The Bet

Chapter 5

A week passed, and Louise and Tak hadn't spoken since that day in Louise's apartment. Louise hadn't reached out to Tak, and, in turn, he hadn't called. Truthfully, she had hit a nerve when she had snapped at him like she did. What she had said was true, and he had gone out of his way just to avoid her, but things were different since he was a werewolf and she was a banshee. Louise was his mate, and he went out of his way to avoid her because Louise was...special. Whether it was rejection that he feared, or if it was just that he couldn't stand to hurt her, he wasn't sure.

Tak was sitting in the recliner in the house he shared with his sisters and cousin, the TV on but he wasn't really paying attention to it. He was too wrapped up in his own head.

"I hear that you and the missus had a lovers' spat," Malia said, plopping down on the couch next to the chair. "You okay?"

"Look, Malia, I really don't want to be teased right now," Tak said. "It's bad enough that we're going home tomorrow and I have to suffer through a pack Thanksgiving dinner with her there."

"I'm not teasing, Der," Malia said softly. Tak could see the serious look on her face. "I know she's your mate."

Tak watched Malia for a moment, dumbfounded. After the moment passed, he finally said, "How do you know that?"

"I can tell. It's the way that Dad used to look at Mom when she was alive. The mate bond is pretty much just a really strong feeling. And, let me guess - she doesn't know that you feel that way. And you're being an i***t and not telling her, either."

"We've known Louise a long time," Tak said. "I can't jeopardize anything by just telling her."

"Tak, we both know that's bullshit," Malia said, and it reminded Tak why, even though he loved his younger cousin, he hated her sometimes. "You're not telling her because you're scared. We both know that you wouldn't be jeopardizing anything."

"It doesn't matter, Mia," Tak said, using the nickname she had grown up with. "Louise doesn't do relationships, remember? There's no way she'd date me. She doesn't date anyone."

There was a moment where Malia was silent, so Tak added, "Besides that, I've pretty much f****d everything up with her. She hates me now than ever."

"Look, Der," Malia said, watching him seriously for a moment. "I'm the very last person that should be giving you advice, because I just found my mate, and Liam and I haven't been together for very long, and I know practically next to nothing about love, but why don't you just be honest with her? Just tell Louise how you feel. Mom always told me that honesty was always the best policy."

Malia almost never brought up her mother, so Tak knew that she was at least trying. "Thanks for that advice, Mia," he said, sighing. "But I don't think it's going to work that way."

"I just want you to know that I think you should be honest with her. Everybody deserves the truth."

Not even five minutes after Malia got up, telling Tak that she had a date with Liam to get ready for, Tak's phone rang. It was Louise's ringtone, too, which Tak wasn't sure why she would even be calling him. She was pissed at him.

"What do you want?" Tak said, not even bothering to say hello. "You're mad at me, remember?"

"Yeah, I am. But I'm also f*****g horny as hell, so I would really appreciate it if you'd come over here and f**k me. Please," she added, sounding almost like an afterthought. Tak thought it over for a moment. "Sure," he said finally, not really sure if he was crazy for doing this, or if he should be doing this at all. "I'm on my way. Give me five minutes."

"You'd better hurry," Louise added. "If you take too long, I'm going to ride my dildo instead."

That gave Tak incentive to hurry a little faster. He got there in just under three minutes.

By the time Tak climbed through Louise's window, she was naked, on top of her comforter, three fingers inside of herself. She had her head thrown back, eyes closed, and was biting off a moan.

He took a minute to just admire the view. She was f*****g stunning, and he'd always thought so. There was just something about her, and Tak was pretty sure it wasn't the mating bond between the two of them. Louise was special - she was brilliant, and beautiful - the whole package, really. Tak sat on the windowsill, watching her, and almost fell out of the window when she spoke.

"Are you gonna sit there and be a voyeur, or are you gonna come and help me?" Louise asked him. Okay, yeah, they were doing this, he had decided, but they were gonna do it his way.

