shoved his friend slightly, causing him to stumble. "Let's go get something to eat, douchebag. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry," Luke replied with his own eye-roll. "But yeah, I'm hungry too. I think I'm in the mood for a taco..." he murmured, deep in thought about potential edibles.

"I only eat that much because I'm a werewolf. You eat almost as much as I do." Jared thought toward Luke in the pack mind link, careful of the humans that surrounded them in the arcade.

"Yeah, whatever dude. Use that excuse. Whatever helps you sleep at night," Luke thought back with amusement.

Jared huffed in annoyance and promptly walked out into the sea of people, leaving a scrambling Beta to catch up to him.

Jared was in the mood for something sweet, and he scanned the food court for an appropriate place to snack at. The crowd milled around them, filling their noses with different scents and assaulting their ears with useless, annoying chatter. He tended to avoid large crowds like these, but today he had made an exception. Jared and his Beta had traveled to this city to help train a new pack, and since today was their last day in town they wanted to treat themselves a bit.

Jared had also come to the over-crowded mall in hopes of finding his mate. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to give it a try. He had fruitlessly searched across his own land for her, but no woman he had stumbled across had received any response from his wolf. Luke wouldn't admit it, but he had also come to the busy shopping center with the same objective. They were both getting a bit desperate and their wolves were growing impatient. Jared's third in command, Daniel, had found his mate two years previously on their pack land and both Jared and Luke were envious of their packmate's luck.

After scanning the food stands for what seemed like hours, Jared spotted the gold mine of sweets. The chocolate café seemed to be bathed in a glow, and he grinned to himself. "Cocoa Heaven," the sign read, and oh, did Jared agree.

Jared shoved Luke in the direction of the chocolate mecca, his stomach snarling. Luke laughed at his friend's over-zealous stomach. They got in line and Jared began tapping his boot impatiently on the marble floor, hoping his turn would come soon.

A group of people passed where he and his Beta were standing, and Luke saw his Alpha inhale sharply. Jared closed his eyes in ecstasy as the smell of apple and strawberry invaded his senses. He opened them again, and whipped his head around toward the source of the smell. His eyes zeroed in on a petite girl with a waist-length mane of soft dirty blonde hair. He saw her turn and laugh at her friend, her beautiful green eyes sparkling in amusement.

Mate! Jared's wolf roared in his mind. He growled softly, acknowledging his other half. He looked her up and down, his heart filling with joy. Finally, he thought to himself, I've found her.

Distantly, he heard Luke growl softly beside him. He looked at his Beta and saw that he was staring intently in his mate's direction. Jared snarled at Luke, thinking for a moment that Luke was staring at his mate, but quickly cooled his features when he saw that he was staring at the girl next to her, with the shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes.

The girls stood at the Subway booth, ordering large sandwiches for each of them. The men were impressed that their girls could eat so much and still look so good.

Jared turned toward Luke again. "Congratulations, my man!" He exclaimed happily, high-fiving his Beta.

Luke grinned at him, his eyes flashing with happiness. "You too, dude. It's about time, huh?"

Jared snorted. "You got that right."

They stood there quietly, protectively watching over the girls while they ate their meals. Jared saw his mate finish her entire sandwich and ball up the paper. She looked at the chocolate café longingly, like she was silently promising to be there soon. He thought it was adorable. When Jared saw his mate's friend wrap up the remainder of her meal, both he and his Beta tensed, waiting to see where their women would head to next.

The girls stood up and walked toward them. Jared and Luke's wolves preened and waited for attention, wanting to show off to their mates. The females walked right past them, not even glancing their way. The men sagged in disappointment and watched as the girls got in line to order their sweets.

Looking over at Luke, Jared scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think I have a plan. Wait here."

Luke sighed, but stuffed his hands in his pockets in resignation. "Alright." He walked over to a nearby table and sat down with a huff. He put his head in his hands and stared at his mate hard, imploring her with his eyes to turn his way. She didn't and it just seemed to deflate him further.

Jared laughed at his depressed friend and turned back toward the café. He heard his mate order a whole chocolate pie and a dozen chocolate cookies. He grinned to himself. She loves chocolate as much as I do, he thought happily. Jared had to close his eyes a moment when her beautiful voice filtered through his ears. It filled him with warmth, and he wanted to hear it every day for the rest of his life.

He opened his eyes in time to see his mate scrambling for her wallet, and he quickly rushed to the counter. He stuffed his hand in his wallet and pulled out a twenty, handing it to the woman behind the counter without a second glance. "It's on me." He murmured, eager to please the lovely girl that now held his heart.

