Chapter Text
The Mate
Alpha Werewolf Steve x Black Plus Size Reader x Beta Werewolf Bucky
By V.C. Turner
A/N: I have never written a werewolf fanfic before. I don’t know much about Alpha and Beta wolves, so I’m creating my own mythology based on what I read about wolves. I anticipated that this would be a one shot, but I would like your opinion as to whether or not you want me to write more. I also want reviews because I feel like I don’t get that many. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1
He noticed her unique scent the moment she walked into the coffee shop. No other human would have been able to distinguish it from the overwhelming hazelnut, vanilla, and cocoa fragrances that filled the air, but he could; perhaps because he wasn’t entirely human.
Steve Rogers took a sip of the black tea he’d ordered 10 minutes earlier and stared at the young woman waiting on her drink order at the counter. None of the other patrons seemed to notice her. After all, she looked just like any other professional woman getting a cup of coffee before heading to work - probably some office job with a boss that didn’t appreciate her talents.
He took his time examining her features. Her curly black hair was pulled up into a bun, away from her lovely heart-shaped face. Her russet brown skin shimmered in the glow of the morning sun that flooded into the large windows of the coffee shop. Her dark brown eyes cast downward as she watched her steps, carefully avoiding walking into any other patrons before finding her seat by the window.
He hoped she wasn’t waiting for someone else. After all: he’d already recognized her as his mate the second he caught her scent on the wind: sweet, inviting and intoxicating..
Steve scanned her form. She wore a heavy wool coat, burgundy scarf, and black jeans that draped over a pair of black boots which raised her 5 foot 4 frame to nearly 5 foot 8. She clasped the coffee, probably in an effort to keep her hands warm from chilly October morning. He watched her shiver as the door opened and closed, sending the draft of cold air inside the restaurant. Worry pierced his heart. He wanted to protect his beautiful stranger from the chill in the air.
He tried to envision what she looked like under all that clothing. He hoped he’d discover a full figure beneath the winter garb: large breasts, wide hips, and thick thighs to slide himself between as they kept each other warm at night.
His cock twitched at the thought.
“You’re wearing too many clothes, Angel,” Steve muttered to himself as he took another drink.
Steve continued to appraise the woman as he waited for his second in command, the Beta Wolf of the pack, James “Bucky” Barnes. Best friends since they were pups, James had been the one to tell Steve that finding the right mate was necessary for the survival of their small pack.
Steve understood his responsibilities as leader all too well, and he felt the weight of those duties on a daily basis. Nevertheless, he wanted to find the right mate before settling down. The pack elders told him that she would be entering his life soon and that he would know it when he caught her scent. He was skeptical at first, yet there he sat in a coffee shop staring at a total stranger and feeling an unfamiliar warmth that radiated from head to toe. He wasn’t simply attracted to her beauty. Something inside him wanted to protect her, hold her, and make sweet love to her over and over until she understood how precious she was to him.
He shook his head. He never expected to get caught up in such a feeling, nor did he expect to find his predestined mate in a coffee shop, but fate often has a strange sense of humor.
Steve began to think of what he would say to her when his Beta pulled out the chair across from him and flopped down in an exaggerated display of exhaustion.
“Alpha,” Bucky said as he placed his leather gloves on the table.
Steve didn’t respond; his gaze focused on the young woman sitting on the other side of the room.
“Steve!” Bucky said, knocking on the table to get his Alpha’s attention.
Steve jerked and faced his friend.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered and took a drink of the now cold tea sitting in front of him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Bucky asked.
“She’s here,” Steve answered, unable to hide the excitement in his voice, as he motioned toward the table where his mate sat with her coffee cup.
“Her? What about her?” Bucky inquired, sitting back and crossing his legs as he appraised the object of his Alpha’s attention.
“She’s my mate,” Steve responded matter-of-factly.
Bucky took another look at the young woman and released a disinterested sigh.
“How do you know” Bucky asked.
Steve answered with confidence, as always.
