The Reluctant Mate

Porter

I woke up wrapped in my mate’s scent, feeling more satisfied than I had ever felt in my life, until I realized she wasn’t there with me.

My wolf was disappointed at the realization, and then started to panic as unlikely dangers ran through my head. I was being ridiculous, and that was proven by the clinking of a spoon on a dish. She was probably just eating.

The fact that she had so quickly left me made me uneasy, but maybe she had just been hungry. I had tried to wear her out the night before, so it could be a sign of my success.

I dressed and used her bathroom, and tried to make myself look as good as possible, raking water through my dirty-blond hair to tame it. Thanks to the bond she’d probably think I looked good no matter what, and I hadn’t gotten many complaints before even without that advantage. I rubbed the stubble on my face and left to find her. She was sitting at the counter eating breakfast and didn’t even look at me when I entered. My wolf grew uneasy.

“Amanda?”

“Yeah?” she asked, not even looking at me.

Oh fuck, what was the problem? Did she not enjoy what we had done? Did she regret it? This was exactly what that little whisper in my mind must have been trying to warn me about the night before. I regretted topping the night up with FJ or maybe I would have been smart enough to listen. “You okay?” I asked cautiously. I hoped I hadn’t hurt her.

“Yep. I’m great. Have a nice day.” She gave a little wave.

“That’s it?” There was no way my wolf or I could just let her just dismiss me like that.

She turned her head slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What more do you want? I think it was pretty clear that I didn’t bring you here for breakfast.”

I held on to my panicking wolf with all my restraint. Letting him take over and do who knows what to her wasn’t going to make her more receptive to me. “Maybe not. But I want to see you again.”

She stood up, and finally turned to face me. She was wearing baggy clothing, so I couldn’t see much of anything, but it wasn’t like the vision of her body wasn’t already permanently burned into my memory. I would remember what I had seen last night when I was eighty.

“Listen, Porter, you seem like a nice guy and all, but I’m not really looking for anything long term. Last night was just a bit of fun, right?” She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter as if daring me to contradict her.

A bit of fun? That had easily been the best night of my life. The only thing that could have made it better is if she had known and wanted me to mark her, too. My throat felt dry. “It was so much more than that.”

“Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough up front.” She shrugged. She looked stubbornly resolute in spite of the fact she was barely making eye contact with me. It bothered me, I wasn’t sure if it was a dismissal or a sign that she wasn’t being honest.

She was a human, so the bond might be affecting her differently, but I had to believe it was affecting her in some small way. I couldn’t force my human mate to want to be with me, but there was no reason not to try to convince her. “Let me take you out to dinner.”

“No thanks.”

“Lunch?”

“No.”

“Please, let me buy you a coffee at least.” I sounded as desperate as my wolf.

She frowned at me. “No really shouldn’t be this hard for you to understand.”

I wanted to just tell her the entire truth then and there. Tell her about werewolves, explain the bond, demonstrate that it was true. But mate or not, if she freaked out and told someone, the Alpha Assembly and the hunters would not take it too kindly and my pack couldn’t afford that sort of trouble. And I did not want to put her in danger, either, no matter how much I wanted her to know.

“I know what no means, but it’s hard for me to accept,” I said as I risked stepping closer to her, “because I’ve never met anyone like you before, and I’m sure I never will again. And I don’t want to just walk away from you, Amanda.”

Her face was completely blank as she watched me and then she sighed. “Fine. You can buy me one coffee. No promises.”

—————

I sat on Amanda’s couch and waited for her to get ready. I could hear the shower running and I would have loved to be in there with her. But I wasn’t even tempted to try. My mate who had been so enthusiastic last night was now the exact opposite. How the hell had she gone from desperate for sex with me to completely dismissive? It was like she had woken up a completely different person. Despair filled my wolf and it leached into me as well.

I perked up when I heard footsteps, but then I realized the shower was still running, and the scent was different than Amanda’s. I glanced up to see her friend, but I couldn’t remember her name since I’d been too busy staring at my mate during introductions.

I worried that she would be upset to see me sitting there, but her eyes only widened slightly in surprise at my presence. “Morning...Parker, was it?” she said, and then she went and started messing with their coffee maker.

“Close enough,” I said. Hopefully the roommate making coffee wouldn’t give Amanda an excuse to change her mind about coming with me. “Afraid I don’t remember your name.”

“Lisa,” she said with a little smile. “So, what are you still doing here?”

“Fell asleep last night, now I’m waiting for Amanda to go grab some coffee with me.”

“Amanda agreed to go with you for coffee this morning?” She looked incredulous.

“She did.” No need to mention the reluctance of that agreement.

She looked at me as if I were a strange mythical creature and then she shrugged. “Well, stranger things have happened.”

As much as I wanted to ask her friend for more information, I sensed that Amanda would not look more kindly on me if I started snooping in her life. She was defensive as it was, no need to make it worse.

“Morning,” Lisa said as my mate entered the kitchen.

Amanda’s red hair was pulled back in a demure ponytail and she was wearing another t-shirt, but this one more form fitting, along with jeans, and I did my best to ensure that my eyes didn’t roam too much because I wasn’t sure she would want me to look considering her frosty attitude this morning.

She mumbled a greeting in response and then perked up, “Ooh, coffee.”

“Oh no you don’t. You told Parker that you would go for coffee with him, so you can’t back out now,” the roommate said sternly, and I could have cheered. Lisa was officially my new favourite human besides my own mate.

“Well, if I end up murdered you know where I went. And his name’s Porter, not Parker, so make sure you tell the police that when they find my body.” The fact that my mate could ever think—or joke, I hoped—that she wasn’t safe with me made my wolf whimper in my head. He wanted her to trust us to protect her, not fear we might hurt her.

Lisa rolled her eyes. “If he was going to murder you, he would have done it last night when he had you all alone.”

Amanda scowled at her and then looked at me challengingly. “Come on then.” I fell into step beside her.