“Well, then maybe you should go find out,” Renee said cautiously. She was scared I’d get hurt, I knew that. But she knew I’d get hurt more if I walk away from this and never know what it’s like to yell at him.
But I’m scared of him, I reminded myself. He could kill me at any moment. He has the right to. I shouldn’t be here in the first place.
“I can’t. I can’t go out there. I can’t look at him.”
“Fine,” Renee said. “In that case, I’m going to send him away. I don’t want the kids realizing there’s a stalker outside.”
She got up to go but I grabbed her arm. “No! Renee, werewolves can get very…” I couldn’t think of the right word to describe it, so I settled with “Emotional… sometimes. If someone tells us… ‘no’ enough, we could lash out. When werewolves lose control, even for just a second… there’s no telling what he could do. Believe me, it’s not pretty.”
“Then what are we going to do? He can’t just stay out there forever.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to do what I was thinking. No, I told myself, but before I could stop it, I was volunteering to go out.
“You sure?”
I frowned. I told myself to say “No,” but all that came out was a weak “Yes.”
I sighed. “Stupid mate bond,” I said, pushing through the door and heading down the stairs. I knew that was the reason I agreed to it. Sometimes your wolf can take over your body.
I slowly opened the front door and stepped out, closing it behind me. “You have to leave.”
He looked up, shocked to see me. “Steph, you haven’t changed much, have you,” he began, scrambling to his feet, smiling at me, like he thought my coming outside meant something.
“Tyce, I mean it. Go away.”
“Steph, I can’t.” He was walking towards me, and I put up a hand to stop him.
“You’re going to freak out the kids. And I swear, if you aren’t gone in half an hour, we’re calling the cops.”
He laughed without humor. “You think I can leave? Stephanie, if you didn’t want to see me, then why did you come back to town?”
“To announce that I’m engaged. To prove to the pack that your lies were just that. Lies. Then, maybe my father wouldn’t have hated me anymore. Maybe I could have been someone again.”
“I didn’t do that-”
I cut him off before he could plead innocence. “Don’t lie you me! Tyce, just… don’t!”
Knowing he couldn’t convince me, he changed the subject. “But Steph, your dad is gone! Why would you have come back if you knew that?”
I laughed at him. “I didn’t know. See, that’s what happens when you’re disowned. No one thinks to contact you about your father’s murder.”
He looked bothered by that, and I seized that. “And you know why I was disowned? Why I was kicked out of the pack? Yes, you do know. Because it’s all because of you!” I took a step towards him and pushed him back towards the tree he’d been sitting at. “Why? Were you bored? ‘I’ve got nothing better to do, so let’s go get Stephanie kicked out of the pack.’” I said the last bit in a mocking boyish voice.
“Steph, let me explain-”
“Or was it because I rejected you?” I pushed him again. “Couldn’t take it, so you decided to mess up my life?”
YOU ARE READING
The Mate Deal
Teen FictionMatthew Parker is a soon-to-be alpha, meant to become the leader of the pack on his twentieth birthday. Little does he know he can't ascend to power until he's found his mate. Stephanie Haynes is a college student, recently disowned by her parents...
