The Contrary Mate

Jack

Weeks passed, and I continued to get closer to Aura. Her mother had managed to wrangle a fae ceremony for us, in spite of all the opposition, which seemed to please my mate, and therefore it pleased me by default.

What pleased me most was on days when she didn’t have to work early, she had started sleeping over at my home. My bed would smell of her for days afterwards, which made my wolf happy, although not as happy as when she was actually in my arms. Those were the moments I lived for.

Like this morning. She was naked under the sheets from the previous night’s activities, her head on my shoulder, her chest rising and falling with each breath. I loved the feel of her, soft and supple against me, and I wanted her again.

But I couldn’t. If only it were the weekend. I had to get to the office, and it was unavoidable since I had more than a few meetings lined up. We’d had a couple more viral attacks of unknown origin, and it had increased the amount of work that needed to be done exponentially. Why couldn’t the world just leave me alone with my mate?

I tried to slide my arm away from her, but she opened her eyes groggily. “Jack?”

I kissed her quickly. “I’m just getting ready. Go back to sleep.”

She stretched and shifted, her body unintentionally running along mine which only made me more desperate to have her. I groaned.

“What’s the point if you’re not here with me?” she asked.

“Wish I could stay.”

“Me too.” She kissed me again.

“Will I see you again tonight?”

“Maybe...if you play your cards right.” Those sexy lips curved up in a smile.

“Dinner?”

“Sounds good.”

I forced myself out of bed before I forgot all about work and just spent the day with my beautiful mate and her near perfect body.

Despite—possibly because of—all the troubles, my day went quickly, and although we were still apart too long, I was soon picking up Aura. She was in one of her typical flowing dresses, and if I hadn’t thought them hot before, I certainly did now considering the easier access they gave me to her body. Every time I saw her, my hands itched to slide up her hips and rediscover what she was hiding.

It was harder to hold myself back now that I’d had her, because I had definitely not had my fill, although I doubted it was even possible to ever get to that point with my mate. I’d always be hungry for her.

I enjoyed my time with her, but I took her home instead of to my place because she had to help her aunt early in the morning, something about a new batch. What we needed was a place where she would be more comfortable and we could be together. Something installed with every bit of security tech Meteor produced, and magical wards as well. I could get one of the tech witches to do it, a couple of my employees did contract work outside the company as well.

For now though, she decided she was going to live with me, although I wasn’t sure how workable that was. I worried about how she would fare spending more time disconnected from the nature she loved. We’d have to find something better for her soon.

We were already marked and mated, would soon be joined as the fae, with a human marriage certificate to seal it all. I liked the thought, and my wolf was positively delighted with the idea. About the only thing more he could ask was to have her pregnant and beside me all the time. It wasn’t reasonable, but my wolf wasn’t exactly a creature of logic. He wanted what he wanted without worrying about the consequences.

I saw her again that night, but she decided to sleep at her parents’ again. I drove her home, and got out of the car to walk her to the door. An unfamiliar scent hit my nose, and someone with a deep voice I didn’t recognize was inside her house.

Pulling her back by her hand, I said, “There’s someone here.”

“It might just be Leiland.”

I hadn’t yet encountered the officiant yet who had agreed to marry us. “Maybe. Can I come inside and meet him?”

“Yes.”

She pushed open the door. “Mom, Dad, I’ve got Jack—” She stiffened. “Oh, hello, Ash.”

“Hello, Aura. Don’t stop on my account.” Her instant irritation flooded through our connection at his words, so I wasn’t sure how much of the feeling was hers or mine. She’d told me about her brother’s attitude, so I wasn’t at all surprised by the hostile look buried under his smile.

She continued, “Fine, Ash, my brother, this is Jack Wright, my mate and fiancé.”

“Nice to meet you, Ash,” I said, holding out my hand towards him. He looked enough like Aura that I would have guessed they were related, but his mannerism was her utter opposite. He took my hand and gave it one stern shake before releasing it as if my skin would contaminate him.

“Nice to meet you, too. Since you’re here, I’d actually like to talk to you, Jack.”

Aura bristled. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I don’t mind. Let him vent tonight and maybe he’ll be too tired to cause trouble tomorrow,” I said. I wanted to bear my part of all the difficulties she had been putting up with.

“If you’re sure.”

“I’d walk through fire for you, Aura. I can handle your brother.”

“I’d like to talk with you, myself,” I agreed, and let him lead me through the house and into the back garden. The path was lit by the same lights as the last time I had come here, and it seemed that he could see well enough by that light. Once we were far enough into the organized jungle, he stopped and faced me. I was sure the occupants of the house couldn’t hear us, but I could still hear their low rumble of voices.

He stopped at a table tucked into a gap in the greenery and took a seat. He didn’t offer me one, but I sat without invitation. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Call off the joining ceremony.”

I held in both my incredulous laugh and my wolf’s aggressive snarl. “Why should I?”

“Because you’re ruining her life, and if you care for her, you’d want to save her from that misery.”

“She seems pretty happy from my perspective.”

“Of course, because my sister is too sweet to let you down.”

A few weeks ago, I might have believed he might know something I didn’t. But I had a fairly direct line to her emotions now since she didn’t seem to care about closing herself off from me. She was happy with me. “It’s more than that.”

“It’s not.”

I deliberately stretched and got more comfortable. “Even if I did call off the ceremony, she’s already marked. She’s already mine, I’m already hers. While I of course want to be joined with her like the fae do it, for all intents and purposes, it’s done and everything else is a mere formality.”

“Reject her then. Isn’t that how wolves end it?”

The words made my wolf snarl and pissed me off as well. “I’m going to assume, for the sake of argument, that you suggested that only because you’re ignorant of werewolf ways, and not because you don’t care about your sister’s wellbeing. It’s bad enough being rejected at the beginning, but when you’re marked and mated it’s said to be excruciating.”

“Don’t tell me...” Ash groaned.

“Afraid so. There’s nothing you can do about us at this point, not without hurting Aura more than you can imagine. And I know that you wouldn’t do that to your sister... You know, I had a sister once, and she was mated to my best friend. I supported them because I wanted the best for both of them. And whether you like it or not, Aura’s decided that I am the best thing for her.”

“I refuse to believe that.”

“Refuse if you want. But tomorrow I will marry Aura in the fae manner, and legally as a human as well, regardless of what you have to say on the matter. And I expect you won’t do anything to ruin her day.”

“How did you convince her?” he asked. He looked pale.

“Honestly? I have no idea. I think she convinced herself. I’m a fortunate wolf.”