Condemned Mates (Destined Mates Book 2)

by James Wolfe

  When I found Andrew again, he seemed surprised to see me so fast.

  “Done already?” he asked.

  “Yep, I have no doubt I’ll pass,” I said confidently.

  “Me either,” he smiled. “Glad you’re so excited about the job. Sam is excited for you, too, I take it?” he asked.

  “Sam, uh, I haven’t talked to him yet,” I said sheepishly.

  He frowned. “Oh, I would have expected you to talk to him before coming to me. Be sure to tell him soon, get his opinion.”

  “Right,” I nodded, “I will definitely do that.”

  Even though I tried really hard to seem like everybody else, little things like that always slipped out. Most anyone would go tell their mate first thing, and I hadn’t. Because Sam was not the first thing that always popped into my mind.

  But the thing is, I didn’t always seem like his first thing, either. I always kind of thought people were exaggerating when they talked about being so obsessed with their mate. Because I was definitely Sam’s mate, and, yet, he did not seem obsessed. Not really at all. I believed he loved me, of course, absolutely. But, obsessed? No.

  I considered going to the fields now and telling him right away, but I didn’t see the point. I’d tell him later. It wasn’t exactly urgent, and he was working. Again, this was probably not how most people would have reacted, but I couldn’t always keep up with most people. And nobody would know that I didn’t go tell hi right away… except Andrew, who was clearly already judging me for it.

  A few hours later, though, when Sam got home, it was the first thing I brought up with him as I set the table with the dinner that had been stewing on the stove for several hours.

  “How was your day?” he asked as he sat down, as he usually did.

  “Actually, very good,” I said, which made him look up at me, because I usually just replied with, ‘fine.’

  “Really? What happened?”

  “I think I’ve been assigned to a new job.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’s fantastic, I know you hate the fields. I wasn’t even aware that anything new had come up.”

  “Yeah, well, Alvin just announced his retirement today—”

  Sam cut me off. “Wait, Alvin?”

  “Yes…” I said slowly, unsure why that was worth cutting me off over.

  “Don’t tell me your considering taking the exports job?”

  “More than considering it,” I told him. “I already finished my exam.”

  He slammed his spoon down on the table. “Are you kidding me, Cecil?!”

  “No…” I said slowly, “I don’t understand, are you mad?”

  “Of course I’m mad!” he said quickly. “You didn’t even think of bringing this up to me? Of talking it over with me?”

  “No,” I shrugged, “why would I? I had no idea it would upset you.”

  He scoffed. “You know, that is how this works, when you’re mated. You ask your mate about big life changes. And your job is kind of a big life change. Most mates wouldn’t even be satisfied not working the same job!”

  He brought this up sometimes, how we were not like most mates. And I couldn’t disagree with that, so I didn’t know how to answer. No, we weren’t, not from what I could see, either.

  “What’s the big deal?” I asked. “We already don’t work the same shift. And you never seemed to mind that. Why do you care about this?”

  “Because this is much different than working a different shift, Cecil! Even when we work different shifts, I know that we are in the same village, you’re just a block away. You’re going to be leaving the village entirely! We won’t even be in the same place. And what’s worse, the place you’ll be in is very dangerous! It’s a huge risk, did you ever consider that?!”

  “Yes,” I admitted, “I’ve considered it quite a bit. But I think it will be an adventure. I am bored here, so, I am taking the risk.”

  “Well, what about me?!” he demanded. “It’s a risk I’m taking, too. You’re my only mate, you’re the only one for me, so what if something actually happens to you? Maybe it’s a risk I do not want to take with you.”

  I was getting angry now. We didn’t often fight, so I really hadn’t been expecting this.

  “It’s not your risk to take!” I answered. “It’s mine. It’s my life, my choice. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “Ugh!” he groaned. “That’s exactly the problem! Nobody else thinks like that, do you get this?! All the other couples do consider their partner. All the other couples would be open to getting told what to do.”

  “And all the other couples do not hold their partners back from doing something they truly love and are excited about!” I bit back.

  Because it was true. We may have been a protective species, but we also give our partners all the love they could ever need. We completely adjusted to their desires. We made them happy in any way we possibly could. Which was basically the opposite of what he was doing to me now.

  “Something you love, huh?! You’re not going to love it there! You’re just obsessed with the human world for some stupid reason! it’s an awful world, Cecil, why can’t you see that?! And, really, this job won’t pull you any closer to them. You’re going to barely interact with humans. Just enough to sell things. It isn’t going to be how you imagine.”

  “Let me decide that!” I snapped. “It’s my goddamn choice.”

  “The wrong choice! And a choice I still don’t understand. Why? Why do you love them so much?! Why can’t you see how wonderful our own way of life is?!”

  “Because I hate our way of life!” I yelled, something I’d never said out loud before. “It’s boring, it’s tedious, there is nothing exciting. Everything is predictable and boring, and I am done with it! It isn’t what I want!”

  He stood up out of his chair. “What you mean is, I’m not what you want.”

