Tainted Romance

by Simone Elise

  When he didn’t answer, I hit him on the chest with the back of my hand to get his attention. “Taylor, with who?”

  He was staring at something across the parking lot. “Umm.” He looked back at me. “Right, um. With who?” He looked dazed and shocked, and I was suddenly more interested in what he had seen.

  “What were you looking at?” I got up on the balls of my feet trying to see something out of the normal, but there wasn’t anything.

  “Nothing. It’s just that Allie chick.” Taylor shook it off.

  “Allie chick?” My interest sparked. How had Allie caused that expression on his face?

  “Yeah, her mom and my mom are like.” He lowered his voice and glanced around us, making sure no-one was listening. “They’re trying to set us up.” Horror was painted on his face. “See, my mom is with hers now.” He nodded his head behind him.

  Frowning, I glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough, Taylor’s mom was sitting in the car with who I knew was Allie’s mom. “Why are they doing that?”

  “Apparently, Allie's mom told my mom that she overheard Allie crying in the bathroom muttering something about finding her mate and how she hated him more than this town.”

  “So, they just decided it had to be you?” Sure, there was bitterness and perhaps a tint of anger in my tone. I was hurt that Allie had openly said she hated me and here I was thinking we were making an improvement.

  “Oh, there is more.” He grabbed my arm and guided me around the building. “Allie’s mom must have big ears or spend most of her time listening to her daughter’s conversations because she heard Allie tell Blake I was the most self-centered jerk she had ever met.”

  “So, they put two and two together and came up with you as her mate.” I could not believe how pathetic and childish the two grown women were being.

  “Yes.” Taylor looked angry for a moment. “I told mom over and over again it wasn’t true but, instead of backing off, she is forcing us together. At least Allie doesn’t know anything about it yet, or she is pretending not to.” Taylor sighed and looked like a heartbroken man. “It’s ruining my life!”

  I smirked just a little, seeing Allie had managed not only to screw my world up, but also my best friend’s.

  “I wish whoever her mate is would just come out and openly admit it already.” Taylor gave me a frustrated look. “Mom won’t get off my case about it.”

  “So, that was why you were staring at her earlier?” It was starting to make sense.

  “I just pitied the poor bastard that got stuck with her.”

  I felt like saying you’re looking at him, but instead, I kept it to myself.

  “But you haven’t heard the best bit.” Taylor’s frustrated frown turned up slightly. “She isn’t even staying around.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Allie, at the end of senior year, is leaving to travel or something. Her mom told mine that Allie is only planning on staying until her commitment to the pack is completed, and then she is high tailing it out of here.”

  “You’re lying.” Barely anyone ever left, and I doubted Allie would be planning on leaving.

  “Nope.” He shook his head and looked deadly honest, which caused fear to creep up my throat. “Allie has it all planned out or something but who cares about that. I feel sorry for the guy that is going to have to watch his mate high tail it out of here, without him.”

  Allie was like a puzzle to me, and Taylor had just given me pieces I didn’t even know were missing. Little things Allie had said now were beginning to make sense, and the picture that was forming scared me more than when I found out she was my mate.

  “So, this double date, are you in?” Taylor snapped me out of my thoughts, or should I say horror film.

  “You still haven’t told me who it is with.”

  “Katie and Megan,” Taylor riddled off two names I couldn’t remember.

  “Ok, sounds good. I better go, so message me later with the details ok?” I was keeping my emotions in check, but I didn’t know how much longer I could hide this frustration and built up anger.

  “Ok,” he yelled at my back.

  Allie hadn’t lied to me; no, she had done much worse. She had locked me out on purpose. She never planned on falling for me, to let those emotions that ran through her ever take control. She was going to leave me. It was her plan all along.

  Suddenly I was fighting harder to not love her.

  ***

  ALLIE

  Mom continued to laugh and joke with Dianne, while I attempted very hard to not choke on my pasta from their lame conversations.

