Authors Note: I'm so bad at creating names for restaurants! My creativity runs dry when it comes to names in general. Either way, thank you for all the votes and comments! I hope you enjoy!
-Saturn
"Max!" his mother screamed. "Where have you been?"
It only took a second for everyone to know when he was home. The second he transformed back to his human form, his mother was right there to berate him for answers.
"Out," was his only response. It was nice that she waited for him to put on clothes at least. The rumors that werewolves could transform back to humans with their clothes still on was nothing more than a wish that they all knew wouldn't come true.
"Out where?" her blue eyes were ablaze at his answer. Her hair looked like a lion's mane whenever she was mad. The rest of the pack told him that he got that trait from her. Having her same red hair certainly didn't help.
He didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or not.
"Mom, I'm an adult now, not your troubled sixteen-year-old anymore," he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. No matter what, she still saw him as a child. "I can go where I please on my time off and I don't have to tell you everywhere I go."
Of course, he wasn't going to tell her that he snuck out to go see a human. Or that he basically acted like a giant puppy around that human all morning.
Jeez, he really did seem like a child sometimes.
Do you know how adorable you are? He could hear that phrase in his head all day. The sparks still hadn't gone away. It came in waves all over his body. Even though he took his time to get the humans' scent off him and burry the meat that he gave him (It had rotted in the sun) the sensation was still there.
Just by closing his eyes, he could feel those soft hands stroking his head. He could hear that sweet voice going on about anything imaginable. He made sure to try and remember everything that he talked about.
The only thing he didn't know was his name. Maybe he'd stop by that city someday and try to find him.
"You need to get dressed in something nice, Max," his mother hollered from downstairs. He had been daydreaming on his bed for at least an hour now. His feet had felt so light, he couldn't even tell that he had walked to his room.
"Another meeting?" he hollered back. He wasn't feeling up to walking downstairs to have a normal conversation with her. It was another trait that he seemed to share with his mom. They would much rather yell through the house than get up.
His dad hated it. He always yelled at the two of them for doing it. But, when you were born with great hearing, it just made things easier.
"Your Dad and I are having dinner with you in one of the cities tonight. He said it was an order."
Leave it to his dad to order him around. Max learned that the more restless he got, the more his Dad felt like he had to 'reign' him in.
Because, Goddess forbid, he get the title of Alpha before he finds his Luna.
Which brought him back to the other issue: how was he going to tell them that his mate was a human? In the history of their pack, they had never had a human Luna.
And it was a man as well, which meant he wasn't going to be able to have kids. If he were a werewolf, then there was still a chance of the pack accepting him, but the Moon Goddess must have thought that his life had been a little too easy the past few years.
What were her plans with him anyway? First, she makes him wait this long, then she has his mate be a human male?
He was going to have to keep this a secret for now. As long as he could see those bright green eyes sparkling at him every other day, he could live with this secret.
A buttoned shirt and some dark jeans were the best he could do for dressing nice. He spent most of the time trying to tame his hair. Why couldn't he have gotten his dads brown hair? At least his dad never had to put enough gel in it to give a monkey a mohawk.
"Where are we going tonight anyway?" he asked his mom when he finally came down. She was in the front of a mirror trying to detangle her hair. A part of him wondered why she didn't just cut it short. The longer it grew, the more it looked like a ball of fluff.
"A new restaurant, in Gila City, the one south east of here," she replied.
Oh boy.
Why did the Moon Goddess grant that wish so soon? What about the clothing wish? Why couldn't she work on granting that one?
His mom must have seen some reaction from him. But before she could ask what was wrong, his dad come into the room.
"Laura, stop trying to mess with your hair," he started, "You look fine."
"I can never seem to get control of this monstrosity," she huffed. She complied easily when the brunette gently grabbed her hands and pulled them down. They both stared lovingly into each other's eyes.
Oh, how Max longed for a mate to do things like that with. He could just imagine holding those soft hands, or feeling those soft blonde curls...
"You could always try gel," Max said, giving her a cheeky smile. He couldn't be thinking about things like that. Not when he just met the human.
He probably wasn't going to see him in the city. This was just the Moon Goddess playing a fun little game with him to make sure his heart was still healthy.
