Maddy twitched, unsure of where to go. Should she step closer to this unbelievably attractive man who smelled of dark nights, warm dead leaves, and – unmistakably – of homesafemine? Should she run away from this monster Alpha male whose hands looked capable of snapping her in two? Why did they have to be one and the same? While part of her wanted to run for the elevators and hide in her room, the wolf deep inside had raised her head and howled at the arrival of her longed-for mate.

Baron's hands shook with the need to touch this tiny woman. To pull her against his chest and simply hold her and just dare someone to attempt to separate them. He wanted to trace the pictures and words running up her right arm, discovering what each one was and what it meant to her. Her Omega mark was bared by the dressy tank top she wore, though her hair obscured it a bit as it curled over her shoulders.

And that hair! He knew her scent would be strongest along her scalp and at the back of her neck, and he longed to thread his fingers through the heavy mass to bury his nose and mouth against the soft skin he knew he would find there. The long, rolling curls that reached to her hips were a deep and glistening black with a few white bits framing her heart-shaped face. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

"My name is Baron Corbin." He cleared his throat and glanced at the bartender when his tray was set down in front of him. "Will you come with me?"

"I know who you are," Maddy frowned and shook her head. "I'm here with a friend."

"She can come too. "

"Where?"

"Just over there to the benches." Baron jerked his chin to indicate the tables he meant. "Please, what's your name?"

"Madeline Decker." Maddy shrugged and smiled shakily. "People call me Maddy."

Baron scented her fear, could hear her breaths shuddering in and out, and knew she was in danger of hyperventilating. Worse, he could see others beginning to turn toward them as they scented the acrid aroma of an Omega in distress. Gesturing Sami over, he waved at the tray before stepping closer to Maddy.

"Hey, hey, hey," he tried to keep his voice calm while simultaneously resisting the urge to curl protectively around her to shield her body with his own. "Take a deep breath, okay? Slow down, or you'll make yourself sick or something."

"Maddy!" Lyssa wedged herself between Baron's chest and her smaller friend. "Look, we don't want any trouble, okay? But you need to take a step back from my girl, here, or you'll be meeting the business end of a real expensive bottle of wine, which sucks because I'm rooting for you tomorrow night."

Maddy felt a great swell of affection for her friend at that moment, knowing that standing up to such a large Alpha wasn't easy, even for the much more outgoing woman. "Lyssa, I think we might have a . . . situation . . . on our hands."

Turning her head so she could talk to Maddy while keeping Baron in her sights, she quirked a brow. "Why's that?"

Leaning in, she had to go up on her toes to put her forehead to Lyssa's. "He smells like he's mine."

"Oh?" Lyssa glanced between the two of them before her face cleared of confusion. "Oh! Holy shit, Mads, you don't do anything by halves, do you!"

Baron lifted the edge of his t-shirt, revealing a beautiful calligraphic "A" on his lower ribs, it's faintly glimmering color catching the low light of the lounge. "Pretty sure we match."

Maddy couldn't deny that their glittering symbols appeared to be a set. "Well, um, okay. I've got to go ahead and admit that I am a little lost as to what to do here."

Just as Lyssa was beginning to open her mouth, a strongly accented voice interrupted from behind. "Are ya keepin' all the good lookin' ones to yerself t'night, Baron?"

As the three turned to greet the dark-haired Irishman, Lyssa gave a little hiccupping sigh.

Finn's smile stretched charmingly as he stared down at the dark-eyed beauty. "Well, hello there."

Lyssa nodded, her expression dazed. "Hi."

Baron chuckled and shook his head. Could tonight get any weirder? What were the odds that he and Finn would both find their mates at a lounge in a hotel in which they were not even staying, and that said mates would be friends? He had seen some strange things while traveling with the WWE, but this might be the strangest one yet.

"So," Baron cleared his throat. "How about you ladies go grab that free table and we'll get some drinks."

