Finding His Mate Ch. 02

Hello loves!

Below is Chapter 2! I hope you all enjoy it!

PP

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Azeil watches from the corner of his eye as she walks away with her co-worker. Madison. It fits her. He looks at Gino, who's staring at him.

"What?"

Gino shakes his head, then shrugs. "Nothing. Nothing. You seem very enchanted by her..." He trails off and starts eating his food.

Azeil scuffs. "Enchanted? No. Curious? For sure. I've never met a woman who has-"

"Challenged you before?" Gino finishes for him.

Azeil looks down at his steak and clenches his jaw. Straightening the silverware on the table, he clears his throat, "Yes... that." He looks back and sees her effortlessly conversing with her next table. Indeed, something is captivating about her that he can't quite pinpoint just yet. Mind you, he just knew of her existence today. However, there's something very familiar about her.

"Any-who, Kano."

Gino scuffs upon hearing the name. "Fucking scum."

"I'm going to decline his offer. While lucrative, I don't think it'll do anything for the business further down the line. Plus, he's... not trustworthy." Kano's known for playing both sides of the coin and, personally, someone who Azeil plans to keep his distance. While their families have known each other for years, Kano is nowhere near as honest as his father was.

"I'll let him know once we're done here." He hears Gino muffle his acknowledgment with a full mouth and scans behind him to see if he can find her.

"She's flying around here somewhere, sir. Eat your food. I'm sure she'll be back over." Azeil turns back around and sheepishly looks at Gino. Picking up his fork, he begins to eat his food when the smell of rotten eggs fills his nostrils.

"Mr. Tazot. I-I didn't know you were coming today!" He looks up at the round face staring back at him and places his fork down. Moe. He's been keeping tabs on him for quite some time and doesn't like what he's been hearing.

"More reason for you to stay on your toes." Moe audibly gulps, which brings a smile to Azeil's face. "Sit."

He stops Moe's attempt to sit beside Gino. "No. No." Looking around, he points to the far corner of the restaurant. Moe nervously laughs once he realizes where Azeil is pointing.

"Sir. I-I can't-"

"Get the fucking stool. Now." Azeil's eyes sharpen. Disobedience is something he doesn't tolerate, especially coming from one of his subordinates. He watches as Moe walks to grab the stool and looks at Gino, who seems as if he's ready to pounce on Moe at any moment. Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Azeil places it neatly on the table and leans back into the booth. The sound of the stool sliding across the floor fills the restaurant, drawing attention to their table. Plopping down on it, Moe wipes his hands on his pants.

Azeil watches as he fidgets under his gaze and slyly smiles. "Relax. I'm just here to talk." A moment passes between the three of them before he continues. "I've heard much about this place. It seems as though you have yourself quite a spot here."

Moe laughs nervously and nods repeatedly. "Yes. Yes. The tourists love it. They say it reminds them of the old New York, which I'm proud of."

Azeil stares blankly at him. He isn't here for the small talk. Quite frankly, the longer he sits in the restaurant, the more he can feel his skin crawl. Over the past couple of weeks, he's received harassment complaints from fellow women in the pack who work within the restaurant. Harassment of any kind, especially unwanted sexual advances, warrants a consequence. He thought he made this clear to Moe before his initiation into the pack; however, it's clear he needs a reminder.

"Hmm.. proud. That's... quite interesting coming from you. You're proud to be a predator."

Moe's face turns red, and he throws his hands up. "I-I... sir, I-I- these women are lying. I swear. They're exaggerating. I would nev-"

"If I were you, I would stop talking." Azeil's low, deathly tone visibly shakes Moe. He hears footsteps behind him and catches her scent.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. Maria had an emergency to tend to, and I'll be your waitress. Just let me know if you need anything."

Azeil smiles at Madison and waits until she leaves to continue. He catches Moe's eyes following her frame and grinds his teeth. Something about Moe's gaze being on her doesn't sit right in his stomach. The thought of him touching her... He closes his eyes to gather his thoughts. Now isn't the time to contemplate what-ifs when a very apparent problem is present and needs addressing.

"What was it I told you before your initiation ceremony into my pack?" Azeil picks up his steak knife, observing it.

"You-you.... You told me to respect all persons within the pack."

