So this chapter was actually not what I had originally planned. I was going to go straight into the compromise for the...fixing thing, but I realized that before that happens Sonic and Amy need a little development in their relationship. Up until now their relationship has been very childish. It will stay that way but mating is very serious in their society (almost like marriage) so I wanted to create that sense of mature yet fun love that I see them having.

Anyways, I know you guys will be anxious to see what tortures Lionel has come up with as a compromise but you'll have to wait just a little longer. I hope you like the chapter.

Step 8: Love Him

People love their pets. Need I say more? I know a lot of people who consider their pet to be family. That's normal. I have seen extreme cases, though. There's actually a movie set in a pre-apocalyptic world where a woman dies to save her chihuahua. That, my friends, is devotion.

Sonic hissed a breath in through his teeth as I traced the damp cloth on his cut.

We were sitting in the tub where I had run a nice hot bath. I sat, straddling my mate as I rubbed at his wound. I fretted over it as Sonic leaned his head back, groaning and growling from the sting.

"Well, at least you won," I laughed half-heartidly.

Sonic smiled a little and raised his head back up, looking me in the eye as I ceased my dabbing on his scratch.

"Shadow won't count that as a win," he told me. "Winning would mean I had killed him."

I kept my mouth shut, sensing that Sonic meant what he said. I had always known that real fights with Wildlings were to the death yet I couldn't grasp the concept of my sweet Sonic killing or worse, being killed.

I could feel the blood drain from my cheeks, making my face go ashen. Sonic reached out a bare hand, placing a palm on my muzzle.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I'll shut up."

I shrugged it off and fixed my eyes back on his wound. It was looking better now. It wasn't bleeding at all anymore but the fur hiding the scratch was covered in a thick, crusty coat of dirt. I had to get it out to make sure he it wouldn't get infected. The only issue was that his skin beneath was still pink and sore. How could I go about putting him through as little pain as possible?

"Tell me a story, Sonic," I said, giving him a break from the rubbing and looking him in the eye.

Sonic cocked his head. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Maybe it will help distract you."

Sonic leaned back more on the tub's head rest and brushed a hand down the curves of my waist. He smiled, beginning to toy with the waist band of my bikini bottoms.

"There's always something else that could keep me distracted," he sighed.

I slapped his hand away. "No." I spoke plainly.

His ears pinned back and he sat up again. "Oh come on! Why do you hide from me? It's nothing I haven't already seen!"

I stayed quiet. I found the best way to react to a man wanting something a little more than I was prepared to give was silence.

I felt Sonic's gaze soften as he realized I just wasn't in the mood for this. He leaned back again, exposing his chest to the sting of my cloth once more.

"When I was little there was an old widow who lived out in the woods all by herself," Sonic started.

I looked at him oddly before he explained.

"You wanted a story, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"Anyways," he said, getting back into his train of thought. "This old lady noticed Shadow and me whenever we passed by her house. We never stole from her because she used to put plates of food and bowls of milk out for us to eat and drink. One day, when we went to get the food I got into a fight with Shadow-"

"Over what?"

He tried to remember before continuing. "Who knows? We were only five or six when this happened. It was probably stupid. But my God we went at it! The old lady must have been watching us from her window because she came running out. And do you know what she did?"

I shook my head.

Sonic was starting to laugh as he told the story. It made me happy that he found joy in his childhood despite being a lone Wildling with his brother.

"She picked me right up by the puppy tuff on the back of my neck, sat on her lawn chair, laid me down across her knee and gave me a spanking!"

"What?"

"That's right. A random old lady had the nerve to spank me. Shadow was so shocked he didn't even run away. When she was done with me he was next."

"Did you run then?" I asked.

"Nope, I just sat on the ground crying my eyes out. I had never been spanked before. I had never even been hit by anyone, other than Shadow. I was scared to death!" Sonic chuckled. "When she was done with Shadow she tried to explain to us why fighting was bad blah-blah-blah but we didn't really listen-we didn't speak English. But after that we just started sitting in front of her house every day, all day. I felt like she had this control over me. It was almost like the fact she had dominated me made me obliged to be near her. It was like the Alpha affect in a way. She seemed like a leader so we followed."

That poor old woman. It must have been a little creepy to see two strays like the brothers staring at her house all day.

"That was when she started inviting us inside. Once we were in the house she would just sit us down on her rug, bring us snacks and sit in the rocking chair above us. She had this block with papers in it. Shadow and I didn't really understand it. She would open it up, place it in he lap and look down at it. It got all her attention, attention we wanted. So we did what we did best. When she got up to go to the bathroom she came back and found us gnawing on it, trying to kill it. She was so angry. So after my second spanking she told us it was a book. She held it up and repeated the word until we were able to say it. 'Book' was the first thing I ever said. That's when she started reading aloud, teaching us to form words so we could speak and understand her. Sometimes she even sang us old folk songs without any words or lyrics. She just knew them off by heart. The folk songs were my favorite."

