Unexpected Mate

The loud pop of his tire blowing and the truck suddenly pulling to the side as he drove down the highway had been enough to give anyone a heart attack."Shit! Could this week get any worse?" Brian exclaimed as he slowly manoeuvred his truck over to the side of the highway.

It was getting dark, and he didn't have a spare. He knew it was something he should have gotten fixed before starting his journey, but he had to leave in such a hurry it had slipped his mind. Thinking back over the last week, he had to grimace. Whatever had possessed him to finally be open and honest about his sexuality was beyond him. He'd known his parents wouldn't be too happy, but he never thought they would back his Alpha in having him kicked out of the pack. He didn't think being gay was that big of a deal, but apparently who he slept with was the entire pack's business.

He grimaced as he remembered his Alpha telling him to leave and not come back, as his kind weren't welcome. He wasn't even given a chance to pack his belongings. So he had jumped in his truck with nothing but the clothes on his back, his wallet, and phone and driven away from the only home he had ever known. He'd been on the road for the last three days, slowly heading towards the southern parts of Australia. Stopping only to sleep at night, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and his old pack as possible. He hadn't even had a chance to let his wolf out for a run and was feeling the tension in his skin, as his wolf was itching to be let out.

Brian had no idea where he was heading; he had no family apart from those he'd left behind, and they no longer wanted anything to do with him. It was just his luck that his truck would have to break down about five miles from the next town. He'd been seeing signs for Leyburn for the last ten minutes. It looked to be a relatively nice small town, but one could never tell until you met the people.

Brian leaned back against the driver's seat and closed his eyes. Running his hands through his hair, he took a deep breath. This helped him settle his wolf even as his world seemed to be crumbling around him. He had no job, no family, no pack, and he had to walk away from his one and only friend. What little money he had in savings was fast being eaten away by his constant travel. Tears started to prickle his eyes as he tried to hold them back. He would not cry!

"What the hell am I going to do now?" Brian asked out loud, even though there was no one there to answer him. As he looked in the rear-view mirror, he noticed a police car had pulled up behind him.

"Great," Brian grumbled. "This just keeps getting better and better. I'll bet he's going to tell me it's illegal to break down on this stretch of the highway."

As he kept watching in the mirror, the sexiest man he'd ever seen stepped out of the police car and started towards him. Brian couldn't take his eyes off him. God, he was stunning. He had to be at least six foot four with a muscular body and dark brown hair bordering on black that fell into his eyes. Brian couldn't make out the colour of his eyes yet, but he was sure they were gorgeous, and the man had lips that Brian could spend hours kissing and never get enough. Brian's cock twitched at the sight of the beautiful man.

"Just what I need, to get beat up for trying to come on to a cop. Behave," Brian told his cock.

The officer knocked on the window. Brian wound it down as he looked up at the man and noticed that his eyes were a deep chocolate brown. Before he could say anything, the most amazing scent reached him. It was primal, very male, musky, reminding him of running in his wolf form through the woods. His wolf instantly sat up and took notice, itching to get closer to this most amazing scent. His cock went rock hard in a matter of seconds and throbbed insistently against the fly of his jeans.

"Shit! You're my mate," he blurted out, not even thinking to censor what he was saying. At the look on the officer's face, he wished he had.

* * * *

Inspector Marcus Holland was not in the best of moods. He was sick of having to try and defend himself as to why he hadn't taken a mate and settled down to have few cubs. It wasn't for lack of trying, that was for sure. Marcus dated as often as he could. There were only so many opportunities in a town the size of Leyburn. He just never seemed to click with any of the women he dated. And they never seemed to last longer than a couple of weeks.

He'd just gotten off the phone with his mother, who demanded to know what was wrong with Stacey, the woman he'd broken up with a couple of days before. It never took long for news to filter back to his parents. He hadn't told anyone the reason he'd broken it off with the pretty blonde. She had actually managed to last for nearly a year. He wasn't that broken up about the end of their relationship. He wasn't in love with her, and the sex was okay, but nothing earth shattering. Marcus always preferred to sleep alone and had never allowed her to spend the night, making some excuse about being needed at work early.

Marcus was furious at Stacey for what she'd tried to force him do. He was still tossing up as to whether he should inform Alex, his Alpha and brother, about the situation.

His dispatcher radioed through about a breakdown just outside the town limits, and as he was the closest, even though he was on his way home after another gruelling day, he thought he'd check it out. As he pulled in behind the old Ford truck, he noticed the out of state license plate.

"So, not a local then," Marcus mumbled to himself as he got out of the police cruiser and started towards the other vehicle. As he got closer, the sweetest scent started to prickle his nose. His wolf was suddenly scratching at him to be let out to investigate, and his cock hardened in seconds. He'd never had this reaction to anyone before and moaned as he took in a deep breath to try and get his body under control. It didn't work. The scent of flowers and sunshine flowed through his body, and he moaned again, quietly, as he stepped up to the driver's side window.

Tapping on the window, he waited for the occupant to wind it down. Taking another breath, he tried to calm his racing heart. He didn't understand what was going on with his body. As the window lowered, he looked into the most amazing pair of green eyes he'd ever seen.

"Shit! You're my mate," the man in the truck said. Marcus jerked back and frowned down at the man still sitting in the truck. Surely he couldn't have heard what he thought he just had.

"What did you say to me?" Marcus asked, still frowning at the man.

"You're my mate," he repeated, this time without the cursing and a small smile gracing his beautiful face.

"Mate? What are you talking about? I don't know you, and I'm not gay," he replied firmly. Marcus inhaled the sweet scent again. He realised this man didn't smell like pack, but he was definitely a wolf shifter, meaning he would know all about mates. Marcus shook his head, trying to clear it of the thoughts racing through his brain. "Nope, not gay," he repeated more for himself than the other man.

"Name's Brian Townsend," he said as he held his hand out through the window.

"Don't really care what your name is, just need you to move your vehicle," Marcus grunted as he took another step back from the man with the stunning scent. The guy's face fell as he made that last remark. He didn't know why he'd said it, but the young man had him feeling out of sorts. Being confronted with this stunningly beautiful man who claimed to be his mate had him feeling like he had been hit upside the head. He wasn't gay; he couldn't be gay. He had never been attracted to a male before. Well, no that wasn't exactly true, but he had never acted on it. Why would fate mate him with a man when it was his job, as the only straight man in his family, to have cubs and help continue the family name? Brian looked like someone had just kicked his puppy.

"Look, we are not mates," Marcus stated in a very firm voice. "You need to move your truck. If there's something wrong, here's the number for the local garage. They're probably closed, but someone will come and tow the vehicle so it can be fixed in the morning."

He handed over the number, careful not to touch Brian, and turned to leave. As he was turning, he noticed Brian wipe a tear from his cheek. He felt a pang in his chest at causing the other man hurt but stiffened his spine and walked back to his cruiser. It took all of his effort not to turn around and go back to Brian. He could not be gay. His parents were counting on him being straight. As he got in the car and drove away he refused to look in his rear-view mirror for fear it would be his undoing.