Zeke

"Valerie is the one that picked it out! I don't even like cats!" I argued.

Ashlyn shook her head at me. "Don't be embarrassed, Zeke. No one will judge you if you like cats" she said, feigning sympathy. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Deep down, you know that cats are your favorite animal"

I scowled as the rest of them laughed. "Maybe I'll get you guys a cat for Christmas" Stephanie said with a giggle. Valerie gave her two thumbs-up and nodded her head. "But you gotta name it Fluffy!" she demanded.

That's like such a typical cat name. I rolled my eyes and we fell into a silence. "Are you spending the night? Or do you plan on going to the packhouse?" Roger asked randomly.

"Leia and I are staying here for a night or two" Ashlyn stated.

We looked at Valerie for her answer. She glanced at me, silently begging me to answer. "We're not sure. Let's go talk about that" I quickly pulled Valerie out of her seat and walked to the living room. "What do you want to do?" I questioned. She shrugged. "They are your parents. They want you to come back home" I reminded her.

She looked up at me. "You don't want me at the packhouse?" she asked quietly. This mate bond crap needs to stop making us needy and shit. It's not cool.

This morning, I didn't have a problem with Valerie staying with me. But during dinner, I realized that she's still young. As much as she wants to live with me, it might not be the best idea. "I do want you there. But your parents want you here" Her face fell and she looked away from me. "Valerie-" I took a deep breath. "You just turned sixteen. You're still young. You should be living with your parents and hanging out with your friends. Instead you just got out of a fight with your parents over me; and you're already living with me. It's not that I don't want you there. But I'm just not so sure it's a good idea anymore" I admitted.

She frowned and began chewing on her bottom lip. Without a word, she walked back into the dining room. I silently followed after her. "I'm staying here. I'm actually gonna go up right now. I'm really tired" Valerie announced. "Zeke is gonna go back to the packhouse, so you won't have to worry about anything" She mumbled out a goodbye before fleeing the room.

Valerie's family watched her leave before looking at me. "I'm just gonna go" I muttered, turning around and walking out. Once I got outside, I couldn't help but glance up at Valerie's window. Her curtains were closed, but I hovered for a moment or two just in case she peeked out.

She didn't.

***

"How can you cause so much drama in such little time?" Caroline inquired as she slid me another pack of Oreos. Girls eat ice cream when they're sad. I eat cookies. "I'm not saying that you're wrong. It was a wise choice. But it isn't exactly your choice to make" she informed me.

That's true. It was- It is Valerie's choice. She should choose where she wants to live. I just thought that the mate bond would influence her. I thought that this way would be better. But it's not. It's three a.m. and I can't sleep because my mate isn't lying next to me.

Nick awkwardly raised his hand. Caroline laughed and called on him as if he was a student in a classroom. "I think that you had Valerie's best intentions in your mind- and that's good. She might be young, but we all know that she is one smart girl. And she's your mate. Mates make decisions together. It sounds like you didn't give her a say in it. She obviously didn't want to fight about it, so she just walked away. Then you walked away" he stated.

I sighed. "I should call her. Huh?" They nodded in agreement. "Or maybe mind-link her" They shrugged in response. I bit my lip before trying to mind-link Valerie. Unfortunately, I just hit a wall. "She's blocked off her mind" I groaned. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. It rang twice before going to voicemail. She declined my call.

Looking up at Nick and Caroline, I saw them giving me encouraging looks. "Try again. She'll answer" Caroline said softly before dragging her mate upstairs.

Taking deep breath, I called. Same result. It rang twice before she declined. So I called again. She let it ring all the way out. I heard the beep for the voicemail. "Hey, it's Zeke" I facepalmed. It says that on the caller I.D. "I know you're awake. We should talk. So call me back, if you want to" I rushed out.

I hit end and wanted to chuck my phone at the wall. My phone started buzzing in my hand. Without looking at the caller I.D., I answered it. "Tell me why my sister is up at three a.m., holed up in her bedroom and not talking to anyone!"

"Ashlyn" I muttered, disappointed. "We disagreed on a subject. I think I hurt her. And I'm trying to fix it. But she won't answer my calls. And she has her wall up. And I don't know want to do anymore" I admitted. It was a weird feeling. It was like I was lost. I had no sense of direction. I didn't know which way to go.

Ashlyn groaned. "Valerie is stubborn. You know this. But mates could never stay away from each other. Give it an hour. I'm sure she'll call" she assured me. "I would say to go sleep. But that's always hard without your mate. So good luck" she hung up on me.

I trudged upstairs, passing by the loft where a few teens were hanging out at. I spotted Charlie, Austin, and Marcus sitting on the couch. They were cuddled on the couch with three other girls. The guys glanced up at me and each gave me a nod. "There's training in the morning- in about three hours actually" I reminded them. "Don't be late"

"Beta Kingsley!" Austin called after me. I slowly turned around. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we were wrong about you. You're a hard ass sometimes. But that's good. We need a Beta like you" he stated.

Charlie and Marcus both nodded in agreement. "Hey. Where's Valerie? I was looking for her all day" one of the girls told me. I gave her a questioning look. "I'm Meghan. Val and I are friends, kind of. We haven't really talked lately. I've been with Marcus" Marcus looked at her with a smile. I felt a pang of jealousy. But I was also happy for them. Marcus is a flirt. They're probably the typical love story; where the girl gets the guy to stop being a playboy. "But I heard that you two are mates. Congratulations"

After snapping out of my thoughts, I thanked her. "Valerie is staying at her parents' for a while" I informed Meghan.

