Chapter 7 - Owen
“I’d say I can’t believe you would do this, but it’s just what I expected from you,” I grumbled as we headed back to the house. Jace had brought the lukewarm celebration to a close once people started asking after Jasmine and Renz.
Jasmine was quiet, her shoulders hunched inward.
Her dress, which I had ordered in a rush, was stained on the back from the forest. It was just the sort of disrespectful behavior I expected from her.
Why should she care about all the hard work we put into this when she could just run off and try to seduce Renz?
I expected this from him, too, but I was less concerned about him.
He did this sort of thing all the time, taking off and having fuck all consideration for the rest of us.
Jasmine merely played on that weakness to try to legitimize her behavior.
I had to nip this in the bud before she thought she could do whatever she wanted.
Just because the Goddess said we had to marry didn’t mean I was going to let an omega, and this omega in particular, have free rein.
“You do realize that this looks bad for us?” I continued as we got to the house.
We stepped inside, and Jasmine started for the stairs.
I strode forward and stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“No. You don’t just run away. This celebration was meant to put you in front of the pack and show them that you aren’t going to disrupt things.
Instead, you running off like that will only make the pack dislike you more. And now we have to clean up your mess.”
Jasmine didn’t look at me, falling back a step.
“Lay off,” Renz said as he stepped up next to her. “It was my idea. She was the one who said we should stay, and I convinced her to leave with me. You’re blowing things out of proportion.”
“If you’re worried about what it looks like for unity, we’ll just have to be seen with her in public more,” Killian said. “Since we’re married now, it will be better to spend time together and learn how to get along, anyway. We have a lot of stuff to move past if we’re going to make this work.”
I hated the way he said it, as though I didn’t want to make this work. Of course I wanted it to work! The Goddess gave us a command, and it was for the good of the pack. I didn’t want Jasmine to screw it up.
To screw us over, the way her grandmother…
“You will give a public apology,” I said, pointing at Jasmine.
“You’ll apologize to the pack and tell them that you were overwhelmed by the responsibility, and that you don’t understand why the Goddess would pick someone like you for this role.
If you’re humble enough, maybe they’ll overlook it all.
And you’re a good liar, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for you. ”
Jasmine let out a slow breath and lifted her eyes for the first time. They were hard, defiant, and it made my wolf growl low in my chest. Muscles tightened in my belly. I’d never seen her like that before. She always played the downcast omega to a T.
Was she about to show her true colors?
“May I go to bed now?” she asked flatly.
I hated the way she said it, as though I was being some unreasonable dictator for trying to keep the pack together. “You haven’t even admitted what you did!”
“I went for a walk through the forest with Renz.”
Jace stepped in, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey. We can talk about this more in the morning. She was with Renz, and you know that it’s like him to disappear.
Barely anyone noticed, and it’s not something that we need to make a big stink over.
If anyone asks, we just say she had a headache, and Renz brought her home. ”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So now we’re supposed to lie to the pack for her?”’
“If you don’t like it, we can discuss it more in the morning,” Jace said firmly. “It’s been a long day, we’re all tired, and continuing this discussion isn’t productive. We can set some time aside tomorrow to talk about your concerns, without Jasmine here.”
She remained stiff, her eyes flashing briefly to Jace. I couldn’t read her expression, but I thought she seemed pissed that he was suggesting that we talk about her when she wasn’t there.
There was something about her that was making them lose their heads. I nodded once. “Talking without her around to manipulate you three would be a good idea, after all.”
“How am I manipulating anyone?” Jasmine demanded.
I glared at her. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Renz nudged her side. “Want me to punch him for you?”
Jace and Killian both gave him unimpressed looks. I turned my glare straight on him. So, she claimed she wasn’t manipulating him, yet he was resorting to physical violence?
And of course, Jasmine smirked when he said it.
She looked at him with gooey eyes. No wonder he was turning on me when she looked at him like that!
Her face softened, her full, red lips curving into a smile.
Her dark hair caught shimmering highlights, and the dress…
the dress cupped her breasts so perfectly, the round tops of them so pillowy I’d bet they’d feel like clouds beneath my fingers.
“That won’t be necessary,” she said softly. “I just want to go to my room. I’m tired.”
At this, Jace and Killian both inserted themselves between us, opening up space for her to head up the stairs. I watched her go, my wolf making strange noises. When she’d disappeared, the other three all turned toward me.
“Owen—” Jace started.
“Have you three forgotten?” I snapped. “She is the enemy. She’s not someone we can trust! She’s an omega, and the worst of the lot. I can’t believe you’d take her side after everything.”