"I don't know," he said, just sitting on the windowsill. "How badly do you want me right now?"

Louise groaned, "I don't really have the patience to do this right now, Hale."

"You're the one who called me, Martin," Tak responded. "So if I'm gonna come over there and get you off, you've gotta give me a little incentive."

"f*****g me isn't incentive enough?" she asked incredulously.

"Nope," he said. "You've gotta give me something else to work with."

"God, Tak, egomaniac much?" she mumbled under her breath, but knew he'd be able to hear it. Tak wasn't giving in, though, so he just sat there and waited.

"Fine. I'm sorry I was such a b***h to you. You have to admit, though, in the past you've gone almost completely out of your way to ignore me. But since you left here last week, all I've been able to think about is your c**k. f*****g Christ, Tak, I want it in me. I need to feel your thick c**k filling me up. I don't care if it's my p***y or my mouth, I'll take anything right now. Please."

The way that Louise said please would have had Tak rock hard in seconds if he hadn't been there already. She sounded needy, full of desperation, and it made him want. Instead, he slowly got up off the windowsill, stripping off his Henley and said, "How bad do you want me, Louise?"

"So, so bad," Louise said, her voice thick with desperation. "I need to feel you inside of me. Your c**k fills me up so good, like nobody had ever been able to. You're so thick, so f*****g big, you feel so f*****g good inside of me, and I need it now. Please, Tak, give it to me."

"Who am I to keep something like that from you when you obviously want me so bad?" he asked, shedding the rest of his clothes. Tak knelt on the floor in front of the bed and looked at Louise, "I wanna eat you out, but first, I want you to tell me how badly you want it. Do you want it, Louise? Do you want me to eat you until you come?"

Louise just groaned, but nodded enthusiastically. Tak figured that would work well enough for an answer, so he spread her legs and attacked her clit with his tongue and teeth.

He really did enjoy giving head to her. She tasted as good as she smelled, and, even though Tak had always enjoyed giving oral, Louise was better than that. She was so very responsive and he loved the noises she made. It'd been almost a month since the start of their bet and Louise didn't really bite back her noises anymore; sure, sometimes she tried to be quiet, but Tak always pushed her to let them out. He f*****g loved it when she did.

As he f****d her with his tongue, Louise let out these delicious moans. Tak slid two fingers in her and sucked on her clit, and it wasn't long before Louise was screaming her release into the empty room.

"f**k, Tak, so f*****g good," Louise said, coming down from her high. Tak wondered if she realized she was as loud as she was. She looked at him, "Come up here with me."

Taking off his boxers, he threw them on the floor and got onto the bed. He lay down beside her and, grabbing a condom out of her nightstand, she rolled it onto him. She sank down on him quickly, loving the feeling of him inside of her. He filled her so well, he just felt f*****g amazing. Louise was beyond ready for him, and the pace she set was rough and fast. She grabbed onto his shoulders as she hoisted herself up and down on his c**k, and her noises were getting louder. Part of her was embarrassed about that - Louise wasn't normally that loud, and she knew she'd have to hear the bitching about it from Kira and Allison later - but the rest of her didn't give a single f**k. Tak made her feel just incredible and she loved being with him. He definitely was the best s*x she'd ever had, and he wasn't overly possessive like Aiden had been. Tak reached in-between them to rub at her clit, and she knew she wasn't going to last long. She was trying to hold off so they could come together, but that's when Tak sat up, readjusting them, and then whispered huskily in her ear, "C'mon, Louise, let go. I wanna feel you come around me."

When she finally went over the edge, her body trembled like it never had before. The o****m took her by surprise and she cried out. It was the most intense o****m she'd ever had. Tak held onto her until she could remain breathing normally.

"You gonna be okay?" He asked as she climbed off of him. She plopped down on her back on the bed and tried to get her heartbeat under control. It felt like it was going to leap right out of her chest.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm gonna be fine. Holy s**t, Tak, that was f*****g incredible. We've gotta do that again sometime."

