It's Only The Heat [TharnType 18+]

-11- 🌗 Get In My Way

"Hey, Tum!" Techno chirps. "What brings you here?"

"I came here looking for Lhong, but it seems like he ditched me," Tum chuckles, rubbing his chin.

"While you're here, how about you eat with us? It's been a while since we've caught up," Techno offers. Tum smiles and nods, setting his bag down and sliding into the seat next to Techno.

Tum glances over at me and shifts in his seat. "Hello, Tharn."

I smile warmly at him. "You don't have to be so formal around me, Tum. We may be in different packs, but we're cool." Tum visible relaxes and grins.

"So..." Techno starts up again, eyeing Tum with a smirk. "How's your mate?"

My eyes bulge out of my head. "You found a mate?"

Tum's cheeks pinken, and he nods shyly. "I found him six months ago."

"That's great!" I exclaim excitedly, attracting a few odd looks from the other students around us. "I've heard of people getting a second mate, but I've never seen it happen before. This is amazing!"

"Yeah..." Tum trails off, looking down at the table.

I frown and tilt my head in confusion. "What?"

"It's... complicated," Tum sighs.

"What's so complicated about it? You're mates. I'm sure they feel the same bond that you do."

"That's just the thing," Tum shakes his head, speaking in a low voice. "He's... human."

My jaw drops. A human mate? Jesus, this guy is getting hit with all the rare occurrences. A human mate is about as rare as a second mate, and Tum seems to have gotten a two-in-one deal from the Moon.

"Human," I repeat, and Tum nods his head. "Okay... well, does he know?"

"No," Tum admits softly. "We've met, and I've managed to convince him to hang out with me a few times, but that's it. He doesn't know I'm a werewolf, and he certainly doesn't know we're mates. I want more than anything to claim him and mark him, but I can't. I don't want to scare him off. I can't lose another mate, Tharn, I just can't."

My heart aches for Tum. Type might not be thrilled that he's my mate, but at least he knows we're mates. At least I get to enjoy his delectable body every month. All Tum can do is love his mate from afar.

"How do you know you'll scare him off?" Techno interjects. "What if he's totally into you, and he would be stoked that he's your mate?"

"He's right," I point out. "You'll never know until you say something. Do you really want to go your life not knowing whether or not he would have loved you back?"

Tum groans and buries his face in his hands. "I'm just scared."

"And that's understandable," I tell him, making him look up at me. "Because... love is scary. You could get hurt. You could end up feeling lost and broken. But having the chance to love and be loved should outweigh the fear. Love is amazing. You don't want to miss out on anything simply because you were too scared to take a chance."

Tum stares at me with an unreadable expression. Techno looks back and forth between us, as if trying to figure out what's going on inside Tum's mind.

I hope he's not offended by what I said. But, even so, I wouldn't change anything I said. I don't think there was anything wrong with what I said to him.

"Thank you," Tum finally speaks. "That was... really nice of you to say." I nod at him with a grin, feeling relieved. "You're really nice, Tharn," he says slowly.