Chapter 30
Jasper had been weird all week. I tried pulling him aside and talking to him but this was the most standoffish I have ever seen him.
I was upset that he didn’t want to confide in me because it was quite obvious there was definitely something going on with him.
The day before he left for training he came back from his orders ranting and raving about needing to get laid and finding a girl pronto.
He ended up hooking up with Melissa from the Grey restaurant, who has a huge crush on him, but I thought it was dumb because he doesn’t even like her.
We bickered a little bit and now he was gone for training all weekend. It chafed at me how we left things off. We never bicker.
Mel came over to help me find an outfit for my date tonight but she was deeply unsatisfied with the selection of clothing I had and decided she would be lending me an outfit.
I told her outright that it couldn’t be anything too revealing or out there. I didn’t want to appear like I tried so hard. I’m more lowkey than that.
Since I have the house to myself this weekend while Nealin does his training I had the freedom to try clothes on with her in my living room and finally decide on what it is I am going to wear.
It was a long sleeved crop top with a pair of trendy high rise pants. I wore my hair in it’s natural blonde waves. Since my whole shoulders and upper chest was bare from the off the shoulder top I wore my hair down.
The color suited my light complexion.
“And my masterpiece is complete” Mel gave a chef’s kiss as she stepped away from me. I'd let her do my makeup but only just a little bit. She did my lashes and gave me a nice highlighted cheekbone. Nothing else.
When I looked in the mirror I felt good.
“Is Trevor going to be a gentleman and come grab you at the door or are you meeting him there?” She asked me. I smiled and blushed.
“He’s coming to pick me up,” I told her. She looked satisfied.
“Remember...you have the house all to yourself so if you want a steamy couch makeout session that is more than possible” she told me in a sing-song voice. I rolled my eyes but groaned in embarrassment. She laughed all the way out my front door.
Suddenly I was nervous.
I really am a friendly girl. I get along with everyone in town and yet the idea of acting right on a date just seemed to throw me for a loop.
I tried to shake the jitters away when I heard the knock at the front door. I grabbed my bag and stepped out.
Trevor’s eyes took in my appearance from top to bottom. “Wow, you look great” he complimented me kindly. I stupidly blushed.
“Thanks” I said softly as he waved for me to start walking. He stepped in line right beside me.
“I’m glad it’s a nice night. We can take our time walking over” he told me to start the conversation.
“I’m not going to lie Trevor...I never really had time for dating so...I think I kinda suck at this” I tried to make light of the situation by calling myself out right away.
He grinned wide at me and he had a good smile. Straight teeth.
“You won’t suck. Don’t be so hard on yourself” he nudged me playfully. I smiled up at him. He’s about Jasper’s height. I’m shorter than everyone so I’m always looking up.
“Honestly, I don’t know enough about you, Mira. I don’t know much more than how you got here and nothing before all that” he told me. I started to chew on the inside of my cheek.
“Yeah, I kind of never talk about it” I swallowed. I hoped I wouldn’t offend him for being closed off. He quickly changed the subject.
“That’s cool, there are other ways of getting to know each other” he told me. That was exactly the right thing to say and it warmed my belly.
“I agree,” I told him, and we got into a steady chatter after that.
-
We'd ordered our food and talked about our common interests. He loves being out in nature and is a skilled hunter.
I told him about my new appreciation for the nature around us and how I slowly have become a better hiker now that all my friends are strong wolves. He laughed at that.
“I can’t imagine what went through your mind when you found out werewolves exist. I know it’s a huge myth amongst humans. We like it that way. Nobody comes looking for us...but I’m glad you found us though. Obviously” he quickly added.
“I was fated to” I smiled, but that brought a different expression to his face and at first I didn’t catch on as to why.
“I guess that’s the elephant in the room huh?” I tipped my head in confusion until he elaborated. “Devran...how you were mates. It explains his behavior but I’m glad you were still willing to meet with me after all that” he got honest.
I sat straighter in my seat across from him at our table. “I should be saying that to you. I’m glad you still wanted to speak to me in the least bit after how Devran treated you at my birthday party.”
He cringed at the thought.