"I'm game if you are," he said, "just as long as it isn't right now. I know I'm a werewolf, and I know my recovery time is excellent, but I need a break. That was just...God, Lyds."

"My sentiments exactly," Louise said, reaching down onto the floor to pick up a pair of sleep shorts and her tank top. Not bothering to get out of bed, she put the clothes on and then covered herself up with a blanket. "You can stay, leave, or whatever. Kira's playing Halo out in the living room with Allison, but you can probably hear that. She's been playing nonstop for almost two days. I need a f*****g nap. You can nap with me, if you promise not to cuddle me. I don't cuddle."

"So you've said," Tak said. "I could use a nap."

Tak lay next to Louise, telling himself that he was only going to close his eyes for five minutes, and when he opened them again, it was after seven. He had been asleep for almost four hours. He looked next to him, and Louise was still asleep. He got up as quietly as he could, put his clothes back on, and went out to see what Kira and Allison were doing.

"Look, Der," Kira said when she noticed him, "I'm all for this bet thing. I think that if you play your cards right, you might be able to get Louise to fall in love with you. But do you have to be so goddamned loud about the s*x? I mean, really? I don't want to hear that shit."

"I'd say I was sorry," Tak said after a moment, "but I'd be lying. It's a real turn on for me and I don't give two f***s about what you do and don't want to hear."

Allison snickered from her place on the couch, where she was streaming My Little Pony on Netflix.

My Little Pony, Ally, really?" Tak groaned. Then he sighed, "Whatever. I guess it's better than Halo."

"Hey, Halo f*****g rocks," Kira said to him. "But Ally kinda forbade me from playing it for a while since I was on a bender."

"Thirty six hours, Der," Allison said, groaning. "I couldn't take it anymore. So yeah, she's taking a break from her video game and I'm gonna sit here and not act my age while watching Pony. Don't front - I know that you watch this show sometimes, too."

Tak rolled his eyes, "Uh, yeah, have you met my sisters? Cora and Laura f*****g love that show and they rope me into watching it with them. I'd do anything for my family."

Allison just smiled.

"Are you guys leaving together tomorrow?" Tak asked after a moment of silence. "I mean, everybody's going home, right?"

"Isaac wants to stay, but he wouldn't do that to your parents," Allison said. "He knows how much the holidays mean to them."

Isaac had become somewhat of an adopted brother to Tak when Isaac was sixteen and Tak was eighteen. Isaac's father, who was an abusive douchebag and his only family, had died when Isaac was sixteen by a homicidal serial killing creature called a kanima. Mr. Lahey had been its first victim, and honestly, nobody was really even that sad when it happened. Seriously, he used to lock Isaac up in a freezer. A f*****g freezer, okay? After he died, Talia and William Hale kind of adopted Isaac. They didn't want to see him go into the system, and he was pack, so they gave him a place to live and supported him, and even gave him the option of being adopted by them, but he wanted to keep the Lahey name. As he told them before, his dad hadn't always been that way, and he was holding onto the good memories, even though they were far and few between.

"Well, he'd better show up there tomorrow," Tak said. "It'll break Mom's heart if Isaac doesn't show. Honestly, sometimes I think she likes Isaac better than the rest of us."

"It's because he's so goddamned cute," a voice said from behind him. He turned and saw Louise standing there. "Honestly, he's like an overgrown puppy or something."

Tak nodded.

"Where are you headed, Lyds?" Allison asked, and it took a moment before Tak realized that Louise was dressed in actual clothes.

"I'm gonna pick up a pizza," Louise said. "I have a craving."

"Let me come with you," Tak said after a moment, seeing an opportunity and jumping for it. Honestly, he just wanted to get Louise alone so he could talk to her. "I'd love to help."

"You can even pay for it," Louise said, but Tak just shrugged. The Martins may have been filthy f*****g rich, but the Hales weren't that far from them. They were extremely well off.