  I immediately regretted my words.

  “No, hey, that’s not what I meant…” I said, in a softer tone.

  He looked me dead in the eye. “Isn’t it? Isn’t it exactly what you meant? Look me in the face and tell me I am what you want. I am what makes you happy.”

  I looked at him as steadily as I could while I forced the words out of my mouth. “You make me happy,” I said.

  And it was only half a lie. Some days were good. Some days I enjoyed his company. And I really did love him. It wasn’t a total lie.

  But it was enough of a lie for him to notice.

  “Liar,” he muttered.

  “No, I’m not—”

  “Yes! Yes, you are!” he insisted. “And you know how I know that?”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Because you’re willing to take this job in the first place without even asking me. And nobody else in this entire damn village would ever do that! They’d think of their mate first! They’d think of their happiness first, and I am what you always think of last.”

  I felt guilty but, at the same time, defensive. “What about you?!” I asked. “Am I the first thing you think about? Because it doesn’t appear that way. You don’t exactly run to me with big decisions. Sometimes when good things happen to you, like that time you got a week off of work, I’m not even the first one you tell! You tell Mark or Jared.”

  “They’re my best friends!” he argued. “I work with and see them every day!”

  “But by your standards, it’s me that’s supposed to be your best friend, right?! You see me every day, too! I should be the one you’re coming to, right?!”

  He was silent. Because he knew I was right. And it made me feel better that at least he was acknowledging it was not just me that had created a rift in our relationship. The distance was equal on both sides.

  It was just that I felt guiltier about it because I was the one who doubted our relationship. I was the one who hadn’t felt the instant connection you were supposed to feel with your mate. But he didn’t know that.

  “I am doing it,” I told him seriously. “If t
here is even a possibility this will make me happy, I’m doing it. There is nothing you can say to change my mind.”

  And he didn’t even try. He got up from the table and left, without eating or saying a word.

  I wasn’t sure how to react to this, but I didn’t exactly have the urge to follow him, so I just… didn’t. I sat where I was and ate dinner because I’d worked hard to make it, and I was hungry.

  God, I really was a shitty mate.

  “Hi, could I purchase these?” I asked him with my most winning smile as I lifted a bag of tomatoes.

  He looked up at me and… stared. He just stared. Did not answer me, did not say even a word in return, just looked at me with his mouth slightly parted.

  For a second, I started to wonder if maybe he was deaf or something and I hadn’t communicated properly. But that couldn’t be it because he looked up when I asked to buy the tomatoes.

  2

  Lyle

  “It’s sweltering,” I muttered to nobody but myself.

  Why had I decided to come out today? It was 99 degrees out. Who goes to a farmers’ market when it’s 99 degrees? Me, apparently.

  I just needed to get out of the house. It had been two weeks since I’d been laid off, and most of my days were spent online filling out job applications.

  I wasn’t used to it, when I’d worked I’d left the house every single day. Being stuck at home was just so frustrating.

  Farmers’ markets weren’t really my thing, usually. Don’t get me wrong, I loved good produce, but I never had the time to go, and it seemed like such a hassle to come here when a trip to the grocery store was so much easier. But I suppose I had all the time in the world, now.

  I mean, besides the heat, I really did enjoy getting out and about. I was the kind of person who had to constantly be doing something or I wasn’t satisfied.

  Which is why I was such a workaholic at my old accounting firm before my company started to go under and had to lay people off. It was disappointing because I’d started my career there and was hoping to finish it in the same way. And now with my job I was feeling increasingly more empty.

  I didn’t have many friends. I didn’t speak to my family. I tried dating but nobody ever caught my interest so it only ever resulted in hook-ups. Which had always been fine with me, I didn’t need to date, because I had my job. It kept me totally occupied. I didn’t even have time for serious relationships.

  But now that I no longer had that job and all my old coworkers were also looking for accounting jobs in the area, making it very difficult to get a job, I was bored out of my mind. More than bored, I was starting to get a little depressed as I thought about just how empty my life was without work.

  Of course, all I wanted to do was cover that up with more work.

  Not today, though. Today I was going to cover it up by strolling through the farmer’s market. I didn't even have any idea of what I wanted to cook but after I saw a booth with delicious looking home made tortilla chips I decided I’d make some home made salsa.

  Home made salsa is always good but it’d be amazing with fresh farm-to-table veggies.

  I stopped at each vegetable booth and grabbed what I needed whenever I saw it. Onions, jalepenos, garlic cloves, bell peppers, cilantro. Within ten minutes I had basically everything that I needed besides the tomatoes.

  I had to stroll quite a ways down the road until I finally found a booth with tomatoes, surprisingly. But when I saw them I knew they were worth the wait. They were absolutely giant and looked positively ripe. They'd be perfect.

  Behind the booth were four men, all surprisingly good looking. One in particular was stunningly handsome. He looked to be about my age, in his mid to late twenties, and he had his head buried in a piece of paper but not turned down so low that I couldn’t see his perfect facial bone structure.

