The Mating Rules

Lauren POV

I check my phone and g***n, I’ve slept through the whole of the afternoon and evening, and it’s now five o’clock in the morning. I didn’t even get lunch or dinner!

As if it agrees with me, my stomach growls loudly, letting me know just how it feels about missing meals.

I throw off the blanket that I drew over myself at some point in the night and climb to my feet, heading into my bathroom and turning on the shower before stripping out of yesterday’s clothes and throwing them into the hamper.

Testing the water with my hand, I step underneath the warm stream and have the first decent wash in what feels like forever.

I spend a good ten minutes shampooing my hair, enjoying the feel of each strand getting cleaner before rinsing and conditioning. Next, I shave my legs and armpits, I’m a wolf, but I prefer to only have hair when I shift!

Finally, I squeeze a generous amount of body wash onto my sponge and scrub my body, letting out a m**n of pleasure as I rub my skin clean. I don’t care what anyone says, washing after being denied a shower for a week is one of the best feelings in the world.

Once clean, I shut off the water and climb out, grabbing a towel off the rail and using it to dry my body before wrapping it around my hair to keep it from dripping down my back.

Searching through the bottles that line the shelf above my sink, I find some moisturizer, flipping the lid, I sniff the vanilla scent before using it on my skin. OK, I like vanilla smells, good to know.

Once dressed, I head out of my room intent on finding food, thankfully I still remember where the dining room is and I walk down the corridor with confidence.

As I pass one door, it opens, and a tall warrior with black hair steps out, a small sneer gracing her lips.

‘Lauren’ she greets me, ‘I heard that you were released from the clinic, it must have been quite an injury for someone of your . . ‘ she eyes me up and down, ‘rank to be kept in so long.’

I have no idea who this she wolf is, but I can already tell that I don’t like her and from her demeanor, the feeling is mutual.

‘the doctor was just being cautious’ I reply, keeping my tone friendly, ‘now excuse me, but I’m pretty hungry so I need to go.’

I see the raven haired woman’s wheels turning as she studies me, ‘so it is true’ she murmurs.

‘What is?’ I ask defensively.

The she wolf smiles widely, ‘you don’t know who I am do you?’

I shrug, ‘nope, sorry’ I reply, ‘but don’t feel bad, so far I’ve only recognised three people so it’s not personal.’

The other woman nods thoughtfully before smiling brightly and holding out her hand toward me.

‘Well let me introduce myself’ she says warmly, ‘I’m Ellie . . I’m Tyler’s girlfriend.’

I had reached out automatically to shake her hand, but her words throw my mind into a spiral. Does Tyler have a girlfriend? He never mentioned it when he came to visit me in the clinic, surely that would be something he’d want me to know if I’m his best friend. Though I assume I did know before, so maybe he just didn’t think about needing to remind me.

I force myself to slide my palm into the other she wolf, both of us gripping the other slightly harder than necessary.

‘Well it’s nice to meet you . . again I suppose it is’ I respond weakly.

Ellie nods, holding onto me, ‘you know, I’m so glad that you are up and about again Lauren’ she croons, her eyes flashing with a tinge of anger. ‘Poor Tyler has been so worried, it’s taken everything I have to . . . distract him from his pain each night.’

A growl tries to crawl up my throat, but I swallow it back down, plastering on a smile.

‘Well, at least he had you to lean on’ I grit out with fake warmth.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

‘That’s what he said’ Ellie sighs, watching me closely, ‘you know, he didn’t leave the clinic for the first three days that you were there, couldn’t bear to leave you there alone. He’s such a great guy, so dedicated to those he cares for, some might even say he’s too dedicated sometimes.’

I frown, pulling my hand from hers and crossing my arms over my chest protectively, ‘what does that mean?’ I demand.

The she wolf waves a hand airily, ‘he was there for three days without a break Lauren’ she replies, ‘as in he didn’t come back to the pack house at all, not to sleep, not to eat, he was living off whatever he could get from the vending machine and sleeping upright in a chair in the waiting room.’ Ellie shakes her head sadly, ‘it wasn’t good for him, you know? He’s a warrior, he protects us, he needs his sleep and to eat properly. Then when you woke up, he’d go to work, then visit with you, and only come back to our . . uh I mean his room late at night.’

