2. One night stand.

Effie's POV

He didn't let go of my wrist until we were past the last house at the edge of Hollowmoon, in the shadow of the old grain mill where no lantern light reached. Then he stopped, and so did I, and the silence between us was so loud I could hear my own pulse in my ears.

Jasper turned to face me fully making me blush, I had never been up close with a wolf of such a stature before. Then again any male wolf for that matter.

My hands twisted together in front of me, and I had to fight the urge to look at the ground the way I always did when someone's eyes lingered on me too long.

I know, what kind of grown ass woman my age acts like a school girl? Well, one that didn't have much interactions with anyone apart from her own parents.

"What is your name?" The alpha prince Jasper questioned.

"Effie," I answered, and my voice shook on the single syllable. "Effie Hartwell."

"Effie." He repeated. I braced myself for whatever came next, the way I always did, waiting for the look that said too old, too big, too much.

However, to my shock it didn't come. Jasper only nodded, like he was deep in thought away somewhere important, as his thumb brushed once along my cheekbone.

"Where's your home, Effie?" He asked, shocking me.

"Past the mill," I finally managed, barely above a whisper. "Past the bakery." I couldn't get another word out. My face was burning, and I stared at a point somewhere near his collar instead of his eyes.

I didn't say anything else, didn't dare to, and just stood there twisting my fingers until he reached out and gently loosened them from each other, holding my hand instead.

"Take me there," he said quietly.

I led the way with my heart in my throat, glancing back twice to make sure he was really following, half convinced I would turn around and find the night had already changed its mind about me.

He wasn't gentle in the way that promised nothing would happen, and he wasn't rough in the way I'd feared men like him might be. He walked close behind me the whole way, one hand resting lightly at the small of my back like he was afraid I might disappear if he let go.

My room was small and plain, nothing like whatever palace he was used to, and I stood just inside the door with my arms wrapped around myself, suddenly unsure what I was supposed to do next. He didn't seem to notice or mind the thin curtains or the narrow bed.

"You're shaking," he murmured, glancing up at me.

"I'm terrified," I admitted.

Something shifted in his face, soft and for a moment I thought he might tell me not to worry, that nothing would change but he didn't.

He only stepped before me and kissed me instead, slow and careful, like he was asking permission with every second that passed, and whatever fear I had left dissolved a little more with each place his hands settled on my hips, like he had nowhere else in the world he needed to be.

I will not pretend the rest of that night is anyone's business but ours. I will only say that for a few hours, in a small room in a small pack that had spent thirty-three years telling me I was too much of everything, a prince who didn't even know my name an hour earlier made me feel like I was exactly enough.

He fell asleep with his arm heavy across my waist, his face pressed into my hair, and I lay awake for a long time afterward, memorizing every detail of him, terrified to close my eyes in case the morning took it all away.

When I finally did drift off to sleep, sometime near dawn, I woke a few hours later to an empty bed, the sheets still warm on his side, his scent the only proof he'd ever been there at all.

Feeling my heart drop, I quickly got up and searched the house. My parents had already gone to work and there was no trace of Jasper in sight.

I quickly showered fearing the worst as I hastily got dressed and made my way outside in hopes that I found my mate. I ignored all the nasty look I was getting from everyone because I was already use to it.

I noticed everyone was gathering near the square and decided to make my way over there, finding my mate there.

The whole pack had gathered again, supposedly summoned by Alpha Reed for whatever was left of the business Jasper had actually come to Hollowmoon for. This I overhead from a few wolves talking.

I pushed to the edge of the crowd, my heart still full and stupid and hopeful, half expecting him to find my eyes the way he had the night before and soften.

He did find my eyes, however, his face went cold instead.

Then I saw as he called the attention of the entire pack.... as if they hadn't already been paying him keen attention, especially the girls here.

"I have an announcement to make." He spoke.

Suddenly, I watched as a tall model like figure stepped up towards Jasper, short-strawberry blonde like hair, skimpy red dress, red lip gloss and tall stilettos.

Everyone knew who that was. She was Ava Freemon. One of the werewolf councils daughter. A very powerful and flashy figure in the werewolf community.

Alpha Jasper's gaze moved over me once, slowly, from my face to the rest of me, the way a man looks at something he regrets picking up.

"There's a rumor being surfaced around that I've found my mate at Hollowmoon pack... your pack and that she goes by the name Effie Hartwell. Well I'm here to announce that this is false news."

Then Jasper's mouth curled, not into a smile, into something crueler.

"I reject such rumors. I'm royalty. I would rather die mateless," Jasper said, raising his voice so it carried to the very back, to the pillar where I had once tried to disappear, "than be bound to a fat omega."

I stood frozen, tears coming to my eyes as my parents rush to my side in order to comfort me. The only one's who truly cared for me.

Somewhere behind me, someone laughed, a short, disbelieving bark of a sound, and then another laugh joined it, and another, until the whole square was filled with waves of laughter.

"If anyone is heard spreading such rumors. They will be hanged." He ordered.

Marla was laughing so hard she had to grab her friend's arm to stay upright. Someone shouted something about the moon goddess making a joke, and someone else answered that maybe she'd simply run out of options. Alpha Jasper didn't look at me again.

I watched as he turned to Ava, kissing her lovingly. My wolf whimpering in pain at the sight of our mate who had just used us and disregarded us like a piece of trash the next day.

I finally found my legs and ran.

I don't remember the walk home. I remember my mother's arms around me in the doorway, and the sound of my own sobbing, and the laughter still ringing in my ears from the square, following me all the way to my bedroom door.

I sat on the edge of my bed, the same bed, the sheets still smelling like cedar and rain, and I made myself a promise through my tears. I would never let anyone make me a joke again.

Whatever Alpha Prince Jasper thought he'd thrown away, I was going to build a life he had no part in.