Slain

You think you got it figured out

You think you know it all

You push, you pull

Like you think you’re in control

This ain’t no competition

This was over right from the start

-Hit Me, Fit For Rivals

We make to the end of the hall before I speak again. Looking up at Fluffy with a heavy scowl, I ask, “why did you thank Nevan when Elira did all the work?”

He looks down at me, seeming surprised by my question. “Well, they’re mated; they’re a unit so thanking one is also thanking the other and it’s disrespectful for males to speak to mated females directly unless under certain circumstances or with permission from her mate.”

My mouth drops open in horror at what he’s just told me. “You’re saying, we can’t even be spoken to without “our males” permission?” I’m severely offended by that.

Fluffy sighs. “Jack, that’s our culture. It may seem strange to you, but that’s how it has always been with werewolves. You have to remember that wolves are very possessive and easily provoked, especially when it comes to our mates. These guidelines help to prevent unnecessary bloodshed.”

“So, you’re telling me that if another werewolf speaks to me directly without your permission, you’ll kill him?” I ask incredulously.

Fluffy nods as if that’s perfectly normal. “Depending on what he’s said, yes. If it’s nothing offensive, I would simply have the right to discipline him.”

I shake my head, still trying to grasp the fact that wolves can kill each other over talking to a woman. “What justifies it as offensive enough to kill?”

“That’s left up for the mate to decide,” Fluffy shrugs.

I scoff in disbelief, walking in silence while thinking back over everything he’s told me. After a few minutes of silence, I look back over to him. “Would I be killed if I spoke to someone without permission?”

Fluffy lets out a short laugh, seeming to find my question amusing. “You think that after everything I just told you, any male would allow his mate to even be touched for speaking?”

I shrug in response. “I don’t know, you all seem kind of nuts here so it’s a possibility.”

He rolls his eyes at my words. “No. Harming a males mate would result in a war. These rules are mostly for unmated males; they tend to be irrational and thoughtless. The rules help to keep them in line. Very rarely are there killings within the pack for disrespecting females.”

“Wait a second. What about the female? Does she not get a say in anything? And what if her mate is killed? What then?”

“I guess not…” Fluffy responds slowly. It’s like he had never thought of it that way.

“This place sucks,” I mutter in annoyance. At least we don’t kill each other when we get upset in my village.

Fluffy doesn’t respond to that. It’s at that moment, that I notice the soft roar of several voices speaking all at once. I glance up at Fluffy in curiosity. “Where are we going?”

“To lunch. You haven’t eaten today.”

I shrug lightly, satisfied with his answer. Though the thought of going into a room full of werewolves puts me on edge, my hunger outweighs my unease. Fluffy leads me into a large dining area with several wooden tables littering the large room. Wolves fill most of the seats, though most aren’t eating. It seems that this isn’t only a dining area, but a hangout spot as well.

As soon as we step into the doorway, a hush falls over the room, every head turning to look as we make our way towards the kitchen on the other side. I harden my features, attempting to appear fierce despite my petite frame. As I pass tables full of young wolves, I expect to catch whispers about me, but I only pick up silence with occasional snickering. I catch the eye of a few wolves as I pass, but only for a split second before they avert their gaze. I’d like to think it’s because I intimidate them, but I know it’s more likely the mate thing Fluffy has been droning on about.

Once in the kitchen area, Fluffy hands me an iron bowl and heads to the large covered pot on the stove. A rather short and robust woman stands off to the side of the stove, ladle in hand. Once we near her, she whips the lid off of the large pot and dips her ladle into the broth, scooping out a large amount of what appears to be stew. She fills my bowl first. As she’s filling Fluffy’s bowl, I inspect the contents of the stew. What I had originally thought to be a stew comprised of both meat and vegetables, I realize, is mostly just meat with a few vegetables floating within the broth. Fluffy puts a hand on my back and guides me out of the kitchen and back into the dining area, forcing me to stop my inspection of the food.

He leads me to a table where three male wolves are seated, laughing with each other. As we approach, all three get to their feet, nodding their heads respectfully at Fluffy. Fluffy returns their nod and they all take their seats again, none of them sparing me a single glance. I scrunch up my nose at the strange behavior.

“Go ahead and sit,” Fluffy says. I notice he hasn’t moved to take his seat yet, apparently waiting for me. I roll my eyes at him, not sure if he’s being polite or dominant, before taking a seat on the wooden bench before me. Once I’m seated, Fluffy follows suit. “Jack, this is Akira, Ira, and Captain Denim,” he gestures to each man as he says their name. They nod in my direction, but still keep their eyes averted from me. “Akira, Ira, Captain, this is my mate, Jack.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Jack,” the one Fluffy called Akira says. He finally looks at me, though he still refuses to make eye contact, and the others do the same as they mutter their agreement.

“Question,” I say, lifting my spoon into the air.

Fluffy glances up, taking a deep breath before saying, “what,” in exasperation.

I point my spoon at Akira. “He spoke to me.”

“That’s not a question,” Fluffy sighs.

“Well, why did he speak to me. You never consented,” I say with as much sass as I can possibly fit into my words.

