The Contrary Mate

Jack didn't argue with my decision, although it seemed to pain him. "Can I give you a ride home?"

I should say no. I hated human modes of transportation. The delivery truck was an unfortunate necessity since we fae couldn't fly with large loads, and we couldn't very well fly were humans could see us. "Yes, please."

He smiled again, although it was resigned. "I'm sober, no need to bother my driver when you're ready. Do you want to go now?"

No. "Yes."

He nodded, as if not surprised by my response. He held out his hand in invitation and I could not resist putting mine into his again. It felt right, like that was where my hand belonged, where I belonged, walking alongside him. The feeling would become addictive if I didn't put distance between us.

But I couldn't make myself. It was only after we got into the garage and he'd opened the door of his car for me that he released my hand to go to take his place behind the wheel. I slipped into the seat. While it was of course not the first time I'd been in a vehicle, it was the first time I'd ever sat in one willingly when I could have simply flown.

A necessary evil, so that I could be with him a few minutes more.

If I threw caution to the wind and let myself truly be the mate of this werewolf, I would have to make concessions like this more often. That's what good relationships were. And I didn't want to, but I did want to.

I was so conflicted.

Jack drove us off into the night, following my directions. The speed was a little bit nerve wracking, but I was relieved when we got further out of the city, because even though I was in a cage of death I was surrounded by soothing wild greenery on either side of the highway.

When we got close to my village, I got him to pull over on the side of the road. He looked around the deserted stretch of highway questioningly.

"I can make the rest of the way from here, thanks for the ride," I said quickly, before he had time to ask questions or say anything else. I'd tried to explain the problems that lay between us, but I didn't think I'd adequately explained just how despised his lifestyle was.

Not wasting more time, I surged my magic into my wings, and I took to the air and flew off into the night before I could second guess myself. I conjured a small light and it took me only a few minutes of flying to reach the border wards and then only a moment more to get home. I tried to be quiet as I snuck inside, both so I wouldn't disturb my parents, and also to avoid any awkward questions.

"You look lovely. Where were you?" my mother asked, completely foiling my sneak attempt. She looked like she always did, long blue streaked hair braided and pulled out of the way. She was sitting in her favourite chair and sewing, and her tone was one of curiosity rather than censure.

I forced a smile onto my face. "Just went out for a bit." It would have been a lot easier to explain where I had been if I'd followed my first plan and just explained to Jack why we were an obvious terrible match, rather than getting sucked in closer to him. What was I going to do?

"Oh? With Rex?"

"No, someone else. It's nothing to worry about," I lied. It gave me pause, I never used to lie to my mother, but here I was doing just that. She would be so disappointed if she knew. I wasn't used to being a disappointment. "But I'll talk to you about it later. I should get to bed so that I'm not tired tomorrow. The roses are just about ready for the next batch of wine."

My mother smiled. "That reminds me, put us down for a few bottles of the next."

"Of course," I agreed, happy to have distracted her from the topic of wondering what I had been doing. Not that I had been doing anything wrong, really.

Or had I been? It wasn't a crime to visit a werewolf, but would I need to hide it if it wasn't wrong? "Goodnight!" I said before she had time to come around to questioning me about things that I had no good answers for.

"Sweet dreams, honey," she said, continuing with her task, a small smile on her face.

I went to my room, tossed the shoes in the closet, and got ready for bed. I snuggled under the covers, and my mind immediately went back to him. What was I going to do?

Sleep did not bring answers or relief to the question, because it was still ringing in my head when I woke up the next morning. I felt terrible. I wasn't hung over, but I was exhausted because it had been hard to fall asleep. Neither of my parents brought up the previous night while we ate breakfast, and it didn't take me long to escape the house and head over to my aunt's. I started just as I did every day, checking and tending the already brewing fairy juice before heading out to the garden to tend to the precious plants growing out there.

Surrounded in my element, I felt soothed. What did it matter if I had to choose between loyalty to my kind and the most intriguing male I had ever met in my life? So what if we were complete and utter opposites?

All that mattered in that moment was that my plants grew and thrived under my care. The rose petals would be ready for harvest the next day. The vegetable gardens, both at my aunt's and my own at home, were also growing well. Because of the strength of my affinity, I could coax things to grow slightly out of season and out of range, so the variety was far greater than what one would expect from a mundane garden. And—I was proud to say—any garden to which I turned my attention tended to thrive just a little bit better than even those of the other fae.

