CHAPTER 16- The Ring
The bell rings over head and that signals that it is time to head to class. I didn’t even get a chance to eat anything. Good thing my dad made me a good breakfast. I get up off of Hunter and he puts a possessive arm around my waist as he stands. “Math, oh, the fun.” He mutters as we head off to class.
I can see from the corner of my eye the way Nick is watching. He used to walk me to class, and now here is Hunter doing it. I can tell he is trying to stay composed, but he isn’t doing a very good job. I can see from here the tightness of his jaw. Hunter can tell too, he leans into me and whispers. “I don’t think your boy toy is willing to let you go yet.”
I hissed at him. “Stop calling him that, would you? He is a little hurt. Cut him some slack.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. “He was trying to take my girl, I had serious thoughts of ripping off his arms. I am cutting him slack.”
I give him a pointed look. “Not ripping off his arms is not giving him slack. That is not being homicidal. You don’t get points for that.”
He chuckles and tightens his hold. “Alright, I will be nicer.” He leads the way into the math class and takes us to our table in the back of the room. There isn’t really assigned seating but it has become our table. He pulls his seat as close to mine as he can get it. Whispering in my ear, “I want to have you all to myself. How much longer is that again?”
“Sunday morning. After Carlos brings me home.” I breathe out. He is driving me crazy. In a good way, but not necessarily a good way for Math class.
“Can Carlos be there at dawn?”
“Impatient aren’t we?”
He growls out. “You have no idea. Having you wrapped up in my arms while I slept was amazing. I want to do it every night.”
I gaze into his eyes and love what I see there. Love. “Me too.”
He breathes out the next words. “It’s a date.”
My breath catches. How can that sound so hot? It is just sleeping for crying out loud. He is starting to make everything sound amazing. This mate bond is insane. If you told me last week I would be sleeping next to Hunter every night and not having a problem then I would have told you that you lost your mind. Now, I think it is the most natural thing on the planet.
We actually have more work to do in math, but that doesn’t stop Hunter from rubbing his hand on my thigh. At least he let me have my hand today. It does make the work go a little faster.
At the end of class, Hunter drops me off at my Chemistry class. He knows I share this class with Nick but he doesn’t know about Noah, who sees Hunter kissing me by the door. He stops and stares. Hunter looks over at him with a little growl in his voice. “You got a problem?” He has his arms wrapped around me possessively.
Noah narrows his eyes at him. “Yeah, she was supposed to be my girl and now she is dating every other guy but me.”
I scoff, “Noah, I always told you no. There was never anything between us. Move on. I am sure there are other girls you could harass.”
Hunter’s arms tighten on the word harass. “You harass my wife again and it will be the last thing you ever do.”
Noah scoffs, “Really wife.”
He growled, “Yeah, wife. You have a problem with it?”
Noah doesn’t answer at first, he just stands there. Then as if he is remembering what he was going to say he blurts out, “I’ll believe it when I see a ring.” Then turns and goes into class.
Hunter sighs, “I am getting you a ring after school. Allison will just have to sit in the car while I do it.” He states it like it is a matter of fact. I am sure that is what he is going to do. As long as Carlos agrees. I kind of look forward to it. “I’ll be here right after class. I know you aren’t coming home with me. But you are going to stay with me until Carlos gets here. I don’t want to be away from you for a second.”
He pecks my lips and leaves me to Chemistry. When I come in Nick has saved me a seat. Sitting next to him feels a little weird now. Like there is this awkwardness that will never really go away. He gives me a friendly smile. “So, how is it to be engaged to Hunter? They asked his point of view but not really yours. I mean they asked, but you only kind of half answered.”
I give a small smile. “At first I was pissed. I guess he is growing on me. I like having him around. We have this comfort that is hard to find. Not that I wasn’t that way with you. It is just a little different with him. He understands the way my family is and how things work. We have known each other since birth so there really isn’t anything that he doesn’t know about me. Not to mention how close our dads are, we really were raised together. My dad is happy, so are his parents.”
