Jake
When I make it to Jasmine’s apartment and can’t smell her inside, I know something is wrong. She doesn’t leave often; I know that, and I don’t think this is a coincidence. Jasmine wouldn’t randomly decide to change her life over the past week and suddenly venture somewhere new.
No, she’s likely been researching ways to stay alive. And what did I do? Fuck. I should have been there for her, and I realize that now. I’ve made many mistakes in my life, and this takes the gold.
After talking to Marisole, I know what I can do to help Jasmine. She needs a spot on the Council for the demons, and if she lets me talk to Silas and bring him into this bargain, we can find a way to guarantee that. I hope.
Silas is one of the best people I know, and if I’m in trouble, he’ll do everything possible to help me. He’d do that for anyone in his pack. He’s the best alpha, and it just so happens that he’s basically a brother to me.
There will be some hiccups telling him about Jasmine, and I’ll be in the doghouse for hiding her from him, but I hope he’ll understand why I did it. It wasn’t because I don’t trust him; it was because I needed her to trust me.
This is something I’ll figure out with Jasmine when I see her, and right now that’s the most important thing. She can only be one place: the forest.
Fuck. She could be making a terrible decision right now, if my hunch is right. I know she didn’t figure out a way to resolve the missing piece of the bargain, because if she did, she’d be home. And she’s not fucking home. She’s could be…
No. She’s still alive. I know that. If she wasn’t, the bond between us would be dissolved, and my heart would be broken. This is what’s keeping me going. There’s a chance I can save her from making a huge mistake, so I need to get to her quickly and prove to her we can figure this out.
There will be rules. She’ll need to tell me everything.
There can’t be any secrets between us from this point on.
I can’t trust her. I’m putting my life, and so many others, in her hands, so I need to know exactly what she’s risking and what I’m risking, too.
I’m hoping that by stopping her from making a terrible decision, we can rid this realm of the demons’ chaos and find a way for her to survive.
I fear I have no choice but to shift. In my wolf form, I’ll have heightened senses. Not only will I be able to smell her better, but my wolf is quicker, so we can find her.
We have to find her. I refuse to live a day without her, especially knowing that I could have helped her if only I had tried.
If this is a terrible decision, only time will tell. But at least if we go up in flames, then I’ll be proud of us for trying.
I let my wolf take over and come to the front to shift. Then, I tell him to find her. We need to make it, and he understands. She’s our mate, which means she’s ours to protect.
Within minutes, I know she’s near. But there’s so much magic in this forest, it reeks of burnt wood and vanilla, which I now know to be demons. Fuck.
Come on, we must hurry.
My wolf understands and pushes harder. We pause in the clearing when she comes into view.
Standing in front of a golden door is Jasmine.
Her emotions aren’t hidden from us, so I feel everything.
Her sadness—her sorrow—is the greatest. It’s overwhelming and has my wolf on edge, ready to pounce and kill everything that’s causing her this pain.
We walk a few steps forward, and Jasmine turns to look our way. She must sense us in the forest, but it’s not until we cross the last row of trees that her eyes widen as she takes in our appearance.
I forget she hasn’t seen me in wolf form yet, but I’m not surprised she figures it out and yells toward us.
Her shadows fire toward me, and although my wolf tries to jump out of the way, he s unsuccessful.
A shadow nearly hits our front leg, and we growl, not angry, but understanding why she’s doing this.
My wolf understands the pain she’s in and also knows it’s because of us.
After she pulls back, we step toward her and are close enough that I feel like we’re in the clear until a demon comes through the door behind her.
My wolf bellows, but it’s not soon enough, because additional shadows wrap around Jasmine, and she screams. Her entire body is enveloped in black—a giant cloud of shadows—and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Go after her, I tell my wolf, begging his feet to move.
He snarls, then pounces toward the shadows at the same time Jasmine’s own ripple breaks the surrounding cloud.
She emerges, her hands pitch black, with shadows in the shape of two snakes swirling around her body. Over and over, they slither around her, protecting every part of her body like a shield.
My wolf ignores her, realizing before I can that she’s saved herself, and moves past to the demon behind her—the one snickering, happy with himself for getting the upper hand and surprising us. Unfortunately for him, he’s going to die.
And it’s because he’s full of ego that he doesn’t see my wolf dive for him, swiping across his gut with a claw. It’s deep, and blood spills everywhere.
The demon turns to me, his eyes two black pools, and when his gaze meets mine, my wolf drops to the ground. I’m getting ready to question what’s happening, to yell at him to get up, when my mind goes black.
What follows is a nightmare of sorts, of Jasmine dying in front of me and me being forced to watch. It renders like a loop, over and over. Her screams echo, and I’m stuck to the ground, unable to move and save her.
