The Contrary Mate

I hadn't done that many things in my twenty-two years, spending almost all my time in my isolated fae community, working with my aunt, tending my garden. But that was fine because I loved my home and was perfectly happy there.

And then last night we got a huge last minute rush order, and I'd volunteered to help with the delivery since one of the guys called in sick. Being helpful had clearly been a mistake, because it had led me directly to this uncomfortable situation.

I stepped off to the side so that I was out of the way of the guys before answering. "I'm sorry you think that, but you must be mistaken. Fae don't have mates." I shrugged uncomfortably and felt an instant stab of guilt at the pained expression in those deep brown eyes. I had to admit that the werewolf had a very nice face underneath the light bruising. Shame he was clearly delusional and probably violent.

"Werewolves have mates and that's what you are to me."

"I think you're mistaken. And I don't even know you."

"My name is Jack Wright. Please, Aura, give me a chance. That's all I'm asking."

My first thought was that the sound of my name in his low tones wrapped around me like silk. He had a very nice voice to go with that face, deep, but not too deep, almost melodic.

My second thought was to register his name in my mind. Jack Wright. That name was familiar, infamous even, in faerie circles. I'd been subjected to listening to countless rants about the upstart werewolf who had dared to mix supernatural magic and mundane inventions. Those actions disturbed many of my people, some even considered the idea heretical. He was not winning any popularity contests in my village, that was for sure.

I didn't have such strong convictions about the matter myself, but I still wasn't a huge fan of technology. I tolerated a bit for convenience, but my family kept it to a minimum. Technology was a strange thing, full of purpose, but eerily empty of life. I didn't like it, and he had apparently built his entire life on it. I doubted he and I could be more different if we tried.

Thinking back to his plea to give him a chance, I finally responded as nicely as I could, "I really don't think that would be wise."

"All I'm asking is for you to think about it," he said, his voice entreating me to give in to what he wanted. It sounded so tempting. "Let me give you my number, do you have your phone on you?"

"No, not on me." We had a landline for my aunt's business, but I certainly did not have a cell. Why did people want to carry around a hunk of dead weight in their pocket like a ball and chain, binding them to their responsibilities? No thanks.

"Okay. Just a second." He hurried from my sight, and then returned with a pen. He ripped a piece of cardboard off a box in the cold room where we were stacking the fairy juice and he scribbled a number down and handed it to me.

I shoved it into the pocket of my dress. I could feel it through the material like it burned me.

"And, you are invited tonight, if you change your mind and want to come. People start trickling in around five, but you could come earlier to get your bearings, if you wanted to. It's mainly a feast and a party, semi-formal, although that's not strictly enforced, and you can bring a guest with you for your comfort if you decide to come. I'll let the guards know to watch for you, just in case."

I didn't plan to come, and I knew I shouldn't give him false hope, but for some reason I nodded anyway.

It felt like it didn't take long before we finished the deliveries and made our way back home. I was definitely spacing out on the drive, but neither of the guys commented on that. Probably because it was far from the first time I'd gotten lost in my thoughts so they assumed this was my normal style of daydreaming. But whatever the reason for the quiet, I was glad they weren't bugging me.

When we got back to the shop, I headed out back to the outbuildings where all the magic literally happened. Several batches were in the works, and I checked their progress and ran magic through the ones at the perfect stage of fermentation. Once I was satisfied, I went outside and tended to the garden.

Each member of the fae was born with magic and all fae had some ability with the magic of botany, but we often had our own unique affinities as well. I had always been solely drawn to plants, and they responded to my deep understanding by thriving under my care far better than they did even for other fae. Aunt Fern was like that as well, although her young daughter Lark was nearly the opposite, a fae of explosive fire.

Or maybe not the complete opposite. My mind drifted to that werewolf I had met earlier. Now there was the direct opposite of a botanical fae. A man with a carnivorous beast living inside him, his wealth and power built by cold dead technology. When I thought of that, it seemed even more absurd that I could somehow be his mate.

At first, I had just thought him some weird employee wolf. They were all supposedly a little savage and he'd just seemed like he wasn't that intelligent, or maybe he just had a concussion from the beating he had obviously taken. And then I figured he was hitting on me, but ignoring him didn't work to stop that. And then he said that crazy thing about me being his mate.

Wasn't it crazy? Werewolves were meant to be mated to other werewolves, weren't they? I didn't feel anything. Sure, he was attractive. His face was a thing of male beauty, and while clearly strong, his body wasn't that ridiculous overblown body builder type that most werewolves were prone to have, but rather lean power. Fae males tended to be slightly taller and more slight than even humans, so I found the over exaggerated werewolf bulk off-putting.

Of course, I would have said Jack Wright's body type was also too much bulk as well before I met him, but he wore it so very well. I probably hadn't seen a male with a more attractive form. Maybe it was just because I was too sheltered. Maybe men with bodies as perfect as Jack Wright's were everywhere if only I bothered looking.

Not that that mattered. I wasn't interested in being anyone's mate, especially not someone who I was so obviously unsuited for.

"What are you thinking about?" Aunt Fern asked.

I jumped a bit, surprised she was there. I hadn't even noticed she had approached since I had been so lost in my thoughts. I could barely even remember all the plants I'd touched so automatically as I went along.

I forced a smile. "Oh, nothing much." Just a werewolf problem I couldn't think of how to explain. I wasn't ready to tell anyone about it yet. I already knew what they would say, refuse him and be done with him as fast as possible.

But some silly part of me wasn't ready to hear that advice even though I knew they would be correct.

"Did the deliveries go alright?"

"They went fine." I paused, and then made a snap decision. I couldn't be a fool. I needed to explain to the werewolf that he was going to have to forget this whole mad thing. And the idea of using the phone made me uncomfortable, it would be easier to simply go and speak to him properly in person and explain how this thing wasn't going to fly. And he had invited me. "I've got somewhere to be for the rest of the day, so I won't be able to take care of the batches this evening, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Aura." She smiled at me. "You already go above and beyond, just go and have fun."

Fun. Right. I doubted that.