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Chapter 33
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Wolfbane Chapter 34
JASMINE As soon as I entered my house, my parents rushed over to encompass me in hugs. I stayed strong and kept the tears at bay, and told them I wasn’t hungry after having eaten at my party. They still forced me to have birthday cake with them. I humored them, putting on a plastered smile as they sang Happy Birthday. I blew out the single candle my mom had placed on top, not bothering to even think of a wish, still devastated from the one I'd made earlier that day. I had to find the strength to act normal as I made strained conversation with them, wanting to be anywhere but there. This had to be the worst birthday I’d ever had. After I was finally excused from the table, I rushed up into my room and shut the door, so many emotions flooding me. My limbs were weak and strangled sobs kept forcing themselves out as I struggled to steady my aching heart. How did I end up in this situation? Succumbing to the dizziness from overthinking everything, I collapsed onto my bed. I stared up at
Wolfbane Chapter 35
JASMINE Before long, Blake appeared and sat down next to me. “I know I asked you to text me when you were ready to celebrate your birthday with me, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. Won’t lie though, if I knew I could celebrate with me and my body, I wouldn’t want to wait either.” “This is serious,” I replied. His eyes searched mine. “Tell me.” “I found my mate.” “You did? Why do you look so upset then? Where is he? And why are you with me instead of him right now?” “My mate doesn’t want me.” “I don’t believe that for a second. What kind of idiot wouldn’t want you?” I choked out, “My mate is Luke.” “Luke? Like my beta, Luke?” “Yes.” “Your mate’s my best friend and beta, Luke Hemming?” “Yes.” “Well, shit. That’s a plot twist.” He took a seat next to me, his shoulders slumping. “And you never realized he was your mate until today?” I looked into his eyes, and if I didn’t know better, he almost seemed sad, his brows furrowed and the corners of his eyes downturned. “He
Wolfbane Chapter 36
JASMINE The next day was Saturday, and I was scheduled for the late shift at the café. Checking the schedule and seeing that I was supposed to work with Lucy for several hours, unable to face her, I texted Valerie to tell her I was sick. I knew she’d be very concerned for a couple of reasons. For one, when adult werewolves got sick, they got really sick. There was no such thing as a small cold, since our wolf was capable of healing us. Only young werewolves who had yet to shift were capable of getting colds. In summary, she would likely assume that I had to be hospitalized. Second, I never called out from work, so she would definitely think I was hospitalized. But I couldn’t even bring myself to care enough to make a believable excuse. Of course, next thing I knew, I had a frantic text from Lucy that said, 'OMG! ARE YOU OK! YOU’RE SICK????' Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have made such a dramatic excuse. I replied, 'Too much birthday drinking haha. Late night.' It was still pretty dumb, bu
Wolfbane Chapter 37
JASMINE At five that evening, I told my parents that Madison had invited me over for dinner. My mom rolled her eyes but didn’t stop me as I left the house. I drove over to the packhouse and noted Luke’s silver Toyota 4Runner was the only car parked in the packhouse lot when I arrived. I took a few deep breaths, feeling a tightness in my chest as I approached the front door, not knowing what to expect. My hand was practically shaking as I rang the doorbell, but I did my best to hold myself together. Moments later Luke let me in, welcoming me with his enchanting scent. I inhaled deeply, having almost forgotten how amazing he smelled. My stomach fluttered, and I couldn’t help but smile widely, taking in his handsome face. He smiled back at me, showing off his perfect white teeth. He pulled me into a hug to greet me as sparks danced across my entire body, putting me instantly at ease. When he pulled away, he asked, “Can I give you a tour?” “It’s okay, I already had one,” I replied. “Fr
Wolfbane Chapter 38
JASMINE We took more sips of our wine and Luke topped up our glasses some more. He spoke again. “Look, Jasmine, I know I made a huge mistake four years ago. I should never have started such a serious relationship. To be fair, at the time I didn’t think it would ever get this serious. For years we told ourselves that we would just break up with each other if we were mated to others.” “That’s not true! At least not for Lucy. All I ever heard from her was how much she loves you and how you’re meant to be together and that you’re going to be chosen mates.” He shook his head. I could sense a feeling of deep regret. “Lucy’s very resolute. When she puts her mind to something, she won’t stop until she gets it. Once I found out we weren’t mates, I tried to encourage her to consider us ending things, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I eventually gave in. I was in too deep to fight it anyway. It’s hard to justify ending something tangible for something theoretical.” I sipped my wine in understand
Wolfbane Chapter 39
JASMINE Blake climbed into the driver’s seat. I looked over at him, watching his eyes scan my body. “Damn, you smell like a bar. How much booze did Luke give you?” he questioned as he started the car. “We shared three bottles of wine.” “It’s like he was trying to get you as drunk as possible so he could get in your pants.” “I don’t think so,” I groaned. “You sound like you were hoping he’d get in your pants.” “Mm,” I responded noncommittally. He pulled out of the packhouse lot and drove down the dark and quiet streets. “Are you sure you want to go home in that state? You’re really drunk right now and there’s no question that your parents will be able to smell it on you.” “Oh Goddess, my mom is going to claw me,” I moaned. “Claw you?” “She slapped me this morning because I told her I drank at the party lake last night. And she told me she’d use her claws next time. I am so screwed.” He burst out laughing. “You know, I did get an official complaint today that the lake wasn’t b
Wolfbane Chapter 40
JASMINE On Monday, after temple, I was once again working the late shift at the café. Reena had opened, so she left as soon as I walked in at ten o’clock. Just Valerie and I were working together, which was a relief. After everything that happened this past weekend, I was not ready to face Lucy yet. “So, major hangover on Saturday?” Valerie eyed me suspiciously when I walked in. “Yeah, major. I was out all night celebrating my birthday on Friday night.” “If you were Lucy, I’d maybe believe you. But even Lucy’s never called out hungover before.” “There’s a first time for everything!” I shrugged. “Hmm, ok. I’m going to pretend to believe you since you’ve never called out before and you’re one of my best employees. But don’t let it happen again.” After doing some cleaning, I pulled out my textbook to get some reading in before the lunch rush. But I found that I had trouble concentrating, rereading the same words over and over again. After a while, I closed my textbook, giving up.
Wolfbane Chapter 41
BLAKE Luke and I were in the packhouse office one morning, meeting with the pack accountant and office manager, when, suddenly, Luke and I received a mindlink from Mike, one of the high-ranking warriors on patrol. “Alpha, Beta, we found the scents of a stranger pack in the northern border. Could be a sign of casing since it’s not the scent of any neighboring packs.” I mindlinked Mike and Luke, “Thank you, Mike, we’ll be by your patrol station in an hour so we can discuss in more detail.” Being able to mindlink in human form was one surprisingly useful perk of being an alpha. “Ok, Alpha,” he replied. Luke looked at me. “Well, that sucks.” “Yes, yes it does,” I replied. We spent the next hour continuing our conversation about fund allocation. The accountant and office manager were both competent, having survived my father who would never have put up with anything less than, so the conversation didn’t take any longer than that. As soon as we were done, Luke and I headed outside and
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