Being(s) In Love 03 - A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (5 page)

He stopped again when he felt hot enough to melt the butter in the dough. He didn’t know what that might do to his cookies. It had never happened before.

He angled his head toward Violet. “I told you he was powerful.” His own voice surprised him, echoing strong and clear through his mostly silent kitchen. He bent down to pull four or five giant storage containers out of his lower cabinets and set them aside. The cookies wouldn’t be done for a while but he felt the need to do something. It wasn’t lost on him that he was making a ridiculous amount of cookies, but unless there was a fire, he had nothing else to do. He’d take some to the library coffee shop, of course, and then give the rest to the firehouse or the hospital. Maybe the hospital in Carson too. The drive might do him some good. He could get out of town for a day, maybe for a few days, and then from Carson he could head up one of the old mountain trails and….

Violet put a hand on his arm. “You aren’t sixteen. We need you here.”

Theo shook his head to indicate he wasn’t going to run off again. He hadn’t enjoyed it the first time, what he could remember of it. His last year of high school was a blur—vague memories of his father finding him in the woods and leading him home, Violet and his sister bringing him school books he didn’t read. He sleepwalked through his senior year, not entirely certain he hadn’t dreamed it all, although he’d seen pictures of his prom. Violet had been his date. Theo had even been smiling, so he must have had a good time.

Violet had been kind to take him. They both knew Theo should have been going with someone else. On his own he wouldn’t have gone at all.

“He’s pretty,” Violet admitted finally, speaking as if the words caused them pain. “Or, I should say, he’s more than pretty, less than startlingly attractive. Compelling. He’s compelling. You wouldn’t have known that he’d turn out so well, to look at him then.”

Theo had, but he didn’t say anything. It would set Violet off on a rant and, after all, Theo had only seen the real Zeki Janowitz for a few minutes, a few shocked moments to realize he’d been in school with his mate for years. That was the way it worked, Theo knew that, had known that, but he hadn’t been prepared for it to happen to him. Recognizing his mate was the difference between knowing the ocean existed and seeing it for himself.

The scent of
mate
was never there in kids because kids were still changing, growing into who they would become. But Zeki had revealed himself. Theo didn’t understand why or how, but one moment he’d been on his way to his locker, and the next he’d followed the sound of shouting and stumbled upon Zeki Janowitz, his large eyes dark, his small frame crackling with energy and fury. He’d smelled of cinnamon and walnuts, he always had, a knowledge Theo had become truly conscious of at that moment. With his chin up and magic curled around him, Zeki had also smelled sharply of petrichor, like dry dirt finally touched by rain.

If Theo concentrated and thought about memories of Zeki instead of only feeling them, he’d recall a lot of shouting around Zeki, and, less often, Zeki shouting back. Theo had never asked why anyone would have yelled at little Zeki Janowitz, but Theo hadn’t done much talking in school. He wasn’t interested in hierarchies and infighting. He had no desire to be a leader or a lieutenant in someone’s clique, so he’d kept himself out of high school drama. He’d kept himself out of it too much, according to Violet, who was probably right. He hadn’t dated, he hadn’t gone out to The Meadows much, and he hadn’t noticed the human boy who should have been his partner through life.

He realized he’d stopped moving, and that Violet was checking on his cookies for him.

A few minutes wasn’t enough time to know someone, Theo recognized that now. After the first rush of elation had faded, when Theo calmed enough to realize what he’d done, he was horrified at how he’d behaved. He hadn’t known Zeki; he’d known the
possibility
of him and having a mate, but Theo had acted as if their future was already settled. The shame at what he’d done, practically throwing himself at Zeki, haunted him almost as much as the rejection.

Zeki had been right to say no. Theo hadn’t been able to control himself. He was no match for someone like Zeki. He’d been somewhat aware of Zeki before that day—smaller, plump with baby fat, large dark eyes, and thick, wild black hair, skin as cinnamon as his scent. Older than Theo, and loud when he chose to argue, and argue he would, until he was convinced or he’d proven his point. Theo had seen him in the library a lot, but never in the stacks of fiction, and assumed Zeki had been there for some kind of punishment or extra credit assignment. Zeki had gotten a lot of detentions for demanding explanations from the teachers.

