Waxing Love

Waxing Love 14: "Certainly, oh mate of mine"

            We pulled up to a large house, which I assumed was the primary Tatlock pack house. Or at least the one in which Stephen Tatlock resided. I interrupted my inspection of the house from inside the car to throw my door open and clamber out before Luke could reach my side. He grabbed my hand in his a little too hard and pulled me in the direction of the front door. “Come on, we’re late as it is, thanks to your bickering.”

            “My bickering? It takes two to bicker!”

            “Is that another one of those jokes I’m supposed to laugh at?”

            I scowled at him. “I’m insulted you think so low of my humour. You’ll know when I crack a joke. Well, then again we are talking about you, utterly devoid of humour.”

            Luke opened the door without knocking. “Just smile and pull yourself together for a few hours. You’re meeting the rest of pack, remember. You want to make a good impression.”

            “I think you mean, you want me to make a good impression,” I countered.

            “And my wish is your command. Now come on, Agnes,” he gestured towards the door to make me step across the threshold. I did so hesitantly, but Luke soon grabbed my hand again and sped up my walking tempo by dragging me through the house.

            “Niall, may I introduce my mate, Agnes Llewelyn,” Luke began talking before I had even come to a halt. “Agnes, this is Niall Page, and his wife Constance.”

            I smiled awkwardly at the couple in their early sixties. “Hello.”

            “You’re the Llewelyn girl!” Constance chirped. “Oh, how exciting! This must be quite the change for you.”

            I chuckled humourlessly. “You might call it that.”

            “Yes, we’ll speak more later,” Luke interrupted. “Must make the rounds, you know.” He dragged me off in another direction before I could say any more to Niall and Constance.

            The next couple of hours were spent in a similar way. At some point his arm curled around my waist, the better to direct me where he wanted us to go. I would never remember the names and faces of all these people, but Luke was insistent upon introducing me to each and every one of them. It was done purely for ceremony, as he whisked me away before we ever had a real conversation with anyone. Eventually I turned it into a game and decided to come across as obsequious as I possibly could, just to throw Luke. 

            “Certainly, oh mate of mine,” I said as he steered me away from yet another twenty-second meet-and-greet.

            Luke’s large hand on my waist gripped me painfully. “I know you’re still stuck in this petulant, sulking little girl routine,” he muttered in my ear. “But this is serious and these people take this seriously. So shut up and play nice.”

            “I’m here, aren’t I?” I muttered back furiously. “That’s about all the concession you’re going to get. They don’t know that I’m not calling you that adoringly.”

            He pressed me into his side with his hand so hard that I was feeling painfully crushed. “Yeah, the sarcasm positively dripping from your every word isn’t giving you away at all. Hate me all you want in private, just pull yourself together for a few hours. You make my life difficult enough as it is.”

            I could scream at him. I was making his life difficult? He was ruining my life. No, not just ruining it. Completely destroying it. Everything I had worked for, looked forward to, planned out in my life, he wanted to take away.

            We were suddenly in a much quieter room of the house, which only had a few people milling around and chatting amongst themselves. I was enjoying the break so much that I didn’t notice at first when I was jerked to a halt.

            “This is my mother, Miriam Tatlock,” Luke introduced. “She’s the female alpha of the Tatlock pack.” Although the title of female alpha denoted great strength, the woman we stood in front of was sitting in a wheelchair. She was much too thin and frail looking for her age.

            “Hello,” I murmured. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

            Despite her frailty, Miriam laughed, the chuckles reverberating through her feeble torso. “My husband tells me you are less than overjoyed at being recruited to be Luke’s mate.”

            I opened my mouth in surprise, but no sound came out. I suppose it would be known to others in the pack that all I wanted was to go home, but for some reason I

            “I would not be pleased either,” she reassured me. “In fact, anyone who would merely accept such a fate without a fight would not be capable of being my son’s mate. You keep on swinging. Just don’t hit him too badly,” Miriam winked at me.

            “Does everyone know?” Luke asked in a tense voice.

            His mother smiled at him reassuringly. “Some do. But you’ve both done very well today.”

            Luke scoffed, rejecting the idea that my performance was anything more than disastrous. We ambled around for another hour or so, but by then most of the people were getting ready to leave.

“Come on, let’s go,” Luke said. “I’ll take you home.” His expression stopped me from pointing out that the Tatlock house was not my home.

            The masked agony on his face as we got in the car – he didn’t make the unnecessary trip to my side to open my door – and pulled out of the drive bothered me more than I cared to admit. “I don’t want to go back yet,” I sighed. I knew it was inevitable that Luke would bring me back to the house, but I didn’t want it to be just yet. Surprisingly, Luke seemed to agree and didn’t make a fuss, didn’t even say a word, as he took a right turn that led in the opposite direction of the house.

            He drove us to a small park, got out without a word, and led the way to a bench down by the riverbank, obscured from sight by thick, low-hanging trees.

            “Why is your mother in a wheelchair?” I asked quietly.

            Luke was quiet for a few long moments. “She was attacked.”

            That threw me for a loop. “By whom?”

            “We are not the only werewolves in the world, Agnes. And not all werewolf packs get on. My mother will never stand up again. And it’s killing her. We all know she can’t last very long. Werewolves are not meant to linger after such mortal injury as she suffered. She was treated by human medicine, but it is not enough to heal her werewolf spirit. It’s amazing she’s lasted this long.”

            We sat in silence while I digested this.

            “I’m sorry,” I said.

            “You don’t know what it’s like,” Luke said bitterly. “You don’t know anything. All you care about is your own human life and getting back to it. What do you care about my mother? What do you care about any of us?”

            I didn’t agree with him, but for the first time in weeks the blood didn’t boil in my veins and make me start an argument or shouting match with him. His situation wasn’t fair, but neither was what he was doing to me. However, right now he was hurting and I wouldn’t exacerbate the wound.

            We sat by the creek for another half hour, not exchanging a word. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, and when we had both had enough, we glanced at one another and silently got up and returned to the car. 

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I'm ever so sorry about the long wait (I've been busy graduating and moving) but I hope you enjoy the chapter! Things are settling down, so I hope to begin posting regularly again, at least once a week.

Thanks for your patience, all those readers who have stuck with the story!