“Didn’t deter me” he smirked. It made me bite the inside of my cheek to try and hide my smile. He saw it though and it made him smile wider.
We were mid meal so we would quiet down from time to time to take bites. When he leaned slightly over the table his shoulders were prominent and it looked nice.
“Why does Melissa keep staring over here at us?” He whispered to me. I tipped my head back and laughed without even checking to look at her. “She hates me,” I told him outright.
His jaw dropped. “How! You’re like the nicest girl in the town” he scoffed in surprise.
“Thank you, but it’s not because of that. It’s because of Jasper. She hates that I'm really close with him” I whispered back.
“Oh Goddess, she’s had a crush on that dude since like middle school. I didn’t know she was still at it” he chuckled.
In this wolf community the school building is further away from the general part of town I'm in. When you travel through different short trails you are led to the school district or the crop fields we have for our food sources.
There is a whole other section of town that other residents live in that isn’t this main portion closest to the pack house. This Crescent pack is a large one.
“I’ve only been around the school district once or twice but it’s crawling with our youth. I bet you guys were punks around that part of town after school was out” I teased him.
He smirked and fanned innocents. “Me? Us? Never. We were good boys” he played along.
“Jasper was a clown. I already know all his stories. You’ve been mentioned in plenty of them. I know everything” I continued to tease. “Everything?! I hope not” he chuckled.
“You and Jasper really are super close huh?” He made the random observation. I nodded.
“I can’t explain it but our connection was instant. We’re so in tune with one another. He’s like the brother I never had, the best friend I always wanted, and my safety if I'm being honest. It’s platonic,” I made sure to point out.
I wouldn’t want to make him feel weird about taking me out.
His eyes tipped up to the ceiling as if he were thinking hard on something. “Have you ever heard of an affinity link?” He asked me next. “Um, no.”
He hummed with interest and now I really wanted to know why.
“It’s not super common but like a mate bond there is something called an affinity link that basically bonds two wolves as an inseparable connection. It sounds a lot like what you’re telling me here.
"You were instantaneously close and in tune with one another. That’s how an affinity bond works. Almost like you can read each other’s mind” he told me. I gasped.
“I used to think Jasper was lying to me and that werewolves could read minds because sometimes he answers things I’m thinking as though I said it out loud” I said out more enthusiastically than I meant to. It just made so much sense.
He chuckled at my reaction to all this.
“I would’ve said it’s impossible between humans and wolves but since you were involved in a mate bond then I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to have an affinity link to a different wolf” he shrugged.
I was fascinated. “And you said it’s rare?”
He nodded yes. When we were interrupted by the server I was left to my own thoughts. This would explain so much.
Melanie can be jealous of our bond at times but I always told her he was like my safety or my home and she never understood what the heck I was talking about. She is my best friend but I guess he's my affinity-link.
“I can’t believe you're the first person to ever tell me about this. I’ve been here for a year and no one has picked up on it” I chuckled in fascination again.
“Like I said, it’s rare so it doesn’t immediately come to mind. It’s a special connection you’re lucky to have it” he told me as we got up from the table.
Maybe that’s why I was really brought here.
I always wanted a connection like this in my lifetime and I was never granted one. No strong family bond or loyal friends. Now I have Jasper. So, even though Devran rejected me I do still have a reason to be here.
I couldn’t wait to tell Jasper when he got back from training. My stomach soured when I thought about our bickering and how he probably left town mad at me.
I hated the thought of it and I sighed.
“Are you okay?” Trevor asked me. We were taking the slow stroll back to my cottage side by side. I glanced up at him and corrected my expression.
“Oh nothing, I’m fine. Maybe this is corny but...would you like to sit outside for a while and look at the stars?” I asked him. His face perked up and he rounded his shoulders as he answered, “Absolutely.”
We decided to walk to a more secluded part of town and sit somewhere to watch the stars.
If it wasn’t so dark already I would have suggested we go to my favorite clearing but I would be stumbling everywhere with the lack of light and that didn’t sound cute.
We took a seat on the outskirts of town where there was a bench and with his arm stretched behind me we tipped our heads up and watched.
“I used to never be able to see stars from where I've lived. Only here did I ever realize just how many are out there. It took my breath away” I told him.
