His Curvy Mate
Chapter 2

Willa tried not to be afraid, but it was pointless. This man was scary. No wonder Tyson was so afraid. She had never seen any man command so much respect with just a few words. Everyone around him was affected. Did he notice that? Did he see how people changed when he walked into a room? It was so odd, and yet, quite appealing.

What Willa didn’t like was being singled out.

She’d screwed up. There was no mistaking that.

He wanted his son to succeed and she’d failed. This mess-up had everything to do with her. She couldn’t engage Tyson enough to help him learn.

Over the past few months, she had noticed Tyson wasn’t nice to anyone. He was … okay with her. It was like everyone offended him. What was with the whole skin-crawling thing? Did he have allergies? Was he a germaphobe? She had no idea.

They stopped next to a very fancy car. It was out of place next to the lemons most students could afford to drive. Willa knew the cost of the vehicle was more than she made in a decade, possibly more. Some people had all the luck.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Xander asked.

As far as questions went, it was so unexpected she had no idea what to say. She was expecting him to ask for credentials, to blame her for his son’s failings.

“What?”

“A boyfriend? A lover? A man you f**k?”

Willa felt her cheeks start to heat up. No one had ever talked to her like this before. So blunt. So unabashed.

“I don’t see how my personal relationship status has anything to do with Tyson. As you can see, Mr. Blackhawk, Tyson is not handling higher education well. I do believe he has the skills, but for some reason, a social environment is not benefitting him.”

“Tyson will learn to do as he’s told. I have strict instructions when it comes to him, and he has to obey them. A lover?”

Why did he care so much about whether she was dating or not? Did he think she was after his son? That was the furthest thing from the truth. Honestly, no one ever looked in her direction. It was why she was able to keep her own schedule at the university. There was no husband, boyfriend, or lover to occupy her. It was why learning was so much fun. Also, it didn’t accuse her of being too fat.

She’d gone her whole life without a single boyfriend. It was an achievement she didn’t brag about.

Was that why Mr. Blackhawk wanted to know about her previous experiences? He thought a s*xual partner was getting in the way of teaching his son? Of course, it had to be that.

“Mr. Blackhawk, I can promise you that nothing is interfering with me teaching your son. I have no boyfriend, husband, or lover. I take my tutoring work seriously.” She nearly let slip that she also didn’t have any friends either, but that would just make him feel pity for her, and that wasn’t going to happen.

Willa, the lonely fat chick with no men and no friends.

Nope, she didn’t need pity.

All her life, she’d been quite content with her own company as she never fitted in with anyone anyway. People always tended to hurt or disappoint.

She forced a smile to her l!ps.

“I’d like you to join me and Tyson for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, I … don’t you think you should talk to your son alone? And your wife surely wouldn’t want his tutor there.”

“I have no wife.”

“Oh, well, Tyson’s mom—”

“Is dead.”

Wow, this man was incredibly blunt. “Oh, my, I had no idea. I am so sorry. Tyson never said anything.”

“She died not long after he was born. He believes he owes his hatred of people to her memory.”

How odd.

Willa frowned.

Mr. Blackhawk stepped toward her, and Willa froze, unsure what to do. Should she step back? Step forward? Tell him to leave?

Her body was doing strange things though. The pulse between her th!ghs startled her. She was aroused? She had no idea how that could happen. She had no reason to be aroused and yet, that was exactly what had happened. Her n!pples felt so incredibly tight, and staring into Mr. Blackhawk’s eyes, she wanted him to k!ss her.

What the hell was happening to her?

No man had ever made her feel this way. It was like her body was not her own.

She had to make an escape before she embarrassed herself.

“You want to come to dinner with me, don’t you, Willa?” he asked.

“Er…” She couldn’t form words. His eyes were a strange hue, not quite brown, but an amber, golden perhaps.

“Dad, seriously?” Tyson asked.

It was the distraction she desperately needed.

“I think dinner would be a lovely idea. I don’t know if I can help, but whatever you need me to do for Tyson, then consider it done.” She quickly stepped away and immediately realized she had messed up.

She was supposed to decline his dinner invitation, not accept it.

Crap.

Willa looked at Tyson and then at … Xander. One look, that was all it took, and she felt like dropping to her knees and begging him to f**k her.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Something crazy was happening, and the only safe place for her right now was her books.

“Good lesson earlier, Tyson. I’m so pleased we had this discussion. We’ll talk more later. I have to go.” She must have looked like a bumbling idiot with how quickly she got out of there, but she didn’t care. She was a big fool. There was no way Mr. Blackhawk was flirting with her, or curious about her in that way.

Willa needed to get her head back on straight, and her body, well, it needed to focus on what was important, and that was Tyson’s future.

****

“You will not be coming to dinner,” Xander said, looking at his son.

“I wonder why that is.”

“Willa is my mate. You will show her some respect.”

“What? I have no choice now, do I? You won’t let me make my own decisions. How can you be mated to a human, anyway?” Tyson’s entire face screwed up as if the simple notion of his father being mated was repulsive.