My gift wasn't unusual like my father's ability with minerals or Lark's ability to set things on fire, but it was unusually strong, and I was grateful for that, and proud of what I did with it.

I blissed out amongst the plants for a couple of hours, harvesting what needed to be harvested, and providing what needed to be provided for them to flourish. I was just making my way down to the pond to refill my watering cans, when the songs of the birds and the buzzing of insects was interrupted by an all too fae greeting.

I glanced over my shoulder to find Rex standing there expectantly. He had a friendly smile on his face. It reminded me of the days when we used to spend all our time together while growing up.

"Hey Rex," I said, as I crouched to allow the water to flow into the bucket.

"I've found something for you." He was carrying a pouch in his hand and he wiggled it in demonstration. I couldn't help but perk up at the sight, since it was not the first time he'd found something for me, and it was always the same thing.

It was too tempting. "Ooh, what kind?" I abandoned my watering cans and went over to him.

"Mrs. Gladberg found them while I was helping her move some things, and I have no idea," he said with a shrug as he handed me the pouch.

I peeked at the seeds inside. "Well, these are some kind of sunflower, and those are a type of squash, definitely. I don't know what these little ones are, though. I haven't seen any quite like these before." I could feel the potential of them, most of them were still viable and it excited me.

"I was told they were rare heirloom. I guess you're going to have to grow them to find out just what you've got here." He grinned at me, obviously pleased with himself.

I smiled at him and tucked the seeds into my pocket. "Thanks Rex."

"While I'm here, I might as well help you with the watering, huh?"

"That would be great." Again I was reminded how much I had missed easy times with him like this, back when the world had seemed incapable of touching us, when I was just a young fae gifted with a strong affinity for plants and he had just been a young fae with a rarer affinity for water. Expectations had been so easy back then, the world had been so simple.

He leaned down and filled the second can, the water rushing in faster with the aid of his magic. When I tried that trick the water barely stirred, I thought wryly. Well, I couldn't be good at everything, and most fae would kill for my prized talents.

He hoisted both watering cans on either side. "Where do you need this?" he asked.

I spent the next half hour working while I directed Rex where to pour the water for maximum benefit. It was nice, just like old times. Back before we had tried and failed to be more than just friends. Back before Rex had developed strong opinions on the other kinds of creatures in the world and fae isolationism. I missed this.

Maybe he did, too.

After he was done, I took him inside my aunt's for tea. She wasn't in, but I treated her house just like my own. Lark was sitting at the kitchen table, practicing her spelling homework on a little chalkboard.

"Hey, Lark," I said.

"Hey Aura!" She brushed her pink hair out of her eyes and smiled at me. Her smile soured when she spotted Rex behind me. The two of them never warmed up to each other, I used to tease Rex that it was because their affinities for fire and water were so opposed. "Rex."

"Good afternoon, Lark," he said, keeping his voice friendly in spite of my cousin's frosty greeting.

"We just came in for a break," I told my little cousin. "Want some tea?"

"Okay. And what's he doing here?"

"Don't be rude. Rex helped me with the watering. Wasn't that nice of him? And also, your mother would tell you to say 'yes please' if she were here right now."

"But she's gone to the bank, so she's not here to nag me about manners."

I tried to hide my chuckle as I put the pot on the stove so I wouldn't encourage her. The eight-year-old was incorrigible.

"Fern's still fraternizing with the outsiders then?" Rex asked.

My back stiffened as my mood instantly soured. I turned to face him. "It would be pretty hard for her to run a successful business without doing so, don't you think? And," I continued, not ready to just let him slide back into old patterns, "I thought you'd agreed not to bring that sort of thing up anymore." I wanted to add that it was even worse to bring it up with Lark in the room, considering how her father had left them to join the human world and disappeared, but I didn't want to highlight that while Lark could hear.

"Sorry," Rex said, although I suspected he was more sorry for getting scolded than anything else.

I made the tea quickly, just wanting to get this over with and him gone. I was a fool to think that he might have changed just because we'd closed the subject. I knew his opinion on my father working outside the village was also poor. I could only imagine how he would react if he found out that Jack Wright said I was his mate.

It didn't matter though, because it was none of his business. And no one was going to know about it, at least not before I really made up my mind about that handsome werewolf.