I felt his eyes shift over to me.
“That isn’t the only gorgeous view” he told me, his voice suggestive. It made me look at him and my cheeks heated. “Oh yeah?” I asked shyly.
He smirked and wrapped his arm better around my shoulders.
“You’re one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen” he complimented me and I was truly flattered whether that was even true or not. I used to never be called nice names. I was called ugly plenty of times and it convinced me I was.
My mom’s boyfriend Greg did a number on my psyche.
“You aren’t so bad to look at either” I said softly and sheepishly. I couldn’t look at him when I said so. His grip on me tightened and I knew he liked the comment.
“I don’t want to rush anything but I’ve been thinking about kissing you since the second I almost got to touch your lips during that dare on your birthday...” he trailed off wondering if I would be okay with this.
We almost kissed once before so I figured why not. Our torso’s shifted to better face one another and his hand came and cupped my face as we moved closer to each other.
His lips were soft and gently moved with mine. It wasn’t an over the top kiss it was minimal but more than a peck. A polite kiss I suppose.
Once he saw I reacted alright to this he brought our faces together again and his kiss became a bit more exploratory. His tongue only just brushed the seam of my lip when we were startled by a voice and pulled away.
I scowled when I saw Devran standing there. How could he possibly know we were here?
“You’re needed,” Dev announced in his alpha voice to Trevor. Trevor looked confused. “For what?” He dared ask since technically the two of them are friends.
“Since when do you disobey orders?” Dev’s voice turned more stern which got Trevor to stiffen in response. I wanted to growl at the man. How could he possibly ruin this moment of all moments. The one time I was on a date.
Trevor turned to me and sighed.
“I gotta go, I’m sorry” his eyes looked apologetic. I smiled at him and told him it was okay.
“Thank you for a lovely night” I told him but I noticed his eyes kept glancing over to Devran who stood there stoically and without giving us the slightest bit of privacy.
Trevor rolled his eyes and walked off without kissing me goodnight and Devran, being the ass he is, stayed a moment longer and glared at me. I glared back.
“Quick to bounce back” he dared call me out. “I should say the same about you” I snapped. A smirk formed on his lips and I didn’t like that. “Keeping tabs on me?”
I snorted in disbelief.
“No, Devran, I’m not. But Mel saw you and told me as if I cared to know. I don’t care, so it was pointless information, but you interrupting my date is not cool” I called him out.
Whether it was purposeful or not I could tell he took pleasure in ruining the ending to our nice evening.
“I’m the leader of this pack. When work comes up I don’t mess around. Regardless of if one of my men is on a silly date or not,” his jaw ticked at me.
“If I find out you did this on purpose I swear-” I warned him.
He had the audacity to laugh his deep resonating laugh. He walked closer to me to be sure to close the gap and then he leaned down so we were face to face.
“Or you swear what? Are you gonna beat me up?” His eyes took in my small stature.
“You’re cruel” I said softer than I meant to but I was ready to walk away. His instincts are quick and he was able to grab my wrist before I could barely even take a step. He pulled me closer to him.
“I’m not cruel. I’m a stern leader and you are questioning my authority” he puffed out his chest which could almost touch my face with how close he made us stand.
“It’s all about that title for you. You made that perfectly clear when you rejected your Moon Goddess’ fated bond to me because you thought better of your position as Alpha. That I would weaken you and your people” I shook my head at him.
“And I am right” he stood by his decision.
“Well, you released me, so why are you still talking to me or ruining my dates? We should stay out of each other’s way” I told him outright.
“You can’t avoid your alpha. It’s best you get used to seeing me” his eyes darted all over my face for a split second before he steadied them in his head.
“I don’t even think I was meant to be here for you. I know now I was meant to be here for Jasper so don’t hold weight to your rejection of me” I surprised him by saying.
His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened.
“You and Jasper” he snorted. It always pissed him off that we were so close. That his best friend was protective of me even against him.
“If you think you’re his mate you’re greatly mistaken” he thought he understood my meaning.
“He’s my affinity-link. And it’s unbreakable.” With that tidbit of information I walked away leaving him to marinate on that for a moment.
This wasn’t about him. It never was.