The Mate Deal

Chapter 6

“What’s wrong with you?  You’re always such a jerk to me, and now all of a sudden, you’re ditching my brother for me?  Seriously, what is going on?”

I was back in that night last April, a week after Tyce’s eighteenth birthday.  A week before my own.  It had happened in the hallway outside of my room.  No one else was home, or awake.  It was late at night, but still a few people were out partying.

I had this dream a lot, and it always ended the same way.  The world going dark as I walked away, and my eyes becoming evil.  It was sort of a Michael Jackson Beat It kind of ending.  But there was something different this time.  And this time, I couldn’t wake myself up.  It was like I was just watching a movie, rather thn living through a nightmare.

He was dissappointed.  “Don’t you know?”

“Tyce, What are you talking about?”

“Steph, Don’t you get it?  This is great!”  Tyce studied my face expectantly and frowned.  “You’re my mate.”  His eyes were filled with some sort of childish excitement, like the ice cream truck was there, and he had a nice shiny nickle in his pocket.

But then he looked like the truck was gone, and there was no more happiness anywhere in the world.

“Is this some sort of sick joke,” I had yelled furiously.

How dare he!  “I don’t believe you!  I could never be tied to someone like you foor my whole life!  You’re cold, and mean, and I would rather die than be your mate.  Was this my brother’s idea?  This little prank?”

He looked hurt.  “Steph, this-”

“Stephanie.  Don’t call me that, like we’re friends or something.”

“Stephanie, this isn’t a joke.  I’m being serious.”

And I just laughed in his face.  “Am I on camera or something?  Were you going to try and trick me, and then post it on youtube?  Well, Tyce, I’m the one who got an acting scholarship here.”

And it skipped to a little more than a week later when I had approached him in the hallway.  I was now eighteen, and now I knew that he hadn’t been lying.  Or actually, I realized I’d known all along.

I went up to him at school, and asked if we could talk.  The late bell rang, and so we skipped that class.  I apologized to him.

“Tyce, I’m sorry about last week.  I was mean, and I know that you weren’t trying to prank me or anything.”

“Good.”  He smiled, and tried to kiss me, but I held up a hand.  “But That doesn’t mean we can do anything.  I will never be able to forget about how you used to treat me with my brother.”

He was upset, needless to say.  “But Steph, I’ll make up for all that, I promise.”

Things had changed in the past month.  So much so, I didn’t even correct him about calling my Steph.

And then, I just walked away.

Annd again, it skipped ahead a few weeks, after I continued to reject Tyce.  We never told anyone.

I came home from school to find my father.  Or rather, the Beta.  He was no longer my father.

“Stephanie,” he began, and I knew I was in trouble for something by his tone of voice.  And he went on to tell me that my mate was a vampire.  I say he told me, because he thought it was the truth, and so he didn’t ask.  Within five minutes, I was kicked out.  He wouldn’t listen to reason.  He wouldn’t let me explain.  And that was it.

I never saw my father again.

I sat on the curb outside the pack house, and cried for a while.  And usually, I get up and walk away and have that creepy ending, which always scared the crap out of me.  But tonight, it was different.

“Steph!  Wake up, Steph!”  Matt was shaking me awake.  I opened my eyes and he sighed in relief.  “Great!  You weren’t waking up, but you kept crying.  Did you know that you are a really loud crier?  I could hear you whaling from my room!”

I rubbed my eyes and realized they were wet with tears.  It was still dark in the room, and Matt was still speaking quietly.

And I lost it.  I began sobbing.  I had already been thinking about Tyce, something that always made me emotional, but when you add the dream, I was an instant wreck.

“Steph.  Whoa, calm down!  It’s okay.  What’s wrong?”

“Tyce!  I had a dream about Tyce.”

And without further explanation, Matt understood.  Without a moment’s hestiation, he pulled the covers up and got under himself, and pulled me close to him, a comforting embrace.  A caring one.

And it was then that I realized how close we had become.  Obviously I had taken an immediate liking to him in the beginning, considering I had agreed to lie with him.  But without realizing, I had befriended this boy.  My fake mate.

And as I cried, I nestled up closer to him, burying my face in his chest.  I had hardly ever cried in front of anyone.  I wasn’t a crier.  But I cried around Renee sometimes, like when I told her about Tyce.  (Sort of.  What I could tell her.)

And now I was putting a lot of trust in Matt.

And with a shock, I remembered that the dream had ended differently.  Matt had saved me from the ending from Hell.

That’s what I called it.  It seemed like it was an accuurate title for the ending.

“Thank you,” was all I could say to him.

It had been natural, the way Matt had comforted her.

As the two lay in her bed, he thought about the situation.  After what semed like hours, and very well could have been, because it was now light, Matt finally asked her about what was bothering him.

“Do you want to walk away now?”

She didn’t answer for a while, and he thought maybe she hadn’t heard.  But before he could repeat himself, she shook her head violently.  “No.”

“But if you stay, and if we keep doing this, we’ll have to get married.”

“Do you want me to leave?”  she sounded shocked, and, he noted satisfied, calm.

“No.  I just don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped here, getting more than you bargained for.”

“No, it’s fine.  Besides, if we get married, I’ll be able to show up on my parent’s doorstep with a husband, not just a mate.”

Matt had forgotten about that side of the mate deal.  She got to go to her old pack with her alpha mate.  Make them regret losing her.

“But, Steph, are you sure you want to go back?  What about Tyce?  I don’t think you want to repeat last night?  If you cried all nigh over seeing him in a dream…”

“Matt, trust me.  I’m totally okay with it.  I want to show up and make him regret what he did.”

And Matt couldn’t help but laugh.  She had been so fragile all night, and to hear her sound so menacing and serious was ridiculous.

“Then, we should do that soon, shouldn’t we?”

“Definitely.”

[A/N: So, what do you guys think?  Okay, I’m setting the bar really low!  No new upload until I get one more vote!  I currently have 8 votes.  I just need 9 before I post the next chapter.  And some comments would be nie.  I really want constructive critisism!  So, do you guys like Matt and Steph?  Do you think Tyce was a jerk?  And can you guess what’s going to happen next?  First person to comment on this chapter gets a dedication!  Oh, and can anyone tell me how to turn on spell check on microsoft word?  Please?]