“The Elders said I’d feel it...well, I feel it,” Steve said, “She’s my mate. I can smell it on her.”
Bucky regarded his commander’s assertion with skepticism.
“Ah. She’s ok.”
“Ok?” Steve asked, his tone serious and protective.
Bucky shifted in his seat, knowing that he’d offended his leader. He took a different approach.
“She’s pretty, I guess. She’s just not my type,” Bucky went on.
“Well, that’s because she’s my type,” Steve defended.
He turned to look at the woman whose attention was focused on her coffee cup. She rarely peeked her head up except to look out of the window and then turn back to her drink. She appeared to be considering something and the saddened look on her face dug into Steve more than he expected. He would go to her soon enough, but he had business with Bucky.
“What took you so long?” Steve asked, still looking at his mate from afar.
“I was … tied up,” Bucky said, a smirk on his handsome face. His dark brown hair fell over his blue eyes, and he brushed the unruly mane from his face.
Steve nodded, knowing that his Beta wolf still enjoyed the pleasures of multiple women even though he was reaching the age where he needed to settle down to find a mate and start a family.
“So tell me about your new girlfriend,” Steve asked, not really interested in the answer because he watched his mate with a protective glare in his eye. She continued to sip her drink with a faraway look in her eyes. Steve smiled, his heart quickly becoming attached to someone he hadn’t even met.
Bucky’s voice broke him from his thoughts.
“It this a sexy little redhead named Natasha,” Bucky said, “I don’t plan on seeing her again, but I saw plenty of her last night...and this morning.”
Steve shook his head. He’d enjoyed his share of women over the years, but he actually had relationships. Casual sex just wasn’t his thing. He enjoyed courtship - getting to know someone and figuring out if they were the right person for him. Most of his relationships were short lived because he always felt something was missing. He was seeking something specific, and none of the other women in his life possessed this one mysterious thing.
“You should shower when we get back to the compound. I can smell that woman’s stench all over you. It's confusing my senses,” Steve stated.
“I apologize, Alpha,” Bucky sheepishly responded.
Steve observed small child playing around the windows near the object of his affection. His mate smiled and played peek-a-boo with the toddler for a few minutes until the mother dragged the little one away. Steve’s heart melted as he thought about eventually having a family with the young, brown-skinned beauty.
He looked at his Beta and felt a tinge of jealousy as his best friend looked at his mate.
“What are you staring at, Buck?”
“I like her smile,” he said, “It lights up her whole face.”
“I thought you said she wasn’t your type,” mentioned
“She’s not. I mean, not really. Like I said: she’s pretty, just has too much of a good-girl-next door look to her. I prefer the bad girl next door.”
“You don’t think my deliciously curvy mate is sexy?” Steve inquires.
Bucky shook his head.
“Steve, I do not feel comfortable discussing the sexiness of my Alpha’s chosen mate. I will say that sexy isn’t a size. It’s a state of mind. It’s how you carry yourself, and little Miss Conservative over there needs to loosen up,” Bucky asserted.
Steve gave his friend a skeptical look and turned to study his mate. She continued to stare out of the window until a tall, handsome man walked up to her, greeting her with a smile.
Steve shifted in his seat, possessive of the woman with whom he had never spoken. His muscles tensed. His wolf paced within him, ready to strike at any moment as instinct took over. Bucky quickly grabbed his friend’s arm and held him in place.
“Not here, Alpha,” Bucky warned, “Don’t rip the poor guy apart just for talking to her.”
He saw his mate smile widely in what appeared to be recognition. She stood and hugged the man briefly before sitting back down and chatting with him. She then waved goodbye and the man left, as she continued to stare at her cold cup of coffee.
“See,” Bucky continued, “False alarm.”
Steve still growled at the interaction.
“I need to claim her so no one else dares to touch her,” seethed Steve.
“You may want to ask her out first,” Bucky suggested, “Besides, she's human and might not be interested in our ways.”
“Something tells me she knows more than you think,” Steve said.
“Alpha, we need to discuss the annex,” Bucky said.
