The Contrary Mate

My mother liked Jack—so far. But as tempting as it was to just bask in her approval for another minute, she would be way angrier if I kept the unpleasant truth from her in the long run.

"What do you think I need to know?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, Jack is a werewolf."

My mother looked at him with what seemed to be genuine curiosity. "Oh. How did you two meet?"

"I'll tell you that later." I glanced at Jack. "Would you mind waiting inside with my dad for a few minutes?"

"Of course not. Your wish is my command, right?"

I smiled at that, as he retreated to the house.

My mother's friendly politeness dropped to concern. "So, what is it, Aura?"

I swallowed, the comfort of having him near fading in the increasing distance between us. "Well, there are a couple of things. I'm his mate."

"His mate? But isn't that a werewolf thing, Aura?"

"Well, it is, but they can apparently be paired with humans, so why not a fae?"

"Fae are different than humans."

"Not entirely." Not that I'd had much direct contact with them in the past. But I assumed.

"Still. How do you know he's telling the truth?" she didn't look nearly as pleased with him now as she had when she first met him. I hoped she wasn't going to be difficult.

"I think I can feel it. I tried to turn him down and I just couldn't do it," I told her.

"I don't like this," she commented, folding her arms over her chest. "If you can't turn him down, then..."

"It's more that I couldn't do it because I really don't want to."

"Well, he is very handsome. I had the same trouble with your dad. That face of his was so persuasive." She rolled her eyes at her own memories.

While I didn't want to linger on a conversation about my parents' relationship, I also wasn't eager to tell her the worst part so I just threw it out there. "And, he's actually Jack Wright."

I waited for the look of recognition to cross her face, but she just looked at me with blank confusion. "Okay?"

I suppose it made sense. My mother preferred focusing on the real things before her, kind of like me. I guess Rex hadn't subjected my mother to as many anti-tech rants as I'd had to listen to. "He's the CEO of a company that combines magic and tech in some way. Lots of people don't like that."

"Oh. Oh, I see." She frowned. "So what you're telling me is that no one is going to be happy about this." She sighed and looked at me with a mournful expression. "This is going to be all anyone talks about for the next year, isn't it?"

"Probably. But I can't not try this with him, Mom. He's just so...perfect."

She sighed again. "Well, you're an adult, so there's not much I can do about it at this point. Of course I hoped that you'd settle down with a nice fae one day, but you've got to make your own choices." She shrugged. "I mean, he's better than a human, I suppose."

A human boyfriend would be quite a scandal, because no one liked bringing them into the supernatural fold. I didn't know what our children would be like if Jack and I could have them, but they were probably better off half-fae and half-werewolf than half-fae and half-mundane.

"Or a vampire," she added with a little shudder. My mother's fear was still very real.

"Well, I wouldn't be a vampire's mate since they don't have them."

"Well, I can only be thankful for that. Anyway, let's go inside and I'll get better acquainted with your heretical werewolf."

—————

Jack and my dad were talking amicably when we came inside, I was pleased to note. For once, my father had a chance to talk about his work with someone who didn't think his interests were shameful, and I liked seeing that. They already had drinks, so I went and fetched a couple cups for my mother and myself while she washed up, and brought hers out to her where she had sat by my father. I absolutely was trying to suck up.

I took a seat beside Jack, and somehow the proximity made me feel like all was right in the world. I craved his closeness like I craved no one else's, and it was far more than physical.

My mother seemed less relaxed with him than she had in the first few minutes, but she wasn't openly hostile or anything. Vexed and resigned was probably about as good as could be hoped for. My father genuinely seemed to like him, which was great.

After finishing his drink, Jack regretfully said, "I probably should be going now. I know Aura has work in the morning and I want her to be fully rested."

"Already taking care of our daughter?" my mother commented.

Jack rubbed his neck, slightly bashful and it was very endearing. "Well, my wolf instincts are to keep her healthy and safe, but hopefully I won't be too overbearing."

My mother smiled at me. "It's probably a good thing, Aura tends to get lost in the daisies."

"I'm not that bad," I protested. She made me sound completely hopeless.

"You're not bad at all," Jack said with a smile.

His words warmed my cheeks.

He stood up, my parents and I mimicking him. He held out his hand and shook both of theirs again. "It was great meeting you both."

"A surprise, but it was good to meet you, too," my mother said, and I could detect no trace of reservation. This had gone so smoothly it was unbelievable. If only everyone else would be so supportive.

"I'll see you out," I told him and took his hand. It was warm and real beneath my skin, and from the corner of my eye I saw my dad smile at my mother. There was something comforting in that even if all the other fae opposed this, my parents were willing to accept my choices.

I shut the door behind us and followed him to his car. I didn't even wait for him to invite me to come closer, I moved until we were almost touching. He didn't need more encouragement than that, and we kissed for long moments. I didn't care who might see anymore. They were going to know and talk soon enough anyway, so let them.

"I'm going to miss you," he said, his voice husky in my ear.

"Tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.

He sighed. "I've got meetings running late tomorrow. If you want to meet, it wouldn't be until probably eight."

"I'll come to you." Even a few minutes with him would be nice.

"A late supper then?"

"Sounds good."

We kissed again, the briefest brushing of our lips, before we deepened the kiss. I wanted to get even closer to him, and he broke our contact all too soon. "I'll see you tomorrow night," he said, his eyes capturing mine.

"Yes. Tomorrow night." My breathing was slightly ragged as I stepped away regretfully, with one final gentle kiss.