Chapter 15 - Killian
Despite being comfortable with people and enjoying social gatherings, parties had never been my scene.
Jace and Renz were much more comfortable with the music and dancing and all that, while Owen tended to stick to the sidelines, and I did what I needed to keep my sanity, dignity, and public image intact.
The good news was that we were in neutral territory, a large ballroom space in a hotel, rather than anybody’s pack town.
It was a lovely space, and being in the city meant that we had a lot of options for getting out if we decided we didn’t want to stay.
It was also good that other packs hadn’t been invited—it was just Burgess and Tyrell, since the point of it was to show our pack how their pack had integrated their omegas.
With the music playing and the refreshments laid out on the table, the atmosphere was relaxed and festive. What I liked best was that, at a glance, it was impossible to tell their omegas from their higher-ranking orders.
“Oh, I love foraging,” Penny was gushing to Jasmine nearby. She bounced on her toes, her eyes bright as she clung to Jasmine’s hands. “There are all sorts of things that you can find! I’ll make a copy of my family foraging book if you send me a copy of your grandmother’s herb book.”
“If there are as many medicinal plants in the forest as you’ve mentioned, I can’t wait,” Jasmine replied, just as enthusiastically. “I’ve never enjoyed being in the forest that much, but with one of my alphas, it’s way better. I actually like being in the forest, as long as I’m not alone.”
“We should do a foraging camping trip, the eleven of us!” Penny bounced even more.
Mads was standing close by and cleared his throat then. “Eleven, Penny?”
She nodded. “Jasmine and her four alphas, the five of us, and the baby. I’m not going to go on an overnight trip and leave her behind! It’s hard enough going a few hours.”
“I’m not sure the baby is old enough to do a foraging trip,” Mads said carefully.
His gaze shot toward me, not suspicious, but wary. I could imagine that the other four alphas were especially protective of their daughter.
The ten of us had more or less spent the whole day together. Jasmine and Penny had gone over tons of notes, sharing documents, making theories. It had been strange, spending so much time away from town. It was all for the best, as we now had some more avenues to check out.
Penny had also shared with Jasmine the ‘hugging ritual’ that had worked to cleanse Burgess of the dark energy.
I didn’t fully understand how it was meant to work, but Jasmine had tried it out with the two omegas who had been possessed.
The result wasn’t what Penny had described.
There was no bright light, no sense of connection that came out of it.
They had, however, snapped out of the possession. We’d decided to keep them under observation, for their protection as well as a precaution against any further possession.
“By the way, recognize the dress?” Penny asked Jasmine. She spread her arms and spun in a circle.
“Isn’t that the same dress I helped you pick out last year?” Jasmine asked.
Penny nodded. “I had to have it let out a little, but yeah, it’s the same dress. I went back to that store again, but the staff wasn’t nearly as friendly without you there.”
Jasmine laughed. “Well, I was only working temporarily.”
“What job do you want to have?” I asked, curious. I’d assumed that she wouldn’t want to work, but now that I thought about it, I wouldn’t want to have nothing to do all day. Why would Jasmine be different?
“Actually, I have a bunch of town garden projects that I’m thinking of,” she admitted.
“There’s the community garden, and then there’s an old herb garden that my grandmother used to work on that’s been sadly neglected…
I need to get back to it…but there are so many empty places in town that could use flowers.
I haven’t made any sort of plans yet, but I’m hoping that once things calm down, I can really start to get things together. ”
Penny’s eyes lit up at this. “A community garden? Other than the crop fields, you mean?”
Jasmine nodded.
I smiled to myself, only to be distracted when a familiar woman approached.
Julie, one of my old flings. Things had been briefly quite serious with her, and I had even considered not becoming an alpha so I could be with her.
That had been years and years ago, though, and we’d had what I thought was a friendly breakup.
She was from Hammond, and I frowned at her as she came closer. What was she doing here?
“Killian, it’s been a while,” she said, angling herself ever so slightly behind me. It effectively put my back to Jasmine and hid Julie from her.
“Yes. It has been,” I answered guardedly. I couldn’t forget the ‘Alpha Fuckers’ on the night of the wedding. Renz had told us about how he’d found them picking on Jasmine. I’d been on my guard against them ever since, though they had fortunately not tried anything.
“I was wondering if you’d want to get coffee sometime. For old time’s sake,” she said, reaching to smooth her fingers over my lapel.
I pushed away her hand before she could touch me. “No, I don’t think so.”
Julie blinked once, surprised. “No?”
“I’m a married man,” I answered stiffly. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten what ‘getting coffee’ always meant. I thought I heard you had a baby. What happened to the father?”