Regardless of what I try, I can’t escape. The nightmare continues, and I lose track of why I’m here, what I was trying to do, even though I try my best to stay grounded.
I lie on the ground, unable to get it to stop. I’m unable to cover my eyes, being forced to watch the woman I love die in front of me. This is torture, and I scream.
I scream until my lungs give out, begging whoever started this to stop. My body aches, and I worry this is permanent, that I’ll never be able to escape this hell.
My voice is nearly gone, my screams turned to sobs when it stops. The moonlight peeks through the clouds, and I find myself returning to my body and out of this dream world. Along with the change of scenery comes the return to where I am and why I was here to begin with.
Jasmine.
The demon.
And fuck, I’m no longer in wolf form.
My eyes slowly open to find that I shifted back at some point. My wolf is still at the forefront of my mind, but I’m back in my body. I’m lying on the ground, curled up like a small child, shivering and drenched with sweat.
A soft hand touches my shoulder, and I move to get away when Jasmine speaks. “Jake, it’s me.”
I turn my head slowly toward the voice to see Jasmine taking her jacket off to cover me with it. With it being late summer, the evenings are getting colder, and I wasn’t prepared to shift back.
“What happened?” I ask, trying to sit up. Jasmine holds me down, shaking her head.
“Wait. You’re hurt.”
“What happened?” I ask again.
Jasmine sighs and moves from crouching to sitting next to me.
“The magic I used alerted the Underworld that I was nearby, and my dad sent a demon to grab me. But I dealt with him.”
I nod.
“Can you walk?” Jasmine asks.
“I would hope so.”
Jasmine stands and reaches down to help me do the same. Once I’m standing on two feet, I nearly collapse again after putting pressure on my left foot. She dives under me, wrapping an arm around my waist to help hold me up.
“It’s not broken,” I say when I catch her glancing at my swollen ankle.
“This is now the third time you’ve hurt your ankle around me,” Jasmine says.
“Neither time was on purpose, you know,” I mumble.
“Mm, I’ll try to believe it wasn’t to get me to touch you.”
I scoff, and even though we both know it wasn’t on purpose, it has gotten her to touch me both times.
The first was when we met, the mate bond pulling us together.
The second was when I fought a demon alone.
The third is now, when she’s likely still very mad at me—even more so now that I ruined her plans.
We begin our walk back to her apartment in silence, and I know I need to speak first, but I’m having trouble knowing what to say.
How can I say sorry when there are so many things to apologize for?
Do I start by telling her the reasons I ran in the first place? It’s not the fact that she’s a princess of the Underworld that scared me. My feelings are what scared me more. There’s a wall between us, and I feel it, but I don’t know how to chip away at it.
I decide to start small.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hm?” Jasmine asks, stealing a glance my way. “Oh, you have nothing to be sorry about.” Her voice is soft, timid, defeated. I can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster she’s been through this last week with me leaving and her accepting her fate.
“I do, though.”
“Jake, I can’t.”
I furrow my brows and pull us to a stop. We’re nearly at her apartment, but this can’t wait.
“Can’t what? I’m here to explain everything.”
Jasmine shakes her head and lets go of me to take a step back. Her hands clasp together, and she fidgets as she keeps making distance between us. I lean against the closest tree to relieve the pressure on my leg until I can find ointment to quicken the healing.
“I’m going to make sure you’re okay, then I need to find another door.”
My jaw hangs open. “What? You can’t.”
She throws her arms out. “I can. I have to. You weren’t supposed to be here. I don’t need to be saved. I can’t be saved, Jake.” The more she talks, the more exasperated her tone gets.
“There’s a way.”
“There is. It was me, walking through that damn door.” She points to the right, then slumps forward, catching herself on her knees. “I’ve caused enough damage being here…”
I do my best to move toward her, reaching for her as she crumples to the ground.
I kneel in front of her. Her gaze is on the ground, her hair covering most of her face, but I can still see the tears fall onto her knees.
She moves her hands up and down her thighs, either for warmth or to give her body something else to focus on besides her emotions.
I place my hands on top of hers, gripping them tight to stop her from moving them.
She gasps and tries to fight me off her. She pulls her hands, which only makes me grip them tighter until her hands are white from the pressure.
“Stop fighting me,” I beg. “I won’t let you get yourself killed.”
Jasmine screams then, her shadows coming back to her hands, but they don’t scare me. I hold on tight as she continues to push me away, wanting to show her I’m not going anywhere.
“Jasmine. Stop.”
She screams once more, her voice breaking. But finally, she gives in, slumping forward and letting her head rest against my chest. I move both of my hands to her back and pull her closer as she sobs.
We could be here for five minutes or an hour. I’ll stay for as long as she needs to feel safe. If she wants me to carry her home, I’ll do that.
I’d burn the world for her.
She wouldn’t even have to ask.