Chapter 7

Elizabeth Summers

When I woke up this morning my room smelled faintly of Jasper. It was almost as though he had been in my room watching me while I was sleeping but that couldn’t be true. I had to be imagining it, at least that is what I tried to convince myself of as I got dressed for college. After all, the alternative was just strange. What possible reason would Jasper have to be in my room?

I didn’t have anything that he could want unless he wanted to see me and he usually only wanted to do that so he could bully me. No, I must have been imagining it, he usually tried to stay as far away from me as possible when we were both at home. Come to think about it, he was uncharacteristically kind to me last night, maybe he felt guilty about the fact that he almost killed me.

I heard some of the Omega’s talking yesterday, they said that Jasper and his dad had an argument after what happened to me the other day. Maybe I am being overly optimistic by making conclusions after one day but it looks as though his father’s words affected his attitude. Hopefully, this would be a permanent change and I could stop looking over my shoulder all the time.

Alpha and Luna Hartford were already seated at the table by the time I went down for breakfast but Jasper and his brother were nowhere in sight. That was nothing unusual, they normally woke up later than I did, and sometimes they didn’t even manage to make it down for breakfast before I had to leave for the day. I took my normal place at the table next to Luna Hartford and started to help myself to breakfast.

“Did anything interesting happen last night?” She asked. For a moment I thought she was talking to her husband but when I glanced up I realised they were both staring at me. What was that all about?

“Not really, I did some of my next assignment and then watched a couple of films.”

They nodded and smiled at me but they seemed to be disappointed by my answer. I guess I wasn’t exactly a normal teenager. I didn’t go out partying with my friends, I didn’t even date. I could see why they would be disappointed in me but it wasn’t my fault. None of the other werewolves wanted to invite me to their parties or make friends with me, and they certainly didn’t want to date me.

I was just about to try to alleviate some of their concerns by telling them about my sort-of date with Oliver tonight when Jasper walked into the room. He normally sat next to his dad but this morning he came over and sat beside me. His presence next to me made me feel uncomfortable, mostly because he had inclined his body towards me and I could feel his eyes burning into me. Had I done something wrong? He always made a big deal over the way I dressed but I made sure to dress conservatively today so I wouldn’t anger him.

“You look beautiful today Lizzy.” He nibbled his bottom lip lightly as he waited for my response.

“Thank-you.” He was making me nervous. He was looking at me intensely and if I didn’t know any better I would say there was lust in his eyes.

“Are you looking forward to my party tonight?”

Jasper was having a birthday party after his game today. Everyone from the pack was invited. The werewolf girls at college had been talking about it all week, they were all hoping that Jasper would recognise them as his mate and announce them as his Luna at the party. I didn’t see the point of being there. Nobody would talk to me, it would be like college except without my human friends to distract me from how much everyone in my pack hated me. It would end up being a depressing reminder of how much I didn’t fit into this pack.

I would say that I was looking forward to moving out of this pack but Jasper had already made his feelings about me leaving clear. I still needed to think of a way of dealing with that particular issue, but that was a problem for another day.

“I wasn’t going to go, I was just going to stay in my room and read,” I replied with a sigh.

“Don’t do that, the party wouldn’t be the same without you. Mom got you a beautiful dress and I was looking forward to seeing you in it.”

“I am not sure that I would be welcome.” I looked down at my plate, Luna Hartford didn’t like reminders of how other people in the pack treated me so I usually tried to hide the worst of it from her.

“Please come, for me.” He put his hand on top of mine. I could see him looking at me in my peripheral vision but I was too scared to meet his gaze. I couldn’t predict him anymore, if I looked at him I didn’t know if I would see him mocking me or smiling at me.

“OK, I will be there.”

How bad could it really be? I could go for a while, listen to Jasper’s dad give his speech and be there for the start of the party. I could then sneak out once nobody was paying attention to me anymore. I wouldn’t have to be there for more than an hour or two, I was sure of it.

“That is brilliant.” He said, the excitement was clear in his voice. Then he did the one thing I least expected for him. He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

I felt his warm lips press firmly against my skin for just a few seconds. Then he sat back in his seat and started eating breakfast as though nothing had happened. My eyes darted over to him, he was smiling as he put food onto his plate. He was acting as though his kissing me was so insignificant. That was my first-ever kiss and he was going to act as though nothing had even happened. I felt angry and ashamed.

It wasn’t a romantic kiss, it wasn’t even on my lips, and it was exactly the opposite of how I hoped my first kiss would be. I wanted to cry and I wasn’t even sure why. I wasn’t sure if it was because Jasper had taken one of my firsts without asking or because it seemed to mean so little to him. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised by that part, he had kissed most of the girls in our year already. He probably just wanted to add me to his list so he could collect the whole set.

I finished my breakfast in silence, stealing glances at Jasper whenever I thought he wasn’t looking. There was definitely something different about him today but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. As soon as I finished my second cup of coffee I slipped away from the table and set off for college. I had left my bike on campus the day I went to Oliver’s so I had no other choice than to walk even though it was more than an hour and a half away.

I only made it about a quarter of the way there before Jasper pulled up alongside me. He was driving his favourite car, his Ferrari. He didn’t normally drive this car to college because it was so flashy but I guess he didn’t mind the extra attention on his birthday.

“Get in.” He said as he leaned over and opened the passenger-side door for me.

“I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”

“You could never be in my way now, get in the car.”

He was smiling at me so I decided to do as he asked, mainly because I wanted this strange positive mood he was in to last as long as possible. I took off my backpack and got into the car next to him. Once I had fastened my seatbelt he turned the keys in the ignition and drove away.

“Why would you think that you would be in my way?”

“Women like this car, don’t they? I thought you were trying to get the attention of one of them.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time with them, I only want my mate. Her attention is all I need.” His smile was wider now and even his voice sounded happy.

“I can understand that.” I hoped that he met his mate today, maybe then he would continue to be happy and leave me in peace.

We pulled up in the main car park almost an hour before the first lesson was due to start. Being this early meant I couldn’t be sure that any of my friends would be here yet. It didn’t matter though, being alone in the art studio would be better than being in this car with Jasper. I leapt out of the car and started heading towards the building before he would have a chance to object. If I was alone at least I could work on the project which was due next week.

As I expected, the room was empty when I arrived, it was dark, silent, and just a little bit eerie. I left the door open and used the light flooding through it to find the light switch. It was unusual for me to be the first person here, I had never seen this room looking so creepy and ominous. Maybe I was a complete wimp but I hated how much like a horror movie this felt. So it was a relief when I flipped the switch and the room started to look normal.

I must have been distracted because I didn’t even realise Jasper had followed me here. I didn’t see him until I went back to close the door and almost closed it in his face. Seeing him standing there watching me made me shudder.

“Jasper,” I whispered.

He bit his lower lip and took a step towards me. I knew I should back away from him but I couldn’t seem to make my muscles move. I might have been OK if I hadn’t already been so anxious before I noticed him hiding in the shadows like a creep.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see where you always run away to.”

He was so close that I could feel his warm breath on me. I was terrified that he was going to lose his temper and hurt me but there was something about the way he was talking to me that was comforting.

His eyes drifted towards my lips. I felt my heart skip a beat, he couldn’t possibly be thinking what I thought he was thinking. Could he?