On the way to the pizza parlor, Tak looked over at Louise, "Look, I'm sorry about last week. I also hate you for making me say that. But you were right. I don't really know that much about you, because I never cared to learn. But I want to now. I want to be your friend, Louise."

Louise gave him a confused look, "Huh?"

"You're family to my family. Laura, Cora and Malia treat you like you're family; hell, most of the time, they treat you better than they treat me. Mom and Dad took care of you while your mom was in Eichen House. I was always just a self-righteous d**k who cared more about myself than anybody else, and I should've been nicer to you."

"Where is all this coming from?" Louise wondered aloud.

"It's not important. I just want you to know that I really am sorry, and especially since the pack is family, I don't want anything to weird you out over the break. That's it. You don't have to make a big deal out of it."

"Okay, Tak," Louise said, feeling a little confused. "Thanks, I guess."

-x-

"Something is happening," Louise said the next day, driving back to Beacon Hills, Stiles in the passenger's side front seat. "Tak's acting weird."

"How weird?" Stiles asked as he fiddled with the radio. He hadn't wanted to ride shotgun with Louise, he had wanted to bring his own blue Jeep, but it was in the shop right now. Considering that Jeep was older than Stiles, he really ought to to think about replacing it sometime soon, but he loved it too much to part with it. It had been his mom's, after all, and that sentimental value was a big deal to Stiles. Louise figured he'd probably keep it after it was just a paperweight; he'd probably force Cora to let him keep it in their garage. Louise understood a little bit, after all, seeing as though she had kept several of her dad's things after he died, but she just didn't see the point in Stiles trying so damn hard to keep that Jeep.

"He apologized to me last night, Stiles," Louise said, sighing. "He actually apologized to me about our stupid fight."

"What's new about that?" Stiles asked, changing the radio station for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. "Tak apologizes."

"He treats you guys differently than he treats me, alright?" Louise said, somewhat agitated. "He's always treated me differently."

"There's nothing I can really tell you, Lyds," Stiles said, deciding on a Top 40's station that was playing Taylor Swift at that moment. "But then again, it's not only Tak who treats you differently. You treat him differently, too."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Think about it, Lyds. You lived in the Hale house for almost two years, right?" She nodded, so Stiles continued. "In those two years, did you guys ever talk to each other? I mean, really talk to each other?"

"You know damn well we didn't," Louise said, frustrated. "You practically lived there, remember? You and Cora were practically inseparable back then."

"Exactly, so I know what I'm talking about. You guys avoided each other. Sure, Tak went out of his way to avoid you - I'm not refuting that point. He did do that, you're right. But you never went out of your way to talk to him, either."

"That's because Tak Hale was a bastard, okay? He never talked to me, he was cocky as f**k, and I would've just been wasting my time."

Stiles was silent, but Louise could tell by the look on his face that he was chewing his thoughts over in his head. So she decided to wait for him to actually speak. About two minutes later, when he did speak, he said, "Do you even like him, Lyds? I mean, as a friend?"

"Sure," she said, only she wasn't sure how true it was. "Sure, I like Tak."

"Tell me, why'd you take this bet?"

Louise sighed; she had asked herself that question several times in the last month. Finally, she answered, "He bet me his car, Stiles. That thing will be mine."

"I know that, you've told me that much before," Stiles said, watching Louise carefully. "But I don't think that's why."

"Okay, so he's f*****g hot, too. And don't even try to deny it, Stiles - I believe even the straightest of men would find Tak Hale hot. We know that woudn't be a problem for you, though, since we all know you're bi and have been forever."

"Yeah, you got me there," Stiles answered. "Tak is pretty hot. But other than that, did you have a reason for taking this bet?"

Louise shrugged, "I mean, he's trying to show me that anybody can fall in love, right? And I live for proving assholes like him wrong. There's nothing between the two of us. I mean, sure, if he wants to be friends, I can do that. I'm good at being friends, and I'm excellent at being f**k buddies. But dating - I don't do that, and everybody knows it."