"Ah, yes. Respect. Do you feel you give the women the respect they deserve?" Silence passes between them. If Moe knows what's best for him, he wouldn't respond to his question. He isn't asking Moe for his opinion on his actions, as the answer is clear. A wide smile spreads across his face, and he returns his attention to Moe.

"I'm glad you knew not to answer that because it's clear what the answer is." His smile drops from his face. "Now. You will appoint one of the women your successor today and return to pack grounds, where you will face a punishment of some kind. I expect your return by the end of the week." He pauses before continuing. "You can leave."

Azeil and Gino lock eyes as Moe leaves the table. "Fucking scum. What do you want me to do with him, sir?"

"I'm not sure, at the moment. It's not as if I can strip Moe of his rank, as we don't have that kind of system within the pack." The one thing he changed once he became Alpha was the traditional caste system most packs have instituted. There's no such thing as Betas, Omegas, or anything in between within the Tazot clan. Hell, he doesn't like being called Alpha. However, he understands the need to maintain the position.

"You wanna send him away?"

Azeil pauses at this. While it would be enticing to send him off, he doesn't think this is adequate either. If anything, that would be a favor for Moe.

"I'll have to think about it. I'm sure I'll think of something." As he resumes eating his meal, he hears a commotion in the back. He turns around just as Madison stumbles to the ground.

"You bitch!"

Azeil sees Moe marching from the backroom, walking towards Madison with his fist balled up. Moe raises his fist to strike her, and before he knows it, Azeil's clutching Moe's wrist in between his hand. A low growl exits his throat, and Moe turns ghostly white. How dare he hit a woman, let alone his woman. Azeil squeezes Moe's wrist harder and feels the pressure of his bones underneath his palm. All he has to do is press harder, and his wrist is unrepairable. Gino's hand on his shoulder brings him out of his fantasy, and he releases him.

Maria rushes past them to tend to Madison, who's shuffling further away on the floor. "Maddy. Are you okay? What the fuck?"

Azeil looks down at Moe, who has fallen to the floor in pain, holding his wrist. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Azeil asks lowly.

Gino draws the patrons' attention, bringing his hands together, who are all stunned by what had just occurred.

"Ladies, and gents, the restaurant is closed. No need to worry about your tabs. That's on me." He turns his attention to the workers, who are all tending to Madison. "Ladies. If' you'll help her to the back."

Azeil glances at Madison, who is holding the side of her face. The slimy fuck hit her! Anger isn't the best word to describe his emotions right now. If they weren't in public, he would've shredded Moe to pieces. When he's sure the women are out of sight, he picks Moe up by his collar and throws him on the bar.

"Are you out your fucking mind?" He feels his wolf trying to breach the surface and does everything in his power to contain him.

"Sir, I- she- fuck!" Moe yells in pain as Azeil's fist breaks his nose.

"Shut up!" Azeil pulls him up off the bar so that they are face to face. Moe tries to find his footing, which is pointless, considering Azeil's size. "You're lucky I didn't rip out your fucking throat for touching her. You listen to me and listen closely. You will return to the compound tonight. No exceptions. You can try and go rogue if you want, but please believe I will find you and finish what I should've done today."

Azeil lets go of Moe, dropping him to the ground. He takes the napkin Gino offers him, wiping Moe's blood off his knuckles. "You have ten seconds to leave this restaurant."

They both watch as Moe collects himself. Their attention turns to one of their pack members as she walks out the swinging doors leading to the back.

"Mr. Tazot. I-I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think we may need to take her to the hospital. When Moe slapped her, he elongated his nails in the process, which caused a pretty deep cut on her cheek."

Azeil closes his eyes briefly to collect his thoughts. "Let me see her."

As they follow her to the backroom, Azeil feels a very odd emotion fill him each step closer they got. The smell of blood hits his senses, causing his wolf to become impatient. They enter the room to find Madison sitting at the table with a piece of gauze on her cheek.

"Guys. I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

The room silences as he enters. The women part of the pack quickly lower their heads and move away from Madison. His eyes scan over her and settle on the bloodied cloth she's holding to her cheek.

"You need to go to the hospital." Madison scuffs then winces in pain.

"I" ll be fine." Azeil walks closer to her and bends down.

"Let me see." She begins to shake her head but stops once she realizes he isn't buying it. Turning her head to the side, she grits her teeth as he lifts the gauze from her face.

