Chapter 11
eleven
LIV
I met Jonah at the same place I always did. When I texted him to ask if he wanted to meet up for a run, I didn't mention the bargain, just to be safe. I didn't want Gwen to be there, in case I lost my shit fully when I had confirmation that he was my fated mate.
We ran in silence for a few minutes, because I wanted to get far enough from the villa that no one would accidentally overhear us.
At least I'd managed to stop imagining myself murdering all of the werewolves for a few days.
Might be about to start back up, though.
"I've thought about the bargain, and I'm willing to do it," I said.
Jonah stopped running, and I jogged in place as I did too.
The numbing cream I'd put on my feet was keeping me upright. Niall was going to be pissed that I was running again, if he found out.
"Thank you." Jonah's relief was palpable. "We're pretty desperate."
"Do you have a number for the debt, just so I have an idea?"
He nodded, and gave it to me.
The damage was worse than I'd thought, but I would figure it out.
When I offered him my hand, he hesitated.
Was he getting cold feet?
Please, don't back out.
"There's more," Jonah admitted.
"More than that?"
"The orchard hasn't been in the green for years, as far as income and expenses. Most of our trees haven't been producing well for at least a few decades, but Simon couldn't afford to replant."
My eyebrows lifted a little higher.
Was he about to ask what I thought he was about to ask?
"We need to take the whole thing down and start fresh, but we don't have time to wait for all of the trees to grow.
We should've been doing it in a cycle over the century we've been here.
The nymphs don't have anywhere near the power required to manage it.
They said the only person in the city who does is you. "
I stared at him for a long moment.
Things were clicking.
Too many things.
The way he'd maintained our friendship even though he hadn't seemed invested in it for multiple months.
The way Gwen didn't have problems with him running around with me all the time.
They'd been waiting to ask me about this bargain until they thought I might be receptive to it. Everyone in the city knew I didn't make bargains. They must've realized their best chance was by befriending me.
Gwen had even asked about it, before Jonah did.
I'd been played.
How had I not put that together, when I ran through those dying trees day after day?
"You want me to agree to turn a bunch of baby fruit trees into a whole new orchard? Are you insane? Do you know how much energy that will take? That's years' worth of growth for hundreds of thousands of trees."
"I know. I'm sorry. I feel bad for asking, but we're desperate."
"Are you even sure the new trees will provide the money you need?" I asked.
He shook his head reluctantly. "I was going to ask you to talk to Kat for me and Gwen, to see if she'd be willing to let us use part of her brand and expand it. Gwen had the idea a few years back."
I dragged a hand over the top of my head, stopping when I hit the base of my high ponytail.
"This isn't one bargain, it's multiple. I'd own your whole fucking soul.
You're going to have to get Gwen to cover some of this.
The debt is one thing, but the trees are something else entirely.
I'll bargain with you for the money and her for the trees, but I can't do it all.
I'm definitely not talking to Kat, either. You'll have to do that yourself."
"Gwen is willing to do whatever she has to. We want to make this work, to make this place mean something to the werewolves in the city."
"Fine." I let out a harsh breath. "It's going to be a huge favor, even split in half. I could probably ask for your firstborn child."
Jonah's expression grew stricken. "Will you?"
"Of course not. I'm not that unhinged."
Looking at him, I had to wonder if we had ever really been friends. Maybe before he became the Beta, but since then?
It was looking less likely by the moment.
If he was my fated mate, fuck that.
I wasn't mating with someone who would use me like this. Shitty magic be damned.
"I didn't think so." He held his hand out, but hesitated again. "You won't try to make me seal a mate bond like Callum did with Kat, right?"
"No. I'm in love with Niall." It was the only thing I felt completely certain of, at the moment. "I'll pay off your debt, but you'll owe me a favor in exchange."
Jonah held his hand out. "It's a deal."
I felt the power gather in the air before I took his hand, and felt the soul-sealing magic of a bargain roll through both of us.
Just a bargain.
Not a mate bond.
My knees grew weak with the mix of magic and pure, desperate relief.
Jonah's forehead creased as he grabbed my hand to hold me upright. "Easy, Zap."
"Don't call me that."
He blinked. "Okay. Sorry."
When he released my arm, I took a step back.
Away from him.
Not my mate.
He wasn't my mate.
"I'm going to finish my run," I said.
"Do you mind if I tap out and go tell Gwen?"
Please do.
"That's fine. The mark is on our left legs. It's probably pretty gnarly." I hadn't looked down, but I could feel my body adjusting to the large strip of his soul that I now owned.
Not as his mate.
"Thanks," he said.
"I'll need time to make the payment happen, obviously. A week or two should be enough."
"Whatever works. Fuck, Liv. Thank you." The genuine relief in his eyes was enough to make me feel just a tiny bit glad I'd agreed to hand over a ton of money for him.
"Don't thank me. We both know you only maintained this friendship so I'd agree to this."
"That's not the only reason," he protested, but I could see it in his eyes that I'd hit the nail on the head.
"You deserve Gwen," I said flatly.
His nostrils flared. "She's trying to make a difference."
"You can make a difference without being an asshole. Bye, Jonah."
I took off into the trees at a sprint, and he headed back to the villa.
I didn't give a damn about what I'd just discovered. The only thing that mattered to me was that he wasn't my mate.
He wasn't my mate.
Relieved tears streaked down my face, and I had the overwhelming urge to call Niall. I would've done it, too, if I hadn't known how much I already hurt him.