Xander knew it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the fact Willa was a human. He was a little taken aback by it himself. After years of dealing with stressful situations, he’d learned to adapt.

He’d finally found his mate after all these years.

It was a relief.

All wolves ever wanted was to replace their soulmate. The one person destined to be theirs for all eternity, and she’d been tutoring his son for months. Whenever he talked with Tyson, he listened to his son drone on about how unfair his life was. He rarely talked about his beautiful siren of a tutor.

He should have gotten his son to talk more. Yet, how could he have known?

“How can that even happen? Won’t you, like, break her?”

Xander growled. “I would never hurt my mate.”

“My mother would be pissed if she could see you now,” Tyson said.

“Son, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but your mother and I were never mates. We shared a moment together, that is all. Neither of us loved one another in that way.” He’d never lied to his son about what he shared with his mother. They were not a love match.

She’d been extremely competitive, and at the time, Xander had thought that was fun. It took him raising a baby to realize there were many more things to do with life than have fun.

“Has Willa not proven herself to you to be a good person?” Xander asked.

“Yeah.”

“Has anyone else in your … life or circle not shown that not all humans are bad?”

“They killed my mother.”

Xander laughed. “You foolish boy. Do you really think over seven billion people all crowded around your mother and killed her? Hunted her down?”

Tyson’s l!ps pursed.

He shook his head. There was no point in arguing with his son. “Maybe you’re right. Higher education is not worth your time, but then, neither is being an alpha, because you sure don’t have any qualities.”

“What?” Tyson stood up. “How can you say that?”

“If you cannot take your judgment and resentment and deal with it by not hating every human because they’re not of wolf b***d, then you are not fit to take my place as alpha.”

Xander was tired of arguing with his son. It was a constant conflict between them.

“Dad, you don’t understand.”

“I understand perfectly. You don’t have what it takes to be an alpha, to be a leader. People look up to and depend on someone to lead fairly and justly, and that’s not you. You’re right. Quit. That’s not what a leader does. Run away. Stew in your own bitter resentment that has been bred for eighteen years, that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. I never pointed the finger. I always told you clearly what happened. I hold no anger toward the whole human race. That is reserved for the men who killed your mother, that is all.” Xander shook his head.

He was done with this conversation. Without another word, he grabbed his keys and headed out of the hotel room. He had to meet Willa at the restaurant, which he didn’t like doing.

Wooing her was going to take time, which he didn’t have. Being around a mate was a volatile experience, and he’d need to constantly keep himself in total control. He doubted Willa would appreciate him tearing her clothes off and f*****g her body all day and night.

She was a human.

He was essentially a stranger to her.

By her scent, he could tell she hadn’t been with a human in a long time, if at all, but his senses had been messed with as there were so many humans around.

Willa could be a virgin. He doubted it but fantasized nonetheless. Her body was made to be taken, to be fvcked. He couldn’t wait to get her naked, to spread her out across his bed, and to feast on every single inch of her lush body.

Xander arrived at the restaurant in record time. He spoke to the maître d’, who saw him to his table.

She hadn’t arrived yet. He arranged for the most expensive bottle of wine. The lighting was low, and he had made sure to call ahead to arrange for this to be the perfect romantic setting.

Glancing at the time, he saw he still had ten minutes to wait.

The moment she entered the restaurant, he scented her. He closed his eyes and sighed, breathing her in. His wolf was on high alert. The maître d’ escorted her over and he immediately stood, wishing everyone in the restaurant disappeared.

She wore a rather bland black dress that did nothing for her curves. It seemed to drop down from her tits with no shape. Her hair was pinned back, and she didn’t wear any makeup.

He would make sure she got a wardrobe to enhance her gorgeous shape. No need to hide perfection. Whatever she wanted would be hers.

Willa offered him a shy smile, and he scented her arousal. Good, her body knew she belonged to him even if she didn’t.

“Hi, I’m sorry if I’m late,” Willa said.

“Right on time.”

He pulled out a chair, and Willa lowered herself into it, thanking him.

“Where’s Tyson?” Willa asked.

At first, Xander couldn’t speak. All he could do was look at her and admire everything he saw. She was a luscious, natural beauty. This was why he had to wait all these years. She was worth the wait.

“Mr. Blackhawk?” she asked.

“Call me Xander.”

“Um, okay. You didn’t mention where Tyson is.”

“My son decided it was in his best interest to stay at my hotel. He is being … stubborn, but I am hoping I can talk some sense into him.” Tyson was a proud boy. He hoped by questioning his ability to lead, it would set him on the right path. Signaling the waiter, he had the man come to take their order.

He wanted as much time with Willa alone as possible, and constantly being interrupted wasn’t going to help him.

“So, Willa, I would like to know everything there is to know about you,” Xander said. “I don’t want you to keep out any detail.”

Xander took a long, deep inhale of her scent, and it made his mouth water.