FOR YOU

An Unlikely Mate

THIRD PERSON POV

The drive away from the school was quiet, a tense silence hanging in the air until it was not—when Chloe finally emerged from the shock and anger that had consumed her. Everything had happened in a blur, and every word was spoken in a flash. She knew she had to say something, do something. But she didn't know what to say or do.

​She could feel the cool breeze against her skin, the shorter strands of her hair whipping across her face. She leaned into the drive for a while, letting the wind clear her mind, before she finally found her voice.

​"Stop the car," she stated, her tone flat. Edward, a muscle in his jaw ticking, just glanced at her for a second without complying. Was that a request or an order?

​He continued driving, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, as he wrestled with his own thoughts. He wished she would just comply with what he said. He wished she wasn't a puzzle he had never encountered until two weeks ago. He wished Chloe would just ask him the question that really mattered, and he could just explain everything to her—even if she didn't believe him, he would show her the signs. He would turn into a full werewolf just to make her believe.

​But she wasn't asking. Instead, she was asking the wrong question. She was asking him why it mattered to him if she had a relationship with another guy. The questions he wanted her to ask were: why, how, and what he meant by those words?

​"Stop the car, Ed," Chloe said again, her voice tinged with impatience. This time, Edward responded, but not to her order.

​"Don't call me that," he said plainly, his voice low. Chloe, forgetting her initial request, decided to tease him or maybe just push his buttons.

​"Why, Ed? Your name is Edward. The short form is Ed," she replied, and a smirk played on her lips. She could see the hard clench of his hand on the steering wheel.

​"I said, don't call me that," he repeated, his tone warning her.

​"I'll call you whatever the f*** I want. I'll do whatever the hell I want. And I'll talk with whomever I want. Kiss them, hug them, and even have s*x with....." she couldn't complete her sentence when the car screeched, and the world outside became a blur. The car made an unexpected U-turn, now facing the direction they had come from, but it had stopped. The engine idled, a low, menacing growl.

​"What the f***! Are you trying to get me killed because I can't simply do what you want? You know what? Just get it done quickly. You drove here to kill me, and it's a perfect place to frame an accident. Come on, run towards the upcoming car. What now? Are you scared? Come...."

​"Just shut the hell up, Chloe," Edward interrupted her, his voice raw. Her outburst was causing nothing more than a pounding headache for him. He was tired of her constant defiance. "Shut the f*** up and listen," he said again, their eyes locked in a battle of wills.

​"You can't call me Ed when you know that you would be calling that bastard the same name also. So, just call me Edward. That's my name," he muttered out, his voice laced with a possessive jealousy. A moment of silence followed.

​"I've never called him Ed. You are the only one I call Ed. I was talking to you earlier and not him," Chloe said again, and a flicker of relief crossed Edward's face, though he quickly masked it.

​Instead, he said, "You talk too much for my mate," and the question he had been waiting for finally came from Chloe.

​"What do you mean by 'mate'?" she asked, her eyes wide and confused, swivelling to follow his gaze. Now that the question was indirectly asked, Edward found himself in a loop, but he managed to say something at least.

​"Listen to me, I literally mean mate. As in the one made for me. The one fated to me. You are for me, and I'm for you. We are made for each other. That's what I've been trying to say all this while, but you ...." he said, but Chloe's laughing outburst cut him off, and it was his turn to be confused.

​"What's funny? What I'm saying is not funny, so stop laughing," he muttered out, a hint of authority creeping into his voice. Maybe due to his tone or willingly, Chloe stopped, a hiccup of a laugh escaping her lips.

​"I'm sorry for that. But you are indeed funny. I'm made for you? We are fated? What is this? Is this some paranormal novel that you read recently, and you're trying to act it out?" She asked, a sarcastic grin on her face. Edward placed his left arm on the window rim as he ran his hand over his face, a deep sigh escaping his lips.

​He was tired. As a werewolf, he wasn't supposed to wear out easily, but Chloe was making him feel it. She had somehow created a problem and a situation that he couldn't handle. A situation he was about to experience probably for the rest of his life if Chloe later found out and believed whatever he was saying.

​"Look, if you are here to give me the same bull***, just drop me off. I'll find my way back to the school. They would probably be in the second period. But it doesn't matter," she said again, and she tried to open the car door, but Edward locked it. The click of the locks was final.

​"Let me out!" Chloe said, more a desperate yell than a plea.

​"Shut up and listen to me," he commanded.

​"Don't tell me to shut up. Just unlock the f****** car!"

​"Chloe!" That was all Edward said when Chloe suddenly screamed. She kept looking at Edward, her eyes fixed on his face, as she screamed. The cars passing nearby created some noise that made it impossible for them to know the real scream and noise that was happening in his sports car.

​Her lips were quivering, her hands were shaking, and visible beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. Her eyes were locked on a particular spot on Edward's body—his ears.

​Edward noticed what she had seen, and he sighed heavily, a wave of resignation washing over him. "Stop screaming, and I'll explain. Not that I haven't been trying to do that since, but you keep talking, yelling and screaming," he said, regretting himself at the moment.

​Despite all the training and practice he had had from his father, his werewolf ears should not have sprouted out like that just because he was stressed out. It shouldn't have been seen by Chloe, especially when he was still in the middle of an explanation. An explanation she was still having trouble understanding.

​He had scared the s*** out of her now.

​When he noticed that Chloe had calmed down, trying as hard as she could not to make eye contact with him, he explained everything to her, starting with the fact that werewolves were real and moving on to the main topic he'd been trying to explain to her—that she was his mate.

​"How old are you?" she asked after a moment of silence had passed. Her question was unexpected. He had expected her to ask questions like: Did her father know that my mother was a werewolf—which I can't answer—or, can she turn into a werewolf if I bite her? Or why are my eare out like that?

​"I'm twenty-four. I'll be twenty-five in a few months," he said, his voice flat.

​"Oh s***! Twenty-four! Oh, s***! I knew you were not eighteen. You don't look eighteen-ish," she said, reminiscing on the first day they met and were introduced. After that, silence followed again.

​"So?" Edward broke the silence, and this time, Chloe looked at him, slowly at first, until their eyes locked. His ears were now back to normal, a silent trick of his anatomy.

​"So nothing?" she said, taking Edward aback.

​"What do you mean by that?" he asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

​"I meant nothing. You don't expect me to believe all that you just said. That you are a werewolf, and so is your mum. And that you are an Alpha of a pack. This is the 21st century for crying out loud. Are zombies even real, let alone werewolves?" she retorted, her voice dripping with scepticism.

​"But you saw my ears. They are not normal human ears. They are real werewolf ears," he tried explaining again, his voice rising in frustration.

​"Yes, they are not normal. And you scared the s*** out of me. But as I said, we are in the 21st century. Anything could happen. It might be some abnormality or a disease or something," she argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

​"If anything could happen, then why don't you believe me?" he shot back.

​"Because what you are saying are just novel fantasies," she muttered out, her tone dismissive.

​"They are real, Chloe. I'm real. Werewolves are real," he blurted out, his frustration finally boiling over. But the reaction Chloe gave him made him give up for today. She kept on nodding her head as she looked at him, her lips pressed together as she tried to keep her laughter from escaping.

​He gave up. He decided not to explain to her again until needed. Without thinking twice, he kicked on the car engine and drove back to school. When he got to the school car park, Chloe got out, but he didn't. She didn't even wait for him as she headed towards the entrance. It wasn't until she heard the car zooming off at a high speed that she knew he had not gotten out of the car.

​As he drove off, one question stuck with him: Is she really his mate?