“I asked if you were happy.” He gives me a pointed look.
I think for a moment. “Yeah, I am. I can’t really deny it. Hunter has been making me happy. We aren’t fighting any more.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder, “That is all that really matters.” I like the smile he is giving me. It doesn’t look painful like earlier. Not that he is giving up yet, but he wants me to be happy.
At the end of class, Hunter is at the door as promised. He has me wrapped up so tight that I almost have trouble breathing. When he loosens up, he mutters. “Nope, can’t let you go. You are going to have to tell your friend that you aren’t going.” He is stating, not asking. He is so sure of himself. Good luck with that. I have never seen anyone win an argument with Zoe.
“It is so cute that you believe that.” He looks at me shocked.
“You don’t want to stay with me.” Hunter looks pained when he says that.
“I didn’t say that. I just know better than to argue with Zoe. She always wins.” I start walking us over to the pick up area.
“Well, she hasn’t argued with me.” He sounds so confident. I am almost going to be sad to see him lose. When we get to the gate Zoe is there waiting.
“Alright, lover boy, tell her bye. You will see her later.” She is waving her arms around like she can just shoo him away. There is no doubt in her voice.
He tightens his grip on me. “Nope you can’t have her.”
Zoe narrows her eyes at him. “You will let her go. She is mine for the rest of the day.” Her face almost looks scary. If it was directed at me I would be scared.
Hunter stands his ground for a moment and then I think the look gets to him. “Fine, but she is staying in my arms until my ride gets here.” See, not even Hunter can win with Zoe. She should be on the debate team or something, she would win every time. She doesn’t even speak half the time but she has this look that makes people give up.
He pulls me into the line for pick up. Zoe is watching me like a hawk. I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry, I tried to warn you.”
“She is scary.” He shudders.
I can see Allison a little further off glaring at me. I can tell it is me and not Hunter by the heat in her gaze. I am definitely not her favorite person. Hunter completely ignores her, wrapping me up even more in his arms, planting as many kisses on me as possible. When Carlos pulls up Allison calls out to him. “Hunter.” She is putting on her sexy voice again. I watch as she climbs in the back seat. Clearly she thinks she gets to sit with him.
I look at him. “You better be in the front seat.”
“You think I want to sit next to her, you must have hit your head.” He kisses me one last time and heads to the front seat.
As I watch him drive off, Zoe comes up and takes my arm. “I am sure lover boy will be fine without you for a little while.” She starts pulling me off towards her house.
HUNTER’S P. O. V.
As soon as I get in the SUV I can feel Allison glaring at me. “Why aren’t you sitting back here?”
I don’t care about being nice. “Because I don’t want to sit by you.” I turn to Carlos as he pulls out of the school. “We need to make a pit stop. Where are the nearest jewelers?”
Carlos gives me a funny look. “Why the hell would you need to go to one of those?” Werewolves have marks so they don’t really have a need for engagement rings. However I soon realized in the human world they are pretty important. When her friends were all about seeing the tattoo, I thought I was in trouble then. Then that asshole who has been harrassing my Jasmine, said that he wouldn’t believe she was mine until he saw a ring, I knew it was important.
“I have to get a ring. Jasmine has a ton of human friends. To them a ring is the most important in an engagement. They don’t see these as marks.” I point to my neck. Carlos just nods and starts to the nearest jewelers. Don’t get me wrong, werewolves do buy jewelry, of course we avoid silver, but that doesn’t mean that our girls don’t like a little bling. It just doesn’t mean the same thing to us.
Carlos keeps driving as he talks. “So how is that going? Telling the humans about the relationship.”
I grumble a little. “Apparently she has been telling them for years that she had an arranged marriage. So I am that guy. Some of them seem to like the tattoo, that is what they call it. I have had a couple of guys try to protest my claim. Like they could. One guy said that he wouldn’t believe it till he saw a ring, so here we are. Not only that. She likes her human friends and it will look better with them if I get her one. I have no idea what I am looking for though. I never thought about it before.” How is it so easy to blurt all this out to this guy? Maybe because he has been looking after us for years, it’s like a second father. That has to be it.
