Running From Her Mate

JAMIE

She smooths her hand over her baby bump, feeling one of the little guys kicking at her ribs. They're still too small for the kicks to feel like much more than flutters, but she loves their attention all the same.

Oliver offers her a hand as she steps up to her seat. She accepts his fingers for only a moment as she lowers herself into the desk chair and lets go without allowing herself to feel anything toward him. He walks around the table, taking his own seat directly from hers. Her eyes follow the lawyer as she enters the room, striding toward them and taking the chair between. The three of them occupy the end of a long table in the law office's meeting room. Sleek, glass window-walls meet gray paint with dark wood and black leather desk chairs complete the cold feeling of the space.

The lawyer opens her folder. It's growing thick. She and Oliver have been exchanging a lot of emails and each of them is in the woman's folder. He gave her a week to think about what she wants, but unfortunately, he had the same amount of time to decide what he wants. It's been a hectic week to say the least. Some of her best friends took over as Alphas of All, she found out she's pregnant with not only one baby, but three and she moved into her home in upstate New York. Plus, she's finally feeling her babies kick for the first time.

"So, before we begin, I feel obligated to remind you that your mating contract wasn't an official legal document." The lawyer begins.

"Of course." Oliver says smoothly. "But our marriage is."

Her eyes skid to her bare fingers. Her father's assistant purchased the wedding ring, so she's not attached to it. She stopped wearing it when she moved out of the apartment they shared.

"Yes, I have the divorce papers here." The lawyer leans over the armrest of her chair and tugs a thick packet from her bag on the floor. She hands it to Oliver, whose eyes narrow.

Jamie meets his gaze. "You said I had a week to think about it. This is what I've been thinking about."

"I won't sign." Oliver hands the papers back to the lawyer.

"You know that will only slow the process, not stop it."

"It will buy me the time I need to make you fall in love with me."

Emotions war within her at his words. On one hand, she's been desperate for his love for a long time. They've been mated for nearly four years and he's rarely showed her a sliver of affection. He rarely touches her and they've only had sex a handful of times, all of them when it's been mating season and their hormones take control. She's good at hiding it, but she has a high sex drive and their lack of physical contact hurts her a lot. "That's not going to happen." She remains as calm as the lawyer, despite the kicks fluttering against her ribs again. "I'm sure you saw in the emails that he's unwilling to consider the possibility that we're not going to be living together when the babies are born."

"I did." She nods. "However, based on how close you live to each other and your respective incomes and clean records, your only real option is joint custody. The babies will remain with you full time for the first year, then you'll divide time equally."

Her chest clenches. "But they're my babies." Her voice lowers, her hands finding her belly and resting on its curve. "I'm growing them."

"They wouldn't exist without Oliver as well. The court likely won't consider any other option."

She stands, refusing to let anyone see the tears building behind her eyes. "Then we have nothing to discuss." She strides out of the room. Luckily, she's not at the point in pregnancy where her walk resembles a walk yet.

"Jamie." Oliver calls after her.

She keep walking, right for the elevator. Pressing the button for the ground floor, she steps back until her backside meets the glass of the fancy box. Oliver steps in front of her, towering over her. "I'll come by with dinner at five." His expression remains neutral.

"I won't be home." She doesn't let herself react to his closeness, though her heart speeds up a little because it's more naive than the rest of her.

"Then I'll come find you." He doesn't even hesitate.

She remains neutral. "Good luck." The elevator dings and she side-steps away from him.

His low growl has her walking away faster. "Don't run from me, mate." His words are heavy with the wolf within him.

She's never seen or heard him lose control like that, so she makes like a chicken and runs. Her body is slow and awkward with the pregnancy changes, softer in nearly every way. Her heels click against the tile, her ill-fitted dress tight on her thighs as she moves. She only manages a few steps when Oliver's hand meets her arm and she reacts at the sudden contact. Even though her balance is off thanks to her body changing, the self-defense and jujitsu she's been learning since she was twelve is an integral part of her. She rotates her body, using her weight and height against him to flip him over her shoulder. What she doesn't count on his reaction. On his way to the floor, he shifts. His white-blond wolf snarls at her. She smacks him in the face, not because he scared her, but because of what he did. "We're in the middle of a human lobby!" She whisper-shrieks. "Someone could see you!" The elevator dings behind them. "Go to the bathroom. Run!" She grabs the shreds of his clothes off the floor and herds him to the bathroom. It's the women's, but luckily all three stalls are empty. The door swings shut. "What are you thinking?" She demands. "You're going to get us caught."

"I thought I was an animal..." a woman's voice floats in from under the bathroom door. Her eyes widen and she pushes Oliver to one of the bathroom stalls.

He shifts forms, his bare backside filling her view and warming her as he strides into the stall. With a tug, he pulls her in after him and pins her between his body and the door. "Go with it." He growls, tugging them of her dress up to her waist. Her brows shoot up, but his lips gently cover hers.

"Hello?" A woman calls out, her heels clicking on the tile as she steps into the restroom.

"Check the stalls." Another woman says.

She didn't realize there's two of them. Someone pulls on the door and her eyes squeeze shut. "Occupied." Oliver growls.

The women both stop. "Come out with your hands in the air." One of them commands.

She wraps a leg around Oliver's hips, holding her pelvis to his to cover him as he slowly opens the stall door. He doesn't open it much, just enough to show her bare leg tucked around his hip. Most of her butt and lacy white thong are hidden by the bathroom door. Embarrassment and shame rush through her and Oliver doesn't even flinch at the smell of it. "Sorry, ladies." He says in a voice that better suits a billionaire playboy than the real estate tycoon and serious, loyal mate she knows that he is. Not that he has a choice when it comes to the loyal part, considering it's impossible for either of them to be aroused at all by anyone other than each other. The women stare at them, but mostly at him. Their attention stirs the beast in her, because she knows exactly why they're staring.

"Close the door, honey." She forces her voice to come out breathy, using a pet name they've never used in an attempt to lay claim on her male without actually laying claim on him.

"Of course." He glances back at the women. "If you'll excuse me and my wife." He closes the door to the stall. The women leave together, while the duo freezes until the bathroom door shuts and their scents are gone. "Honey?" He lifts a brow.

"Wife?" She huffs, removing her leg from around his waist. Neither of them acknowledge his boner, or the smells of their arousal.

"You are my wife." His voice is stern.

"For now." She agrees, tugging her dress down her thighs. "I'll call Roman. He'll have someone bring you something to wear."

Oliver's eyes narrow when she speaks of the other man, though they both know he's head over heels for one of her best friends. She slides out of the bathroom stall and Oliver lets her go. That's all he really knows how to do, after all.