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Then the beep of his voice interrupted me.
“Sh it, I made you snickerdoodle cookies, they’re ready to go out of the oven now,” He said and I could
hear the hurt in his voice.
He told me he would be back to finish me rejecting him. This led me to be a little shell-shocked but
soon I figured he didn’t want to burn the house down. It was very kind, but because he never asked me
and just started baking cookies without asking anything. Now a good batch of cookies would go to
waste, a silent reminder of my second ruined matebound. Only it took him far too long to come back if
he had just got the cookies out and turned the oven off. He was still in the kitchen I could sense him
and when I peeked through the open door I was met with a sight I never expected to see.
There in the kitchen was the Crown Prince of all Werewolves in the United States, in my Grandma’s
bright and frilly apron. Pushing the center of the cookies down with a spoon, royally sprinkling them
with the cinn amon sugar after. All while he was furiously wiping his eyes. As I paid more attention to
him, I noticed he was actually crying, no doubt about the upcoming rejection. Wanting to know why he
was doing this I walked into the kitchen. I suspected he wanted to delay the inevitable, but that couldn’t
be further from the truth. He heard me walk into the kitchen and he looked up at me. With his deep
brown eyes still glistening with tears.
“I’m sorry Ayla! I am sorry if this is weird. I am sorry I keep messing up. I am sorry that I got so excited
to know my dream of finding a fated mate came through with someone as insanely beautiful as you that
I made you uncomfortable. I just wanted to finish these cookies before you reject me. Do one sweet
thing for you as your mate” He told me.
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Poor guy, I wish he hadn’t pushed me this far, I wish I had met him. before, I wish he was my first fated
mate. That we’ve met when I still had the trust in matebounds that I had growing up. Things would have
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtbeen so different between us then, now I was about to reject a man giving him the same pain as I had
experienced myself. Not saying anything about his apologies, I opened my mouth to reject him. But I
couldn’t the words seemed to be lodged in my throat. Looking around I saw my favorite cookies he had
made me. The boxes of books he brought back to his home and then to me without a promise I would
accept him as my mate. And I couldn’t anymore I could not reject him and I could not keep telling
myself he was just like David.
“Since you seem so eager to put timelines on our mating process, I will give you one chance,” I told
him.
The only reply was the spoon he was using clattering as it sl*pped from his hands and fell on the floor.
He watched me intently, waiting for me to finish what I was telling him before he would answer me.
“The six months you and your parents agreed on, I’ll give you those but I have been through the
wringer and I want to take it slow. Slower than any wolf in the history of our kind have ever gone. I’m
not accepting you yet and I can’t make any guarantees I ever will.” I told him crossing
my arms.
“Yes, of course, whatever you need, I just want to show you I am
nothing like him. I actually want to make you so happy. Can I take you out on dates, and come to see
you? Can we exchange phone numbers? Anything really” He mumbled the last bit.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, it was cute. And if I were to give him a chance, an honest chance I
would have to spend time with him too. The first step would be to just talk with a cup of coffee and
freshly made snickerdoodle cookies. After all, it would be a pity to let those go to waste. The first thing
he told me was about Jessa, how she was
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settling in how she had yet to find an occupation. Until Gerald asked if she would just want to be a
homemaker. Since they both wanted a lot of pups it made sense. I smiled the Jessa I know would love
to be just a stay-at-home mom. Taking care of her pups and mate.
Then we chatted a bit about his, baking turned out a pinch of cinn amon in the dough was his secret for
Snickerdoodle cookies. Which happened to be his favorites. He was so excited about it that he couldn’t
be making it up just to please me. We never breached the big topics. I wasn’t sure if I avoided them on
purpose, to not upset again. Or if this was his way of talking it slow. Regardless of that it suited me, it
was nice just chatting with him and getting to know him better. How he was an introvert, and that after
his parents spent thousands and thousands of dollars on mentors and tutors he still hated social
interactions. He would prefer to go to his bedroom and play some games. Or just go to the woods on
the packground so he could go for a run. Preferably alone or with his closest friends, I learned about
his general plans for the future of our people.
An hour had gone by and we were still chatting, and above all I was still enjoying. Still, I couldn’t help to
look at the boxes filled with my books. I was dying to see which books Mom packed me. Three boxes
would never be enough to carry them all.
“You know, we can get the other two boxes out of my car if you want to. And I’ll even help you put them
away?” Griffin offered.
And I wish I could take him up on it, I already got up to get the other two boxes out. It meant I probably
had all of my books here now. I never expected them to be here this fast and that’s why I hadn’t bought
bookshelves now. There was a bookshelf hack I had seen going around on social media. People turned
cheaper IKEA bookshelves into these built-in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that I adored. I wasn’t great
at building things, and I would start my new job on Monday. Sure I still had my parent’s credit card but I
wasn’t going to use that on anything
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else but the bare necessities.
“What’s the matter did I say something wrong? You can just say know if this is going too fast but I saw
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmyou eyeing up these boxes” Griffin asked awkwardly rubbing his neck with his hand.
“No that’s not it.” I confessed.
I went into more detail as to why I could not fully take him up on his offer. Secretly I loved the interest in
what job I got in the pack. Never looking down on the fact that I chose to be a librarian. For me being
surrounded by books was the dream.
“I’ll tell you what, we get the last two boxes out of my car. We’ll clean the kitchen and then we will drive
up to the IKEA and get some bookshelves. I’ll pay for them as a gift to my mate. And if you decide you
will not accept me at the end of the six months you can pay me back okay? He asked me.
I tried to protest and tell him I could never accept this. But he wasn’t having any of it.
if
“Please Ayla, how can I prove to you just how happy I can make
you you won’t let me do the things I want to do for you? And before you say something along the lines
of me not respecting your boundaries. That is why I said you can pay me back if it doesn’t work out. I’ll
call my father now and have our lawyer draft up a contract” He said already getting his phone out of his
pocket.
I couldn’t imagine how embarrassing it would be if the king would have his finest lawyer draft up a silly
contract. I didn’t know what to think of this guy, but still despite rolling my eyes. I agreed to go to IKEA
with him. I was sure to mindlink my grandparents, and boy were they happy. More so when Griffin told
me to let them know to help themselves to some Snickerdoodles. If anyone had told me at the end of
the afternoon I would be sitting in the Crown Prince’s SUV to go
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get lunch and shop for bookshelves, I would have laughed in their
faces but here I was. Hoping this didn’t turn out to be a huge mistake.
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