She flips her hair over her shoulder, giving me a compassionate look, ‘I’m sure you didn’t mean to, and Tyler would never say anything to you, but, your little injury? It put so much pressure on my Ty. Not just him in fact, on both of us, I’m sure you can understand that it was hard to have my boyfriend running around after another she wolf, especially as we’re just waiting for the full moon, next week too, you know, make it official.’

Her smile makes me feel ill and I swallow down the bile rising up my throat, the anger and guilt gnawing at me. Did I cause a rift between Tyler and his possible Mate? I assume if they are just waiting for the full moon, they must already be feeling the beginning of the sparks, and have the desire to be close to each other.

Did he push her aside just because I was ill? Part of me likes the thought that I was that important to him, but the other part feels terrible that I could be causing problems between my supposed best friend and the person who is destined for him.

As if she can see the concern in my eyes, Ellie twists my heart harder, ‘he felt so guilty about what happened, and his conscious couldn’t allow him to give himself even the basic care while you were in the clinic.’

My head is starting to hurt as I try to comprehend what the woman in front of me is saying, ‘why would he feel guilty, it was an accident’ I mutter to myself in confusion, rubbing my temple to try and stave off the headache that’s building.

Ellie’s hand flies to her mouth, covering her lips as her eyes widen, ‘Oh, OH!’ she gasps, ‘I thought you . . I mean, yes, that’s right, it was a complete accident what happened, absolutely.’

She glances at the watch on her wrist before giving me a quick strained smile, ‘I really have to go, I have patrol! But I’m really glad that you are OK Lauren, Ty and I prayed to the Goddess each night after you woke up for your recovery.’

Not waiting for my reply, the she wolf turns away from me, locking her door quickly before jogging down the corridor and around the corner toward the stairs.

I stand in the middle of the hall for a few moments before slowly following the other woman, taking the stairs down to the main entrance and turning toward the dining room.

Once inside, I join the queue of people, smiling politely as stranger after stranger comes up to me, commenting about how glad they are that I’m OK.

Once I reach the front, I look over the array of food, frowning when I don’t remember what I like from the options.

Feeling the waiting wolves behind me, I quickly take a little of everything, piling it on my plate before heading toward the tables and sitting down.

Grabbing a knife and fork, I start with the sausage, cutting a small piece and nibbling it tentatively. The burst of flavour has me moaning in delight as I demolish the rest of the slice and then try some bacon.

Soon I’ve found out that I love scrambled egg, mushrooms, omelette and sausage, Bacon is fine but not as amazing as the others. As I spear my fork into the grilled tomato, a voice murmurs behind me, ‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you.’

Looking up, I find Tyler beside me, a huge pile of food covering his plate as he watches me.

‘what?’ I ask, eyeing him as he sits down next to me and grabs his own cutlery.

‘I wouldn’t eat the tomato’ he replies, chuckling.

I glance from the tomato back to the warrior and then at my plate again before slowly cutting a slice and lifting it toward my mouth.

‘I mean it, don’t do it’ Tyler repeats, placing his knife and fork beside his plate and leaning back in his chair, clearly amused by something.

‘I’ve liked everything else’ I mutter, Ellie’s words still swirling around my head making me feel stubborn.

‘The warrior shrugs, ‘OK, but don’t say I didn’t warn you’ he replies evenly.

I stick my tongue out, licking the edge of the piece on my fork, but I can’t taste anything. Deciding to just go for it, I shove the whole of the tomato slice into my mouth, biting down and chewing for a second before I grab a napkin and spit it out.

‘Ugh! That is gross, what the hell? People eat that?’ I growl, picking up my glass and pouring water into it quickly so I can gulp it down and wash away the vile taste in my mouth.

Beside me Tyler is roaring with laughter, his whole body shaking as tears start to run down his face.

‘I did tell you’ he gasps, ‘you should have listened when I warned you. You hate tomato, you won’t even eat tomato sauce, never liked it, not even when we were kids, only kid at birthday parties to have fries with mayonnaise instead.’

As his laughter dies, he deftly flicks the rest of the tomato from my plate over to his, spearing it with his fork and shoving it into his mouth.

‘I can’t believe you ate that’ I grumble in disgust.

Tyler shrugs, ‘I always eat your tomato when we get burgers’ he replies, ‘and you always eat my gherkins, that’s why we are such great friends. I like the things you don’t and you like the things I don’t, we complement each other.’

His gaze holds mine, staring at me intently as heat rises up my skin, unable to understand the look that crosses my best friend’s face but also powerless to look away from him.