The Contrary Mate

23 Jack

I cursed myself for not putting it together. I was trying to make her time with me memorable, but not by feeding her something that disgusted her. She had been eating salads and fruit most of the time since I met her, but it hadn't occurred to me that her choices might be deeply held convictions rather than taste preferences. I'd simply asked the kitchen to make something and thought no more about it.

I was being a terrible mate. I had to fix this. "I'll get them to bring you something else," I assured her.

"Oh, no, don't do that," she said, and the look in her eyes made me pause. "How about we just maybe trade? You take this, and give me some of your veggies? They're really good. I don't want to waste it."

I relented. "If that's what you want," I said, taking the offensive portion from her and shovelling everything she could stomach onto her plate.

"You don't have to give me all of yours," she argued.

"Well, if you're not going to eat meat, you'd better eat a lot of everything else."

"I'm not in danger of starving," she laughed. She seemed to barely eat anything and it worried my wolf instincts.

"Not if I can help it. I'll get my chef to figure out how to make you healthy meals."

She shook her head. "Don't make a big deal out of it, it's fine."

I didn't care where I ended up as long as it was with her, but wherever that was, my wolf demanded that she get enough fed properly. He didn't care how, but he would see it happened. We ate in silence for a while, with only lingering looks between us while I thought through what I had learned about her.

"Does it bother you that I eat animals?" I finally asked. If she didn't like it, I could keep it away from her so she didn't have to see it. I'd live on lettuce if I needed to. My meat-loving wolf side shockingly did not protest the thought.

"You're a werewolf. I wouldn't get angry at a cat for eating a mouse."

"Well, I like to think I have a bit more choice than a fox."

She smiled. "I don't think a werewolf could cut out meat entirely. It's not even that easy for me to eat a well rounded diet, either, but I manage. Although it's easy to want to try because I find meat so unpleasant. But I can eat it. Like I said, I'd rather eat it than throw it away."

"Well, I'll make sure it doesn't go to waste as long as I'm around."

She smiled. "How much will you be around?"

"How much will you let me?" Was I wandering into dangerous territory?

I didn't find out because at that moment a couple of the staff brought out dessert for us. I tried to read her face as she gratefully interacted with Irini, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Irini shot me a sly smile as she placed some sort of fancy desert in front of me and I could almost guarantee she had volunteered to play waitress because she was the interfering sort, spending our childhoods getting into everyone else's business. Her one redeeming feature was that she didn't do it maliciously, but I still hoped she would find her mate soon so she would have something to keep her occupied.

"Thank you," I said firmly.

"You're welcome," she said, lingering. "Do you need anything else out here?"

"We're fine." Then I glanced at Aura. "Unless you want something?"

She considered. "No thanks. Everything is great."

"So you can go now, Irini." I shot her a look.

"Just checking up on you, boss. Everyone's worried you're going to screw this up. Normally I'd think you could handle it, but everything you've done since meeting her has been so shockingly incompetent."