Steve turned to face his Beta knowing that he’d called the morning meeting at the coffee house in order to discuss expanding their territory in the mid-Atlantic.
“You’re right. The county is giving us a hard time about zoning and I really don't know why,” Steve stated.
“My guess is that they’ve got a developer on the line who wants to put up some big retail complex and funnel a bunch of that money back to the county,” Bucky suggested.
Steve nodded, knowing full well there would be a fight for the land he’d purchased and wanted to keep residential so he could erect additional ranches and trees while maintaining and preserving as much of the forest as possible.
“You’d think they’d want more houses sprouted up out there to help raise property value,” Steve offered.
Bucky shook his head.
“Not if they can get some big-wig to bully us off the property and feed the money to the government officials - off the books, that is,” he suggested.
Steve looked back toward the windows where his mate had been sitting. He didn’t notice that she’d left because the perfume emanating off of his Beta was now giving him a headache.
“Shit!” Steve said to himself as he scanned the restaurant with no luck.
The front door opened and a rush of fresh air swept inside. He took a deep breath to clear his senses.
Then it hit them both. Both men stood at attention, a strong scent filling both of their noses. They jumped from their seats, ignoring the confused faces of other patrons in an effort to leave the coffee shop and follow what sent them both into a panic.
The Mate was in danger.
***
I went to the coffee shop to clear my head. I’d taken a shower and threw on a thin t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and my wool coat because I didn’t expect to be gone long. I just wanted to get out of my house and get out of my headspace. I’d gotten used to looking over my shoulder since I left the company, but their demons still haunted me from time to time, so I planned on walking to the cafe close to my apartment, getting one large cup of coffee, and sitting by the window to keep my eye out - just in case.
I felt eyes on me the moment I arrived, but I figured I was being paranoid. I scanned the restaurant and didn’t see anyone I knew, so I kept my focus on my coffee cup and the morning light peeking in the large picture windows.
After several minutes, I decided to head home because I didn’t like leaving the apartment these days. I wanted the solitude. It gave me comfort since no one else would. I tossed my cup into the trashcan and left as quietly as I entered. The walk to my apartment would take less than 10 minutes...but that gave him plenty of time to find me.
I heard him call my name from his slow-moving car, but I ignored it. I wasn’t sure how he’d found me since I’d quit work over three weeks earlier, but there he was: rolling up behind me like a beast stalking its prey. I kept walking. I continued to ignore him just like I had for several weeks after I tendered my resignation and signed the non-disclosure agreement indicating that I wouldn’t discuss the sexual harassment settlement I’d agreed upon.
But my legal agreement to silence wasn’t enough for him.
I didn’t realize that until his silver VW pulled in front of me and blocked the path to my apartment. I’d never feared him before: not physically. In that moment, however, I did because I thought our issues were resolved. I was wrong.
He launched himself from the driver’s seat and slammed the car door behind him. I stopped walking and glared at him. The only weapon I had on me was the set of car keys tucked into my right hand. I slid the longest silver key forward, placing it in the center of my fist and prepared myself for a fight rather than a discussion.
“Y/N,” he said. My name sounded like a swear word coming out of his mouth.
“Michael,” I growled at him, my makeshift weapon at the ready.
“We still have some unfinished business,” he noted, walking toward me with his usual arrogance.
“Michael, the terms of the agreement are clear. I won’t say anything. I’ve left the company. You’ve ruined my work reputation and I can’t find another job. You won. What is left to discuss?”
I hoped to resolve the conversation without using violence and prayed that he felt the same way.
“All of this is true,” Michael pointed out, “But there’s still the matter of ‘us.’”
I stopped backing away from him. He couldn’t possibly be serious.
“‘Us’ ended well before the non-disclosure agreement was signed. I thought we both accepted that,” I said.
“Sweet y/n, you and I can’t be over. There’s one thing you didn’t give me,” Michael pointed out, referring to the fact that the two of us had never slept together.
