Tit for tat

Amaris

*This is getting totally too weird! First Maxon and now Zach? What on earth is going on?*
From beside me, Zara glances toward Zach and then back at me, a look of shock on her face. “Zach!” she gasps. “What about Rayna! I thought—You know she has been waiting forever for you!”
Zach tosses his sister a frown. “I don’t know why! I have never looked twice at her. So, whatever it is that you thought, you’re wrong.”
With a shake of her head, Zara argues, “No! That’s not true and you know it! What about—”
“Zara!” Zach snaps, interrupting her. Then growls, “That is enough!”
Although she is clearly irritated and confused with her brother, I also feel confusion, and maybe even a little resentfulness toward me, coming off Zara. Which irritates me because I have done nothing to give him the impression that I have interest in him in anything other than a friend.
Without casting a second glance back in either of our directions, she huffs and then changes into her wolf form, bolting away and into the nearby woods.
I follow her retreating figure, but then pause and turn back toward Zach. With a shake of my head when I find him watching me with a mixture of longing and wariness staring back at me, I think *Rope it in big boy,* and then plead, “Zach, please. I don’t mean to offend you or anything, but I’m not interested in either you or Maxon. I-I…” I pause, on the verge of telling him about Kenton, hoping that maybe it will make him see that I’m not just blowing smoke up his ass. But, something holds me back. So, with a sigh of exasperation, I mutter, “I’m just trying to figure all this out.”
“Mer,” Zach murmurs, taking a step towards me. Shaking my head and holding my hands out, I take a step back, needing to keep distance between us. At the action, Zach utters a low growl from deep in his chest, then as if making his mind up about something he had been fighting with himself about, I hear him growl, “fuck it,” before he charges straight toward me with a look of determination now written on his face.

Kenton

“Do you think that she will be at the mate ball next month?” Maverick asks from across the table, a heaping plate full of steak and eggs in front of him, one that rivals my own.
Sighing, I push my plate away, my appetite disappearing at the mention of my mate.
“I—” I start to say, but then hesitate. With another breath and an irritated shake of my head, I say, “I honestly don’t know what she’s going to do. I would like to hope that she would be there, that she would want to see me, but…”
“Her actions so far have proven otherwise,” Maverick surmises, as he finishes my sentence for me.
I nod, hanging my head in disappointment, “Yeah, pretty much.”
We’ve been with Maverick’s pack for the past two weeks. Boone, Asher, and I have all fully recovered, although Boone did take a bit longer to heal than Asher and I did. His internal bleeding was really bad, and had we not made it to Maverick’s pack when we did, he may not have made it, which was a rude awakening for me.
I didn’t think we could be taken out by something as simple as a car accident. We’re freaking shifters for the Goddess's sake, but fortunately, he’s okay and we’re all trying to figure out where to go from here.
After Boone had healed up enough to travel, we tried to head back home, but when I discussed it with my dad, he not so delicately encouraged us to stick around. And when I tried to argue with him on it, knowing that it’s really not a good time to be away from the pack, he practically ordered us as our Alpha to not come back.
Which has me incredibly concerned. But what can I do?
So, here I sit, shooting the shit about my mate and the upcoming mate ball with Maverick over my now cold breakfast, beyond frustrated because I don't have the slightest idea of what my next move is.
“You going to eat that, man?” Asher asks, sitting down next to me and pulling my plate over in front of him.
“Go right ahead,” I say, gesturing to the plate that he’s already digging into with gusto.
With a chuckle, I shake my head and glance over at Maverick, finding him doing the same, before shoving a huge bite of eggs into his own mouth.
“What are we talking about, anyway?” Asher questions, a bit of egg falling out of his mouth with his words.
“Kenton's mate,” Maverick tells him. “Our boy here is wrestling with his feelings about the ball.”
I give my head a shake. “I’m not wrestling with them. I’m facing what appears to be a possibility I’m not wanting to face. She may not even show up! How the heck am I supposed to wrap my head around the meaning of it if she doesn’t? Kinda makes a guy feel they’ve been kicked in the nuts, ya know?” I snap.
Holding up his hand, Maverick murmurs, “Easy there. I’m not the enemy.”
With a sigh, I nod. “I know. Just a bit testy over the whole damn situation.”
“I get it. I’d probably be a bit cross too if my balls were being twisted like yours are,” Maverick states.
The entire time Maverick and I had been talking, mostly me sounding my woes, Asher had continued to plow through the food on his plate, and aside from a snort here and there that erned a glare from me, he’d stayed completely silent.
“Do you have anything to add or are you just going to keep snorting over there?” I ask, irritated.
Suddenly looking up, with a shit eating grin he chuckles, “You really are *testy* aren’t you? And just in case you didn’t catch it, the pun was totally intended.”
“Fuck off!” I snarl, not in the mood for his joking around.
Then, with a sigh, he murmurs, “Fine. I’d say give tit for tat, dude. *You* are the one doing all the chasing, stop it! Make her chase you!”