Julie stepped back. “He died.”
I flinched. As disrespectful as it was for her to come on to me so close to my wife, a dead lover was still a hard thing. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yes. Well. I should go.” Julie’s tone was cold as she turned.
I rolled my shoulders and turned back to Jasmine.
While I was talking with Julie, Penny had taken to the dance floor with one of the alphas.
Jasmine had headed toward the nearest exit, the pinch of her shoulders speaking to the same sort of ‘run away when overwhelmed’ behavior she’d had at the start of this marriage.
What was making her run off now? I followed after her, glancing around the party once more.
I soon found what was making her so unhappy.
Each of the Tyrell alphas had been cornered by one of their previous lovers.
Clearly, she saw us all talking with the women and started to feel overwhelmed or perhaps insecure.
The others had caught sight of what was happening, too, and broke away from their women to come after us.
Frustration put a burr in my throat, even as I tried to understand what she was going through.
Our marriage was still pretty new, and our intimacy so far was limited to her heat, so looking at these other women with whom we used to be must be difficult.
But on the other hand, I just couldn’t understand it. We were married to her. Did she really have so little trust in us that seeing us talk with other women would have this effect?
The four of us left the party together and followed her into the lobby. She stopped near the hotel pool, the scent of chlorine strong in the air. She wrapped her arms around herself as she stared through the glass door into the pool area. It was empty.
“Jasmine,” I called, coming up close to her.
She turned and dodged from my arms as I tried to pull her into my embrace. “Sorry. Sorry, I need a moment here.”
I fell back a step, feeling hurt. “I understand.” Even though I didn’t, really. I pulled a hand through my hair and shook my head, the chains of my earrings tinkling lightly. “Actually, I don’t. I don’t understand. Everything was going fine, and then you suddenly ran away.”
“I didn’t run away, I just left for some air,” Jasmine answered defensively.
“Yes. And it was less than five minutes after you and Penny were having a grand time,” I argued. If this was jealousy, I needed her to say it out loud.
“What’s going on?” Renz asked.
Jasmine shook her head.
Owen stepped between us and pushed both Renz and me back a little. “Give her space.”
I reluctantly stepped back, my gaze not moving from her. Jasmine stared at the floor, then muttered, “I’m not anything like them.”
“Anything like who?” Jace pressed.
Jasmine lifted her head. “I saw all the women you were talking with. They’re all gorgeous and successful. They’re nothing like me.”
“And you’re basing that on…what, exactly?
” Owen asked. “The fact that they all had long, dark hair, like you? Or that they had curvy, plus-sized figures like you? And if we ignore that, their personalities…I don’t know about the other women, but Megan is a pediatrician who chose that career because she wanted to take care of people.
Kind of like how you take care of other omegas. ”
“Julie runs a food pantry,” I added. “Sort of like how you work the community garden.”
“Tina was just a one-night stand years ago. I didn’t even remember her name,” Renz admitted. “I was weirded out when she came to talk to me.”
“And I’d never met the woman I was talking to,” Jace said with a shrug. “I dated her sister for like, a week, but I’d never met her, exactly.”
Jasmine’s cheeks turned pink. “I see…so I was getting upset over nothing?”
I smiled at her. “I wouldn’t say nothing, but I also don’t think it’s something for you to worry about. If we were going to sleep around, we wouldn’t have waited this long.”
She shot me a dirty look but smiled softly.
We headed back into the party, and this time we all took turns dancing with her.
Several hours went by before I noticed some guy approaching her.
At the time, she and Penny had been talking in a corner, and the guy started talking with them.
Jealousy started to stir in my chest, and I headed over.
I reminded myself that it was just talking, that I didn’t need to interrupt.
Until I got close enough to hear what he was saying.
“I have a room upstairs. We could sneak away for a little bit, and nobody would be the wiser,” he told her.
“Please leave me alone,” Jasmine said flatly, then her eyes widened when she saw me.
I clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. This time, I had to remind myself not to punch him in the face. My wolf snarled blackly in my chest, and I found myself wanting to challenge him to a deathmatch. How dare he approach Jasmine like that?
“Leave,” I snarled at him.
The guy stumbled back, hands in the air.
Penny snorted into her drink and nudged Jasmine’s ribs. “See? It’s not about being insecure. Those women were making moves on your mates, and your wolf reacted. Only you left instead of scaring the shit out of them.”
She chuckled, and I blushed. I opened my mouth to explain, only to stop. Jace, Renz, and Owen had all gathered around, too.
Jasmine wrinkled her nose at Penny, but then smiled at us. “I’m starving. Let’s blow this party and go get some food.”
I was more than happy to agree.