The Reluctant Mate

52 Amanda Mature

I woke up at home, buried under blankets and in bed all alone. Uno was napping in his pillowy bed by the wall. "Porter?" I wanted him with me.

"Yeah?" His voice echoed from the kitchen, and a minute later he came in. "Do you need something?"

"Yes." You.

"Hungry? I'll get you something."

I sighed.

"What is it?"

"Come here," I said, making more room for him. He sat on the side of the bed, not touching me. What was his problem now? "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"You're acting weird. Like you don't want to be near me."

"No, that's not it." He raked his hand through his hair.

"Is it because...of what he did?"

"What? No! Wait, what exactly did he do?"

"Not much. He didn't have much time. Mostly he just threatened and taunted me. Pressured me to go along with his delusions."

"His delusions?"

"It was disturbing." I shivered. "But I'm fine." Maybe I wasn't totally fine, but I was definitely more fine than before I'd escaped. I still didn't have a supernatural councillor, but talking to Samantha in her office when we both had free time seemed to be helpful.

"I'm relieved." He paused for a long moment. "I killed him."

I glanced at Porter's face. "Yeah, I know. Are you...feeling guilty?"

"No."

"Then?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"Does it bother you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, what I saw was pretty gruesome. But he had a gun, and he could have killed any of us. He paid people to spy on me and abduct me. So it's not like I'm sad or anything."

"Are you scared?"

"Well yes. What if someone finds out that you did it?" I didn't want Porter to end up in jail or some creepy supernatural prison.

"Even if somehow the agents missed something, they'd cover it up if the police got suspicious of me. They wouldn't want mundane humans looking into how I managed to make a murder look like a wild animal mauling. And they don't want to give the hunters an excuse to get more involved. Alphas like sharing power with other kinds even less than they like sharing with other alphas. Which they already hate, so they're highly motivated. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good." I felt relieved.

"So, what do you want to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, Porter." I was a bit hungry, but I wanted to touch him more than that. Not even sexually, just so that his skin was on mine. It would make me feel better. I grabbed his hand tried to pull him towards me. "I need a pillow," I whined.

He half smiled and let me yank him over beside me, then I curled up with my head on his shoulder. Before too long I drifted back to sleep.

—————

Porter was snoring when I woke up. He looked relaxed and peaceful. A good girlfriend probably would have left him alone to get a good rest.

But I wanted him to obscure all my recent memories of my ex. And, I could think of better ways to be a good girlfriend than just letting him sleep. I slipped my hands under the covers and found what I was looking for, running my fingers down his stomach and along his length.