  Dianne was perhaps the only woman I knew that could laugh at basically anything. Needless to say, mom and she got on great. I, however, couldn’t take to the woman. She had brought up Taylor, and that just scared me.

  “Allie, stop playing with your food and eat it already.” Mom shot me a threatening look.

  I put a fork full of food in my mouth on purpose. When she had picked me up from school, I was suspicious she was up to something, and now I was sure she was up to something; the way she and Dianne kept looking around as if waiting for someone to show up.

  I had given up trying to work out what it was after the first course. I was just sitting back now, dying a little bit more with each brainless joke.

  “Oh, he’s here,” Dianne whispered in mom’s ear.

  Taylor walked through the restaurant door holding onto a blonde’s hand. Zane followed behind them, laughing with a brunette who looked oddly very much like me, and that just didn’t sit right with me.

  I felt their eyes on me, and when I glanced back at them, Dianne and my mom were staring at me full on. “What?” I snapped, frowning at their weird behavior.

  “Nothing.” Mom smiled, and a satisfied look captured her face. Dianne and she exchanged a knowing look.

  “Fuck, you two are weird,” I muttered, crossing my arms, and leaning back in my chair.

  “Language,” mom snapped. “Now, who wants dessert?”

  “I do.” Dianne grinned, with this overly happy expression on her face.

  “I think the chocolate cheesecake looks nice. What about you, Allie? What would you like?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing.” I was having a full course of bitterness and sour right now. Why was Zane looking at that girl with so much affection?

  He didn’t know I would be here, so there was no way he had set this up to make me jealous. Nope, those were real emotions on his face, and it angered me to the core.

  “What a surprise.” Mom winked at Dianne.

  Oh God, when will this dinner with the freaks end! I was starting to think perhaps I should just sneak out of here.

  My eyes continued to be drawn over to their table. Taylor was flirting with the blonde while Zane had the brunette under his arm, smiling tenderly at her.

  I was starting to feel sick by their affection. My odd reaction hadn’t gone unnoticed by the freaks sharing the table with me.

  I swear if Dianne gave me one more all-knowing smile I would reach across this table and slam my pasta in her face.

  What was Zane thinking?! What the hell did he see in this chick? Weren’t the huge fake eyelashes she was wearing and tight clothes a turn-off? I was drumming my fingers on the table. I could always just hear what he was thinking. He had broken into my thoughts numerous times, so surely, I could do the same.

  I didn’t even feel a pinch of guilt when I reached into his mind.

  She’s so beautiful. Look at that smile. What I would do just to kiss those lips. Damn, why does she keep smiling like that? Damn, she is turning me on. What I would do to get her in bed. Will she come back with me after dinner? Is it too early to ask? What will she say?

  ‘That you are a perverted bastard.’ My snappy voice filled his mind. I had only heard a fraction of his thoughts, but it was enough to send pure disgust through me.

  ‘Get out of my head,’ he roared into my
mind. The anger in his tone scared me for a moment.

  ‘Or what?’

  ‘I’m with another woman. Get the hint, Allie, and fuck off!’

  ‘Why, scared I might ruin your chances?’

  ‘You haven’t and won’t ruin anything.’

  ‘Then you won’t mind if I stay and listen in.’

  “Zane, what are you going to get?” The brunette batted her eyelids at him and what she said ran through his mind twice before he riddled off an answer.

  He had been kind to me in Math. Hell, it had taken me by surprise. I thought for some crazy reason things were going on the right path - that maybe us being friends could actually work. What had changed?

  “I’m going to go home.” I looked at mom. There was no way I was staying here, watching him flirt with that woman all night.

  “You are going to walk?” Mom looked at me with disbelief. I hated walking and made any excuse to get out of it.

  “Yes, don’t make such a big deal out of it.” I pushed the chair in after me. “See you at home.”