I began to shake a little. He’d made it clear after our breakup that he wasn’t really attracted to me anyway. I was too black. Too thick. Too fat. He was simply curious and he’s satisfied that curiosity, then paid for it with a harassment scandal.
Why did he think I owed him anything?
“Michael, please,” was all I got to say before he grabbed my right arm and pinned it behind my back. He then pushed me against an abandoned car and leaned into my ear. Pain shot through me. It felt fierce, immediate, and paralyzing.
“You think I’d pay such high a price for this pussy and never get the chance to see if it was worth it?” he groaned in my ear.
The absence of alcohol on his breath actually terrified me more than if he’d been drunk. It simply meant that he needed no liquid courage to do whatever he wanted to me. Every ounce of bravery I thought I had melted away when I looked up into his cold eyes. I could feel the anger radiating off of him. I felt the fear radiating off of me. I closed briefly closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.
He used his free hand to rip open my coat, exposing my thin t-shirt to the winter air.
“Let me go,” I cried.
He shook his head.
“Never,” said Michael.
The unwelcome warmth provided by his body gave me no comfort, and when I suddenly felt the absence of it, my eyes flew open again.
A blur of movement clouded my vision and I found myself landing on the sidewalk with pain shooting up my lower back. The ample padding provided by my round butt and wool coat wasn’t enough to break all of my fall.
A pair of strong arms quickly scooped me up with ease and carried me to what I assumed was safety. My benefactor smelled of pine needles, expensive cologne, and leather. Random thoughts flooded my mind and I kept blinking away the image of a large, tan-colored wolf with blue eyes running through an unfamiliar forest.
The sound he made when he sat me onto my wobbly legs was unmistakable. Had he been fully human, it would have sounded like a grunt. But he wasn’t fully human, so the sound he made seemed more like a growl...and a protective one at that.
I looked up at him and felt several sensations that seemed to be at war with one another in my boggled brain: relief, wonder, intimidation, belonging, peace, and ...arousal.
A complete stranger would not be able to make me feel this way. Only someone with whom my soul had already been acquainted would have such an affect on me. But I’m human, I shouldn’t know this sensation. I should not have felt that level of familiarity. But there it was: coursing through my veins and my brain like the blood giving me life. I tried to regulate my breathing as I looked up. I wanted to see him. I needed to see him.
My savior’s mid-length, dirty blonde hair glimmered in the sunlight behind him. It looked almost like a halo as he lifted me and leaned me against a nearby brick building.
The kindness in his blue eyes held me in place as I scanned his handsome features. A neatly groomed dark brown beard covered the lower half of his face, but not enough to hide his luscious lips and god-like jawline. The urge to kiss him was overwhelming and I had yet to know his name. I looked away from him, not being able to handle just how handsome my benefactor was, but his calloused hand lifted my chin so I could look into his eyes, which darked a little as he scanned my face, his gaze landing on my full lips.
“Hello, Alpha,” I muttered, knowing he would hear me regardless of how softly I spoke. I then instinctively bowed my head, knowing his place of leadership in the pack and the inadequacy of my human form.
An earnest expression crossed his face. Transfixed by the gaze he gave me, I paid no attention to the world around us, though a part of me was keenly aware that we did not stand alone on the street. His second in command, the Beta wolf, stood at his side, a brooding dark haired man that I couldn’t see clearly because I could not take my eyes off the one we both called “Alpha.”
My grandfather told me stories of werewolves and their place in our society. He knew their customs only because our land bordered theirs and he enjoyed a long-lasting trading relationship with the pack near our home in the country. He kept their secrets and honored their ways. I think, deep down, he wanted to be a part of them and that was the closest he would ever get to being a member of the pack.
I wonder if he knew that one day I’d find my way back to that world.
“So, ...you know what I am?” he asked in a deep voice that washed over me like a wave.
“Yes, Alpha,” I answered.
He leaned forward, his face brushing against mine as he drew in a deep breath. He buried his nose in my hair, then moved downward to my ear and eventually my neck. I instinctively grabbed onto his shoulders as his hands held onto my waist. I arched upward and felt him groan as my nipples brushed against his shirt when he pulled me flush against his chest.