He looked down at her, eager to see a smile on her face for what he just did. Instead, he was surprised to see a scowl marring her features. Though she was frowning at him, Jared couldn't help but be caught up in her green-eyed gaze. The emerald depths called to him. Beautiful.

Jared was not anticipating the reaction that he got. Her voice interrupted his trance, angry and insistent.

"Why did you pay for my food? You didn't have to do that, you know. I'm perfectly capable of paying for my own things." She had her hands on her hips, her face slightly red. From a blush or from anger, Jared didn't know.

His wolf howled at him in anger. Stupid! You made our mate mad at us! Why do you mess everything up?

I don't mess everything up! Jared told his wolf. How was I supposed to know that she doesn't like things paid for? I thought girls liked that kind of thing.

His wolf was confused as well. Jared could feel it. It was bred in every wolf to provide for and defend it's mate, no matter what the cost. It was their job to provide for her.

Jared shrugged at her, for he didn't know what else to do in the face of her anger. The annoying voice of the woman behind the counter interrupted them, and he hastily grabbed the bag of food from her and told her to keep the change. The entire time his attention never wavered from his mate.

He tried to sound smooth and unintimidated. "I know you are. Can't a man buy something for a pretty lady now and then?"

He saw her close her eyes droop a bit, and he automatically knew that her body was responding to the sound of his voice. She leaned forward, and Jared's wolf danced with excitement. Her eyes snapped back open violently and she shook her head hard. "No. Especially if the girl doesn't want you to. You didn't have to do that, and I don't appreciate you thinking that it was okay!" She yanked the bag out of his hand.

He was taken aback by this, and his wolf wanted to hang its head in shame. Jared didn't expect such a negative reaction, and it bothered him that she didn't want him providing for her.

She aggressively handed the bag of sweets to Luke's mate and dug through her purse for a moment. Jared felt her stuff a piece of paper into his hand. He looked at it and saw it was a twenty-dollar bill. "Keep your money," She spat at me.

She then turned and grabbed her friend's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luke leap up from the table he was sitting at, his worried eyes watching his mate being dragged toward the exit.

Jared could only stand there in stunned silence, his heart plummeting to the floor as he watched her retreating back. He was so confused and ashamed of himself.

He was roughly pushed in the back by Luke. "Let's go, Jared! Their getting away!" His Beta whispered urgently. Luke's own wolf was chomping at the bit to be close to his own mate.

Jared's legs seemed to be able to move again, for he rushed into the milling crowd, searching for his departing mate. His feet carried him swiftly, and it took everything in him not to use his werewolf speed in the sea of humans. He saw her up ahead marching to the Exit, and relief crashed through him. They weren't gone. Yet. He weaved between bodies and quickly caught up to her, his hand encircling her arm gently. The contact sent shocks up his arm, and his wolf howled. He looked down at her with his most sorrowful expression and hoped that she would understand. "Look, I'm sorry. If I knew that you would react this way, I wouldn't have done that."

For a moment he thought that his puppy eyes would work, but she rolled her eyes at him and yanked her arm roughly out of his hand. "Whatever, dude."

She grabbed her friend once more and together the girls hurried outside and across the parking lot. He watched helplessly as they climbed into the car, and he felt Luke run up beside him and growl with his own desperation.

They watched as the car pulled out onto the road and intercepted oncoming traffic. His heart broke as he watched his mate leave him, gaining more ground with each passing second.

Luke snarled beside him. Jared found himself on his knees, the pain more than he could bear. My mate rejected me, he thought brokenly. That's what he was. A broken man. His wolf howled in pain, and clawed at Jared's mind.

Your fault! This is all your fault! His wolf snarled at him. Jared just hung his head in shame.

Jared felt a steely hand clamp onto his shoulder, and turned to see Luke with the same pain in his eyes. They looked at each other for a moment, and Jared understood. They weren't Alpha and Beta at the moment; they were best friends who shared an immense agony.

And then Jared knew what they had to do. His eyes hardened with determination, and Luke's did the same. They looked toward where the car had pulled onto the road, and Jared stepped off of the curb onto the asphalt of the parking lot. He felt his Beta fall into position on his right side, and together they stalked to their vehicle.

They were wolves, and a wolf needed its mate to live. If their mates refused to give themselves willingly, then they would take what was theirs. Jared knew that the only way to have his mate was to take her, and that was exactly what he planned to do.