My mate and my gift

Chapter eleven: Mira

Avoiding Matthew got harder as the weeks went by. Not an hour passed where I did not catch his scent and ran away. He even chased me halfway through the village a couple of times. The only real periods of rest I seemed to have was when either of us were on patrol – or asleep.

I was pressed against a building near the Event hall, trying to catch my breath. This was the third time Matthew had chased me today and it wasn’t even noon yet.

I looked left and right, sniffing the air for any sign that he might be close. I knew being quiet was out of the question, as I was panting so hard, I couldn’t hear anything else.

“Looking for someone?” I heard someone say, and I swear I jumped three feet in the air. Roxy had come around the corner, and she was laughing hard.

She was sweaty from dance class and her pink yoga pants were sticking to her legs. Today was a warm day so she was only wearing a matching pink sports bra.

“Relax” she said “I saw your boytoy walk into the mansion about 10 minutes ago”

He’s not my boytoy! I shouted in my heads, but I didn’t have the air capacity in my lungs to get the words out of my mouth with how hard I was breathing.

I felt my legs wobble and I leaned forward, resting my hands on my knees, taking in big gasps of air. Roxy walked over and crouched down next to me. “Aren’t you getting tired of this whole charade?” she asked. Still not having air to talk, I nodded my head vigorously. “Isn’t it time you let go of this notion you have of getting rid of him? I don’t think he is going to go away anytime soon. Just talk to him?”

She might be right, but what else could I do but run away. As the days passed, I felt the pull towards him grow stronger and the wolf inside me was starting to get impatient. She did not agree with my stubborn view of how my life should be, and I could feel my own determination starting to fade as well.

Needing a shower and some fresh clothes, I made my way back to the mansion. I was still on full alert, walking slowly towards my room. As I made my way up the stairs, I caught his scent again, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it. This was the one place I knew his scent would almost always linger, as his room was close to the stairs and we were on the same floor. His scent got stronger and I started to wonder if he had gone straight to his room when he came back. I hugged the wall opposite of the direction of his room, hoping he would not come out anytime soon. Once I got to the top of the stairs, I peeked to the left, looking at the door to his room. It was closed. Perfect! Now I just had to gently back away towards my own room and I was in the clear – for now at least.

I took a step towards my room, turned around – and froze. Right there, sitting in front of my room, was Matthew. He was hugging his knees to his chest, resting his head on top of them. His nose crinkled and he looked up. He was on his feet in a split second and I bolted down the stairs.

“Wait!” I heard him call after me. This was not the first time he had asked me to wait, and it was not the first time I ignored his request.

There was a rule against shifting inside, and I cursed my legs for still being sore from running away earlier.

Halfway down the stairs I saw someone carrying a large wooden cabinet through the front doors. Crap! So much for escaping outside through there. When I got to the foot of the stairs, I jerked right and bolted down a corridor. I hadn’t been in this part of the mansion very often and I tried to pull up a mental image of the layout from the map I received the day I arrived here.

I turned a corner and almost ran into a girl walking with a trolley of food. I squeezed past her, and took off again, hoping the girl would slow down Matthew more than she had me.

She hadn’t. A few moments later Matthews arms grabbed me around the waist and pushed me against a wall. He put an arm on both sides of me, making an escape less likely. He was leaning forward, panting hard, his head hanging between his arms. “Please…” he started, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at me. He had bags under his bloodshot eyes, his hair needed a cut and he had definitely lost some weight. My stomach clenched. “I beg you, please stop running away from me!” He dropped to his knees and whispered “I can’t stand you avoiding me like this”

I kneeled down in front of him, taking in the sight. He looked so fragile. “What happened to you?” I whispered, not actually expecting an answer.

His eyes glared as he looked at me. “You” he snarled. In an instant my worry turned to anger.

“I don’t have to see you being all over other girls!” I snapped, immediately covering my mouth. I should not have said that.

His eyes softened, almost shocked. “Are you... jealous?” he asked, in an almost mocking tone. Although his eyes filled with hope, the smug smile on his face made me even more angry.

“I thought I was doing you a favor by keeping my distance” I stated and crossed my arms over my chest.

“What?!” he spat.

“Yeah!” I said “Giving you space to be with all the girls you want. You don’t actually want a mate, you just want to play around!”