"She sounds like a very good woman," I told Sonic, still scrubbing away at the scratch.

He nodded. "She was rough around the edges but very sweet on the inside. When we learnt the word we started calling her Mama. Mama became our favorite person in the world. She treated us like children, not animals. She taught me literally everything I know about language and art and music. I loved her for it."

"Why didn't you stay with Mama?" I asked.

Sonic frowned. "She was very old, Amy. It was just...her time, I guess."

I bit my lip, realizing I had brought up a tough subject.

"You have to tell a story now," Sonic commanded.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because that's how it works. I tell one. You tell one. I tell one. You tell one. I tell one. You-"

I cut him off. "Okay, okay, I'll tell one." I stumbled around in my mind before realizing Sonic probably didn't know very many basic fairy tales. I should tell one of those. "Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had a beautiful baby daughter, Princess Aurora. The king and queen were having a party so they invited everyone in the kingdom, even the fairies, but the witch Maleficent was not invited. So she cursed the baby Princess Aurora so that on her eighteenth birthday she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel...and DIE!"

Sonic's ears pinned back and he whimpered. "She's scary," he whispered.

I giggled and stroked his quills. "It's just a story."

"Well it's a bad one. Who curses babies? That's just evil."

I rolled my eyes and continued the story. "The king was so scared for his daughter that he ordered all spinning wheels to be burned. Thinking there was no longer any danger the king relaxed and forgot about the threat."

"Bad idea, bad idea," Sonic muttered.

"Then, on Aurora's eighteenth birthday, she found an old woman in the tallest room of the tallest tower in the castle. The woman was using something Aurora had never seen before, a spinning wheel.

"'May I touch it?' She asked the old hag.

"'Certainly,' the hag responded.

"And so, Aurora placed her finger on the spindle and-"

"Died?" Sonic squeaked.

I shook my head. "No, for, you see, ever since Maleficent announced the princess's death the fairies of the land had been watching from afar. So when they saw that Aurora was in danger they cast a spell on her so she would not die but sleep until true love's kiss broke the spell.

"Mistaking her for dead, Maleficent left, her heart filled with the joys of vengeance. Years passed and the kingdom fell due to the loss of it's only heir. Everyone grew old, eventually passing on to the next worlds except Aurora. She slept for nearly a hundred years, still eighteen, for she was preserved by the fairies magic.

"Now during these a hundred years the fallen kingdom was taken over by stronger, more fearsome creatures than people."

"Who?" Sonic asked in wonder.

"Giant lizards that breathed fire," I explained. "Dragons. These dragons hoarded the remaining riches of the kingdoms castle jealously. A prince of a nearby land heard of these riches and wished to bring home gold for his family. The prince traveled there and killed the dragons, taking over the crumpling castle. When he went inside he found it was not gold they were guarding but a girl with golden hair. The prince thought Aurora was so lovely and sweet in her sleep that he kissed her. Then she woke up, they mated and lived happily ever after."

"That creep!" Sonic yelled.

"That's not creepy."

"So you're telling me if some guy you didn't know snuck into your room while you were sleeping and kissed you, you wouldn't be creeped out?" He made a very valid point.

"But it worked, meaning he was her true love," I argued.

"And I'm your true love," he pointed out. "So if I snuck into your house to steal things, before I knew you, found you sleeping and kissed you would you wake up and want to mate with me?"

"...probably not."

"My point exactly," he huffed.

"But," I pouted, trying to express why I believed so strongly that the ending was not 'creepy.' "It was romantic."

Sonic smiled a little. "Romantic?"

I nodded. "Isn't that how it's supposed to be?"

The truth was I had never believed in romance for myself but for others it was different. I loved stories of love and loyalty, even though I had once thought them fiction. Men were not that loyal and women were not that sweet. Yet here I was, with a man who is more loyal in the stories and I may not be sweet but he's sweet enough for both of us when he wants to be.

"Do you want romance?" Sonic asked.

He took the cloth from my hands and held them in his. I looked at the scratch. It was clean. Darn it! Just when I needed it as an excuse. I hated being made to feel warm and fuzzy. It made me weaker.

"Is that what you want? I can give you romance. I could bring you wild flowers. I could sweep you off your feet and take you to the most beautiful places you've ever seen, tucked away from the towns and cities."

Sonic purred the words in my ear as he leaned in closer. I crawled backwards, off his lap to the other side of the tub. He just followed.

