The Hybrid Mate

Chapter 6.

Since the initial announcement at training that the Luna and Beta Female had been found, there was a buzz around the pack house. Phoenix and Ryder had sat on the phone to their parents, who were conveniently in the same place, for about two hours now and Jade and I could hear their mums shouting at them about how they hadn't been told sooner. Wait until they found out they kidnapped us...

Jade and I were now sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and discussing where we went from here.

"While I'm glad you've accepted your mate Silver, I'm still confused on why you two don't seem closer." Jade was confused. Since what happened at the hospital, Jade and Ryder had become a lot closer. They were holding hands, cuddling and even sharing the same bed! I wasn't aware if they had become anymore intimate than that but I highly doubted it. Jade has told me every first kiss with a boy since we were about ten. There was no way I was gonna miss this one.

"Because I'm still uncomfortable. I don't fully trust him yet. However, I was thinking about asking him on a date and getting to know him more. I want to like him, for him. Not just because of this mate bond." I had been pondering the idea of asking Phoenix out on a date because as far as I was aware, he was unsure where exactly we stood, so if I made the first move, he'd be able to understand better and go forward from there.

"You should totally do it! That would be so cute!" Jade squealed happily. I could tell she's been wanting something to happen between Phoenix and I for a while. She always left me to watch training on my own, until today, and was always giving me looks at dinner. That girl just loved romance so much.

"Anyway, different topic. School. Apartment. What's the plan?" School we would hundred percent go back to. I wasn't going to start all of this and not see it through until the end. I wasn't a quitter. We were lucky as well, teacher training week this week meant we had only lost a week of school and we had practically caught up by now. But we needed to gather our stuff ready for Monday. It was Wednesday already so we were running out of time to make a decision. As for the apartment, I knew the boys would be a hard no on living there again, and I knew Jade was torn. While we loved living just the two of us, it was fairly dangerous, especially because they knew where we lived. So for all intents and purposes, it would make moving here better. But it was a case of coming to that decision together, and then preparing everything and selling the apartment.

"We go back to school on Monday. Back to our normal lives." Jade said simply. I knew she was avoiding the real topic at hand. The state of the apartment. We aren't messy people. We weren't worried about the apartment being messy, although most of the food in the fridge would have to be chucked. It was the worry of an anonymous letter. Someone or something breaking in, expecting to find us and realising we're not there. Of someone hunting us down and finding us here. In a pack. Putting the pack in danger...

I noticed the guys walk into the kitchen just as Jade got upset. She slammed her hands on the table, stood up so fast no normal person would've really understood what was happening. The chair flew back and landed on the floor with a crash and she cried, "Don't think like that! Stop it! Just stop! Okay?! NO!"

Jade spun on her heels and stormed out of the kitchen, barely noticing the guy's presence. They looked at me, stunned in silence. Ryder was the first to speak.

"What... What happened." He choked the words out, like he couldn't process what was happening. I just shrugged my shoulders. It was up to Jade to talk to her mate, however, I could at least inform him of the basics.

"We were discussing going back to school. About the apartment. She got upset." That was basically the truth. What I didn't say was that I didn't explicitly talk out loud about the apartment. We do that sometimes, Jade and I, leave vague questions open in the air while thinking about the possibilities. Sometimes we listen in on those possibilities. This was one of those times.

Ryder blinked. Then blinked again. A third time to make sure he was still seeing, or hearing straight. Nodded and then silently walked out of the kitchen. He was looking for Jade. Phoenix looked at me and I gave him a small smile. He smiled back, picked up the chair and then proceeded to sit where Jade had just been.

"Tea?" I asked, getting up. He nodded. Phoenix didn't usually not speak for this amount of time. He was obviously pondering what happened and all of the possibilities that may have been brought up while they were busy.

I sighed, shook my head and proceeded to boil the kettle. "No, before you ask. No, we're not planning on living in our apartment. However, we do need to go back this weekend to prep for Monday. And we need to sell the apartment."

Phoenix frowned and pursed his lips. He looked cute when he was deep in thought. I wish I could just know what he was thinking, but that wouldn't be fair. So I patiently waited for him to speak. He sighed before opening his mouth.

"Well, I'm glad to know you won't be leaving. Although you know you wouldn't have been given much choice." He smiled as I laughed. I knew he'd say that. "However, you know we're more than happy to help you sort the place out. We've got plenty of time."

I nodded as I placed the tea in front of him. "I know. It's just... messy. And anyway, we'd rather get a few bits done privately before we let you guys come in. It's like a female bachelor pad I swear."

I laughed and Phoenix growled. I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm joking. Chill wolfman."

Phoenix chuckled embarrassedly before sipping his tea. "I knew that!"

"So anyway. I was thinking..." I trailed off. Pondering where to start this date request.

Phoenix cocked his head and motioned me to carry on my sentence, trying to work out what I was going to say.

I took a deep breath and started again. "I was thinking... about us. About how, as mates, we should have that bond. And while I know we have the bond. I want to create a better, more realistic bond."

I was rambling. I didn't know how to ask someone out! I've never done it before.

"So you want us to get to know each other better?" Phoenix questioned.

I nodded silently.

Phoenix smiled. "Great! What better way than to start now?"

I shook my head and Phoenix frowned, looking slightly sad. He looked down.

"Phoenix, look at me please?" I felt really guilty I had upset him, even though the intention was to make him happy. He looked up, looking really sad and it broke my heart slightly.

"Phoenix, I wanted to ask... if... if you would go on a date with me."

That's the reaction I wanted. In an instant, Phoenix was grinning ear to ear like it was Christmas. He nodded. He nodded his head so fast and aggressively it was funny.

"Alright then. Shall we say tonight? Dinner somewhere? I'll let you choose." I smiled. For once I felt so light, and so happy that for a moment I forgot about all the bad things that had happened to me.

I swear Phoenix's smile got wider. It might break his face the way he was smiling so much. "I've got the perfect spot." He paused, clearly thinking about his next words carefully. "Thank you Silver, for giving me the chance. You won't regret it."

With that, Phoenix got up, kissed me on the cheek and left the kitchen. I knew he had a lot of work to do, and now that we were going out tonight, it seemed that he had to knuckle down the next few hours and really focus.

I blushed and touched my cheek lightly. The mate bond or not, I really liked Phoenix. I knew that I could love him.