JASMINE
I led him into the living room where he sat down on the couch, pulling me down to sit next to him. He rubbed the top of my thighs, making me feel calmed and aroused by the feeling emitted from his hands. I was almost ready to forgive him. Finally, he spoke, "I'm sure Lucy must have told you most of what I came here to say. I'm sorry you had to hear about it from her first. I didn't know she'd tell you before I had the chance to."
I moved away from his touch and anger bubbled within me. I began to see a pattern. Luke was putting off every important decision and conversation, just burying his head in the sand. I nodded, deeply frustrated. This was not the first time it had slipped his mind to tell me something that affected my life!
"Jasmine, I'm so sorry," he closed his eyes. I could sense that he was remorseful. Then he opened his eyes again, looking at me for a response. I couldn't find the words to say anything, seething within. Aft
JASMINE A few minutes before 6, I pulled up next to Luke's 4Runner in the pack parking lot. I then made my way to the front door and rang the doorbell. Luke opened the door, stepping aside so I could walk in. As soon as he shut the door, he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "Thank you for coming, Jasmine. You look and smell so good." He then helped me slip out of my jacket, hanging it in the entry way closet. He took my hand and led me into the dining room where he had laid out dinner with two place settings. "I wish I could take the credit, but Connie's a much better cook than I am," he smiled, pulling out my chair for me. I sat down and he pushed me into the table. I looked at the food in front of us to see there was crisp salad, warm dinner rolls, and a savory beef roast surrounded by fingerling potatoes. When Luke carved into the roast, the juices dripped from the perfectly cooked beef. "This all looks and smells delicious!" I commented.
LUKE During my lunch break on Thursday, after I had spent the morning leading training classes at the pack elementary school, I made my weekly FaceTime call to my parents. Both of them were seated in front of my dad’s iPad staring back at me. “How are you doing, Luke?” my mom asked, leaning forward. “I’m good,” I replied, knowing I’d have to break the big news to them during this call, but I couldn’t help but stall, knowing it would be a huge shock. “How’s the situation with the security breaches? Did you catch the latest offenders yet?” my dad asked. “Not yet.” “How’s Jasmine? Any discussion of a wedding yet?” My mom winked and smiled at me. I cringed internally, knowing I’d have to tell them. “Jasmine’s fine. Actually, I have some news.” “Already?” My mom’s eyes widened. “It sounds like the two of you didn’t waste any time. How long have you been mates now again?” “Erm, well, actually, the news isn’t about Jasmine.” “Oh, what is it then, honey?” “It’s actually about Lucy.”
JASMINE I had signed up for my weekly two hours of sparring on Friday morning. I arrived early, sitting down on the bleachers while I waited for the group on the field to end their session. I sensed someone sit down next to me, Blake's scent alerting me to who it was. I turned to look at him, to see him smiling at me. "Well, hello there, Miss Alpha." "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused by his nickname for me. "You didn't tell me you come from a family of alphas. You're just full of surprises." "Oh yeah, I always forget about that. We don't really keep in touch with my mom's side of the family. How'd you find out?" "Luke told me." "Oh, I don't remember telling him that, but maybe Lucy told him." "Seems like a pretty big flex for you to keep this hidden from everyone." "It's not really a big deal. It's not like my dad's an alpha." "Still, it's pretty fucking hot. Now I know where you
JASMINE "Lucy?" I asked. He wouldn't make eye contact with me as he nodded. I let out a deep breath and sat down. "I'm sorry, Jasmine. But I have to be there for Lucy. I have to take responsibility. I can't just abandon her." "Yeah, I understand," I replied. As much as it hurt, I agreed with him that he should take responsibility. But I couldn't bring myself to look at him, the pain still raw. I wondered if I would ever get used to the whole situation. He wrapped his arms around me, which began to calm me, and asked, "Hey, do you want to get out of here?" I nodded. Luke paid for the food, then we returned our bowling shoes and went back to the car. As we were driving home, Luke said, "I just can't help but wish I could go back in time and tell seventeen-year-old me to have done things differently. I feel like I've really made a mess of everything. I'm really sorry, Jasmine. I'm really trying to do the right thing—and while I k
JASMINEThe next day, Saturday, I worked the early shift and got out of work at 1:30. It had dipped below freezing and snow flurries were falling from the sky as I walked to my car. As I walked past the sub shop toward where I was parked, I noticed two familiar faces inside. Luke and Lucy were seated across from each other, Luke's hands on top of Lucy's on the table between them. I stared, the two of them lost in their own world and completely oblivious to the fact that I was gawking at them through a huge window.A person looked up at me that was sitting directly in front of the window, clearly wondering why I was staring creepily into the restaurant. I turned away and continued walking. Once again, I began to wonder what it would be like to have this as the rest of my life—forever competing for the attention of Luke with my former best friend and mother of his first born.I drove home to an empty house. My parents had gone out. I went up
BLAKE I was in the middle of eating soup that Connie had made that day for lunch when I heard the mindlink come through. Jasmine. I felt all the hairs on my body stand up. The way she mindlinked me, it was pure, primal fear. I tried to force a link back to her, to try to get more information, but it was blocked. She must have been too busy concentrating on whatever scared her to accept the mindlink back. The fact she could mindlink me made it clear she was in her wolf form, a hint to her whereabouts. I instantly shot up and ran outside, mindlinking the seniors that were normally on duty at this hour, having almost memorized the schedule by now. “Did anyone see a young pack female wolf pass through the border recently?” I didn’t know how much time I’d have, so I ran outside and ripped the clothes off my body, heading toward the northern border, that being my best bet based on recent events. As I ran, I mindlinked Luke, “Northern border, now. Jasmine’s in trouble.” As I ran, Mike min
JASMINE I awoke on Sunday morning feeling much better than I had when I initially arrived at the clinic. The deep gashes that the wolves had put into my body were no longer straining with agony. I brushed my hand along one of the cuts to find it was just a scratch. I lifted my arm to examine myself and was pleased to find that my wounds were all well on their way to fully healing, just shallow red, dried, fully closed cuts. My leg was still sore when I moved it, but not to the extent it was the night before when the pain was excruciating. I still probably couldn’t walk today, but maybe tomorrow. A nurse knocked and subsequently swung the door open. Upon making eye contact with me, she exclaimed, “Ah, you’re awake now! Good! Let me bring your breakfast and medication in then.” She immediately disappeared and returned a few minutes later carrying a tray. She adjusted my bed so I was sitting up and set the tray on the bed so I could easily eat from it. Before she left, she said, “Your m
BLAKE I was alone in my office, seated at my desk, when my father barged in. Before he even spoke, I could tell he was in a bad mood. His face was red, eyebrows furrowed, and hands clenched in tight fists. I had come to recognize when my dad was going to blow up over the years, and I knew he wasn’t just coming in for a friendly chat. He stormed in, stopping in front of my desk, and banging his fists down on it. “What’s this I hear about trespassers being killed on the spot?” he bellowed. I sighed. “They technically weren’t trespassing.” “I don’t fucking care about technicalities. They were clearly the same assholes who have been casing this place for at least a week. And now we have no fucking clue what pack they’re from or what their motivation was. What was the first fucking thing I taught you about trespassers?” I shook my head. I knew I fucked up, and it was not surprising that my father was pissed. Everyone knew to interrogate first, kill later. I’d made a rookie mistake. It