Her smile faltered. "Whatever problem you guys have right now, I'm sure it'll work out. The mate bond can take a lot of hits. But it always restores if at least one of you want it to" Meghan said softly.

"How old are you?" I blurted. She answered with 'sixteen'. She was Valerie's age. They're young but wise- capable of making their own decisions. "Actually, training is cancelled. Spread the word. Thank you, Meghan" I said gratefully. She grinned and me and shooed me off. I jogged the rest of the way to my bedroom before shutting the door behind me. Pulling out my phone again, I called Valerie.

It rang twice before going to voicemail. "You can be mad at me right now. But I'm not going anywhere. I hurt you, I get that. And now this is me trying to fix it. I didn't want to hurt you, I just wanted to make sure that you're ready for this. Because I'm all in- and that's not this stupid mate bond talking. I know for a fact that the bond isn't influencing me because I cared about you before your birthday. Now, I just care about you even more. I would and still will do anything for you" I took a breath and bit my lip. "I'll be by my phone when you call"

I slowly hung up before sitting on my bed. I turned my ringer all the way up, just in case I actually fell asleep. After stripping off my jeans, I began pulling off the stupid cat shirt. I let out a small laugh before tossing it into the hamper and lying on top of the covers. I stared at the ceiling. There was a microscopic chance that I would even fall asleep. But there's no harm in trying.

I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. I figured it wouldn't be that hard since I've been sleeping on the floor. But it wasn't comfortable at all. Sighing, I pulled the blankets off and threw them on the floor. I made a floorbed and laid down. Same conclusion. I just stared at my ceiling. Hearing my phone blaring, I scrambled up from the bed and answered it without looking at the caller I.D. again.

"That was a really sappy message" A smile broke out on my face. "I can't sleep. My stupid brain misses you" Valerie admitted.

Smiling, I sat down on the bed. "Are you sure it's just your brain?" I teased. She mumbled out a negative response. "I miss you too" I muttered. "I'm really sorry. If you want to live here, then you can. I'll even help you pack. And-"

"Whoa!" she cut me off. "You packing? Wow. That would be a first" she said with a laugh. There was a silence that filled the room. I'm sure it was equally as quiet inside her room. "I'm sorry I just walked away and kicked you out" Valerie apologized.

I let out a breath of relief. I thought she was going to yell at me or something. "It's okay as long as you prevent your mom from buying us a freaking cat" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

She laughed. "Deal" I smiled as a yawn escaped her lips. "Aside from the little disagreement, how was today?" she asked before yawning again.

Well, I got threatened if I got my mate pregnant. I got teased about a stupid cat shirt. My nickname was mentioned several times throughout dinner. But we bonded. "It was surprisingly fun" I confessed. She hummed in response, but I could tell that she was half-asleep. I chuckled. "Go to sleep, Sassy Pants"

She mumbled an incoherent response before she completely dozed off. I let out a small laugh before hanging up the call. I thought I would be more at ease after talking to her. But it seemed like I was more awake than ever before. Throwing on a new outfit, I went out for a run.

On my way out, I passed by some patrol- two guys and one girl. I could tell that they were newer patrols. And they were a bit scared of me. The reputation conversation with Valerie popped into my head. I stuck my hand out to one of the guys. "I don't think we've met. I'm Zeke" I stated.

The guy looked to his friend before slowly shaking my hand. "Cory. That's Dustin and Kimberly" I shook the other two's hands. "It's nice to meet you" Cory said hesitantly.

"You too" They disappeared into the house and I shook my head at myself. I need to learn how to actually carry on a conversation because that was shit. "Hey, Joey" I greeted the man as I jogged to catch up to him.

He gave me a smile. "Zeke. I heard you found your mate" he noted. I nodded. "I'm glad. Is that why you cancelled the training today?" he asked.

I shrugged as I followed him to wherever he was walking. "Kinda. We got in a fight. And I figured a full day with her would be nice" I informed him.

Joey shook his head in amusement. "You have no idea what you plan on doing though" he guessed. I nodded in confirmation. "Take her to that ice cream place that Terence brought you to. That place is nice" he suggested.

My face scrunched up. "You want me to bring my mate to a place that I went to with the asshole that beat my sister?" I scoffed. "No thanks"

He clicked his tongue. "He wasn't an asshole when he took you there" Joey reminded me. "It was just a thought. But I gotta go patrol now. Continue whatever you were doing" he waved me off. I began jogging along the boundary lines while thinking of where Valerie and I could go today. Needless to say, my ideas sucked. We go to the mall way too much. Sitting around at home isn't very fun. The more I thought about it, the better Joey's idea seemed.

Sure, Terence was a dick. But he wasn't when he used to take me there. I used to get chocolate ice cream with basically a shitload of chocolate sprinkles. Like any other normal kid, I loved chocolate. And who doesn't like ice cream? It's the only idea that isn't complete shit. Ice cream sounds good anyway.

I know it probably won't be the perfect date, but I'll make sure it gets pretty close to perfect.  

_______________

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present"

-Francis Bacon

First of all, take a moment to relish in the fact that this dude's last name is Bacon. Lucky. Second of all, I love you guys!!! Haha.

Kayyyzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.