  She would normally argue with me and tell me to sit back down. I then, of course, would ignore her and leave anyway so I was surprised when she didn’t put up a fight and just nodded her head.

  I wasn’t going to hang around for her to change her mind.

  ‘Leaving so soon?’ Zane’s voice flooded my mind.

  ‘Didn’t want to ruin your date.’

  ‘Don’t give yourself that much credit.’

  ‘Ok, can you just tell me what the hell changed?’ The restaurant door closed behind me, and although I was talking to him in my mind, I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t even steal one last glance. ‘Come on, Zane, tell me what the hell changed!’

  I wanted to know. No, I had to know what had changed.

  ‘When were you going to tell me you were leaving?’ His disappointment stained the words he spoke in my mind.

  I paused on the footpath, closing my eyes briefly. It was about that? He was acting all stuck up and mean because of that?

  ‘Just because I plan something doesn’t mean it was going to happen.’ I pushed the words into his mind. ‘So, instead of trying to convince me not to leave, you thought you would just hook up with the next one in line?’

  I had heard numerous tales of mates, about when you find your soul mate, nothing can keep them apart. I suppose just like all tales, they are far from the truth.

  ‘Are you planning on leaving?’ His words filled my mind harshly. ‘Do you not want to stay in this town?’

  It would be better if we were face to face as I could read his reaction then, but, instead, I was alone on a footpath. God, it was chilly out. ‘I don’t know.’ It was the honest truth. I wanted more than anything to leave, but another part of me, a part that was getting bigger much to my anger, wanted me to stay. ‘It depended, I guess, on what happened between well, umm, us.’

  Why couldn’t he just come out and speak to me, face to face! His mind was silent.

  ‘Well, the decision got easier for you. I’m done, this isn’t going to work.’ His words were a low hiss in my mind, and it bounced around a few times. I repeated the words over and over - the reality of what he said hitting me hard.

  ‘You’re done?’ I repeated in complete disbelief. ‘So, what does that mean?’

  He didn’t say anything back. I searched his mind it was hollow and empty. It didn’t make sense.

  ‘I can’t have you as my mate.’ His words were hard, and, as much as it killed me to admit it, they hurt. ‘You don’t want to be here, and I’m not planning on being the one who trapped you here.’

  ‘Do I get a say in this?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Fine, reject me. I don’t give a damn, but you and I both know you can’t reject me for another five months so, until then, I’ll keep my distance,’ I hissed the words into his mind.

  When you find your mate, a six-month clock starts. You can’t reject your mate under six months. It just isn’t possible. The mind link won’t break, and the pull you feel won’t ease. Some say it is in place so nobody rejects their mate too quickly, but it didn’t matter. Zane didn’t want me, and now it meant we would be stuck together for another five months.

  Angry tears slid down my face, and I was relieved when I felt Zane’s connection pull back. My thoughts were my own, and I was glad. I didn’t need Zane hearing just how hurt I was by his words.

  Chapter Eight

  One moment we were flirting with each other, teasing each other, and betting who could get the other more jealous; next he is being sweet in Math and putting his reputation on the line to sit next to me, and then he takes a complete 360 and says he wants nothing to do with me and basically rejects me.

  Here I thought women were meant to be the completely crazy, hormonal ones.

  My headphones were blaring music in my ears, blocking out all possible thoughts and on the off-chance Zane reaches into my mind, he will be greeted with some fuck you music.

  I was drawing in my notebook, or scribbling as Blake calls it. Some habits you just can’t break. The English teacher wasn’t even trying to get my attention; she gave up at the start of the class, but seeing as it was a free period, and everyone was doing whatever they liked, she wasn’t even bothered by me having my phone out and listening to music.

  Zane was at the back of the classroom, next to Taylor. Three days had passed since he pretty much rejected me. Each day, he had ignored me, which didn’t sting as much as I expected because I wasn’t going to be a wimpy little wolf about it.

