Comes with the Territory

Chapter 5 CWT

Bacon fell out of my mouth as I tried to process what they had just said.

“You want me to what?” I some-what screamed along with Hellcat, who was majorly pissed. As she should be.

“We need you and Ethan to pretend to be mates,” Mel told me slowly one more time, as if speaking to a baby.

“But why?” I wined, still not knowing what a mate was.

“Because if they know you don’t have one, bad things will happen to you,” Ethan said, stuffing his face with scrambled eggs. How the hell can he be so calm!

“So? I can take care of myself,” I huffed, crossing my arms.

Why are you being so annoying? Hellcat asked, making me mad.

What the hell is a mate? I asked angrily, and she laughed.

So not the time to make fun of me, Hellcat. I warned but she ignored me, and I could tell she was thinking.

Every one of us Inner Animals has a soul mate, a person who is your perfect match. It is uncommon for a female Inner to go parading around without one, because naturally females are considered lower than males.

Before I could tell her off, she kept on going.

But, we both know we can kick some serious ass.

Hell yeah we can, I told her, but she ignored me, yet again.

But no one else does. And if any of the males in this mystery pack think you are free for the picking, they might try something. And if they do, we would most likely beat them to an inch of their death, which would not look good. Or maybe even kill them, which would look even worse. So if we pretend to be Ethan’s mate, who is a highly respected First, we can skirt the whole beating thing, and avoid any nasty deaths. Got it?

I nodded, and the two looked at me funny.

“Hellcat thinks it’s a good idea, so we are in,” I told them, earning a funny look from Mel, but one of understanding from Ethan.

“Hellcat is her Inner Animal, it named itself,” Ethan explained, and Mel laughed, rising from his seat.

“Well, if we want to pull this off, we need to practice.” Both Ethan and I looked at him questionably, and he waved his hand at me.

“If you were mates, do you really think you would let another male see her in spandex and a tank top?” he asked, and I looked down at my fighting clothes. I guess I forgot to change from the fight yesterday.

“You’re right, Mel. We defiantly need practice,” Ethan confirmed, but I was still confused.

“What? I look fine,” I said in my defense, and they both laughed, along with Hellcat. I told them all to shut their yaps, both mentally and physically.

“Mates are very territorial and over-protective, and if someone else besides themselves saw you in such revealing clothing, they would probably kill them.” He stated simply, and I couldn’t help but gulp. That isn’t good.

“At least you two smell like each other,” Mel noted, circling us slowly. I turned to look at Ethan who gave me the cheeky grin we both have.

“It’s our twinliness,” he said, but I was still confused.

“You see, mates mark each other, so that means they smell like each other. Since we are twins, our scent is almost identical. Good thing, too, or else we wouldn’t be able to pull this off.” It all made sense now.