Renz snorted and shook his head. “You know, I’m not interested in having this conversation. I’m leaving. Maybe we can talk tomorrow—if you want to be civil.”
He walked away. The other two glanced at each other, but neither of them agreed or disagreed. Great. It seemed like I was on my own.
***
Over the next few days, I kept myself busy.
The others agreed that we needed to stick close to Jasmine and watch her, but I found myself making excuses whenever it was my turn.
They let me, which meant they didn’t trust me around her.
And though I didn’t trust her around them, I didn’t have much choice.
A year ago, the darkness that encroached on Burgess had possessed a bunch of their pack members, turning them violent.
We had started to see the signs that something like that was going to happen here.
The early stages were that a person would wander around, seemingly lost in a daze, and have no memory of when they came out.
The day after the wedding, we had no less than four such incidents and held them in the clinic. I checked back every day, watching for signs of the violence, but they were all placid and blank.
A week after the wedding, I came home to grab a few papers I’d forgotten to find Jasmine heading out. The other three were busy, so I told her to stay inside the house for the rest of the day. She hadn’t said anything, so I’d foolishly assumed that this time, she would obey.
She carried a basket on one arm and wore a backpack. Clearly, she had plans, and they didn’t include plans to stay put. What was she up to? Something that she didn’t want us to know about, clearly; otherwise she would have done it while one of the others was with her.
With a low growl, I shifted to wolf form to follow her. When I caught her in the act, the others would have no choice but to admit that I was right and we needed to keep a closer eye on her.
She strolled along the sidewalks, stopping every so often to look at a patch of weeds growing here or one of the flower features growing there.
Several times she reached into them, and I thought she was going to ruin the feature, but instead she tossed something away.
When I got to the spot, I found that it was small weeds that had been growing in them.
A while later, she stopped by the community gardens.
There, she set to work, working in them for over an hour.
Weeding, fertilizing, watering. When she was done with that, she harvested a bunch of the flowers and tied them with a ribbon to put in her basket.
Then she collected a bunch of herbs, which she wrapped in a cloth and stored in her pack.
After that, she headed out again. This time, she headed back to the trailer park she used to live in. I thought she was going to the trailer she’d been squatting in, but instead she went to another trailer. It wasn’t in great shape, either.
When she knocked on the door, a young woman answered. The woman’s face lit up with a smile, then she glanced around as though searching for danger. “Jasmine. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. How are the twins feeling?”
The young woman shook her head. “The fever broke last night. They’re still feeling miserable, and my boss has been on the phone all morning, telling me to be more responsible at work. I don’t suppose you could watch them for the afternoon?”
Jasmine shook her head. “I have…plans,” she said carefully. “But I’ve brought you some flowers, I thought they might cheer you up. I also have some mint and chamomile for tea.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry that I didn’t…” the woman trailed off, looking around again. It occurred to me that she was worried about what people might think, seeing her talking with Jasmine.
Was she another outcast? I vaguely recognized her. Was she the one who got pregnant last year with a man from another pack? If I recalled, he was a warrior who refused to take responsibility for the children.
“There’s one thing I can do for you, if you think it will help,” Jasmine said slowly. “I could talk to one of the alphas and ask him to intervene with your boss. They are concerned with pack welfare, even if some people fall through the cracks.”
My tail swished. She was saying it as though it were a mistake anyone could make. As though the woman shouldn’t be blaming us. Jasmine was acting as though she gave us grace. As though she wanted the pack, even the omegas, to continue to put their trust in us.
Was that what she really thought? Did she really not blame us for the state that the omegas lived in? It didn’t seem possible, especially given how much my family was known for being omega-haters, even before I became an alpha.
Memories came unbidden. The rants my father used to go on against omegas, the way he’d look at them when we were out in town. My mother died when I was young, but I remembered her speaking of omegas, too, complaining about them being allowed to live in town with the rest of us.
At least I wasn’t as bad as they were. Right? I didn’t hate omegas as much as my father used to.
“Would you like me to talk to them?” Jasmine asked again.
“If you don’t think it would be too much trouble…” The woman took the basket and sighed. “I better get back to the twins. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Jasmine started back, adjusting her pack again.
A heavy frown sat on her face. I watched her, uncertain now.
That had been a moment of kindness, trying to help someone else in a vulnerable situation.
I let her pass this time without following her, instead looking at the run-down trailers.
She was looking out for them, even when it was clear they were worried about being associated with her.
Why?