“Well, I have some ideas as to what she might like. I will go with you. Do you know her ring size?”
I am shocked I never even thought about that. “No, I didn’t think about that.”
He scrunches up his face. “I am not really sure if she knows what it is. She hasn’t worn rings before that I know of. I can take a guess though. If it doesn’t fit, we can take it back and have it resized.”
“You are really a lifesaver. I think I would have looked like an idiot going in there. The only thing I know is no silver. I am lost on the rest.”
He looks at me sideways. “You are aware that they are expensive right?”
“I knew that too. I have an account that has a good amount in it. I got an allotment when I turned eighteen. I am pretty sure I can afford it.” I like that I can afford to do something for my girl. I never really knew what I was going to do for her, this is only one step though. I want to plan a whole thing for when she comes back.
He pulls in front of this place that looks exclusive. There are hardly any other cars here. Yep, this is going to be expensive. We leave Allison in the car, not that we have even acknowledged her this whole time. Carlos leads the way. When we come in there is a small man behind the counter. Carlos must look like a giant to him. He gives the clerk a kind smile. “Hey, so we are looking for a ring for a special girl, which has to be gold. Something with emeralds.”
The clerk’s eyes light up. “A man who knows what he is after. Let me show you a few options. Is it for your daughter?”
Carlos pulls me forward with an arm around my shoulder. “No, it is for this guy’s girl. He wants something that is going to make her feel special.”
He gets a big smile on his face. “Oh, young love. How great. So come on over here and take a look.” He starts bringing out ring after ring. I think I start to just blend them all together in my head when I see the one that I think will be perfect.
I show it to Carlos and he agrees. “Yep, that is the one. I am sure Jasmine will love it.” He turns back to the clerk. “You have this one in a size eight.” How he even knew to ask for that I have no idea. The clerk just nods and heads to the back.
He comes out with a black ring box and the ring tucked away safely. “That will be five hundered and thirty five.” Yep, I love this girl that much. I pull out my bank card and the deal is done. I put the ring in my pocket, clinging to it like it is a life preserver.
Carlos can see the tension on my face. “Relax, I am sure she will love it.” He pats my shoulder again. I think if it was another girl he wouldn’t be this nice to me, but he likes Jasmine.
“How did you know about the ring size thing?” Curiosity won out.
Carlos doesn’t answer until we get to the car. “When I was younger I would buy my mate stuff like that too. Now not so often, but I had to learn all that. Jasmine’s hands look about the same size as my mate. I am assuming that an eight will fit her.” I remember his mate. She is a little thicker too. “So, when are you going to give it to her?”
I can’t hang on to it for very long. I want to see her face when I give it to her. “Tomorrow. I am supposed to meet up with her at the dance.”
We get in the car. Carlos adds. “Make a bit of a show of it. Humans love that stuff. They won’t shut up about it for days.”
I chuckle at that. Allison pipes up from the back seat. “I don’t see what the big deal is. She already has the damn mark. Why make her feel special? It’s not like she really is.”
I want to reach back and strangle her. I try to take a deep breath. “You are just jealous. You wish I was buying a ring for you. So it is making you bitter. Just remember the only reason why I am not ripping your throat out is because she asked me to be nice to you.”
Carlos doesn’t say anything. I think he is a little pleased with that. He never really liked Allison. I don’t think a whole hell of a lot of people do. Allison is quiet the whole way home. I am glad. I don’t know how I would be able to hold myself back if she didn’t. That is my mate she is talking about. I think back over the last two years and all the things that she said about her and it is maddening how I didn’t stop any of it.
I know I was upset that she wasn’t my mate, only because I didn’t know that she was. I let so much bad happen to her. I have to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.