The Contrary Mate

Jack

More than a year passed since the incident, and Aura and I had moved to a house on Greyclaw’s territory. After a year, I stepped down as CEO, although between Vander and I we still held the majority shares in our company. Newly freed of responsibilities, Aura and I took a vacation. For me, it was a chance to relax and rewind with my mate, and for her, it was a chance to relax and unwind with her mate whenever she wasn’t getting all excited about some plant that she’d never seen before. We spent a lot of our vacation time outside while she inspected flowers that mostly looked the same to me.

Her love of greenery was a lot like art lovers and their art. I didn’t necessarily understand it, but I enjoyed her happiness while I followed her around. We did a lot of hiking in remote locations as we went—if you could call a wolf running around with a fairy hiking. We planned to return to the pack in about a month. I was looking forward to it, and I also was not, because I was enjoying being the center of her attention.

After our morning walk while she oohed and ahed over all the plants—apparently something had grown or opened since the previous day—we headed back to eat a late breakfast. There was an envelope waiting on the step, and I scooped it up as we went inside. It was from home, and I tossed it on the counter as we worked together to prepare our meal. I cooked eggs for the both of us and sausages for myself while she made a fruit salad. Soon enough, we were sitting at the table and eating amiably together.

She had her fork in one hand and her phone out in the other. She still wasn’t a huge fan of technology and never would be, but once she had discovered gardening blogs and forums she’d gained a new appreciation for it. A glance at her screen unsurprisingly showed me she was trying to identify something she’d spotted on our walk.

“You know, the most surprising thing I’ve learned about humans is how many of them are nearly as into plants as the fae. Do you think they might have fae blood?”

“Maybe,” I said, “Although there are probably werewolf and vampire gardeners, too.”

She laughed. “Good point. The fae have a pretty narrow view of non-fae. It’s kind of embarrassing, in retrospect.”

I shrugged. “There are packs like that, too. Greyclaw mixes with humans more than most, so it gives us a different perspective.”

“Well, Greyclaw is the best pack, in my opinion,” she commented, spearing another piece of fruit on her fork and popping it into her mouth nonchalantly. I wondered if she knew just how much her words about our pack swelled my wolf with pride.

I finished eating, and then made my way to the counter and ripped open the envelope. There were a number of documents Lenora had sent me, and a couple of envelopes. One was clearly a letter from Aura’s mother, and the second’s address was addressed to Aura from Klineburg Lake Facility.

The name instantly set off my wolf. The location was a cover for the hunter prison, and I knew exactly who would be sending Aura mail from there.

Resisting my wolf’s urge to rip it to pieces and burn it for good measure, I dropped both envelopes on the table in front of my mate before I gave in to temptation.

She glanced at it, and then those teal eyes met my own. “What’s this?” she asked, setting aside the letter from her mother.

“You’ll have to open it and see.” If that fae wrote anything to upset her, I would head over there and rip his throat out. It was only a four hour drive, give or take.

She ripped it open. “Oh, it’s Rex.”

Yeah, just as I had guessed. I sat back beside her and pretended to be reading the papers Lenora had sent me, but really I was watching her reaction. She was calm enough, but I didn’t miss the sigh she let out.

I was dying of curiosity by the time she set the paper on the table. Her brows were furrowed and I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to push her to let me see.

“Want to read it?” she asked.

“Yes, I would,” I said, playing it cool.

She smiled crookedly and passed me the paper.

Dear Aura,

My wolf was not amused. How dare he use the word dear in conjunction with her name?

I’ve had a lot of time to think. I’ve tried writing to you a hundred times and I could never get it right.

The one thing I had to admit that it was nice to know that someone could screw up with Aura more than I did early in our relationship. The bouquet and meat incidents still made me want to squirm if I thought about them.

I don’t have any excuses. I got in over my head and went along with it rather than taking a stand. It wasn’t until I heard that you almost died that I realized just how deep I was in, and what the consequences were. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt and I do regret that.

Of course, you probably knew all along. I should have listened to you, and I didn’t. Everything is my own fault. I hope you can be happy. I don’t expect a response or anything like that.

Rex

I glared at the letter. It seemed innocent enough, but I didn’t trust the manipulative weasel.

“Don’t light it on fire with your eyes.” Aura’s teasing smile snapped me out of my stare down with his words.

“Sorry. I just can’t stand him.”

Aura smiled a bit. “I get it. But it’s not like you have to worry. He won’t be out for at least twenty years. Terrorism and conspiracy of exposure are pretty serious charges.”

She wasn’t wrong. The hunters didn’t look kindly on those things. They’d been far more involved with the fae since the incident. It didn’t seem to bother my mate, but I found the whole thing worrying. Werewolves had been dealing with the hunters since the accords and while useful for keeping order and preventing war, they could also be problematic.

But I wasn’t going to alarm her over things that would probably never affect us. She was beautiful in her calm and I took her hand in my own and brought it to my lips. She smiled at me and my wolf calmed in response.