The Mate Deal

Chapter 5

“Hey,” I said as I answered my cell phone.  I was in the car drivng back to Matt’s place.  I know, I’m a terrible person for talking on my phone while I drive.  Get over it!

“Hey you,” Matt said, and from the endearing tone in his voice, I assumed he wasn’t alone back at the pack house.

“Matt, your parents are right there, aren’t they?”

“Yep, Steph.”  I could almost hear his fake smile over the phone.

“Right, so, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much.  But my parents were wondering if you wanted to go have dinner with them tonight.”

I laughed.  “Yes, that would be great, sweetie.”  I teased him with the nickname, and he gave me the details for dinner.

Before we both hung up he muttered something about wearing something nice.  I looked down at what I was wearing, a plain pair of faded jeans and a pink cardigan over a white cami.  I decided to go to the house and change really quick, not even bothering to do my hair or makeup.

When I got to the pack house, I went up to the room that Alpha John and Luna Rose had given me.  It was right next to Matt’s room, I had noticed.  I had barely unpacked, because I was keeping my dorm room back at the campus.  I only had a suitcase of stuff here, and the rest of my things back there.  I still slept there sometimes, but my roommate, Raschel, was probably thrilled about me being gone most of the time.

I looked through all my clothes here and finally chose a floral dress with cap sleeves.  It was about knee-length, give or take a few inches, with plain yellow heels and a ruffly white blazer.

I picked up my keys to put them in my blazer pocket when I realized my mistake.  I hadn’t worn this outfit since the night I had rejected Tyce.  The night I came home to find my stuff being packed into my car.  A memory flashed through my mind like a movie.  The look on my parents’ faces had been so disappointed.  And I knew the vampire thing was a lie, and I didn’t exactly like my parents, but I still couldn’t avoid feeling that I had let them down.

I realized My sight was blurry, and my eyes were full with tears, so I wiped them with my sleeve and remembered about dinner.  I didn’t have time to change so I just ran a brush through my hair and grabbed a yellow purse the color of my shoes, and Left, heading to the restaurant Matt had told me about.

Matt was wearing nice jeans and a black dress shirt.  He was nervous about tonight.  He and Stephanie would have to convince his parents tonight.  Erase any trace of doubt from their minds.

But with how the two of them had been acting around his parents, they shouldn’t have had much doubt.

Matt drove to the restaurant, an italian place called Qui Bella.  Who doesn’t love Italian food?

He walked in the doors and said to the woman at the counter, “Reservation for Kinish.  Matthew.”

“Ah, yes.”  She waved another woman over, and she walked him over to a table set for four with his parents already sitting.

Matt sat down next to his father, who was sitting across from his Mother.  “Hello.”

“Hi, Matt,” Luna Rose said with a cheery smile.  “Where’s Stephanie?”

“On her way,”  I hope, he added mentally, and as if on que, She walked in behind him and put her hands on his eyes.

“Guess who,” she said flirtatiously.

“Steph,” He said, standing and turning around, moving her hands away.  Then, knowing he had to, for show, he kissed her.

They had only kissed a number of times since the mate deal was made.  And it was never awkward.  Stephanie seemed to know how to keep things strictly business, and Matt would be lying if he said he had never kissed a girl with no meaning behind it before.  He had shared many meaningless kisses in high school, mostly with human girls.

After the kiss, the two sat down again and Stephanie opened the menu, after saying polite hello’s to Matt’s parents.

After they all ordered, the elders at the table began conversation, trying to get to know Stephanie.  But she wouldn’t talk about her past.  When they asked about her parents, she just shrugged it off.

The two started to get worried, asking if they’d offended her or hurt her feelings.  Matt rolled his eyes.  She was capable of talking about it without breaking down.  He thought she just wouldn’t because then she’d have to explain about her real mate.  The jerk who’d turned her pack against her.  Matt wanted to break something just at the thought of the slimy excuse for a wolf.

Eventually, they moved on to a new topic of disscussion.  “So, Stephanie, you’re in college, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” she replied to Matt’s mother.

“What are you majoring in?”

There was a delay before she answered Mathamatics.  “I wanted to become a teacher, maybe.”

Matt knew it was a lie.  But he was grateful, when he realized why she hadn’t said theatre.  It would have been a dead giveaway.  They could have guessed it was all an act if they new about her scholarship.  Knew she was a good actress.

“Oh, that’s lovely.  A good friend of mine was a high school pre-calculus teacher.  I could set up a meeting with you two if you wanted a… mentor if you will,” Rosalind said.

“Oh no, that’s not nessecary,” Stephanie tried to say, but it was too late.  Matt was surprised his mother didn’t already have her phone out, making the call.

“Oh it’s no trouble at all.  I insist.”

Matt shook his head at her to signal to her that it was time to give up.  “So, Matthew, tomorrow, we have some things to discuss.  About your birthday.”  He didn’t have to explain.  All Matt needed to know just yet was that it involved him becoming alpha next week.

“Yes.” Was all he said in return.

“So,” Rosalind aid, turning to Stephanie.  “Do you two have any plans for the future yet?”

“No.  We’re taking things slow,” Stephanie said, glancing nervously at Matt.  “We don’t want to rush into anything.”

Matt realized suddenly that there was a problem in all of this.  He and Stephanie were supposed to be mates.  Mates want to be together forever, right?  That meant that he would have to propose to her pretty soon.

But he could at least put that off for a few weeks.  Or months.

He was scared of the idea.  Marriage was so final.  And for all he knew, this mate deal might not last forever.

A lot can happen in one week.

[A/N:  So, what do you think?  Is it fair to say I’m not uploading again until I get at least one comment?  I want to say that, but we’ll just see how it goes.  Do you uys like it?  Should I bother continuing?  Vote!  Comment!  Have faith in me, I already know what is going to happen next.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have places to go, people to see, things to ponder, and movies to watch!]