"That's for men, not women," his mother slapped his arm playfully.
"Just cut your hair. Should be fine."
"You will never convince me," she waved a finger at him. All he could do was keep smiling at her. All his childhood memories came flooding back to him at that one simple gesture. She would always do that when she knew he was teasing her or trying to get his way.
"You look beautiful, honey," his dad said. "Now come on, the both of you, and let's go already."
"Why exactly was this an order?" Max questioned. They usually didn't have serious talks in public, so he knew it wasn't that.
"Because if it wasn't, then you both would procrastinate getting ready and none of us would be eating until midnight!" His father's purple eyes sparkled with mischief.
Max dramatically rolled his eyes, trying to mess with him, and got into the car. The purple eyes were the one main trait he got from his dad. It would have been cool, if not for the fact that he had to wear contacts to hide them through most of school. Now most people just thought that his purple eyes were contacts alone.
That was something he had to get used to quickly growing up. It wasn't like he could be home schooled forever. Besides, his home schooling days had to be some of the most boring in his entire life.
"Why can't we eat at home?" They had plenty of food and even a chef that would make whatever they wanted.
"I'm shocked you don't want to go see a new place, Max," his father replied. "You're always telling me how boring things are here with the same things, day in and day out."
He stayed silent the rest of the drive. He was going to blow his cover if he kept pushing for them not to go. As much as he wanted to visit that city to try to catch a glimpse of that human, he would much rather do it alone.
Now, he just prayed that he wasn't going to see him tonight.
He remembered the human saying something about working in a restaurant. But he didn't say which one. Max's heart thudded as he thought back to earlier that day. It had left him in such a blissful state of mind that he hadn't even been aware of the day passing so quickly. All he had to think about was those hands and he was lost in a daze.
"So, what is this place we're going to?" his mom asked.
"It's a little family-owned place called 'Riley's Restaurant,'" his dad said. He looked excited, "I've heard they have the best pie in the whole state." For someone who always tried to come off as serious, his dad had such a soft spot for sweets.
Not that Max was one to talk. He couldn't get over the fact that the human he was so intoxicated by smelt like apple pie.
Apple pie. Maybe that's what he would try.
The city was a half hour drive. The pack territory was huge, but this city held a soft spot for most of the pack elders. The humans never started fires or tried to hunt them, and they always let them be.
Some of the elders of Gila City still talk about werewolves from time to time. But they always told their grandkids that werewolves protected them. It was a story of how the treaty between their people were made, passed down from generation to generation.
That human didn't seem like he was from there, though. That was why he had his guard up when he first met him. He looked like a foreigner.
It would explain how he didn't meet him until now.
"Alright! We're here!" his dad practically jumped out of the car, with his mom laughing at his child-like excitement.
"We're supposed to be adults, Leo," his mom giggled, "Not over grown 5-year-olds."
Max couldn't help but laugh at that one. Things had gotten so serious lately that it was nice to be able to act like a normal family. He could finally feel himself relaxing.
And then he smelt it.
The most heavenly smell. The one that lit him up from every part of himself.
"Welcome to Riley's!" the man held the door open for them all. His eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb.
"Well, thank you!" his mom said to the man. "I had no idea this place was this fancy!"
"Oh, it's nothing at all like that Ma'am," the blond smiled. "We're just a simple family restaurant. I was just about to head back inside myself."
"Well, you are a respectable young man."
"Thank you, Ma'am," he didn't seem to notice Max until they all got through the door. Once he saw him, the world seemed to halt. Their eyes locked, and, for at least a few seconds, Max could finally get a good look at him from a human perspective.
The uniform was all black. He even wore a long sleeve shirt underneath the one with the restaurant logo on it. The black really brought out how pale the man was. He wasn't that tall either. If Max could guess, he would probably say he was 5'7" or somewhere around there.
And he had a nametag that had "Charlie" written on it.
So, his name was Charlie. The Moon Goddess granted that wish faster than he thought possible.
Now he just had to try and keep this all hidden from the pack until he figured out a plan. It was difficult to not act obvious right then. He couldn't seem to tear himself away from those eyes. Every time he looked deeper into them, they pulled back and shied away.
