The Huntress

Chapter 32

-Jared-

"So that was your mate?" Tasha asked as I got out of my car.

"That was her." I was still a little on edge from how Electra and I had left things, but I knew if I went back now I would apologize. I didn't want to apologize.

"She seems...interesting."

"That's one word for it." I couldn't help the slight smile that twitched across my lips.

"Why do I get the feeling there's trouble in paradise?" Tasha asked looking at me skeptically.

"Probably because there hasn't been a single moment of paradise."

"Well what the heck is wrong?"

"She's a hunter for one," I said sitting down next to Tasha on a bench. We were sitting in a park across the street from the hotel she was staying in. "No wait, that's really our only problem. It's the root of all our problems at least."

"What do you mean?"

"She's a hunter who kills things like us; that's a problem. She's part of some organization that could hunt me down and kill me; that's another one. She was trained to despise things like me, there's another one. She's afraid of getting close to me because if she does they could come after us, another problem. Oh, and when I get close to her, I'm so afraid I'm going to slip up and that she'll just kill me on the spot, so afraid in fact that it actually happens. There's another problem."

I had started ticking them off on my fingers. Those were the major ones. The issues that were constantly getting in our way, the ones keeping Electra and me from actually being together.

"Sometimes, I feel like she's only doing it because of what I told her. That she's not actually trying because she wants to, but that it's more like an obligation to her."

"Why would it be an obligation?" Tasha asked sounding confused.

"Her whole life has been an obligation ever since she stepped into hunting. She's always done what someone else wanted her to do, and sometimes I feel like this isn't any different. She was cold, Tash, sometimes I think she's still cold."

"What are you going to do?"

"I told her that I can't keep doing the back and forth. That she's going to have to make a decision soon. I can't be wait for her forever. I think I like her, and there's a chance I could love her, but I can't put my whole life on hold for her."

I felt Tasha's hand on my arm.

"I don't blame you. You got a mate, and that can be a beautiful thing. You just both have to want to give it a shot. It can't be seen as an obligation, to either of you. I know you too Jare, I know you see things as an obligation yourself, and something as big as this, I know you could just as easily turn it into one as well."

I didn't say anything back to that. I didn't have anything to say back to that. She was right, but she was also wrong. I did have a tendency to see things that way, but Electra was not one of those things. She was something else entirely. I just wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Hey, you brought me here to help, and I don't think it was mate counseling," Tasha said lightly punching my arm.

"I talked to an Alpha about it," I said remembering the conversation I had with Rafe. "I just figured that you might be able to help me with control. I could really use the sage advice of Tasha Holland."

"Control?"

Even though I'd told Tasha I needed some more help, I hadn't really told her exactly what it was yet. Though I sort of had in my rant about the problems Electra and I had. I nodded and ran a hand through my hair.