Chapter 2 - Sparks

Alpha Ryder stared at the woman in front of him. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. When she first ran up to the accident, her scent had hit him like a freight train. She smelled like honeysuckle mixed with jasmine in a field of wildflowers. It rendered him speechless.

Chase had looked at him like he'd lost his mind when he didn't acknowledge her. He mindlinked his beta and told him he thought she was his mate. When she took over caring for the man in the car, he couldn't help feeling jealous. Ryder wasn't the typical alpha. He was shy and insecure, especially around women.

He was twenty-eight and had almost given up hope that he would find his mate. Ryder's instinct was to wrap his arms around her and take her to his pack, but he didn't have the nerve to do that. He couldn't even speak to her.

His wolf Axel was the opposite of Ryder. He was strong and self-confident. He growled in Ryder's head, telling him to at least talk to her, but he couldn't move. When she asked him for cloth for the man's arm, Ryder took his shirt off and handed it to her without even thinking. He would have given her anything she wanted, especially when he saw the way her eyes ran over his body.

"Are you going to say something to her? She's your mate." Chase mindlinked him as the paramedics arrived.

"She's human. I can't exactly tell her she's my mate and needs to come back to the pack house with me. I'd look like a bigger fool than I already do." He'd heard her say her name was Zoe. Ryder thought it was beautiful, just like she was. When she came to stand beside them, he was ready to bury his nose in her neck to take in her scent. She turned to them with a small smile.

"I didn't get your names," She said, staring at Ryder with the biggest blue eyes he'd ever seen. When Chase held his hand out to her, Ryder wanted to slap it away, but he controlled himself. She then turned to him, and he knew he had to talk.

"I'm Ryder," His heart felt like it would beat out of his chest when their hands touched. Ryder had heard what other people experienced when they touched their mate for the first time, but he didn't expect it to be so jolting. It felt like someone zapped him with an electric current. When Zoe's eyes widened, and she looked up at him in surprise, he was worried it would scare her away. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the word from leaving his lips.

"Mate." She looked at him in confusion.

"What did you say?" Zoe thought he'd said, mate, but that didn't make sense. Maybe she was more tired than she thought. The feelings running through her body from touching his hand didn't stop. She noticed he was just as reluctant to let her go as she was him. She didn't understand the reaction he was having on her. One of her rules was to never trust men when she first met them, but she had a sudden desire to take him home with her.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hold your hand so long," Ryder answered softly, trying to deflect from what he'd said. She tilted her head to the side and studied his face.

"I didn't mind. Does that happen to you often?" Zoe asked him, wrapping her arms around herself so she wouldn't reach out to him.

"Does what happen?" He asked. She was having trouble getting a read on him. She could usually get a feeling for people right away. However, he was one of the biggest men she'd ever seen, but the way he talked, he seemed incredibly shy. Zoe thought it was cute. Using that word to describe the man in front of her seemed ridiculous, though. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay, but she didn't know why.

"When you touch people, do you always feel like you've been shocked with jumper cables?" Zoe grinned when she saw a shy smile playing on his lips.

"Nope, just you." Ryder felt his face getting hot. The paramedics had finished getting the man out of the car, and he was taken away, but Ryder couldn't move. Even when the police started asking Zoe questions, he stayed where he was.

"So, I guess we should leave," Zoe said when she looked up at him. He felt his heart breaking. She touched his arm, and it caused him to shiver. He turned toward her, and she was looking at him with those eyes he was already losing himself in.

"Okay," Ryder answered, not sure what else to say. She smiled again, and he knew if she asked him to get her the moon, he would find a way.

"Can I see you again? I know this is crazy, but I feel connected to you. You may be married, have a girlfriend, or are not interested in doctors with too much attitude, but I would really like to see you if none of those are true." Zoe couldn't explain why she felt so strongly about wanting to be near Ryder, but she did. He had an innocence about him that spoke to her. She had never asked a man out, but she couldn't let him leave without trying to see him again.

"I'm not married, I have no girlfriend, and I like doctors with attitude as long as their name is Zoe." Ryder felt his face flaming again when she giggled. That was the best sound in the world.

"Good. I'm off tomorrow or, I guess, today since it's already after two in the morning. Are you free later?" Zoe bit her lip trying to stop her smile that was threatening due to the redness she saw on his face. She liked embarrassing him. It made him seem younger. She decided to see what would happen when she rubbed her hand down his arm to his hand. Zoe felt sparks flying all over her from the touch, but she was watching his handsome face. Just like she thought, he got even redder.

"Uh, yeah, I can be free whenever you want." Ryder felt like a fool stumbling over his words like a teenager. He was the alpha of one of the most feared packs in California. However, you would never know it with the way he was acting. When she ran her hand down his arm, it caused so many reactions in him he wanted to fall to his knees and tell her he'd go anywhere she wanted. Zoe smiled brightly, taking a card and pen out of her pants pocket. She wrote on the back of the card before handing it to him.

"That's my phone number on the back. Can you give me yours? I have a feeling I may call you before you call me." Ryder had forgotten Chase was there until he heard him chuckle behind him. He took out his phone and sent a text to the number she had written on the card.

"That's my number. Call or text me after you've rested, and I'll go wherever you want." Once again, Ryder felt like a lovesick teenager, but Zoe just grinned at him before moving so she stood so close he could feel the heat from her body.

"Can I try something?" She asked softly. Ryder couldn't move or speak, so he just nodded. He stopped breathing when she wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest. The sparks were so intense with that much contact that they both gasped. Ryder's arms seemed to move on their own when they wrapped around her and held her tight. He never wanted to let her go. When she pulled back, he was disappointed.

"Wow, I've never felt that before. I promise I'll call you in a few hours." Zoe ran her hands down his arms and squeezed his hands. She didn't want to leave, but she needed a shower and sleep.

"I'll be waiting anxiously for your call." Ryder's heart skipped a beat when she smiled before getting in her car and leaving. She was either going to be the best thing that ever happened to him or the death of him. Either way, it was worth it.