3 Une petite attaque d'anxiété (A tiny anxiety attack)

Leo couldn't grasp why he had suddenly dashed off or why his feet were not slowing down even now. He couldn't tell if he was even being chased right now by the handsome stranger who had suddenly come up to him and claimed him as his mate.

He slowed down only when he recognized his surroundings and realized he was in front of his apartment. Not a surprise since he had searched real hard to look for an apartment near his university. He stopped in front of his door to take out the keys and hurry inside but also paused to let his wolf senses pick up any signs of the stranger. Relieved that he didn't pick up any new scent, he moved inside and went straight for his bedroom to flop down face-first on his pillow.

Even though all he wanted was to shut off the whirring in his brain and forget the scene at the store, it was all he could think of. Who was that man and why had he picked Leo to claim as his mate? How could he tell or presume that Leo was his mate? What did it even mean to be someone's mate? His mother had never been too clear on that subject and after asking a couple of times when he was a teen, he had given up.

He'd just chalked it up to the extreme myths and lore that came with being a werewolf, like how the moon controlled our movements or the full moon gave us the strength of the Hulk. Yeah, right. Leo had just assumed that werewolves having destined mates who completed and loved each other unconditionally was just the equivalent of humans having soulmates.

An illusion weaved by dreamers to make life more hopeful rather than the dreadful reality it was.

Ughh how did life get so complicated? Leo had positively no clue about what he should do next. He could call his family and ask them about this stuff, except they'd never mentioned anything like this to him before. Also, his mother and older sister would both be working right now so it's not like he'd be able to talk to them for more than three minutes.

He had the option of calling his university friends, but more than half of them were human and had been already present at the store and the latter, like Tonya, would only end up asking questions Leo had no answers to.

He missed his best friend since childhood, Lina, who was also a beta, at times like these but she was in Paris, learning to be a pâtissière under Monsieur Touzaint and though they kept in touch, it was mostly through odd-timed texts or weekly video calls.

After enough wallowing on his bed though, Leo got up and moved to the nook that he liked to call a mini kitchen and decided to make himself an iced tea with mint leaves. He was rather good at it, if he did say so himself.

Just as he was about to finish though, there was a knock on his door and immediately his nose picked up the scent of the man from the store. The thought mate ran though his head almost involuntarily and he shut his eyes tight for a second.

His mate was here.

Trying to relax after seeing how the man had tracked him down, he moved to open the door. Better to get this over with, Leo told himself.

Soon as he opened the door, Leo came in contact with a muscled broad chest that had apparently decided to derive inspiration from a rock since it also looked like the "hardest naturally occurring substance" he had ever seen. He snorted, thinking he must have lost his marbles entirely if he was comparing male chests to diamonds. Though he couldn't blame himself too much for that, since Leo had long ago realized that not only was he gay, he was uber gay for guys built like a tank who looked like they could crush you with their fingers like a twig, without losing their sleep. Or breath. And...this man who was supposed to be his mate, whose name Leo didn't even know, looked exactly like that.

Rubbing his hand over his forehead in an exaggerated can't-be-helped gesture, he sidestepped to let the man come inside his house. He probably shouldn't have let a stranger inside his room like that, despite being a werewolf, but this guy had already tracked him down so it wasn't like Leo had much choice. Also, for some unnamed reason, the man's scent was really damn pleasing and comforting for Leo and he inadvertently felt safe with him.

The man just roamed his eyes all over Leo's face, his body and then back to staring at his eyes. He folded his arms across his broad chest, and Leo watched the muscles flexing under his immaculately pressed t-shirt. Feeling unnerved from gaining such dedicated spotlight on himself, he cleared his throat and tried again.

"Are you going to come in or are you just going to stand there at the doorstep of my tiny apartment? Should I leave the door open for you?"

He seemed to shudder a little after hearing Leo's voice and, with a small sigh, moved inside. His eyes danced all over the place as he took in the bare furnishings and Leo got the impression that his mate may be sniffing his place a little as well. He chalked that up to being a wolf thing.

"I don't even know your name." Leo blurted out, suddenly feeling anxious.

The man turned to look at him with his dark brooding eyes again and in a voice that was all chocolate Oreo cheesecake with melted chocolate dripping from its core said, "Aleksandr Ivanovich Darkov."

This was the first time the man had said something more than a word. And yes, it was still just his name but it was three-word long and enough for Leo to get a little lost in his voice.

The man who claimed to be his mate further added, "You can call me Sasha, though."

Yet Leo just stood there with his jaw slack, mouth open and busy cleaning the rug he was standing on, having dropped to his feet. He could feel oxygen coming in through his mouth and grazing his tonsils. All sorts of wild thoughts ran through his head and he seemed to have trouble breathing. This man could not be his mate.

He was strong, sexy, attractive, intimidating yet gave off a comforting aroma and probably everything Leo had dreamt of as a young teenager when he had believed anything was possible in the world and sure, Leo didn't know anything about the man's personality who could have been a total a-hole but he didn't think that anyone who had a nice voice like that could be all that bad and wasn't that just freaking amazing?! Here was his "mate" who seemed to possess all the qualities that Leo had ever wanted in a man and he belonged to Leo? For his entire life? Just like that?

As if fate would ever be that kind to him.

No, this had to be a joke. Or a mistake. Maybe this man had been mistaken and tracked him down for nothing. And now he had trouble breathing. He put his hands on his knees and bent down and tried breathing in through his nose but it didn't seem to work. Great, his mate, Aleksandr- Leo knew his name now, was going to think that he had been saddled with a mate who couldn't even do introductions and didn't how to breathe. Except this was all just a mistake so maybe Aleksandr wouldn't have to be disappointed for too long.

Ugggh, shut up shut up shut up!! Stop thinking Leo! He tried telling his brain to shut up-

Suddenly he was being pulled up and dragged into a warm embrace with two meaty arms landing on his waist and his face being squished by a hard chest that was not at all unpleasant and possibly brought tears to the corners of his eyes. The sin-like voice murmured in his ear to take a deep breath through his mouth rather than his nose and it felt like all the tension disappeared from Leo's body as goosebumps paved their way in instead. His knees could have been served as jelly on a plate in a restaurant for dessert.

The constant thoughts running in his brain vanished as well and he could not even remember what his brain was always whirring about. Leo had probably never felt this calm and serene and so at peace with himself in his life till now and that made his eyes well up again.

Which was why, instead of answering with his own name, he asked, "Are you really my mate?"