Leaving their orders with the men, Lyssa and Maddy wove through the mingling crowd to the table surrounded by four high backed chairs. Finn was soon in possession of his own whiskey and a glass of deep, red wine. Baron was a bit nonplussed when his whiskey was placed in front of him and the bartender began carefully sugaring the rim of a cocktail glass.

"What's in a sidecar, anyway?"

Not pausing in his movements, the man behind the bar spoke as he added the ingredients. "We use Pierre Ferrand cognac, Grand Marnier triple sec, lemon juice, and – here at the William Penn – we garnish with a rock candy swizzle."

"Wow," Sami slid in beside Finn. "You boys got better things to do than hang out with your friends, or what?"

"Yes, actually," Baron nodded over at Maddy. "I found her."

"Found who?" Sami's look of confusion melted into one of joyful surprise as it all came together. "Holy shit, man! Really?!"

Baron smirked. "I'm not the only one. Finn seems to have scented his mate as well."

"And they're friends?! Oh, man, that's so awesome!" Patting both men on the back, he left to deliver the news to the rest of the group.

Baron shook his head as he paid for his drinks. "Whole damn company's going to know by tomorrow."

Finn snorted. "Whole comp'ny's gonna know by the time we get back ta the girls."

While the men were getting the drinks, Maddy and Lyssa were getting comfortable sitting next to each other in the soft, red velvet chairs.

Leaning over, Lyssa squeezed her friend's hand. "You okay?"

Maddy watched Baron place his order as she nodded. "I think so. Just kind of took me by surprise."

"Isn't that always the way, though?" Lyssa checked her lipstick in her small purse mirror. "I mean, how many people actually grow up with their true mate?"

Maddy nodded, but then started giggling.

"What?"

Falling into full-on laughter, Maddy winked at her friend. "Well, there's one thing you have to enjoy about your mate."

"What's that?" Lyssa smiled as the two men began to make their way across the room.

"He's got abs for daaaaaaays!"

Lyssa bursting into a gale of laughter brought on another round of giggles from Maddy. Looking up at the tall men, the two dissolved into helpless giggles once again.

"So," Baron glanced between the two slowly calming women before focusing on Maddy's pretty jade eyes. "What do you girls do?"

Lyssa shrugged. "Being an Omega means that our bills are paid, but not much else besides the stay in a sanctuary twice a year. I worked at a gas station until yesterday, but I'm really a photographer at heart."

"Wait," Maddy gave her friend a confused frown. "When were you going to tell me that you finally quit that idiot place?!"

Lyssa shrugged. "Whenever we needed something new to talk about. I mean, you are the one who told me that I needed to follow my dreams and do what I love."

"True," Maddy shrugged and turned back to Baron. "I write."

Lyssa snorted. "'I write', she says. My best girl here is an international bestselling author."

Baron blinked quickly and took a sip of his whiskey as he watched Maddy bring her drink to her lips. While he enjoyed reading from time to time, he stayed away from chick lit or anything with half-dressed men on the cover cradling buxom blondes. "Anything I may have read?"

"Well, Into the Sea and South of Sanity both did really well, but The Lonely Ones has been my biggest seller. Devil's Daughter will be out in two weeks, and the advance reviews look really very promising." Maddy smirked at the men's flabbergasted expressions. "What?"

Baron frowned slightly, but quickly shook it off. "I've read South of Sanity. It was really good."

"Thanks," Maddy smiled. "Did you think I wrote romances?"

Baron was quick to answer. "Well, I wasn't really expecting someone like you to write something that dark and twisted."

"What do you mean, 'someone like you'?"

"You're just so. . ." He shrugged. "So pretty and delicate."

Maddy and Lyssa both scoffed, though it was Lyssa who answered for her friend. "Honey, we might be smaller than others, but Omegas are a lot more resilient than Alphas seem to think."

Maddy grinned and nodded in agreement. "And we look after each other, too."