They reminded him of beautiful meadows. And they went on for miles and miles.
He longed to run in those meadows someday. It took all he had not to grab him as soon as he saw him and run away.
Max broke the connection when his mom started pulling him towards a table. He thanked the Moon Goddess that both of his parents could be so easily distracted by food. They must've not seen a thing, for they were hurriedly looking through the menu trying to figure out what they wanted to eat.
When he looked over to where Charlie had been standing before, he wasn't there. His scent was everywhere around the place. It made for such a lovely atmosphere.
The restaurant was very old-school in its design. Everything was wooden, with a few accents of darker colors. The chairs were pretty comfortable. Altogether, it had a homely feeling to it.
They didn't have Charlie as their waiter. Max wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. He really couldn't tell his parents about this. This waiter seemed a little sloppy, and had a bit of an attitude. He didn't say anything when his parents asked for suggestions, just that he could come back later if they needed more time to think.
"It seems they have a diverse crew," his dad frowned. They finally got their orders in after what seemed like forever.
"Why did we have to get stuck with the lazy one?" his mom started. "I swear there's always one in every business."
"I just hope the food's worth it."
They all settled into a pleasant conversation. The food was taking forever, but Max didn't see much of a reason to rush. He was too busy thinking about that smell.
"So, what have you been up to today, Max?" his dad snapped him out of his thinking.
"Besides trying to get enough gel in my hair to look presentable?"
"I didn't see or hear from you all morning!" the brunette laughed. "Although, I could believe you would spend an entire day doing your hair if you're anything like your mother."
She smacked him on the arm at that comment. Max and him just laughed. His mom always got in fussy moods.
"It's one of the things that I love about you so very much," he pecked her on the cheek. Suddenly her pout turned into a smile. Mates could be such suckers for each other.
"Can you guys not do that in front of me?" they had started whispering who-knows-what in each other's ears, which usually meant flirting. And no one wanted to see that from their own parents.
"Maybe if you told me where you were, I would," his dad said. The only thing Max could do was sigh. Even though it sounded light-hearted, he knew his dad was being serious. He didn't like people in the pack keeping secrets. It especially didn't help when Max was in his rebel years as a teen.
Man, was that a mess.
"I was investigating something."
His dad's face went from light-hearted to cold and alert. Max told him about the human, knowing that he was thinking about rogues. They had been having issues with them a lot lately.
"So, he came today with a gift?"
"Yes," Max answered. "It was just some raw meat from a local butcher. It wasn't that great of quality either."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because he wasn't a threat, and you were already in a meeting when I got back home."
Thankfully he didn't have to tell him about the mate part. Being the Alpha of the pack, his father could tell if any pack members were lying. Withholding the truth wasn't considered a lie. Which gave him great relief.
"What were you doing that whole time?" the stern look on his face had turned into a curious one.
"Just making sure he didn't go further into the forest and then trying to get rid of his scent."
"Did he see you transform at all?"
"No, he doesn't suspect anything. All he knows is that there's a pack of wolves in the forest."
"How do you know for sure?"
"He talks a lot for some reason," Max smiled. Oh, what an interesting human he had found.
"Must be one of the animal lovers around here," his mom chimed in. "They love talking to them. It's a well-known calming technique for humans to try and use on themselves and animals."
"Really?" he asked. He did remember those green eyes getting calmer the more he talked.
"Of course! It's also been known that talking to animals in a lighter voice calms them down. It makes you seem less threatening."
"Like he was any bit threatening," Max laughed. The thought of that blond appearing anything beyond adorable just couldn't register with his brain. "He even made Sam laugh."
"Sam laughed?" his dad almost spit out his drink, "I haven't heard that man laugh for anyone but his kids in years!"
"What did the human look like?" his mother asked. "I have to meet this one now."
It was a good thing the room was bustling with people. If anyone heard them, they would be getting quite strange stares.
Before Max could say anything or try to make an excuse, the waiter finally came back with their food. His dad looked like he was ready to tear into him about the wait when they realized that it wasn't their original waiter.
And all Max could smell was apples and cinnamon.