Half Hearted Captive by Fate

Small Details

Rafe tapped his glass on the table and cleared his throat, an attempt to calm the situation and prevent it from getting more out of hand. I wasn’t sure if his gesture was for my sake or Jonan’s. It was enough to bring us to our senses to pause our back and forth. However, it left the distinct feeling that that conversation was unfinished. “Let’s eat first. There are some things that need to be discussed but that should probably wait till after there is warm food in everyone’s stomachs.”

Rafe’s words left my imagination tingling but my stomach was louder. The table had been laid with dishes. I knew they were take out, but they still had been transferred to proper, matching serving dishes. It was way more fancy than I was accustomed to. Heck, even if they had left them in the take out containers, it would have been much fancier than I was used to.

There was asparagus with a little dish of sauce to compliment it, seasoned and roasted little baby potatoes, a platter towered with steaks and fresh rolls. Nothing too crazy, well other than the amounts. It looked like there was enough food to feed at least seven or eight people. I couldn’t imagine four people managing to eat all that food. There were at least a dozen steaks. It was a ridiculous amount of food.

It was odd to be sitting at a table for a meal like this. Dad and I didn’t really have family style meals. We just ate, alone, when we got hungry or we would relax on the couch and watch sports with a pizza. It is almost embarrassing how many meals of mine consisted of pizza. Did mom, Rafe and Jonan eat dinner together every night at the table? Did they talk about their days and have set seats that no one ever assigned but they always sat in the same place anyways? Had my chair always been empty? I had never really given much thought to what Mom’s day to day life might be like. She seemed to be doing well and I was doing well, so I didn’t worry.

I glanced up in her direction and our eyes met. She had been looking at me with a curious expression on her face, like she was trying to figure out what was running through my mind. Maybe, mom hadn’t been doing as well as I thought. What was it like for her to look at my normally empty chair and have someone finally meet her gaze? Hopefully, it was a nice feeling. I gave her a soft smile full of warmth.

“Rowan, you can go ahead and help yourself. Eat as much as you want. If we let Jonan go first, there won’t be anything left.” Rafe was an angel. He really was great at assessing the situation and moving things in the right direction with gentle nudges. It was hard to imagine him turning into a wolf because he was so calm and put together. He was the exact opposite of dad. I was glad mom had found him.

“Thanks. Everything looks delicious.” I scooped a few potatoes onto my plate and added a few sprigs of asparagus before grabbing a piece of steak. I forgot that I was not alone at the table once the smell hit me. I hadn’t had a real meal in so long and hadn’t realized I was so hungry till the food was right under my nose. All I wanted to do was devour every bite. Like a cruel joke, every single thing on my plate required cutting.

“Let me.” Before I could object, jonan had grabbed the fork from my hand and picked up the knife and began cutting my food up into bite sized pieces. I mumbled a “thank you,” slightly guilty that I had been such a brat only moments prior.

Jonan seemed unphased, as if the whole argument had never happened. He slid the plate back in front of me without a word, but his leg pressed against me sending shivers through me. Images that were not fit for the dinner table flashed through my mind. I became far more interested in my plate, staring down at it intently, and hoping no one was reading my expression.

Once I had made my way through half my plate, and my stomach was satiated, my curiosity returned.”What exactly did you mean earlier Rafe, when you said there were things that needed to be discussed?”

“Just a couple of small details that need to be worked out. School is starting soon and I wasn’t quite sure what school you would want to attend. Jonan attends Lykaion Academy which is a private school for wolves. There are also some really good human schools in the area.” Rafe’s words were completely unexpected. I hadn’t even thought that choosing a school was an option.

“What do you mean? I get to pick out my school. Before, I just went to the school that was in my area.”

“Well, there are a few more options here and if you know what kind of path you want to head down in the future, you might be able to find a school that is better suited for that path. Though, Lykaion Academy is probably the best on college applications and such. It is extremely prestigious, but might be a bit more challenging given your unique genetics.” I wondered if Rafe had looked into schools just for this.

“I want to study architecture. Some day, I am going to design buildings that incorporate nature into them, buildings that are living gardens.” Outside of my friends group, this was the first time I had ever shared what I wanted to do with my future. It was kind of nice saying it out loud and having adults I could discuss it with. That nice feeling was instantly replaced with regret, like I somehow betrayed dad. The truth is, I could have talked to dad about it any time I wanted to and he would have been so excited and encouraged me. I just didn’t talk to him about adult things.

“Ah, so you will need classes that study arts and math, physics and CAD. There might be a school that offers botany as well. We can look at some of the schools around here online after dinner and see what classes are offered.” Mom looked so excited about being able to look at schools together. Jonan did not look excited.

“What do you mean, she might not go to the academy? She belongs there with me, with her kind.”He really seemed to struggle with the idea of me going to school without him.

“But Jonan, no one is my kind. I’m not a wolf and I’m not human either. No matter where I go, I won’t fit perfectly. I might as well pick the school that has the classes I want to take.”

“You have a mate, obviously you are a wolf. Just because you haven’t transformed yet doesn’t mean you won’t.”

“There is no way to guarantee that I will. No one knows for sure. Look how slow I am healing. Don’t get your hopes up.” I really did not need the added stress of worrying about disappointing Jonan every single month for the rest of my life. Still, deep down I knew, if I never transformed… he would always hope I would. The fates were too cruel to have given him a broken mate.

“ There are a couple of weeks left till school starts. You have plenty of time to decide, Rowan. The mate bond was the other item we needed to discuss. Normally, mate bonds are reported to the alpha. While there aren’t any official laws, letting the authorities know tends to eliminate problems before they can start. As you saw earlier, mated wolves can be very protective and territorial. If your relationship is announced, others will be more inclined to proceed with caution when interacting with you. However, you are not officially part of the pack and new to everything. I don’t want to overwhelm you .”