The challenge Theo had glimpsed in Zeki then had grown stronger over time. It had woven itself into his very name. Theo had felt it from across the street when Zeki had introduced himself, as if Zeki had taken to throwing down his name like a gauntlet.

“How else did he look?” he gave in and asked, then quickly returned to cutting out bear shapes to avoid Violet’s disbelief.

“Your mate—all right, your not-mate, whatever you’re calling him, shows up after five years, and you know that, but you
didn’t
sneak a peek at him?” Violet sounded ready to smack him with an oven mitt, but only for a moment. Then they came closer and nuzzled into Theo’s back like someone who had spent most of their time around a werewolf family. “Sorry, Teddy baby.”

No one called Theo that anymore. His family and friends had abandoned his childhood nickname after Theo had disappeared into the woods. But Theo didn’t object. He rolled his shoulders so Violet wouldn’t worry. “He said he wasn’t going to stay.” Theo could remember every word. He’d heard them all talking about him at the coffee shop, he always did, but he hadn’t recognized Zeki’s voice. He hadn’t been expecting it, so he hadn’t realized the newcomer everyone had been talking to was Zeki. And then Zeki had introduced himself, and shortly afterward, revealed his plans to leave town again in a few months.

Theo had almost thrown up, his insides twisting, his skin stretched and hot. He hadn’t even felt the water hit him.

“It seemed safer not to look,” he admitted, his thoughts a muddle of memories and a morning spent listening to his lost mate ask about him. He didn’t know what it meant that Zeki had asked.

“Well….” Violet drew out the word and moved away to where Theo couldn’t see them. “Not that he’s my type or anything, but I can finally see the fuss. Some of the fuss. He’s so… interesting looking. He’s grown, for one thing, grown up long and lean—but soft. He doesn’t work out, but there’s a certain discipline about him. No yelling or anything. In school he was always yelling, arguing with teachers, arguing with the jock kids. I used to think he liked to yell.” Violet didn’t seem to see Theo’s reaction to learning that Zeki’s difficulties in high school were worse than he’d thought. “But I don’t think he does. He was controlled. He managed to quietly convey his confidence in his ability to defend himself against me.”

Theo tensed. Violet tutted. “Relax, I didn’t threaten him. But you can’t make me like him for what he did, whatever you say about how it’s understandable. I glared and he accepted that and bought his stuff anyway. Impressive, I guess, since he likely knows what a pixy is capable of.” Imps could be less destructive than a determined pixy. Imps were chaotic in their destruction and creation. Pixies were deliberate and brought souls to ruination, or so Violet claimed. Violet was a cashier in a drugstore in a small town, so Theo didn’t know how true that was.

“Anyway.” Violet huffed. “He’s just under six feet, but he carries himself well, and his hair helps. He’s still got that mess of black hair and those insane eyelashes. He looks like a mascara ad.” Violet paused, choosing not to tell him details, Theo guessed. “You can tell he doesn’t do much exercise, but he doesn’t look inactive. More like other things are more important to him than his body. But… that’s also not exactly true. That’s the best part.” Violet came back into Theo’s line of sight, but Theo didn’t look. He put both hands on the counter and pushed against it as he waited for the rest.

“He had symbols, I don’t know, lines or something, tattooed on the backs of his hands and his wrists and on his neck. He was wearing a sweater with long sleeves, but my guess is he’s
covered
in ink.”

Theo spoke faintly. “He marked himself, with magic.” There were marks in Zeki Janowitz’s skin. Marks meant to last forever, to announce to the world who he was, what he cared about. He’d devoted himself to magic. Which was admirable, even as it stabbed Theo in the chest. Theo told himself he would never have expected a human to want to mark themselves for their mate the way weres did. He told himself that three times, and then he went to the ovens to exchange one tray of cookies for another. He blinked at the stinging heat in his eyes.

“All in black.” Violet must have had an interest in tattoos, judging from the approval in their voice. “I wonder how painful that was. He could have them somewhere
intimate
.” Theo closed his eyes. Violet kept talking. “He wore skinny jeans with a baggy cardigan; he must still feel the nip in the air. He had some stubble on his chin, not much, though. I think he remembered me from school, but he didn’t say. And he’s got bright eyes. How eyes of brown can be bright is a mystery. Maybe it’s the human magic.”