I inhaled his scent more deeply this time, my face rubbing against his neck, my lips and teeth grazing his skin. I ran my tongue along the same path, tasting his flesh and something else - something more primal that stirred my arousal and flooded my core. I ached for a stranger recognized only by my body. Every taste, touch, smell of him seemed as though it called to me..
“You know what I am… and your body already senses what we are to one another. We should get off the street before I fall to my knees, rip off those jeans, and feast on your arousal - because your scent is driving me insane,” he growled in my ear.
“My Alpha,” I cooed has he began nipping at my neck. The words escaping my throat didn’t seem to be my own, yet I’d spoken them nonetheless.
The loud sound of a throat clearing interrupted our intimate interlude.
“Ahem - Alpha,” the Beta wolf warned, “We need to go. The street is becoming crowded.”
His words sobered me as I pulled from his embrace and backed away enough to gather my senses a bit. I immediately missed his warmth, so pulled my coat around my frame and buttoned it as the breeze began to pick up.
“My, my apartment isn’t far,” I told him, then pointed down the block toward my building.
He nodded and straightened his posture. He towered over my 5 foot 4 frame, his leather jacket not able to hide his wide shoulders and broad chest. He closed the gap between us, his Beta close on his heels.
I finally got a look at the other man. His dark brown hair now tucked behind his ears. A five o’clock shadow peppered his strong lawline, highlighting a pair of lush pink lips. His blue eyes stared at me, and I began to feel something, but he glanced around too quickly for me to understand what sensation he evoked in me.
Wordlessly, they followed me as I quickly walked toward my apartment building and up the stairs to the second floor. My nerves vibrated within me. I felt a heightened level of excitement and anticipation, though I did not know the reason.
I pulled out my key and slid it into the deadbolt just as the Alpha placed his his right hand on the door jam above me. His sweet voice stilled my movements as I felt his left hand unbutton my coat. His lips grazed my ear and I leaned into him, drawn by a powerful magnet unseen by the both of us.
“Tell me your name, Angel,” he whispered.
“Y/N,” I moaned as his lips skimmed my earlobe.
I pushed open the door, but before I stepped inside, I felt his arms wrap around my waist, as the Beta wolf followed close behind as we entered the room.
The once spacious dwelling now felt small and uncomfortable as I entered it. The walls seemed to be closing in on me and I felt a desperate need to escape even though the same space appeared to be my sanctuary only a couple hours earlier.
I turned to face them and they both regarded me with what can only be described as reverence as I stood there feeling the twin sensations of arousal and love.
“My name is Steve Rogers. I am Alpha of the North Pointe Pack. This is James Buchanan Barnes, my Beta,” he said with authority as he walked toward me.
“I want to thank you both for saving me back there. I truly appreciate it,” I said, looking from one to the other. They both smiled and I noted a hint of blush on their cheeks; both men seemed bashful in my presence.
“You’re welcome, Little One,” James spoke, his first words to me sounding soothing, like we were old friends rather than complete strangers.
“It’s our pleasure, Angel,” Steve added, “Now pack only what you need. We’re going home.”
“Home?” I asked aloud, but my mind, heart, and body knew his answer.
Steve stepped toward me, his presence filling the room and wrapping around me like a protective cloak. His hand gently held the base of my neck as he leaned forward again, his lips pressing a soft, slow kiss to the side of my mouth. I released a moan and I could feel his smile against my cheek.
“You know what you are to me. You feel it. We both feel it,” he whispered, “So tell me what you are, Angel.”
“I am your Mate,” I confessed in a whisper, my body aching for a man - a werewolf - that I had just met.
Steve nodded as he lifted my chin.
“And you are coming home with me.”
I nodded my head in agreement and obeyed without hesitation, yet as I quickly packed my things I could not escape the fear that the darkness which followed me onto the street that morning, would soon follow me to my new home.