Moe just missed her eye, striking her from her temple to just above her cheekbone. Her once scarless face is now marked by a coward. A bit of blood oozes out the wound, which he lightly catches with the gauze.

"Explain to me what happened. Leave out no details."

Madison catches Azeil's eyes flash just as Ryan's does; only his are... different. She snaps herself out of her daydream and tries to remember what happened before ending up on the restaurant floor.

"Um... I- I don't know. I was in the back, and Moe came back angry and started yelling at me, saying I shouldn't have gone to your table and that I cost him his job. I tried walking away, but then he grabbed me by my hair, and by reflex, I turned around and hit him. Next thing you know, he slaps me across the face with a razor. I crawl down the hall to get to where everyone was, and he kicks me just as I'm at the doors leading to the main dining room."

She hears her phone go off and groans once she registers the sound of Tiffany's ringtone. Tiffany's probably hip to everything that's happened, and the last thing she's looking forward to is re-telling this story.

"Look. I'm fine. It's just a minor cut. Nothing crazy. If it makes you feel better, I'll stop by the urgent care on my way home."

Azeil knows she's lying to him. However, there's nothing he can do to stop her or convince her otherwise. He looks over at Maria. "Do you live far from here?"

Madison locks eyes with Maria briefly and shakes her head.

"N-no, I don't. We live about 15 minutes away from each other." Azeil senses she's lying, but this isn't the hill he wants to die on.

"Good. Ensure Madison's taken care of and that she gets home safely. Just let whichever urgent care you take her to know the bill is on me." He takes one last look at Madison and stands up. Straightening his jacket, he looks at everyone in the room.

"I'm not sure what we're going to do with this place, but I will compensate everyone until further notice. Until then, enjoy your vacation. I'll look to find a replacement for Moe, who will give you all instructions on potential changes. Is that clear?" He waits for everyone's acknowledgment and turns to Gino.

"Let's go."

As they exit the room, Madison releases the breath she's holding and puts her head on the table beside her. Today is exhausting. She feels a hand on her shoulder and peeks up at Maria.

"We should get you to an urgent care Maddy. That's a deep cut." Madison knows she's right, but frankly, she doesn't have urgent care money or any money for that matter. She finds it hard to believe he's going to pay for whatever bill she gets.

"I will, Ria. I promise." Maria looks at Madison wearily before nodding her head.

"Fine. There's nothing I can do to convince you either, huh?" Madison softly chuckles and shakes her head.

"You know me too well—honestly, Ria. I'll be fine. I was practically raised on a farm. I know how to take a hit." She hears her phone start ringing again and walks to her locker to pick it up.

"Yes, Tiff?"

"What the fuck am I hearing about that bitch Moe hitting you? Is this for real, Maddy? Are you okay?" Madison places the phone away from her ear as Tiffany continues rambling. She can feel a headache forming. The combination of pain from her cut, a headache, broken pieces of glass piercing the other side of her face, plus someone screaming in her ear isn't exactly the greatest.

"Hold on, Tiff." She places the phone down on the table and puts on her coat. "You were saying?"

"I was saying, why did Moe put his hands on you? Actually, I don't need a reason. He shouldn't have put his hands on you in the first place."

As she's grabbing her bag and heading for the side door, one of her co-worker's stops her.

"I've never seen him like that." Confusion displays across Madison's face. She moves the phone away from her ear. "Azeil. I've never seen him like that."

Azeil. It's odd that throughout this whole altercation, she never caught his name.

"I- I don't know what to say?" Madison's statement comes out more like a question. She's not sure what she should say to this information.

Her co-worker smiles. "It's okay. I honestly don't expect you to say anything. I'll see you around soon."

What? Madison tries to process what just occurred but feel her headache again. Fuck. Tiffany is still rambling on the phone about how she will beat Moe's ass, not even noticing she's talking to herself.

The cold air hits Madison's face as she steps outside, working its way past the gauze and soothing the pain of her cut. She places the phone back up to her ear and catches Tiffany's mid-sentence.

"And I'm gonna make sure his ass knows real pain. Ooo... I can't stand that bitch."

"Tiff. Honestly, it's fine. It's over. There's nothing we can do about it at this point. Look. I'm on my way to urgent care to get a doctor to look at this cut. The new boss... or... old boss? I don't know. The boss said he's gonna pay for it, so I'm going to hold him to his word."

"New boss? You've never met him before?"