  It is amazing what you can convince yourself of. I had kept chanting in my head, I hate Zane, I hate Zane, and it really helped for the first two days, but then my hurt spilled its guts on the third night. I cried for a solid three hours.

  My head still slightly ached from the headache I had last night. Yep, I had cried that much.

  So today was day four, and so far, it was going ok. I hadn’t broken out in tears, and I hadn’t killed him or charged at him. So, all in all it was a good day, but I knew that was soon going to change because tonight was a pack meeting which meant I would have to go to his house. Terror filled my blood when I thought about it.

  “Hey, Allie!” someone called for my attention.

  Slowly, I looked over my shoulder to see Taylor leaning over his desk, with a grin on his face. Had he hit his head or something? What gave him the impression he could speak to me?”

  “Taylor?” I arched an eyebrow with a weary expression and removed the earphones.

  “Mom told me you were coming over for dinner.” Taylor struck up a conversation with me as if we were friends. Zane, however, was sitting still next to him, like dead still - it was scary. Nearly as scary as that angry expression on his face.

  “I’m not going.” Mom could ask and nag me all she wanted, but nothing would get me walking into Taylor’s house willingly.

  Taylor got up from his chair, and I was in complete horror when he slumped in the chair next to me.

  “Are you lost? Or did you hit your head?” I looked at him stunned.

  “Come on, Allie, don’t be like that.” He had the stomach to smirk at me.

  “Are you flirting with me?” I was mildly disgusted by the idea, and instantly I edged further away from him.

  “Oh, sweet cheeks, don’t you wish.”

  “I don’t believe in wishing.”

  “Fine, sweet cheeks, in your dreams then.”

  “Perhaps in my nightmares.”

  “Hey, either way, sweet cheeks, you would be thinking of me.”

  “Call me sweet cheeks one more time, and I’ll give you a swollen cheek.”

  “I love it when you get dirty.”

  “I mean it, Taylor.” I raised a finger warning him. “I’m not against hitting girls.”

  “I know, I saw you take on Ebony.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I do love a bit of girl on girl.”

  “That�
�s it, what side do you want it?”

  “Calm down, Allie.” He raised both hands. “Before someone thinks you have an anger management problem.”

  “Is there a point to you being here and annoying me?” I snapped at him as he was making my blood pressure rise and I was too young for a heart attack. “Hurry up, you’re giving me chest pains.”

  “I do have that effect on women.”

  I left myself wide open for that one. “Get to the point, Taylor,” I growled.

  “Has your mom given you the speech yet?” He seemed to be heading towards a reason of why he was here.

  “You mean their idea that you and I are…” I swallowed sharply. “Mates?”

  He even scrunched his nose up at the word. “Yeah, that.”

  Mom was on the right track as I did have a jerk for a mate. It just wasn’t this jerk.

  “So, what? We both know it isn’t true.” I snuck a glance at Zane. He was playing on his phone, pretending he wasn’t listening to our conversation.

  “Well, they don’t know that. Hell, I think in their world we are mates.” He looked disgusted at the idea. At least that feeling of disgust was shared.

  “So, what is your point?”

  “I have a dream you see.” He changed the subject completely, which made me wonder about his state of mind. Perhaps he suffered from short-term memory loss.

  “That’s nice.”

  “In this dream, my car is all fixed up, and I score woman after woman.” His face twisted with desire.

  “Ok stop, I don’t want to hear any more.”

  “But you see this dream isn’t going to come true until I have my car, which my mom won’t buy until I admit you are my mate.”

  “You have to be kidding me.” I gave him the blankest expression I could muster.

  “Come on, Allie, we only have to pretend until I get my car and then heck we can tell them it was a joke.”

  “No.”

  “Allie.”

  “NO!” I hissed at him. “Not to point out the flaws in your plan, but she would just take the car away from you when she finds out we lied.”

  “But for her to take it away from me, she would have to have the chance, which isn’t going to happen.”