"Yes, they have that Greek yogurt I wanted to eat."

Leo exclaimed as he moved away from his group of friends with whom he had arrived to check out the new store that had opened on the Main street. He moved to the dairy aisle and gleefully picked up atleast half a dozen yogurts to dump in the store basket.

His university friends had all wanted to check out this store that had recently opened up just in front of the Uni, and though he was reluctant at first, he was glad he had decided to come with them and give it a try.

This place had multiple other snacks from foreign brands that were perfect for late night munchings as he worked on his uni homework and illustrations. Getting a job as an Illustrator that paid well was a hard task and he spent mostly all his free time sketching or painting to create a great portfolio.

Being an omega wolf, he had to take extra care of his health and body and go on daily runs, that he always scheduled for evenings or late nights because he detested waking up early, and keep his human friends away on certain days of the month. But that was just part of life as a 23 year old student keeping up with his grades and last year of uni.

Leo was roaming around the aisles and looking for snacks to buy when he felt sudden chills on the back of his neck. Becoming paranoid, he looked around for the source. His heat had already passed for this month so he was sure that he wasn't exuding any pheromones to attract any Alpha yet he still kept his guard up and turned around.

There!

He noticed a tall brooding stranger staring at him intently, without blinking. Though most of his body was blocked by the aisle in front him, Leo still noticed that the man had wide shoulders with bulging biceps, a lean neck with full lips dark eyes and dark brown hair. The expression on his face was a weird combination of disbelief, unhappiness, anger and maybe a little..hope?

Strange.

Even after making eye contact with Leo, he was not looking away. It was obvious he was an Alpha. Pretending that the strange man's intense stare was not bothering him and was probably even directed at someone else, Leo kept walking down the aisle and took the turn that would put more distance between them. Trying to remove himself from the direct sight, Leo joined his friends group who were already at the checkout and mixed his snacks with theirs to speed up the process.

As soon as he had paid for his share, he bolted towards the exit but his steps faltered when he saw the strange man already there waiting for him. Fear crawled up his body until he reminded himself that he was in a very public place with a whole group of friends who would surely not let him be kidnapped, if it came to that.

Exhaling, he moved forward to open the door, but was stopped when the man placed his hand on Leo's extended holding the door's handle. Gazing at the man's hand first, Leo moved his eyes up and looked at the man holding him. Before he could even breathe, the man said in a firm voice, "Mate."

"Mate."

Aleksandr could not believe that after 27 years of his life he had found his mate strolling down the dairy aisle. In the store he owned and had inaugurated recently.

Life sure worked in mysterious ways.

It had only been 2 days since the inauguration of the store and he had let the management open it to general public. He had decided to visit the store daily during the first week and it was just as soon as he'd entered the store, he had picked up on the unusual scent.

The scent had made his body hypersensitive and his senses highly aware in the same manner as when he got ready to fight a feral enemy or when he sensed danger. Looking around he moved in the direction his senses took him when he located the scent wafting from a clueless guy stocking up on dairy products.

His feet stopped and his body gave a violent jerk as the scent enveloped him and made him realise that the sensations going through him were because he had found his mate. A mate for whom he wasn't looking. A mate who was a guy. A mate who was also, if he was inhaling the sweet smell correctly and Aleksandr was sure he was, an omega.

All this was a little overwhelming and yet he was unable to look away, cataloging every move his mate made. Aleksandr's eyes were following every step the omega -his mate- took, his omega who looked to be in his early twenties, roaming over the hundred different expressions playing on the omega's face. His eyes danced when they landed on certain items but dulled a little over items he probably didn't like, his nose crinkled a little on some of snacks kept in the snacks aisle.

He wasn't short but nobody would call him tall either. Aleksandr would guess his height to be around five feet and seven inches, if he was feeling generous. Aleksandr himself being at six feet and one inch would guess that his mate's head would probably come around his shoulders.

The omega's body was lean with a slim built but moved in a way that showed that he played some sort of sport or did some kind of exercise regularly. Aleksandr liked that his mate was physically inclined. He had blond hair with gray eyes that shone beautifully on his face.

His body froze when he realised that his mate had sensed him and was no looking around for him. He did not bother hiding or moving closer as he did not want to spook his omega. So he simply stayed put as his mate's eyes and found him roamed all over face and body. A strange new kind of sensation ran through his body as his mate stared at him. He could not see that the omega had not yet realised that he was staring at his mate. He could hardly believe it himself, after all.

Letting his omega pretend that he was not the sole focus of Aleksandr's gaze and his center of attention was fine, for now. He needed a little time to get used to the sensations that no doubt would racking the omega's body as well.

However, when he realised that his mate was speeding towards the exit, the alpha had no choice but to intercept him. He would not let his mate slip by him after all. Or let him escape without a proper conversation between them.

Aleksandr held the omega's hand and felt a thrill run down his body. Hoever, his attention was solely on his mate's face and as he uttered the word to claim the omega as his, he realised that the young guy had been taken entirely by surprise and with his wide eyes looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Realising that, Aleksandr loosened his grip a little but within the blink of his eye, and to his surprise, found his mate shaking his hand off instantly and running. Away.

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 recognised his surroundings and realised 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 exagerrated 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 tshirt. 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 cheescake with melted chocolate dripping from its core said, "Aleksandr Ivanovich Darkov."

Leo just stood there with his jaw slack and his mouth probably busy cleaning the rug he was standing on since 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 silly kid when he had believed anything was possible in the world and sure, Leo didn't know anything about the man's personality and he could be a total a-hole but Leo 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 disasppointed 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?"