Fluffy looks back up at the ceiling in a “what have I done to deserve this” kind of way before replying, “I directly introduced you to him which gives implied consent to speak to you.”

As he was replying, I had shoved a spoonful of the mostly meat stew into my mouth. Instead of waiting to respond when I have swallowed my food, I speak around the half-chewed meat. “That’s stupid.”

I catch Akira’s mouth twitching in amusement, the other two wolves simply seem unsure of how to feel at my behavior. “Please, don’t talk with your mouthful, it’s rude,” Fluffy sighs tiredly. It hasn’t even been a full day and he’s already tired of me. Maybe I can break him before this stupid dinner tonight and make my escape.

I deliberately take a large spoonful and shove it into my mouth before taunting, “I know, why do you think I’m doing it?”

Akira snickers at me across the table, encouraging Ira to do the same. This earns them both a glare from Fluffy as he begins to grumpily eat his meal. I turn my attention to Denim, the one who Fluffy said was the Captain. He studies me in silence, skillfully avoiding my eye contact as he does so.

“So you’re a captain,” I say, pointing my spoon at him and swallowing my mouthful of food. “Captain of what, exactly?” I dunk my spoon back into my bowl, purposefully splattering the broth onto Fluffy. I cast him a devious smirk as he growls lowly at me in irritation.

“Captain of the patrol,” Denim replies, watching Fluffy and I’s interaction with calculating eyes. Ira and Akira snicker at me again, this time earning a growl from Fluffy as well.

I scoff at that. “Patrol of what? It’s not like you wolves have anything to worry about; you’re at the top of the food chain.”

“We still have enemies. Letting our guard down would be foolish. Especially when there is an entire race dedicated to our destruction.” I catch the double meaning behind his words.

Humming thoughtfully, I place my spoon in my bowl and prop my chin up with my hands, giving him my full attention. “And you think I may have something to do with that?” I notice Akira and Ira’s eyebrows shoot up at my words, obviously surprised by how direct I am.

“It’d be foolish not to,” he responds coolly, unaffected by my confrontation.

Fluffy pauses beside me, “wait, what? You’re saying you think she’s a spy for the slayers?” His voice holds a controlled anger that honestly is a bit scary, though I would never let him know that.

The captain shifts under Fluffy’s gaze uneasily, seeming to rethink his words. “That’s my job, sir. Even though she is your mate, she is still a slayer and it’s obvious she hasn’t accepted the bond.”

“I don’t want to hear talk about this again, do you understand?” Fluffy snarls lowly, leaning forward with blazing eyes.

The captain cowers under his wrath, turning his head to the side to expose his neck to Fluffy. “Yes, beta.”

Fluffy rumbles lowly in his throat before turning back to his meal. I realize how silent the room had grown through that encounter. Glancing around, I notice all of the wolves in the room are cowering under Fluffy’s anger, keeping their heads down and necks bared. It’s strange to see so many submit to one man without a single command.

“Yeah, don’t criminalize me, I didn’t do anything,” I say with a smug glint in my eye. The captain refuses to look at me now, basically ignoring my comment.

“Jack,” Fluffy warns. I huff at him, annoyed that he’s ruining all of my fun. He suddenly stands, grabbing his now empty bowl in his hand. “Come on. We have things to discuss.”

I frown down at my bowl, about to argue that I’m not finished eating, but come to realize my bowl is pretty much empty. I look back to Fluffy who’s standing beside me impatiently. “Did you eat my food?”

“No,” he groans. “You ate it before you caused all of this trouble, now come on.”

I get up slowly, mocking his exasperated words, noticing that Akira and Ira struggle to keep straight faces as I do so. I think I like them.

Fluffy sighs before turning and walking back towards the kitchen. I follow behind him, dragging my feet as I go. I really don’t want to discuss anything with Mr. Grumpy. Sure, he may be kind of attractive, but it’s all ruined by his annoying know-it-all-bossy attitude. That’s my job; he can’t take that from me.

We place our empty dishes back into the large sink against the back wall of the kitchen before Fluffy swiftly leads me out of the dining area and back to what I assume to be his room.

Once inside with the door firmly shut, Fluffy gestures for me to sit. I cross my arms over my chest defiantly, taking a couple steps back until my shoulders bump into the wall behind me. Keeping his gaze, I lean against the wall, waiting for him to get the hint. He huffs in annoyance, dragging his hand through his hair.

“Alright, whatever, don’t sit.” I blink at him blankly, waiting for him to move on to whatever he wanted to discuss. He rolls his eyes at me, shifting his weight on his feet before finally beginning this sure to be painful discussion. “Look, I know you’re not a werewolf,” he begins, making it too easy for me to push his buttons.

“Glad you could tell that much,” I comment, nodding exaggeratedly at him and rewarding him with a few slow claps.

He rumbles lowly in his chest, giving me a warning growl that I’m sure is supposed to be intimidating. “Can we skip the snarky little comments for now? This is going to take a whole lot longer than we both want if you keep that up.”

“Fine,” I sigh.

