Chapter 4 - A Determination

JACOB

I couldn't stop my smile from forming on my lips. I was on my way back to the pack house after dropping Carlene off at her apartment. It was pretty quick, and I was so happy to be close to her. But I couldn't deny that I had already missed her. And her leaving scent was making it worse, though I loved the fact that she just sat in my car with me.

And so, I made a call through a screen on the dashboard connected to my mobile phone. Actually, I didn't use a mobile phone often because we preferred mind-linking to communicate among pack members. It was faster and more secure. But I clearly couldn't use that to Carlene, so I needed to get used to this thing now.

"Hello." She answered on the third ring.

"I miss you." I was being honest. Separating from her was like torture for me. I wanted to touch and taste her. She must be sweet and amazing, and just thinking of that made something in me harden. Fuck!

"Who is this?" I heard the confusion in her voice.

"It's Jake, your only mate. I'm wondering that I-"I didn't have a chance to finish my words because she cut off the call abruptly. I wasn't angry and instead giggled at her reaction.

James told me some information about her. Like where she lived and worked and a glimpse of her life, including her boyfriend. I gripped hard to steering wheel at the latter. I hated him and how he attached himself to my mate as a boyfriend. It had to be me!

Therefore, I planned to stick to her. Starting from now till she became mine. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long because I couldn't keep my sanity any longer.

--

I stirred my body to the left and then to the right. And a minute later, I changed. So I was lying while looking at the ceiling with my hand on my forehead. I couldn't close my eyes since her figure kept haunting me.

I let out a heavy sigh minutes later, realizing what I was doing was useless. I had to distract my mind from her, or I would be crazy thinking of her without being able to do something. And that thought brought me to the kitchen where I could get a wine to ease my mind, though I knew it wouldn't be a success as she had already grabbed all of me tightly without doing anything.

"Dad." I was surprised to see my father in the kitchen alone at midnight. I thought he left after the party. "Are you staying here tonight?" He was the former Alpha and used to live here. But since he stepped down and gave the title to me, he moved to a nearby cottage with my mother.

"I am." He then motioned me to sit with him. "How was your travel with her?"

"Not good. She was still annoyed about what I did to her." I answered him after taking a seat in front of him.

He laughed as if what I told him was a joke. "You shouldn't do that, more after finding out she's human. You know that they're different, right?"

"I know, but I couldn't help myself go after her. And the next thing I realized, she was already in my hand."

"The mate bond sometimes sucks, right?" He asked while pouring wine into an empty glass and then pushing it to me. It seemed like he was waiting for me coming from my frustrating effort at sleeping.

"I didn't know it would be this strong."

"It is. And it will get stronger day by day." He gave me a smile and then raised his glass.

I followed him by taking the offered glass, raising it, and then drinking its content in one gulp. I knew only wine couldn't do the job of erasing Carlene from my head. I needed something more robust, maybe a whisky. But I didn't have a choice when my father offered this to me. I felt it was going to be another deep talk.

"Son, I know you will pursue your mate no matter what to win her heart. I can see the determination in your eyes." He gave a pause while swirling his glass. "But have you known the meaning of having a human as a mate, especially since she's a future Luna?"

I didn't reply, but my mind was traveling on some lessons I had gotten about humans. Most of them were about their weakness compared to us. And to wrap out, humans couldn't shift, making them easy meat in our world. Adding to that, they would be more vulnerable to being mated to an Alpha. There was a lot of danger surrounding the Alpha, and the Alpha couldn't protect them only. There was a pack that would always come first.

And Carlene, my fated mate, stood in that place. She might be my weakness, but I still wanted her as my Luna.

And so I nodded my head in response to his question. "I have, and I still want her."

He was silent, but his green eyes stared at mine as if digging for the truth behind my answer. And I was not afraid to look him back because I had nothing to hide.

"Then you have to protect her at any cost."

I couldn't read his intention in his words. Was he trying to stop me, or was it a warning? But whatever it was, I would stand with my decision.

"I will. I won't let her in danger."

"And to acknowledge our differences. Don't push too hard on her and give her time to learn about our world."

A thin smile tugged on my lips. Now I understood where my father stood in this. He was protecting my mate. Like a father, before giving me permission to take his daughter. Ah, I was like that too when my little sister's mate came to claim her. And it freed me from a glimpse of thought that he opposed my mate.

"I will, Dad. I will give her as much as time she needs."

"Good."

Only then did the tense lessen. My father thrust the bottle to me to refill my glass.

"Why don't you sleep? It's already past midnight."

"The same question goes to you, Dad. What are you doing alone here? Where's Mom?"

"She's sleeping soundly."

"You should sleep too." Then I drank the wine in one gulp. Talking with him slightly relieved me from her. At least it wouldn't be too suffocating to miss her.

"I want to talk with you."

I let out a chuckle. "By sitting alone in the kitchen? What if I didn't come down?"

He just shrugged. "I was planning to knock on your door. But turned out my guess was right. You came down to look for this." He raised the bottle before pouring it into his glass.

"Actually, I was looking for something stronger."

"Why? You can't hold yourself from missing her?" He was looking at me meaningfully while raising his brows.

I rubbed my neck in awkward. I didn't know if it was normal or not to have such powerful feelings for my mate, though we had just met a few hours ago.

"I understand what you feel, son, because I feel that too to your mother, even after two decades together."

"Yeah, I can see that every time you look at Mom."

My father laughed heartily. He didn't seem the tough Alpha he used to be when around his family, especially Mom. And I finally knew why. "You'll soon be like that, son. Just prepare yourself when the day comes when she rules your world."

I chuckled at that. His words sounded scary but lovely at the same time. The idea that Carlene was my world was exciting. "Yeah, I can't wait and will definitely welcome that happily."