Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters.

Chicago, Illinois

Thunder rolled across the dark, ominous sky, as a lone figure traveled down an alleyway at a brisk pace. His black hoodie was almost saturated with water, and he could say the same for his jeans as well. He shivered in annoyance; he hated being wet. He had meant to arrive earlier, before the rain started, but the pack meeting had lasted longer than he thought it would. His pace slowed as he neared the mouth of the alley. He took cover below a wide ledge and shook some of the excess water off. He brushed his wet, white bangs out of his eyes, and gazed into the windows of the café across the street.

The café was nearly empty except for a few regulars and the petite brunette with glasses bussing tables. He kept his gaze trained on the waitress until she disappeared behind the double doors that led to the kitchen. He sighed and refocused his gaze to the brick wall of the alley.

He had first spotted her a couple of weeks ago. He had stopped at this very café for a bite to eat before one of his meetings and got the surprise of a lifetime. He had found the one that was meant for him. For his soul.

His mate.

Unfortunately, he chickened out. As soon as he scented that she was near, he turned around and went right back out the door. He was lucky that is was the lunch rush at the time, so she didn't even notice him. He did get the courage to go back every once in a while to have some interaction with her. He barely said a word when they happened, though.

He sighed again and looked back at the café. She hadn't reemerged from the back yet.

"So, Near, is this where you have been going every night?" Near turned his head and saw the lit end of a cigarette nearly touching his nose. His eyes traveled up the length of the cigarette to the shit-eating grin that was on his red-headed friends face.

"So what if I do? It's not like it's any of your business what I do." Near backed away and leaned against the brick wall. He could see Matt's goggles glinting from the neon signs on the main street.

"You're right," Matt said and took another drag of his cigarette. "It is none of my business, but it is not every day that something like this happens. Have you made any moves yet?" Even though Matt had his goggles on, Near could tell that he was wiggling his eyebrows at him.

'Crack.'

"Of course he hasn't made a move yet." Neat rolled his eyes. He should have known. Where ever Matt went, Mello was not too far behind. "That is why he is stalking her in the shadows. If he had made a move on her, he would be in there trying to convince her that he is the only one for her."

"I don't want to approach her yet, not until we have sorted out the business that we came here for." Near glanced back at the café to see her refilling a guy's coffee cup. He looked back at Mello when he heard him sigh.

"You are our Beta. You will only get stronger when you connect with her. Besides, did you forget that we are leaving in a couple of months?" Mello took another bite of his chocolate. "You have to convince her to come with us, or you will—" He was cut off by Near's sharp voice.

"I know what will happen!" Neat can already feel his teeth elongating. He needed to calm down. He looked away from his friends and took a deep breath. "I know what I have to do, and it will get down by the time that we leave." He looked back at the girl to see her flipping through the paged of her textbook.

"Then go so something! You're doing nobody any good by staying in the shadows. What if you are too late, and she finds someone else that fits her needs." Before the end of that sentence was finished, Near had Mello pinned against the brick wall, and his, once again, elongated canines were bared at him. Matt was there in a flash though and separated the two.

"He is right, Near. You have to do something and quick." He pushed them farther apart and stood in between the feuding teens. Matt gave near a knowing look. "I take it that since you have been sneaking around, that L does not know about this."

Near looked at the tinting of Matt's goggles before turning his glare to the sidewalk.

"Thought so." Matt said as Mello let out a disgruntled sound.

"You haven't told L! Why haven't you told him? He has the right to know that his Beta has found his mate! Do you have any respect for the man?" At those words, Near snapped his head back to glare at Mello.

"Of course I do! Do not question my loyalty to L. I will tell him eventually, just not right now." Matt threw his cigarette to the ground and crushed the life out of it with the bottom of his shoe.

"No, Near. Either you go over there and strike up a conversation with the girl, or we tell L and he can take it into his own hands." Matt sounded very serious, which was very unlike the teen. He looked at Mello to see him nodding his head in agreement.

"Whatever," Near sighed. He turned around and purposely strode across the street and to the door of the café.

Joe's Café

Gracie stared blankly down at her anatomy textbook. She had a test on Monday over the respiratory system, and she was nowhere near ready to take it. For the last three weekends, she had been working doubles. Since she had been working so much, she tool tomorrow off so you would have some time to study.

She heard someone cleat their throat, and turned to look at the elderly man sitting at the counter. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but could I have some more coffee?" Gracie was already on her way with the coffee pot by the time he had finished the question. She would never understand how some people could drink coffee this late at night. If she ever did that, she would never be able to go to sleep.

"It's not a problem." She smiled as she refilled his cup. She tool a quick look around the restaurant, to find that they were the only two left, well besides the cook and dishwasher in the back. She walked over to only dirty table and started to clear it off. She stared at the dollar that the three-top had left. Tips had been crappy today. She sighed and brought the dishes to the back.

Jack was in the back staring intently at his cellphone. She looked down at the already full bus tub that I had taken back a while ago and back to Jack. "Shouldn't you be working?" He jumped a little and looked at the full bus tub in his work area.

"Sorry," he shrugged apologetically. "I have been waiting for this girl to text me back. She wants to go out with me! Can you believe Gracie? I finally have a date!" He has and ear-to-ear grin on his face.