“I don’t…” he began, but I cut him off

“It will also give me the opportunity to be with other guys” I said, my voice as cold as ice.

He stood up, furious.

“It’s only fair” I said, looking him straight in the eyes as I stood up. Even though I was tall, I still had to crane my neck to look up at his face. Our eyes locked, and I could almost reach out and touch the tension between us.

We were interrupted by someone walking towards us. “Ah! I finally found you two!” alpha Adal said cheerfully. “I need the two of you to do a security patrol of the east-side riverbend”

A couple moments of silence and we both answered “Yes, Alpha” without looking away from each other.

Matthew broke away from our stare-off first and headed for the front doors. I avoided looking at the alpha as I passed him to follow Matthew outside.

Once we were in the forest, we shifted and took off to patrol the east side of the river. Everything seemed quiet and normal - except the awkwardness between Matthew and me. There were no strange scents or disrupted underbrush.  Why were we even here in the first place?

“We should head back and report no unusual activity” I told Matthew in mind-speak. He whirled on me, pushing me against a tree. When he shifted back to human form, I followed suit.

He pinned my arms above my head, leaning into me.

“Why!?” he almost cried out “Why do you want to be with other guys?”

I met his eyes with a stone-cold gaze. “Why would you want to be with other girls?” I answered

“I don’t! Not anymore!” desperation was starting to creep its way into his voice. Bullshit! He was just frustrated that for once in his life, a female didn’t fall at his feet.

“It’s only fair that I have the right to be with as many guys as you have girls” I said with the iciest voice I could muster. This was also bullshit, but it was the best I had.

“That was all in the past! Things have changed!” he almost yelled

“I don’t believe that” I answered

“So you don’t believe people can change?” he said, his voice had dropped to a whisper

“That is not my experience” I lied. I had seen people change - just never for the better.

“I changed” Matthew said, “when I found you!”

Before I could respond, he pressed his lips against mine, giving me the gentlest kiss imaginable. It lasted a few seconds, and when he pulled away, I was left wanting more. But when he looked at me, I was paralyzed. He looked so hurt that I could feel it in my soul. He had tears in his eyes, and before they could shed, he let go of my arms, turned, and shifted, taking off towards the mansion.

Once I got back, I went straight to Roxy’s room, knocking on the door. “It’s open” she called out

I walked in to find Sascha and Roxy sitting on the floor in the middle of mountains of clothes.

“What’s going on in here?” I asked astonished. I had never seen so many clothes before in my life.

“We’re picking outfits for tomorrow” Sascha answered, hugging a pair of boots to her chest.

I chuckled and joined them on the floor.

“What’s tomorrow?” I asked. Roxy rolled her eyes at me and Sascha’s jaw dropped. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten!?” she said

“Only the hottest event of the year!” Roxy added, without actually giving me any details.

“The bachelorette party for Diana?” Sascha elaborated. Oh! Right. There had been some talk of a party before they were officially paired and mated for life. A big ceremony was going to take place, so I didn’t see the need for this bachelorette thing.

To answer my puzzled look, Roxy went on “We’re going to one of the human towns outside the woods and we’re going to drink until we can’t walk straight!” she sounded very excited. I had to admit, I wouldn’t mind forgetting about my problems, if only for a night.

“Roxy?” I finally found the courage to ask. She looked up at me from the pile of clothes in her lab. “Have you ever seen Matthew cry?”

She snorted a laugh. “Matthew?” she asked, eyebrow arched. I nodded. “Never!” She said “He never cries. Not even when he lost his mother in the war”

When I didn’t say anything else, she gave me a penetrating gaze, but didn’t push the matter any further.

“We’ve got to find something for you to wear too, Mira” Roxy said, changing the subject “I don’t want to see you repeat the celebration event. Seriously, do you even own anything other than jeans and baggy shirts?” I didn’t and she knew it.

We spent the rest of the evening picking out clothes to wear for this bachelorette party.

I had wanted to go with a long-sleeved, low cut back shirt and knee-length jeans, but Roxy and Sascha had both shouted me down. I thought it had been plenty revealing, but they insisted I pick something more daring. In the end they had picked an outfit for me, and I was not entirely sure I felt comfortable with their choice, but there was nothing I could do about it now. If I didn’t wear this tomorrow evening, I would never hear the end of it. They would probably also drag me back to my room to change.