He shakes his head at me, raking a hand back through his dark hair in frustration while obviously trying to contain his annoyance. “I know you’re not a werewolf and you’re not used to our culture, but could you please make an effort to understand our ways and try not to be offensive?”

I raise my eyebrows at his words, bringing my thumb up to my mouth where I begin to chew on the nail, trying to rid it of a nonexistent hangnail for Fluffy’s own entertainment.

When it becomes apparent that I’m not going to respond without prompting, Fluffy loses his patience. “Jack,” he growls out, his chocolate eyes darker than before.

I sigh, dropping my hand. “I can try the understanding part. The offensive part,” I pause, looking off into the distance as if thinking really hard. “Mmmm, not so much.”

“Why do you have to be so difficult?” he groans, wiping a hand down his face, seemingly exhausted. I shrug, going back to gnawing at my fake hangnail as I watch him internally struggle over something. To spice up my performance, I withdraw my thumb from my teeth and stare at it cross-eyed for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction and moving onto my other thumb, which I begin to gnaw on innocently. “Stop chewing on your nails,” he finally snaps, scowling at me from across the dim room.

“What are you? The nail protector?”

He lets out a sudden frustrated breath, startling me at the intensity. “Would you be serious for five seconds?” He roars. He stalks towards me, making me want to cower back into the wall, but I stand my ground, hardening my features as I crane my neck to keep eye contact. “You don’t realize the position we’re in right now. Though I may be the beta right now, my mate has just been revealed to be a slayer, our natural enemy. How long do you think the pack will allow me to stay in such a high position when they see my mate as their enemy? If we don’t play this right, we could lose the pack all together and being alone out there is not something we want to be.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” I shoot back, trying to make my voice sound hard and angry, though I feel a bit guilty at causing him so much distress.

“Neither did I, but it’s what we got, so I need you to cooperate with me,” he snarls, his once chocolate eyes, now a near black color. “We’re in a delicate position and you going around provoking everyone we need on our side is not helping.” His voice is much calmer now, though his eyes haven’t lightened in the slightest.

I slowly nod, giving in. “Fine, I’ll try. But, I can’t promise anything. Provoking seems to be my best talent.”

Surprisingly, he laughs at my words, taking a small step back from me and relaxing his stance. “Well, let’s try to keep it at a minimum then.”

I tilt my head to the side thoughtfully. “I think I can handle that.”

He nods, apparently satisfied with my response, and turns, walking over to his bed against the other wall and throwing himself down on it. I remain where I am with the backs of my shoulders pressed to the wall, watching him curiously. I know that dominant males don’t sit before those less dominant than them, so why would he lay down before me?

Deciding to voice my thoughts, I shift my weight to one foot, tucking one arm behind my back. “Why are you laying down while I’m still standing? Doesn’t that hurt your manly pride or something?”

He snorts, adjusting the pillow behind his head so that he can see me. “I thought they didn’t teach you females about us wolves,” he teases, surprising me with his playful tone. This is just weird.

“I had friends,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “Speaking of, I didn’t come here alone. What happened to Zane?” I realize for the first time today that I still have absolutely no idea where Zane is or what happened to him. Some friend I am.

Fluffy nods as if he had been expecting that. “He’s fine, I promise.”

“Where is he?” I demand, now feeling on edge. I had become foolishly comfortable here while my best friend is God knows where in this giant rock.

Fluffy sits up, putting a hand out in an attempted calming gesture. “You don’t need to worry, he’s safe because of you. He’s down in the cells.”

“I want him let go.”

“That’s not my call.” Fluffy a shakes his head solemnly.

“So he’s just gonna be a prisoner forever?” I ask angrily.

Fluffy sighs, seeming to try to think of a solution. “I don’t know, that’s up to the alpha.” As soon as those words leave his mouth, I turn towards the door with the intention of finding the alpha and forcing him to free Zane. “Wait, Jack.” I pause, looking back at Fluffy over my shoulder. “If your people had a werewolf in their custody, would they let him go?”

I bite my lip at that. He has a point. We would kill the wolf on sight, so the fact that Zane and I are even alive is a miracle. “Why were we even brought here instead of killed in the forest?” I already know the answer, but I feel like I need confirmation. Besides, the fact that they kept Zane alive isn’t really explained by the answer I expect.

“Because you’re my mate.” Duh.

“But why keep Zane alive? He’s not your mate,” I ask, then add, “right?” At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if he told me Zane was also his mate.

He laughs at my uncertainty. “No, wolves only have one mate. He was kept alive upon my request. Surely he’s important to you?”

I nod. “He’s my best friend. He’s actually my only friend…”

Fluffy doesn’t appear to outwardly react to that response except for a slight tightening of his jaw. Unclenching his teeth, he says, “we’ll have to talk with the alpha. If we play it right, we can get the alpha to free him unharmed.”

“Okay,” I say uncertainly. I’m uneasy about the behavior they’ve shown me thus far, still not believing the mate story.

“Tell me about your fight with the witch,” Fluffy says suddenly.

“Uh, okay…” So, I begin to tell him everything that had happened the day before, starting with my run to get supplies.