Chapter 4

CLAIR

I followed him to his office after making sure Aaron would stay and wait for me outside. I threw the gum discreetly into the waste bin along the way. It didn’t escape my eyes that Jake scowled at the sight of me chewing gum. Not that I care. It’s just that it’s better to throw it away, and maybe he would stop scowling and be more welcoming.

Jake’s scent enveloped me as soon as I stepped into his office. It’s calming but doesn’t stop me from being annoyed with his silence.

I was at least expecting him to be a little enthusiastic upon seeing me back. I set myself up for failure. The boy, no, the man in front of me, was stoic as stone. No emotions at all. But I should have expected it from him, like what Aaron said, he changed. He was no longer the lovable Jake I adored as a kid.

"So... why am I here again?" I broke the silence that was killing me while I sat in front of him. My fingers reached for the pen laying down on the table and started twiddling with it.

It took him a few seconds before he started to speak. "Did you by any chance reject the pack five years ago when you left? Or maybe within the last few years?"

I felt his gaze on me. I lifted mine to look at him and just found myself getting lost in his eyes. I had forgotten how beautiful they were, but I was only twelve when I left. And although I already felt an admiration for him at that time, I never really took the time to appreciate his features. But the dark blue eyes that stared at me right now were nothing short of beautiful. They were hypnotizing, if I may say.

I heard him clear his throat before speaking again, which took me out of my trance. "Clair, did you hear me?"

I blinked twice and nodded my head a little too fast. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. And I was sure I was already blushing. If he noticed, he didn't show any sign that he had.

"So you did denounce it?" He asked again, his brows furrowing.

"What? Denounce what? No. What were you asking again?" I stuttered as my cheeks continued to burn.

He shook his head before letting out a smile, which he took back after a split second and replaced with a serious look again.

"Did you do anything to cut off your connection with the pack? Reject me as your Alpha? Can you mindlink?"

"No. I don’t think so. Can I do that, reject you as my Alpha?"

He simply nodded and stared at me again. He looked relaxed now as he settled his back on his chair. "Good to know that you didn’t. Then we don’t need the formality of the ceremony to accept you back into my pack."

I nodded and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, still looking at him but avoiding his gaze. "Okay. Nice to know then."

I waited for him to say something more but he just continued to stare at me in silence.

His gaze made me uncomfortable. I could feel my body heating up just with his gaze, and if I stayed here longer, I felt like I would start to burn.

"Can you not stare at me? It’s rude." I broke the silence again.

He cocked his head without taking his attention away from me. His stoic expression was not changing. "Is it making you uncomfortable? You used to ask me to look at you all the time, whether you were dancing, singing, or simply wanting my attention. Now I am giving it to you and it seems rude?"

"Stop it, Jake. I’m not a kid anymore." I glared at him, trying to hide the embarrassment I felt from his statement.

He started to run his eyes from my face to my chest before looking into my eyes again. "I am very much aware of that."

I had no idea what was going through his head, but this conversation had gone horribly wrong.

I was pretty sure he was fully aware that I was gawking at him earlier, and he made it a point to embarrass me more. I stood up from where I was sitting, not able to stand his stare.

"Do you really need to bring me here just for one question? You could have saved your precious time if you just asked me there outside."

I was about to turn around when he asked something. "Why can’t I reach you through the mind link?"

I looked at him confused. "I don’t know. I don’t even know how it works." I replied.

"You should be able to do it once you turn fifteen." He leaned his arms on the table and entwined his fingers, still looking at me.

I rolled my eyes and slumped back in the chair. "I said I don’t know. In case you were not aware of where I’ve been for the last five years, let me inform you. I live with the humans. We don’t mind links. We talked with our mouths." I couldn’t stop the annoyance from rolling my tongue.

And he just stared at me. Not once did his gaze move away from mine.

"Maybe if you tell me how to do it then I can practice. But you know what, it doesn’t matter, I won’t be needing it. In a few days, I’ll be out of here."

He raised his eyebrows, confused by my response.

"Explain." His tone suddenly changed from passive to angry. I felt his Alpha aura rolling over me that I couldn’t find my voice to speak again.

"Explain." His tone softened, and I straightened up in my seat and tried to answer confidently.

"I mean, I don’t need it when I return to live with the humans."

"You’re not staying?" His voice came out so low that if I wasn’t looking at his face void of emotions, I would think that my answer made him sad.

I nodded. "Yup, not staying. I’m only here to shift, and Aaron convinced me that I needed assistance to do so. So here I am."

Silence.

"Uhm, anything more you need to know, Alpha?" I asked, breaking the silence once more.

Silence.

I raised an eyebrow and waited for more. After what felt like an eternity, I slapped my hands on my thighs in frustration and stood up. "Okay, I’m done. Thank you for the warm welcome, Alpha!"

I faced his desk and bowed sarcastically before turning on my heel. I was already by the door when I heard him speak up.

"Open your mindlink."

I stopped in my tracks. My hand grasped the door handle but did not turn it.

"No," I replied, not looking back. "I don’t know how."

"Clear your mind and think that you want to communicate with me."

My heart fluttered with the thought of communicating with him through a mind link. A smile curved on my lips, but I stopped myself from turning around so as not to show him how the idea affected me. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on communicating with him, but nothing snapped into my mind.

I let out a sigh and my shoulders slumped, "It’s not working..."

'Clair?' My ears perked up and I felt my skin shiver from the tone he used.

Why did it sound so sexy?

"Yes, Alpha?" I stayed rooted in place because the idea of looking at him right now would surely make my knees buckle, and I didn’t want to fall on my ass in his presence.

'Turn around. Training tomorrow at six in the morning. Don’t be late.'

"What?!" I gasped and let go of the door handle to turn around and face him. "I don’t need to train. I’m not aiming to be a warrior."

'Try talking to me with your mind.'

My jaws dropped open when the realization hit me that he did not open his mouth to speak with me. In the blink of an eye, I forgot about the training and a wide smile made its way onto my lips.

'Hey! It’s me, Clair!' I answered enthusiastically, and my body jerked up in excitement as my mind linked with the Alpha.

And then I saw it. A smile crept across his face, but it was gone before I could confirm that it was an actual smile. Instead, he looked down at his hands. 

'I know it’s you, Clair. So tomorrow at six in the morning? You need to train. Your human body might not handle your shifting well if you don’t train. You only have four days from tomorrow until the full moon. You can’t be weak. Some don’t make it out alive if they are too weak.'

My eyes grew bigger with the thought of dying in the middle of shifting. The thought eventually scared me, and I nodded in agreement. 'Okay. Six then.'

I waited for anything he wanted to say more and hoped he would look at me again. But there was just silence.

"Umm Alpha, can I go now?"

He nodded without throwing me a glance.

I huffed in frustration. "Thank you, Alpha."