The Contrary Mate

Aura

"Aura, I'd give it all up for you. If that's what it takes." He looked deadly serious, his eyes steady on mine.

I stared at him. "What? I don't want you to have to do that." His claim that he would give up everything was not what I had wanted or expected to hear.

"If one of us has to give up everything, I'll do it. I don't care about any of this. Not compared to you, Aura. You're the one who will complete me. I need you, if you'll have me."

My heart pounded at the declaration. He sat back in his seat, looking as relaxed as he had in the restaurant, while my brain whirled frantically. "I don't want to force you to give up your way of life."

"I don't want to force you to, either," he said, his gaze fervent upon me. "You said you love your life as it is, and I want you to be happy. I—" his voice broke off, and he inhaled, before continuing, "If you don't want me, then we can snap our connection and I'll give you up. But that's the last thing I want, so I will change anything in my power if it will make you happy to be with me."

I glanced around the manicured lawn at the mutilated plants, and tried to catch my breath. The idea that he would give up his power and privilege to win me was too much. My heart yearned to give in to him. If this was how much he wanted me...how was I supposed to refuse him? Especially when, if I were honest, I had no real will to do so.

"I do want you," I said, finally admitting what I hadn't even been able to admit to myself before. "And I don't want you to have to give everything up." I didn't want to have to give my life up, either. I didn't know how to reconcile the two, but...

"But can you be happy here?" he asked.

I didn't know about here in this place, but... "I think, I could be happy with you. And the rest, maybe the rest is a problem to figure out later."

His relieved smile washed over me. "You mean it?"

"Yes. I do." It was strange, but my words sounded almost as momentous as a marriage vow. Maybe it was. I didn't need to be a werewolf to know that they took these things seriously. And something inside me felt right.

"Honestly, I can barely contain my wolf."

"Really?" I was curious.

"You have no idea."

"Maybe not. But I do feel relieved."

"Me too." He reached his hand across the table, presenting his palm to me. I placed my hand in his, and it felt as good and right as the first time I had done it. Even if everything was wrong, it seemed to be where I was meant to be. And I felt at peace about my decision, if it had even been my decision at all. This bond was magic, and it was as real and true as any facet of my own magic.

We stayed like that for long moments, his heat seeping into me, and I had no desire to break the spell. Then he spoke, "My wolf wants to meet you."

"Oh?" I wanted to get closer to him, not watch him turn into a furry beast. But it seemed important to him. "Okay."

"It's better if we go inside. The grounds are warded, but it's still safer away from prying eyes." He stood up without releasing me, and helped me up as well.

"Must be hard for your wolf to live restricted so close to the city."

"It's not ideal, because he doesn't get out as much as he would like. The kids from my pack went to human schools so we're used to it." I followed him to an elevator tucked away at the back of his home, and we rode the horrible constricting box downwards. Still, past my unease at entering into the depths of his mausoleum, I was a bit curious where we were going, since he hadn't shown me this part of his home when he gave me his tour.

The elevator doors opened and revealed a large underground room. It looked quite a lot like we were outside in a forest, with everything from plants to a false river to a fake version of the sky above our heads, but the whole thing was as lackluster as anything else I'd seen in his home or in the city. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, though, so I put on my best smile.

There was movement in the horrible fake trees and a pair of wolves sprang out, biting each other playfully as they rushed past. Jack rolled indicated them with a nod of his head. "Just pack adolescents who live with their parents who work for me. It's better for them to get their energy out here than where humans might be able to spot them. Even if they just assume they're wolves, the last thing we want is experts looking into the wolf population density of the area and deciding to cull."

"Makes sense."

The two young wolves charged off into what seemed to be a changing area, and two teenage boys quickly emerged. They nodded at Jack as they rushed by.

"Did you kick them out of here?"

"They might have left because we arrived." He seemed unconcerned. "I'm going to shift, you can watch, if you want."

I did watch, mainly because I couldn't quite help myself, while he stripped off his shirt. In spite of the fact he probably spent a significant proportion of his days behind a desk doing who knows what sort of office work, his body had well defined muscles, no doubt in part thanks to his werewolf nature, and it was hard not to appreciate the sight.

When he reached for his belt buckle, I did look away, training my eyes on some of the awful synthetic greenery and trying to think of something besides the fact there was a very attractive man stripping right in front of me. The fake plants were a pretty good distraction, though, since they were just so awful. The fakes were to plants as a statue was to a person, nothing but a superficial meaningless representation of something so much more complex.

There was a jingle of metal and rustling of fabric, but I ignored the temptation to look towards Jack again, not until I felt something brush my hand. I turned to look at the wolf who was standing before me. He was light grey, a mixture of white and slate coloured hairs. His eyes were almost orange, the singular spots of colour in his entire wolf form. If I hadn't known it was still Jack, I might have been nervous because he was very obviously a powerful predator, and what could I do to defend myself from such power? Basic magic, nurture plants? I was pretty much helpless if he ever wanted to harm me.

Still, in spite of the danger he could pose if he wanted, he was also beautiful in that obvious power. I liked him like this, he felt as wild as the forest, and that wildness brought me a certain comfort.

Once I'd had a long moment to appreciate him, I realized I didn't know what I was supposed to do now that he was shifted. Was I supposed to monologue? The fae didn't have to have an awkward first meeting with the silent other half of the people they were dating. This probably felt more normal for werewolves.

"Yeah, so, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you right now. Seems like our conversation is going to be pretty one sided."

Jack—or his wolf, however that actually worked—grinned wolfishly at me. He nudged me with his nose, and turned his head as if to indicate I should follow him. I had no reason not to, so I fell into step beside him. His head was above the level of my chest, he was a seriously large animal, definitely bigger than an actual wolf. We walked to the edge of the water, and he sat down on his haunches.

I shrugged and sat down beside him on the awful fake grass. How could something look so real but feel so wrong?

Those bright eyes were watching me, and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. I liked it better when he had his human vocal cords so he could keep up his half of the conversation. I kept looking over at him, trying to read what he was thinking through his body language. His ears were forward and friendly, and his tail was wagging a bit. He was close to me, but not touching, and I suddenly wondered if that was what his wolf was after.

I tentatively reached my hand out and put it on his neck, hoping that Jack had good enough control over his animal that he wouldn't bite my hand off if he didn't like what I was about to do.

I needn't have worried, though. Jack and his wolf leaned into my hand and his tail wagged harder. I ran my fingers through his fur, and he made a low sound, almost like a groan. I kept going, and it was obvious he was really enjoying it.

After a while, I couldn't take the silence of the creepy false forest anymore. "So, this is a bit awkward, Jack."

His tail slowed at my comment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. It's nice sitting with you, but I like when you can talk to me."

He nodded, which looked strange when a wolf did it. Then he got up and padded away, and a few moments later he came back, human and fixing the last buttons on his shirt as he walked towards me. I was slightly disappointed that I hadn't gotten a good peek of him again, and I felt my cheeks heat at the stray thought.