Not a soulmate mark.
I could almost hear what Niall would've said if I'd called him.
I told you he wasn't yours.
You're mine.
Why the fuck is he on your skin?
Niall's possessiveness would ensure that he absolutely despised knowing that I had a piece of Jonah's soul, even if Jonah wasn't my mate.
I slowed to a jog as my tears dried up, my lips stretching in a grin as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Callum.
"We were wrong. He's not my mate."
"Thank fuck," Callum muttered.
"I know, right?" I wiped my eyes with my hands, slowing my jog to a walk. "You don't even want to know what it's going to cost me."
"It's worth it. We'll figure it out." I heard him murmur the news to Kat, and heard the soft lull of music and voices on his end of the call. They must've been in one of her cafes.
My eyes burned again.
I could have what they had.
I could honestly, legitimately have that. A mate who wanted me. Someone to sit with me in a coffee shop and hold my hand when my magic was overwhelming, and do the thing with me when I was having a panic attack, and—
I inhaled deeply, cutting myself off right there.
Whoever my fated mate was, I couldn't expect him to be Niall.
Niall was his own person.
I still didn't know what I was going to do about him, but I didn't need to come up with a plan yet.
"Give me a second," Callum said, and the noise on his end of the call faded over a minute or so. "Sorry, I had to get out of the cafe and away from prying ears. Kat wants me to tell you congratulations, and that she thinks you should bargain with Niall."
"You really want to go there right now? You just spent the morning telling me not to get caught up in him again."
"I spent the morning warning you not to get attached to him again. If he's not your mate, I still don't think you should."
"My magic was a lot easier to deal with when we were together, even without a mate bond," I pointed out. "He could talk me out of my panic attacks from the beginning, and he never made me feel bad for being needy or annoying."
"I never got the feeling that he was annoyed," Callum said honestly. "You know I like him, but I think your priority should be setting yourself up for your fated mate, whoever they are. Bargaining with Niall is a good way to finally put that relationship to rest one way or another."
"I don't know if I can do that," I admitted.
"At Merrily's house, you said Niall's never felt your magic as an energy burst. None of us have experienced that side of it either, but Kat and I are both inclined to think that after five years of living with you, fighting with you, and fucking you, he should've felt your magic in every form.
It's not a reliable way to determine fated mates, as we've now established, but it might be something. "
"I'm not going to let myself get my hopes up," I said. "I just need to enjoy knowing that I'm not fated to Jonah and figure out the bargain I made with him. I'll try to decide what to do about Niall soon. Thanks. Bye."
We ended the call, and I sent Merrily and Darius a group text as I kept walking down the path.
Me
I'M NOT FATED TO JONAH
Merrily
Oh thank god
Darius
WOOOOO!
Guy's a snooze fest, glad we're not stuck with him forever
I didn't bother hiding my grin, and didn't feel bad for it. I was sure if Jonah was in my shoes, he would've been even more overjoyed that we weren't meant to be together. He was clearly in love with Gwen and focused on the villa.
Merrily
What do you owe him?
Me
Too much money
Darius
Worth it
If I were you, I'd move past the werewolf and make a bargain with the shapeshifter now
Merrily
I don't think that's a bad idea, actually
Darius
He's fucking hot, on top of being obsessed with you
I want him if you don't
Darius was trying to push me into jealousy. I knew he was.
It still took me a few seconds to get a grip on my raging possessiveness at Dare's blunt statement of attraction, but I managed.
Me
I hurt him too much when I ended things
Darius
The way he was eye fucking you for days said he's over it
Merrily
You won't know unless you ask
You must have something he wants badly enough to bargain for, after five years of living together
I did, actually. The paintings I'd hidden in the studio.
Giving them back would feel like a physical blow, but they technically did belong to him, and there was one he'd been offered a shitload of money for. Not that the offer was unique to him. He'd been extremely successful for a long time.
I should've returned the paintings years ago, or at least paid him for them, but I'd been feeling possessive and bitter and stubborn.
Me
Yeah
I'll think about it
Merrily sent a heart emoji, and Darius threw out a thumbs-up.
I put my earbuds in and smiled at the shitty fruit trees.
Life no longer looked quite as bleak.
When I made it back to my car, sweaty and actually pretty calm for once, Gwen was waiting for me.
I'd had time to think after I talked to my family, and that time made me realize something.
I didn't owe the werewolves another bargain.
"I'm so glad you're doing this," she gushed. "Thank you so much. I know it's going to be difficult for you, but—"
"I'm not growing you guys an entire orchard," I stated.
She blinked.
"I don't like making bargains, and I already bargained with Jonah. I'm not doing it again. I can agree without a bargain to regrow some of the trees in part of your orchard for the sake of the existing alliance between the fae and werewolves in the Cabinet. But I'm not involving magic," I added.
Gwen opened her mouth like she was going to disagree.
She must've seen the warning in my eyes, because after a pause, she changed gears quickly.
"A third of the orchard would be great. I'll send you the information.
If you could also include enough money to cover saplings for the rest of the trees in Jonah's deal, it would buy us time to get back on our feet and find some footing. We would really appreciate it."
"I can handle that." I held out a hand. "Allies?"
She took my hand. "Allies."
For once, I genuinely didn't want to kill her.
I could understand why Kat wasn't interested in becoming close to her again, though. I still couldn't believe they had played me so well.
But hey, at least Jonah wasn't my fated mate. That was worth getting played and growing some trees.