The two men nodded, both thinking about phone calls and late nights sitting around in the sanctuaries together.

The rest of the night went much the same way, with the wrestlers asking and answering questions with their newly discovered mates. At one point, Lyssa swatted playfully at Finn's bicep for a flirty comment. The next moment, he hissed a sharp breath and rubbed at the side of his left thigh. Lyssa shifted slightly in her seat, her eyes flickering from Finn to Maddy and back again.

"I'm going to go powder my nose," Maddy quirked her head at Lyssa as she stood from the table.

Lyssa stood as well. "I'm coming, too!"

The two men nodded, smirking to each other over the continued mystery of women and traveling to the restroom in groups. Once they were alone, Baron ordered the two of them another round as the ladies had not finished theirs before they left the table.

"So," Finn raised a brow at the larger man. "Yer mate seems . . . shy."

Baron nodded. "I noticed."

"What are ya plannin' on doin'?"

"Absolutely nothing she isn't 100% on board with."

Finn nodded as the waiter placed their drinks on the table. "Hard not listenin' to that part of you that jus' wants ta take them somewhere private, though."

Baron smirked mirthlessly. "No argument there, man."

The two women finished using the facilities and were checking their lipstick in the huge, lighted mirror before Maddy smiled up at her friend. "You can leave, you know."

"What?" Lyssa frowned at the shorter girl's reflection. "I'm not leaving you with that monster."

"He's not a monster, and you know it. Quit confusing real life with what you see on the screen each week. We both know you're ready to crawl into whatever den Finn sees fit right now, and that's fine! Hell, that's normal. You don't have to pretend just because I'm around."

Lyssa chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Like this is the first time I've spent the night in a hotel all alone?" Maddy grinned. "At least one of us finally gets to get laid."

"You know you could too, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just being stupid."

Lyssa shook her head and turned to grasp Maddy's chin firmly. "Girl, it's not stupid to take care of your heart whenever possible."

Wrapping her arms around Lyssa's waist, Maddy led her out of the tastefully decorated washroom. "C'mon. Let's get you back to the Irishman with the pretty blue eyes."

"They are pretty, aren't they?"

"Oh, gods!" Maddy sighed dramatically. "Don't go getting all gross on me now."

Maddy watched with a grin as, once they returned to the table, Lyssa simply made eye contact with Finn and tilted her head toward the door.

As he went to say his farewells to the other wrestlers in the room, Lyssa pulled Maddy into a tight hug. "You're sure about this?"

"Positive," Maddy nodded firmly. "Call me in the morning, and we'll get together for breakfast?"

Lyssa snorted. "Gonna have to get my clothes and stuff at some point."

Finn made his way back to their group, smiling sheepishly. "Ready, luv?"

"Definitely," Lyssa grinned. "Let's blow this joint."

Waving once more, Maddy turned to look at Baron as he put some money on the table to cover the drinks and tip. "Taking off, too?"

"Actually, I was wondering where you would be staying?"

Maddy barely raised her hand to point up. "Eighteenth floor."

Baron knew he should nod, bid her sweet dreams, and go back to his room. The only trouble with that was his complete inability to do so. The wild, untamed Alpha part of his brain was demanding to claim his mate, to have her beneath him with his teeth in her flesh and the sounds of her pleasure in his ears. The more civilized part of himself wanted to give them both time to adjust to each other. Both of them wanted her to be safe.

Fighting past the need to growl, Baron leaned forward to speak quietly in her ear. "And it's safe?"

"One of the safest hotels in the city."

Maddy chewed at her lip and felt the urge to wrap her arms around the man in front of her. She still wasn't sure if she could trust him, but wanting him close all the same. It was starting to get a little crowded in her brain, and she was going to need some sleep before dealing with it all in the morning.

"Can I trust you to not hurt me?"

Baron's frown would have cowed nearly any other individual, but Maddy simply waited for his answer. "You know I'd never hit you or force you into something you didn't want to do!"