  Now, I may not be looking for any serious relationships but that didn’t mean I couldn’t flirt with a hot guy when I saw him. I felt drawn to him, he was absolutely intriguing to me. So I made sure to talk to him specifically after I picked out some tomatoes.

  “Uh… I’m sorry, are you alright, or—” I began to ask, but one of the other men interrupted me.

  “He’s fine, and yes, it will be five dollars.”

  “Great,” I smiled as I handed him the money, trying to hide my disappointment that the cute guy hadn't answered me.. “Have a great day.”

  “You, too,” he answered.

  It was weird, I never usually got too interested in guys I saw, even when they were really good looking, but this guy had really interested me. Like, I actually felt disappointment that he hadn’t answered me. I didn’t even know the guy… But he just seemed so intensely interesting.

  But I kept walking, trying to push the incredibly handsome man out of my mind. But after about thirty seconds, I heard someone call out from behind me.

  “Hey, hey!” He yelled. I looked around to find the cute guy was about to catch up with me. Seriously? He’s running across the farmer’s market for me now when he couldn’t even answer me a moment ago.

  “Yes?” I asked him. I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but it wasn’t what the said next.

  “What’s your name?” He nearly blurted.

  I couldn't help but laugh. I understood now, he was nervous. He was interested in me too and anxious about showing it. It was actually pretty cute.

  “Lyle, what’s yours?” I asked him.

  “Cecil,” he answered.

  I smiled at him flirtatiously. “Well, Cecil, did you really run all the way over here just to ask my name? Or are you going to gather the courage to ask for my number, too?” I teased him, hoping it would calm his nerves if I took the lead. And I didn’t mind taking the lead, I often did when flirting with a man. I had always been bold.

  I was feeling a little less bold than normal, though. I actually could sense myself getting a little nervous. I actually cared about his response.

  But, to my relief, he answered: “I’d love your number.”

  I tried to keep myself from grinning at this response as I pulled an old business card from my wallet.

  “This is no longer where I work, but my cell number is the same. Give me a call sometime. I’d love to see if you could also get the courage to ask me out.”

  “Me too,” he answered as he began to walk behind me.

  I wanted so badly to look back and watch him walk away but I kept myself from doing so. I didn’t want to look too desperate or anything. I really wanted to leave a good impression.

  I don’t know why he was having such a strong affect on me but, honestly, I didn’t care. It was fun to be able to think of someone who actually entices me…

  And, man, did I think of him… The entire rest of my night was filed with fantasies where I thought about him calling me and going on a first date.

  God, I really hoped he’d call.

  3

  Cecil

  My first outing in the human world was nothing short of thrilling. It was amazing, how big the human world felt.

  This whole farmers’ market was like five times the size of our town square market. And it was not just vegetables and fruits being sold, or just clothing and crafts, they had everything. They had candy, toys for children, electronics. I had learned about every product that they were selling from my books, but it was still so strange to actually see it in person. Some things were just as I’d imagined, but other things were completely different. But it was all fascinating.

  As I sat at our produce booth with the other export members, I could not keep the smile off my face. Which was nice, because I hadn’t smiled much in the last couple of weeks.

  Sam was still very mad that I’d taken this job, and he did not bother to hide it even a little bit. He either argued with me or gave me the silent treatment. I’d say that it felt like our relationship was starting to deteriorate, but that hardly seemed possible. We were in it for life.

  Which made things even more depressin
g. Was this my life now? Just silence and him being angry at me because I couldn’t be as good of a mate as he wanted me to be? As good of a mate as all the other mates in our village?

  Well, he didn’t exactly measure up, either, so it was hardly fair.

  But now that I was actually here at one of the human farmers’ markets, all the arguing and the anger felt completely worth it. I’d known it would be. I’d known how badly I wanted this. And it was as amazing as I’d dreamt.

  I loved watching all the people at all the booths, but my favorite thing was when a human came up to buy some of our produce. There were only small interactions between us. They’d say hello, ask for a price, ask if we had certain vegetable varieties, ask if it was ‘organic.’ That word I actually hadn’t known at first. It hadn’t come up in my reading, but I answered yes. Apparently, that was the right answer. It made the human woman who was asking happy, anyway.

  I learned later it wasn't untrue. When I’d asked one of the other export members, he’d explained that it meant there were no chemicals sprayed on the vegetables.

  “Humans spray chemicals on their vegetables?!” I asked in shock.

  “Yep,” but he didn't explain further, and I didn't ask.

  The rest of the export team was clearly not as excited by all of this as me, and they made their annoyance clear. I get it, I was the weird fascinated new guy. But I still couldn’t contain my excitement. This was, by far, the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me.

  “Can I get up and walk around?’ I had asked another export member, Johnathon.

  Because the farmers’ market was so big, there were plenty of booths and human goods that I was not able to see. I wanted to take it all in.

  “Absolutely not!” he said seriously.

  “Okay, I just—”