"Is it that girl who always comes in on Fridays? The one who gets the apple pie?" She smiles knowingly at Jack. He blushes and busies himself with the dirty dishes. She laughs at him and takes another look around. She didn't see their cook anywhere. "Hey, where's Corey?"

"He decided to take another smoke break," Jack sighed. "You know how he is, if we aren't busy he is usually outside." Gracie gives out another little laugh before heading to the front.

The man was gone, she cleared away his spot. She went back to her textbook. I should really stop waiting for the last minute to study. I don't understand what half of this means. She stared down at the questions at the end of the chapter.

List the cartilages of the larynx. What are the functions of each?

By what three ways is carbon dioxide transported in the bloodstream?

What are the differences between pulmonary volumes and respiratory capacities?

She almost let out a sigh of relieve when she heard the front door open. She would have to wait until tomorrow, when she actually had time to read the chapter first. She glanced up at the person who entered the café and immediately felt herself blush.

The white-haired man had pulled his black hood down and was shaking his hair out like a dog. Gracie stared at him while he choose one of the seats at counter. He had been in here a lot of the past couple of weeks, but he had hardly said a word to her. "Did you want a hot tea sir?" He always got the same thing when he came in, and she wanted to make sure that that was what he wanted before she brought him anything.

He glanced at her before nodding his head in affirmation. She fixed him up a cup and set it down in front of him. "Anything else?" He shook his head at the question, and Gracie internally sighed as she went back to her text book. They spent the next several minutes in silence, and she almost jumped out of her skin when he finally did speak.

"What are you studying?" He did not even look at her when he asked. She looked at with scrunched eyebrows for a moment before answering him.

"Anatomy and Physiology." He hummed in response.

"Do you want to go into the medical field?" She quickly shook her head at his question, but she wasn't sure if he actually noticed or not.

"No, definitely not. I don't think I have enough people skills for one of those jobs." He looked up at her then with confusion glinting in his gray orbs.

"You don't have people skills, but you work as a waitress?"

"I know. It was the only job I could find at the time, and you kind of get used it. It is actually very easy to fake smiles to people who have no idea who you are. In actuality, I have no idea what I want to do yet. I haven't found something that has caught my interest yet. I decided to take Anatomy because I thought that it wouldn't be that hard, but I was wrong." She stopped herself before she could babble on even more to the stranger.

He laughed a little before looking back down at his tea. "Yea, the workings of the human body are still a wonder to a lot of people, and they are still discovering new things about it every day." He looked back up at her, and she smiled at him.

"That is true." Before she could say anything else, the door opened again, and a three-top came in. She didn't notice that the guy in front of had scrunched up his nose at their entrance. They sat down at the nearest booth, and Gracie gave the guy at counter a smile before she grabbed some menus.

As she headed for their table, she could tell that something was off with them. "Hello, my name is Gracie, and I will be taking care of you tonight." She placed the meus on the table as the three guys burst into laughter.

"Hear that," the guy with the black hair started as he raised his eyebrows to his blond friend. "She's gonna' take care of us tonight." The pieces finally clicked as she took out her notepad. They were definitely drunk.

"Would you guys like something to drink?"

"What we would like, is some of you." The black-haired male reached out to her, but she took a step back. They started to laugh again, and she decided to go get Corey. She turned to walk away.

'Smack!'

She jumped at the stinging slap she had received from the man. She turned around after hearing a loud crack and gasped at what she saw. The white-haired man had the man who had slapped her pinned to the table. One of his hands was on the black-haired guy's neck, while the other one twisted the left arm back and up, so it was rest at the crook of his neck. When had he moved?

"What the hell man! Let me go!" The dark-haired man began to struggle, but he could not get out of the death grip the other man had on him. The other two jumped up to help their friend, but they were easily pushed aside.

"Apologize to her." The voice was cold and demanding. It sent shivers down her spine as she continued to watch the scene play out before her.

There was some more struggling before the captive responded. "We were just kidding!"

"Apologize!" His grip on the man tightened even more, and the dark haired man let out a groan of pain.

"I'm sorry!" He was then let up and thrown to the floor with the rest of his buddies.

"Get out of here, and I don't want to see you guys here ever again. Do you understand?" The white-haired male was facing away from her, so Gracie could not see his face. She looked down at the three men on the ground, and their faces were full of fear as they gazed in to the other male's eyes. "Now!"

The three men scrambled to get into standing positions as they practically ran to the door. Gracie watched them mumble apologies until they had exited the café. She turned back around to look at the man who had defended her. He was still facing away from her, so she took a couple of cautious steps to get around him.

Before she could get to the front of him, he was pulling out his wallet. He walked back to his spot and threw a bill on the table. "For the tea," he said before walking towards the door.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" She followed him outside. By the time she had emerged from the café, he was already out of sight. She sighed dejectedly and walked back inside. She wanted to thank him for what he did. Why did he run off? She glanced at the clock, and decided that it was close enough to closing time. She locked the door and flipped the sign. After lowering the blinds, she went to go clean away the last of the dirty dishes.

She stopped when she saw what the man had laid down on the counter. He had left her a twenty dollar bill. She shook her head. There was no way she would let him pay for his tea tonight; not after he has defended her.

She pocketed the money and made a mental note to give it back to him the next time she saw him.

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