Maddy did know that. It was completely impossible for a true mate to do physical harm their other half. Too bad it wasn't physical harm that she was afraid of.

Nodding, Maddy motioned to the door. "I, um, I have an extra bed."

It came out as a question, and Baron nodded in agreement. "Let me give Sami my room key so he doesn't have to scramble for one?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll wait for you."

"You don't want to meet everyone?"

Maddy shook her head. "I think I've had enough excitement for one night."

"Okay, I'll be right back. Wait here?"

"Nah, I'll be right outside the door."

Baron sighed, but nodded. He knew she had lived alone for quite a while and hadn't needed anyone to order her around. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and making decisions.

He hurried through the conversation with Sami and had to restrain the urge to shove people out of his way until he saw her standing next to the carved wooden door.

Maddy slipped the keycard from her purse and showed it to the guards at the elevators, smiling as they were allowed to step into the car and press the floor number. The ride was just starting to feel uncomfortable when Baron slowly bumped his hand against hers. Without looking, Maddy reached out her pinky and looped it around his own, smiling when he hooked his much bigger digit around hers in return.

They continued like this, his hand dwarfing her own, until he was forced to let go to allow her to open the door. Trailing his eyes over the hall, he scented for anything he couldn't see that might cause his little mate harm. Finding nothing, he followed her into the room.

Maddy quickly gathered her things and then retreated to the bathroom to change, emerging clad in a pair of sleep shorts and an old Johnny Cash t-shirt. "Wasn't exactly planning on mixed company."

Baron, stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt, had stretched out on the bed nearest the door. "Starting to think you'd look good in just about anything."

Maddy flushed and busied herself with putting her dirty clothes into her small suitcase. When she stood and turned, she nearly walked into Baron's wide chest. With a gasp, she took the tiniest step back, but he copied her movement while wrapping an arm around her waist.

Leaning down, he buried his nose behind her ear and rumbled quietly at how strong her scent was there. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Maddy gave a jerky nod, "I know."

He chuckled quietly, the vibrations doing much to calm her. "Then why are you shaking?"

"I – I don't know."

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do, okay?"

"Okay," Maddy slowly relaxed at his reassurance. She settled her weight against the arm around her.

Baron loved the show of trust and was unable to resist the urge to taste Maddy's lips. Running his jaw along the soft line of hers, he drew back long enough to look into her eyes. When he saw a soft curiosity there, he brought his mouth down to caress hers.

Baron tasted the remnants of her drink and cool night breezes on her lips, finding the combination intoxicating. The way she whimpered and sagged against him, as if her legs weren't able to hold her weight, drew a low growl from his chest though he waited for her to make the next move. A moment later, her lithe arms wound around his shoulders and her hands found purchase in his long, dark hair as she parted her lips and tasted the heft of his bottom lip on her tongue. With a deeper growl, he slanted his mouth over hers.

Maddy hummed in contentment, letting him control the kiss until she felt things moving too quickly. Drawing away from his mouth, she cupped his face in both hands and eased the sting of her soft rejection with a few chaste kisses of her own. "I'm sorry. I'm just not ready for all this yet."

Baron nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Oh, Little One, I know. Just be aware that, the second you give me any signal that you are ready, I'm all in."

Maddy giggled. "Time for bed, you big lug."

Baron scooped her up and playfully tossed her onto the bed closer to the windows. "Good night, then."

"Night."

They both settled in for a good night's sleep on the hotel's plush bedding and the comfortable mattresses afforded them.

When Baron's phone alarm chimed six hours later, letting him know that it was time to get out of bed so he could change clothes and get to the gym, it was to the sight of Maddy's sleeping body curled up next to him on the bed. She had drug the comforter from her own bed over to his rather than climb under the blankets with him. Carefully shifting her into the center of the mattress, he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and began getting ready for his day.