"It's been a long f*****g time since Jackson broke your heart, Lyds," Stiles started, "and I know that the assholes after him helped a lot. But not everybody's like that. You're missing out on the good stuff."

"Look, Stiles, I love you, and I'm happy that you and Cora are in love and everything," Louise answered, "but I don't want that. I don't think that it's worth it, sticking my neck out for someone to be in love with when all I've done is get my heart crushed time after time. I tried to find my special somebody in high school - I tried three f*****g times, in case you've forgotten. I couldn't find the right one and I didn't want to keep feeling the heartbreak. What you have with Cora, what Scott and Kira, and even Allison and Isaac have, I'm just not destined for that. I'm okay with that. Why can't anybody else be?"

"We care about you, Lyds," Stiles said weakly. "That's why."

It was only a three hour drive from Berkeley to Beacon Hills, and by the time they got to the sheriff's house, Louise was dying to get out of that damn car. She walked through the front door behind Stiles and they saw their parents drinking coffee at the dining room table.

"Good to see you guys," John said, and Natalie just smiled at the two of them. Stiles and Louise had known for a while that their parents had been involved with one another - whether they would admit it or not, because they had told both Stiles and Louise that they were just friends, but neither Stiles nor Louise bought that for a single second. John and Natalie looked just as cozy as ever, and Louise bit back a smile.

After her father died, Louise wasn't sure that her mother would ever be happy again. And while Louise's parents weren't always happy, they had loved each other tremendously and that was all that had mattered. They meant a great deal to one another, and after her year and a half stay at Eichen House, Natalie didn't seem like she'd ever move on. But with John being not only the sheriff, but a nice guy, they got to know each other, especially considering Stiles and Louise were really close at that point. Both Louise and Stiles wanted nothing more than their parents to be happy. When Claudia Stilinski had died, nobody thought that the sheriff would move on at all. Believe it or not, this was progress.

Later that night, after Natalie and Louise had gone back home, her mother cornered her in the parlor. "I heard that you're spending an inordinate amount of time with Tak Hale."

Louise shrugged, "Where did you hear that?"

"Oh, you know, around," her mother said, trying to act coy. It didn't suit her. Natalie noticed Louise's unimpressed look, so she sighed, "I heard it from John, who heard it from Talia, who heard it from her daughter Laura. So, anything going on between the two of you?"

Louise shook her head. She couldn't exactly tell her mother the truth, so she just said, "We're just friends, Mom."

"Just friends?" her mother repeated. "I don't know, Louise, you guys have known each other for a long time."

"Don't, Mom," Louise said. Her mother looked at her, confused. "Tak and I are friends. It's actually a far cry from what we used to be, where we just tolerated each other's existence. He's an okay guy, I guess, but I'm not dating anyone right now, especially not Tak."

"You haven't dated anyone in a long time, Lyds," her mom was saying. "Don't think I haven't noticed. It's just that I'm your mother and I worry about you. I know that you worry about me, too, but we're all each other have. And I know you know that John and I are dating and...I guess what I'm saying is that you deserve better than what you're getting. You let everything with Jackson Whittemore get you down so much, and from what I hear, you and Tak see a lot of each other."

That's it, Louise thought to herself. Laura is officially dead. I'm gonna kill her.

"There's nothing going on between Tak and me, Mom," Louise said after a few moments of silence. "We're friends. It's nice to spend time with someone. Besides that, we're pack. It's what pack does for each other."

Natalie nodded, "Alright. Louise, I just worry about you."

Louise smiled, "I know, Mom, and I appreciate that. Look, I'm going out for a while. I'd like to go and have a chat with Laura."

"Alright, darling," Natalie said. "I'll see you later tonight."

"'kay," Louise said, grabbing her jacket. She was going to totally kill Laura Hale.