The Dark Side Of Werewolves

Mate/Mate-the dangers of homographs

Yay for procrastination of holiday homework...

“Well er hi there,” someone announced. I glanced up with tears in my eyes and saw that George was back with someone new. He had strong symmetrical features and I realized I’d recognized him as a high status person in 'The pack.' Power radiated from him and his eyes appraised me, not in an unfriendly way but more analytically. George stood partly behind him, with his arms crossed and he avoided my eye.

“Are we about to have gibberish competition because you should know that I come from Australia and I’m very competitive,” I mock warned and George just rolled his eyes at me.

“Well G’day mate, I’m Rodger and I was wondering if George and I could sit with you guys,” he laughed and I cringed.

“Oh dear your accent is positively cringeworthy. I'll warn you now if you do that near a group of australian's you will probably get bashed,” I warned mockingly and Rodger laughed and pushed Collin across the seat and I frowned at his casual disregard of Collin and I watched as George sat down next to me. His body was stiff and his whole being shied away from me.

“Sure sit down,” I smiled hardly, and didn’t say anything. There was no way I was going to act friendly now. What made him think he could come here and push Collin around. He smiled at me and leaned forward with such authority that I leaned back into my chair. It was clear that my small movement wasn’t missed on him as I saw his mouth pull up ever so slightly in a smirk. My eyes blazed and I pushed myself forward and leant across the table. His expression soured ever so slightly and I tilted my head so he would know I was reading him. George coughed but I didn’t stop staring at Rodger.

I gave a cheesy grin and slumped into my hands.

“Sooooo, I’m Faolan,” I started, when Collin stood up angrily and slammed his fist onto the table. I jumped and stared at him quizzically. Had he lost his mind?

“No, I won’t let you guys try and suck her into your pack, no one wants you here go away” he quickly looked down at his feet and his voice was quivering but I beamed at him. I snapped my eyes back to Rodger who was rising slowly from his chair looking at Collin. If it was possible, steam would have rolled off him due to the flushed and angry look forming on his face.

I sighed and glanced behind me to see if the waitress or owner was here but I could only see their shadows in a doorway. I heard some stuttering and I pulled myself up and noticed Rodger advancing on Collin. Whoa he has some serious anger issues there. Collin squeaked when his back scraped against the wall and Rodger towered over him as George tried to put a calming hand on Rodger’s shoulder.

I strode in front of Collin, putting all three of us in close proximity.

“Step down please,” I asked kindly. His eyes snapped down to mine and I forced all my previous anger out. If he broke out into violence there was no way I could stop him so I thought happy thoughts. I could see the turmoil storming in his eyes and I stared at him, while discreetly hiding my hand behind my back. I motioned for Collin to start moving away which thankfully he did.

“Why? He just insulted me?” Rodger snapped.

“Because if you start something with him, don’t think I’ll be a dainty lady and stand back, I will jump in and stop you, with whatever means necessary,” I warned. He glared down at me and I realized I needed to change my tactic. 

“He was just being a good friend,” I hummed, deciding to take on a more placid attempt. I adopted a neutral expression and softly stared him down. His body slowly started to relax and I saw confusion in his eyes. He collapsed back into a seat and he stared up at me with an exhausted look.

“I’m sorry…I just have a lot going on. Little things just seem to tick me off now,” he huffed and when he stared up at me I saw the desperate look in his eyes, telling me he needed stability and peace.

“Well you need to work on that. Look I may be new here but I can tell you’re a leader of sorts. As a leader you have to be able to take care of yourself to take care of others,” I said, gently putting my hand on his shoulder. He turned at my touch and I gave a small smile.

“How can you tell I’m a leader?” he asked cautiously and his guarded expression told me to step lightly.

“Well when I was you know, stalking you guys at lunch I could see the balance of power in your little group. Look have a coffee, relax before you go back to the real world,” I soothed, picking up my hot chocolate. Without thinking I sculled it, wanting to get out of here.

The hot chocolate scalded my throat and I felt tears rise unbidden to the edge of my eyes. I gasped waving cold air into my mouth and Rodger jumped up alarmed. George thumped my back thinking that I had choked or something. Collin just shook his head, knowing I was just being stupid.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” I squeaked, putting my hands on my hips. I took a deep breath and swallowed down the tears.

“Right well now that excitement is over, Collin shall we go?” I motioned to the door and Rodger stood up quickly pulling George with him. They muttered something under their breath that I couldn’t hear but then they looked at me. I caught the last phrase “Say it again, so she can understand.”

George took a deep breath and then squared his shoulders.

“I denounce you as my mate,” he said slowly, emphasizing each word as though every fiber of his being was concentrated on each word. I bristled at his words and took a deep calming breath. I made sure I was calm before I spoke.

“You don’t have to be so formal, if you don’t want to be my friend just don’t see me again you don’t have to make a show of choosing not to be my friend, but if it helps you I accept” I explained, trying to dampen the acid in my tone.  I spun on my heel and focused myself to walk out of the coffee shop with a medium pace.

I could hear awkward footsteps following me, informing me Collin was still with me. I walked past a couple of shops before I allowed myself to stop. Still ignoring Collin, I took three deep breathes, needing to rant. 

"Honestly why do people always feel the need to announce their feelings. If you don't like someone that's fine you don't have to announce it to everyone. And what the shit was with his whole 'mate' thing, I don't care if he's knocking me but if he is trying to bag out Australia I will smash him," I finished vehemently. I took a deep breath again, attempting to drain out all of my anger

After the third I opened my eyes to see Collin watching me anxiously.

“What does bag mean?” He asked anxiously and I nodded, feeling a rueful smile tug at my lips.

“Oh it just means making fun of really, another slang lesson for you” I laughed and just like that I felt the anger start to fade and my muscles started to unclench.

“Um thank you for what you did in there, it was really nice and you don’t even know me that much so um yeah thanks,” he stuttered and I tried to hide my smile. I swung my arm around his shoulder. 

"Don't worry about it. You're my mate," I emphasised, remembering George. 

"You know what...I hope a piano falls on him," I stated, nodding furiously. George started snorting again but didn't say anything as he unlocked his car.