Oh Hell No

Chapter 14

Jamie had never told anyone her doubts about the mate bond. She never had to, already knowing how they'd respond. They would laugh in her face and spin the same story about how a mate is everything, how you see them and it's love at first sight. To actually admit her fears out loud, and to her mate of all people, was not a part of the plan. She never went against her plans. At least, not until now apparently, but plans could change so the argument still stood.

She went to pull her hand away from his, but he held on tighter, "Jamie," He paused, not knowing what to say. What could he say to reassure her that this was real? Ryder may usually be good with his words, but he's never been in this situation before. He hadn't really heard anyone question the mate bond before, not seriously, "What if we ignored the bond for a little bit?" He suggested, getting a confused glance in return.

"The hell do you mean by that?" She asked, completely caught off guard.

"We can pretend that we're just normal people that may or may not be interested in each other. If you're up for giving me a chance we could go about a relationship the way humans do, with dates and stuff. We can almost completely write out the mate bond as part of the equation for now," He elaborates, and senses Enzo frown from inside his head. He's just going to have to suck it up then, because this may be the only chance they have with her.

Even though Jamie didn't think that either of them could really ignore the mate bond and just focus on getting to know each other, but she still appreciated the thought, "That could work..." She admitted slowly.

"Great!" He said much louder than he originally intended to. Jamie bit back a laugh as his face warmed, and before she could comment he cleared his throat, "Yeah, so how about we go down to this diner in the nearby human town? The whole place is modeled after a typical 1950's restaurant, jukebox and all. The waiters and waitresses even wear rollerblades!" Enzo didn't have to know english to get his point across as he snorted. He figured it was obvious enough that he was trying to say, "nice save, dumbass."

"I don't exactly have anything going on so you can choose when," She agreed, glancing down at her dropped bags, wondering what to do with them.

Should she put them in his closet? Were they even going to sleep in the same room? She suspected their wolves would insist on that much so the bond wouldn't bother them. But wouldn't that make the bond more of a problem? Technically, the bond would grow stronger no matter what they did. So long as they were in the same room it would strengthen, assuming they weren't silently sitting on opposite sides of said room while completely ignoring the other. They could just put up a pillow wall if it was that big of a deal, though Jamie had long since found out she was a sleep-cuddler. If one of those pillows didn't end up trapped in her grasp then Ryder most certainly would.

"There's probably an empty room where you can put those," He said, nodding towards the bags, "And if not then there's plenty of room in my closet for them," Worst case there's no empty rooms and I end up sleeping on the couch, he reasons silently, already sure that he wouldn't let Jamie sleep on anything other than a bed.

She, quite obviously, debates this, glancing repeatedly between the door out and the closet. While a small part of him wanted to speed things up by making the decision for her and toss the bags in his closet, but he was trying to get on her good side. It was safe to say that being an impatient, controlling prick wouldn't endear him to her at all, despite what a large number of Netflix romance movies he's regretfully seen have shown. He really didn't understand why Sadie liked those types of movies so much. Predictable garbage was the term he often used, however underappreciated his fair assessment was.

"I guess I'll just leave 'em in your closet," He held back the loud cheer that threatened to escape, "But if you change in front of me I'll sleep on the porch," He laughed, but she wasn't joking.

He quieted down once he realized this, "I'll keep that in mind," He probably wouldn't, Jamie's knowledge of boys confirmed as much. His eyes glazed over for a second, before he shook his head, "You can go ahead and put that stuff up, feel free to make room wherever. My dad wants me to help some new shifters since he's busy."

"Don't be surprised if all your stuff ends up on the floor," She warns, gathering up her bags again.

"I won't," He responds, brushing past her to get to the door. Both of them tensed slightly at the warmth the slight contact brought, but they quickly snapped back to reality.

He closes the door behind him, careful not to slam it, and fights the urge to sag against the wall in relief. While going about a relationship this way wasn't exactly ideal for a wolf, it was far more than he could have hoped for. Before Alpha Mason could mind-link him again about the new shifters, he made his way downstairs. For safety purposes, new shifters were brought to the prisons so they couldn't hurt anyone. Also, it helped to keep them away from any over-protective parents that might try to interfere with the process.

"So...how did your talk go?" Astral asks, walking alongside him.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Chris steps up to his other side, "Yeah, are we actually gonna have a luna when you take over? I don't want to be your beta if you'll be a lonely sad-sack."

"You guys know you can mind your own business, right?" Ryder points out, starting to wonder if that thought even occurred to them anymore. He suspected the answer was no.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sadie questions with a shrug, coming up next to Astral.

Ryder gestures wildly around, "Where are you all coming from?"

"No avoiding the question!" Sadie snapped, "Am I getting an older sister or not?" She interrogated, getting in his face enough to keep him from walking further.

"I don't know, alright? It's too early to say for sure but I don't think she's going to run away again," He answers honestly, continuing on past her.

"But if she did, you'd go after her, right?" Chris asks, looking genuinely curious, "It didn't work out for her so well the first time."

He shrugged, "If she wants to leave then she should be allowed to, no matter what you guys may want. And she won't have to run because I'd let her leave if that was the case."

Sadie and Chris look surprised, but Astral was quick to step in, "Don't talk like that, I'm sure it'll all work out for you two."

Ryder smiles appreciatively at her words, "I hope you're right." 

A/N: I honestly don't know what to put here so... what's your favorite color?