"Well, no... I mean, I met him today. His name is Azeil." There's a moment of silence between them, which is unusual. Usually, Tiffany always has something to say, so Madison knows something is off. "Do you know him?"

"No. No." Tiffany pauses again. "Um... which urgent care are you going to? I'll try to meet you there."

Madison lets Tiffany know where she's going and hangs up the phone. As she's walking down the street, she ignores the stares she's getting from passersby. Honestly, Madison can't blame them. Not only does she have a bloodied face, but she's positive she looks like she just walked out of a dumpster as well. Hell, Madison feels like she just stepped out of a dumpster. At this point, she's craving her bed and looking forward to drowning in her sheets.

She turns the corner leading to the doctors and see's Tiffany waiting outside. The one thing that's always spooked her about Tiffany is how fast she gets to places. It's as if she just teleports.

"Hey, Tiff." Tiffany engulfs her in a hug, squeezing her tight. Madison instantly feels her body relax.

Inspecting her face, Tiffany shakes her head. "What the fuck happened, Maddy?"

"Honestly, it's a long story that I don't feel like reciting. At least not right now. I just wanna get this fixed and go home."

Tiffany nods her head and follows behind Madison. As they're waiting, Madison leans back into the plastic chair and closes her eyes. All of this is starting to become too much for her. She feels herself starting to get worked up and silently sniffles.

"Maddy, it's gonna be okay."

Although Madison hears Tiffany, there's not much she can say that will soothe how low she's feeling right now. Today's just panning out to be one of the worst days she's had to date. The medical assistant calls her name and motions for her to follow to a room. She grabs Tiffany's hands as they walk to the back. While Tiffany can be the most immense pain in the ass sometimes, she's always there for her when she needs her most, which Madison appreciates.

The doctor comes in almost immediately after the medical assistant gathers more information from Madison.

"Madison? I'm Dr. Gene. Let's take a look at what you have there." After the doctor takes a look at her cut, he steps back and looks at her quizzically. "I know this may sound odd, but did a large animal strike you?"

Madison furrows her brows together. A large animal? She would laugh right now if not for the fact that she's miserable and in slight discomfort.

"If a large man with no home training is considered a large animal, then yes. No. He just sliced me with a razor."

The doctor looks at her warily before placing a smile on his face. "Well, I'm going to give you a tetanus shot just in case. From the looks of it, I think you'll only need four, maybe five, stitches. It'll be quick."

Madison watches him leave the room and turns to face Tiffany. "Do you hear him? Asking me if a large animal attacked me? These doctors are interesting."

Tiffany stalely smiles, which is odd for her. Since their conversation earlier, Tiffany's been acting strange. Madison can't quite hone in on what's going on with her, but she knows something is off. After receiving her shot and five stitches, they walk to the front desk to check-out. The medical assistant brightly smiles at her as they approach the reception.

"Alright. That'll be two hundred dollars. How are you paying?"

"Uh- yes. About that. My boss told me to let you all know he'll be paying for it."

"Um... we don't have specific accounts here for companies I don't believe. Who is your boss?"

"Azeil...uh... honestly, I don't know his last name. Azeil-"

"Tazot."

Both Tiffany and the medical assistant say his last name simultaneously, causing Madison to look at both in shock. What the hell is going on here? This is one of those moments where she's the only person in the room who doesn't understand the joke.

"You're all set then."

After grabbing her care instructions and scheduling her follow-up appointment, they leave the office and head to her apartment. Madison can't help but think about how strange this whole day has been as they're walking. First, she runs into Azeil, he shows up at her place of work, then she's attacked by Moe, and lastly, her best-friend lied to her acting as if she doesn't know Azeil, all to know him? This whole day can just go to hell if you ask her.

They walk up the stairs to her apartment and run into Ryan, who's standing in the same place he was standing earlier.

"Ryan..." Madison says slowly, "...have you been standing there all day?"

He shakes his head and approaches them, staring at her face. What happened to her? He heard rumors that one of the animals working at that dump of a restaurant she works at had hit an employee and hoped that Madison wasn't the employee in question. Seeing her now, he's sure she's the one he'd put his hands on. Just thinking about such filth touching her made him want to rip his throat out. Maybe he'll go on a hunt tonight. He hasn't had a feast in some months and now justified breaking his celibacy more than ever. He snaps out of his thoughts as Madison approaches him.