“Human magic is the same as the magic that beings use, but they work it consciously, with effort,” Theo corrected patiently, as he often did these days when he heard someone comment on magic. Theo had researched it, years ago. He’d never gotten the chance to learn about his mate, and magic had seemed the least painful avenue to study, the least personal to Zeki himself. Theo had never thought Zeki would return, or need Theo to know anything about his chosen field, but he had wanted to know just the same.

Wondering about his lost mate’s tattoos, about the life he’d lived somewhere else and where he planned to go, was a pain to curl around later. Theo continued to line up cookies on his racks and then cut out more. He’d lost count some time ago, which was a problem. People were going to talk about him more for this, but they would have talked about him anyway. Theo’s sad story was one of their favorites.

Now his failed mate was in town again, and Theo’s kitchen was filled with dozens and dozens of cookies. He was going to get stares in the grocery store, overhear whispers on his way to work. All it would take was the right group of weres to be around if Theo ran into Zeki somewhere public. “People are going to get worse.” His voice broke.

“Yeah.” At least Violet didn’t try to lie. “Between this and the sheriff’s peculiar situation, the town is abuzz.”

Theo raised his head. “How does the town know who he is?” He turned to glare at Violet, not that Violet would have told, but if Violet had acted strange around Zeki, someone might have noticed. Violet made a puzzled face at him right as Theo stopped again. The rest of what Violet had said sank in. “What happened to the sheriff?”

They rolled their eyes. “God, Theo, you manage to tune out the world like no one else. Our sheriff has been struck down by Cupid. Or instinct, as you’d say.”

“The sheriff’s in love?” That was big news. Sheriff Neri was the unquestioned alpha wolf in a town full of them. Who he fell in love with mattered.

“Worse.” Violet’s tone was excited and fed up with werewolves all at the same time. “The sheriff found his mate—who is the strangest were you will ever meet, Theo, I’m not kidding. He’s small and twitchy and just… small. So small. I’ve never seen a werewolf so scrawny. And he acts human. It’s like he’s never been around other weres before. Robin’s Egg told me the sheriff was speechless at the sight of him, could barely manage to say a word before the kid started yelling at him to go away and leave him alone.”

That was startling. “He told
Sheriff Neri
to go away and leave him alone?” Theo echoed. Someone had snuck a picture of Sheriff Neri into the brochures to advertise the town, and Theo’s sister was convinced 80 percent of the tourists who came to town were hoping to meet him. The sheriff had a way of taking charge of situations without saying a word. He was wolf enough to make the world shiver in awe.

“Wow.” Violet paused with some revelation. “So even
you
have noticed how incredibly incredible our sheriff is. Color me shocked. I thought your interest in dick had disappeared.”

“Shut up.” Theo rounded on them and then away. He stalked the length of his kitchen, which wasn’t nearly long enough. It wasn’t a run through the woods, which was what he really wanted. Violet made a hurt noise, and Theo tried to push down the surge of anger. He didn’t know where it had come from, but he had nowhere for it to go. He went to the back door and slid aside the curtain to stare at his little yard. “I ought to pay a visit to the festival committee and tell them you want to volunteer,” he threatened after a moment, keeping his tone level, close to teasing. “It would give you something else to talk about.” He swallowed and waited a few seconds. “Sheriff Neri was really rejected?” Of course no one had told him. No one was going to gossip about that in front of Theo, no matter how juicy the story was.

“Big time.” Violet forgave him, more understanding than people thought pixies could be, and was happy to fill in the rest of the information for him. “This Littlewolf guy—and that cannot be his real name, but it suits him—told him off in front of everyone. And the sheriff didn’t even do anything wrong. I mean—” Violet stopped dead, and Theo wished he couldn’t detect all the guilt that would be wafting through the air in a few seconds. “I mean, not that you did anything wrong, Theo.”

“It’s okay.” Theo forgave Violet in return, because they both knew the truth. Theo
had
gone about asking his mate incorrectly.

Violet took a moment before carrying on. “Anyway. Egg said the sheriff walked in and they stared at each other, just stared and breathed so hard they were both practically gulping down air, like
inhaling
each other, and then the sheriff said, ‘You,’ in a stunned voice and—”