"I could write you poems about love and devotion. I can't guarantee they'll be good but I'll try."

His hand reached up to cup my chin as his thumb traced my bottom lip.

"I could kiss you every morning when you wake and remind you how much I love before you go to sleep."

He came so close to me that our lips touched, not kissing but brushing together in an intoxicating way.

"I could give you real romance, if that's what you want. Not that creepy story crap."

I shattered the little space between us, tangling my fingers in his quills and pushing my lips on his. He responded immediately with his warm touch running up my curves. Purrs rose from the two of us. Was there anything more blissful than this? In a twisted world where nothing made sense being with Sonic was the only thing that felt right.

Sonic pulled away with a light-hearted chuckle.

"What?" I asked as he snickered.

"I can't believe you gave into the lovey-dovey words."

I smiled and leaned my forehead against his. "I gave into you, not the words."

Sonic's face turned suddenly hard, as if contemplating something. He closed his eyes, kissed me and then did the last thing I expected him to do. I felt his shoulder connect with my stomach as he rose up with me. He carried me now, fireman style. I felt like a sack of potatoes as I kicked and squealed. "What the Hell, Sonic? Put me down!"

He just stepped out of the tub and started walking off as though this was the most normal thing in the world.

"Where are you carrying me?" I questioned him, trying to slide out. It was no use. His arm was firm around my waist.

"To bed," he said with a smile in his voice.

I blushed. Oh, my. It seems I had awakened the giant. What was I thinking saying I was 'giving in?' You don't say that to a horny man in musk. It's bound to lead to this.

"Couldn't you not do this?" I pressed as we enter the bedroom.

Sonic threw me onto the bed, standing over me with his strong presence. I stayed calm. This wasn't exactly new after the night before. It wasn't like I didn't want the same thing as him either. Trust me, I did. But he wasn't going to get me from sheer force.

"Couldn't you ask nicely?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's easier to take."

I shook my head. "We both know you'd never just take when it comes to me so you might as well ask nicely."

He cleared his throat and mumbled an apology, getting on one knee as though I was the Queen sitting before him, ready to knight him.

"I don't know what came over me," he said in an uncharacteristically civil manner. "My dear, my lovely, my mate, may I please screw your brains out?"

"..."

"What? I said please."

I rolled my eyes. What a goof. Honestly, I fell for it. The charms of his sincere moments and his ability to crack a joke every now and again at the weirdest times kept me waiting for more. I loved him. I really did.

"Pucker up, Mister," I commanded, pulling him into a kiss. Then back we went, under the covers.

I looked more like a discarded chew toy than a lover. I groaned at my reflection. Sonic had really done a number on me. My quills were spread out wildly, my eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. My shoulders were covered in small marks where he had bit my delicate skin like a...what did I say before? Oh yes, chew toy. Not only that but he didn't even have the decency to stay in bed.

I turned to look at my empty piece of furniture. The covers were a twisted, stained mess. There were whit blotches where Sonic had...finished multiple, times. I'd have to clean that up now. Having a mate meant extra chores. Was it really with it?

I got up from the stool at my vanity mirror. I had finally made myself at least partially presentable. I traded my usual red dress for a knee length grey skirt and a white turtle neck. I couldn't have anyone seeing the bite marks on me.

I went out to the kitchen, looking through the house as I walked through the living room and hall to it. Sonic was nowhere to be seen. Talk about screw and run. I was just about to lose my cool when I found the usually empty vase on my kitchen table had been filled. Gorgeous wild flowers spilled over the brim of it, filling the room with beauty and a sweet aroma. I approached the flowers to find amongst them a sheet of paper. On it was the untidy scribbling of my beloved. It read:

'I know I promised you poetry but I figured if I really loved you I'd spare you the agony of reading that. I love you, Amy.

Forever yours, Sonic'

I smiled. To answer my question before, being mated was definitely worth it when my mate was him.

"I love you too," I muttered.

Man, I am such a suck.

Ding, dong. The doorbell went off as I growled under my breath. Did someone always have to show up when I'm having a moment. Then it dawned on me. Maybe it was Sonic. If it was I had to show him how much I loved those flowers. Or maybe it was...

My eyes widened when I realized what Hound had said the day before. He would come over today to discuss other options. My mate's tower of turn on (great! Now he's got me naming it!) could be in jeopardy. And just when I was learning to enjoy it too!

I took a breath and went to the door, praying to whoever up there would listen for this to go well.

So, not what you guys were expecting, I know, but the next chapter literally picks up right where this left off. You will soon know the...strange compromise that Lionel and Hound have concocted. It will be unusual, I can assure you of that.

Anyways, please review and share your thoughts. As always, thanks for reading! :)