The First Encounter

Jasmine swallowed hard, then slowly extended her hand to him. He didn't wait for her to fully reach out to him, and he held her hand in his soft, yet firm grip, his smile faltering a little as he felt her hand.

She smiled, a small, hesitant smile, then pulled her hand away from him.

"Thanks," she said, turning to examine the house. It was slowly coming to form with the new windows, and she heaved a small sigh of relief.

"You can pay me with dinner, right?" he asked, his voice a small whisper.

She turned back to him, then immediately nodded. "Tomorrow after school. I will make sure to treat you."

He smiled again, then went back to rest on his car, his eyes fixed on her.

"So...your parents? No one seems to be here."

She swallowed hard. "They were murdered."

His eyes widened. "I am..so sorry to hear that, Jasmine. It must have been so hard."

She shrugged, blinking hard. "It is actually fine. it was so long ago."

He nodded and leaned back again, and they watched the sun set in silence, her eyes some times turning to examine him. He was a little too good to be real, and if there was something she had learned in her life, it was that if something was too good to be real, it probably is.

She swallowed and tore her gaze off him, and just focused on the windows, till it was done. She had to go to the bar almost immediately after, and she waited till Andrew was gone, before she stepped out of the house again, and ran towards the bar.

Alpha Zane took a sip of the bear, then squinted his eyes. It was bland compared to the heavy alcohol he was used to, and he shook his head a little distastefully and lowered the cup.

He had gotten the job at Royalville. The only thing he had to do now was to find her. She didn't seem too far, however.

He could smell her if he concentrated hard enough. Like rose. And lilies, and sometimes a little bit of spice.

But she also sometimes smelled like blood, and fangs, and he knew there was someone close to her. Someone who shouldn't be there.

He gave a low sigh, just as a girl gave a small shout, followed by a slapping sound. He raised his head to it, just as a man stood and covered the girl.

"I love it when they act so innocent. Don't act like you don't know your feisty attitude turns me on."

"Get off me!" Jasmine yelled at the much older man, pushing him away and causing him to crash on the table of drinks behind him. The contents of the table fell off and caused a large collective shattering sound, and she gasped.

Hell. She would have to pay for all of that now.

The man turned back to her, his eyes wide with rage. "How dare you?"

He raised his hand to slap her cheek, and Jasmine closed her eyes, anticipating the sharp sting.

But it never came.

"Were you not taught to respect women?"

The voice was silent, smooth, and in the folds of the baritones were promises of roses and beauty. She just wasn't sure why she believed those promises were meant for her.

She raised her eyes to the man who had his back turned to her, his right hand holding the other man's hand in place.

She swallowed, cowering behind him. This sort of thing always happened in her workplace, but it was rare for her to find someone who cared enough to enter for her. Most times, they were too drunk to even care, and she had to save herself on her own.

"Who are you?" The drunk man asked him, attempting to push him off.

Zane held him in place however, his heart strangely aching with the small whimpers of the girl behind him.

"Did you cause trouble again, Jasmine?" Came the gruff voice of her employer.

Before she could say a word, the big woman had turned her to face her, and landed a slap on her right cheek, following it up immediately with another on her left cheek. Her hair came on both sides of her face as she lowered her head, her eyes filled to the brim with tears.

"Get out!" The woman yelled, without even giving her a chance to explain.

Zane pushed the other man off and turned, just as Jasmine ran out of the pub, her head lowered. His eyes squinted at her. Bright red hair, and nothing else.

"I will pay for the damages," he said to the woman, before following Jasmine outside, but she was nowhere to be found.

Jasmine dragged herself home, her hair still falling on either sides of her, her eyes dry. She rarely ever let the tears that gathered drop, and if she took enough time, they would dry up on their own.

Life had already made her weak enough, she didn't want to be weak on her own reactions too. Crying would only let the world know that it cut through her skin, and she wouldn't give that satisfaction.

She opened the door and walked in to the darkness, then let her fingers roam around the wall to turn on the switch. The only light bulb flickered on before going off again.

She sighed and made her way to the couch with only the streaks of light fron the moon outside streaming through her window, and she laid on the couch again, her eyes wide open.

She felt around for her necklace, but she found her neck to be empty. Probably after that man grabbed her, or somewhere. She felt her eyes fill again. It was the last thing she had of her mother, and now, even that was gone.

She swallowed, then let her eyes close, hoping to fall asleep before the world broke her completely.

Zane twirled the cup in his hands, his eyes squinted. He hadn't seen his mate before, so he wasn't sure if she was a redhead. But he knew the redhead from earlier affected him in a way he was so unfamiliar with. It was like his heart had been crying along with her, his chest hurting the same way he assumed she was hurt.

The worst thing was that the pain still didn't stop, and even when he lay back on his bed at night, she was all that filled his dreams. A girl whose face he didn't even know.

The alarm clock rang violently, jerking Jasmine out of her sleep. She had somehow slept all through the night, without a single interruption. She sat up, her eyes skimming around. Nothing was broken, and she couldn't even remember waking up due to the noise like she did every single night.

She swallowed, a smile immediately taking over. At least something good had happened last night, and for that alone, she was grateful. She stood up and made her way to the shower, making sure it was working well, before she went in.

It was when she felt the water touch her skin that she realized. Her hands came up to touch the cold pendant resting on her chest like it hadn't been missing the night before.

Jasmine's brows furrowed. She was almost sure she had lost it last night and now...now it was on her neck again, almost as if it was claiming her.