CHAPTER 44

JASMINES POV

Thoughts. More thoughts. Extra thoughts.

All night, that was all running through my mind.

A brother?

I scoffed, turning to the other side of the bed. That was when I realized the sun was out. I’d spent all night pondering on Natalia’s words. I wanted to come down from my bed and feed my thirst, but my body isn't encouraging.

I needed rest, even if it was for an hour or two. I shut my eyes, hoping to sleep this time. And just when I thought I was drifting into sleep, a knock came on my door. My eyes snapped open, and I sat up on the bed.

The door opened, it was Caine.

“Long night?” He asked, walking into my room. I sighed, collapsing on my bed.

“How’s Jerry?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. They were beginning to feel heavy with sleep, but with Caine in my room, I knew my day had just begun.

“He’s recovering well. Just the…you know…” he said, helping himself to a chair opposite my bed.

I sat back up, holding my banging head with both hands. “Cool,” I dragged.

“I came to call your attention to something. Our dads are seeing the Seeker off,” he announced, sending my head reeling from where it was buried.

“Seeing her off? Like she’s free to go?” I asked, and I got my answer without him having to say the words. I quickly changed into something better while Caine waited outside the door. When I was done, we hurried to the front yard, and I bumped into them having a quiet discussion.

“Why? She could come back anytime and take the face of someone. Or what…has she gotten what she wanted? I thought she was here for me?” I threw several questions at Caine.

“I have no idea, Jasmine. All we can do now is ask our dads,” he said. My dad glanced at me, his face heavy with untold secrets. He handed a key to Natalia and stepped away from the bike. But Natalia didn’t mount the bike immediately.

She looked back at me, spinning the key in her index and biting her lower lip.

“See you soon, Jasmine,” I almost freaked out when I heard her voice in my head. With that, she mounted the bike and sped off.

“You let her go!” I called my dad specifically but to the hearing of the alpha. Alpha Morgan took another path that led straight to his son behind us while I confronted my dad. “She’s dangerous,”

“If she is, then you should be locked up too,” he returned with a calm expression. But I wasn’t buying that. “Sweetie,”

“Something isn’t right,”

“We had a deal,” my father interrupted me. I froze for a few seconds and glanced at the Alpha who seemed to also be getting it hot from Caine before returning to face my dad.

“A deal? With a shapeshifter? Common dad! You can do better!” My voice took a higher pitch, my wolf stirring angrily inside. “You know what she can do, right?”

“Jasmine, hear me out. We did it to keep you safe. One day, you’ll understand. But for now…just let this be,”

“What deal?” I asked him. He heaved a sigh, the reluctance to tell me very obvious in his eyes. “Dad, what deal?” I repeated with a racing heart.

“We urm…came to an agreement that if you finally meet your wolf, and it turns out to be the Seeker wolf that emerges first…she would come back for you,” he said, sending me into a storm as I stood frozen, staring at him.

Maybe I did have a lot to say to him, but my words went missing the moment I opened my mouth to speak. He gave my shoulder a little massage and pulled me closer to him. I was too weak to shrug him off, so I let him have his way and leave.

“Are you okay?” Caine pulled from behind. I wiped the tears that trickled down my eyes immediately I heard his voice and nodded.

“Yeah…I guess,”

“Common…we’ve got a wolf hunter to deal with and an unfinished list,” he said, leading the way into the Alpha’s house. With Natalia gone, it meant my life in the Alpha’s house had come to an end, and now, I was going back to what used to be left of my life.

I packed my bag and joined Caine downstairs.

“I bet they’ll be excited to have us back,” he tried to ease the tension in the air. But I was paying less attention to him. My father had struck a deal with someone I was supposed to be protected from, as the only way to protect myself now was to train the right wolf.

If I knew which was which.

*****

When we arrived at the pack house, most of the students were gathered at the gates, sharing green envelopes with people. From the little I heard before we walked past them, they were hosting a party.

“Silly…they’re supposed to be training,” Caine said, tossing the letter into the bin. The group ran out to greet him. Lucy led the way. She hugged him and kissed him. I held the urge to roll my eyes and just stepped aside, forcing a smile on while I stood and watched.

“Look what you’ve done,” Spencer decided to shift the attention to me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t expect a hurl of accusations from them. I turned to walk away but Harper stepped in my path.

“You‘ve done enough, medium rare,” he snapped.

“Let her be,” Lucy stood up for me. I wasn’t expecting her, neither did I need her to. I had expected it to be Caine, but it was obvious to me where his loyalties lay. “We all saw the footage. Jerry tried to rape her, and she defended herself. So come off it,” she grabbed my hand and pulled me past them.

We turned to head to my room when someone pounced on me, sending my body rolling down the stairs. I struggled to get a grip, but I wasn’t able to do that until I hit the base.

“Get off her!” Lucy yelled.

The hand gripped my neck, and when I tried fighting back, I felt a sharp pain in my neck.

“It was you all along! You killed my parents!” Isha grunted, her eyes red and filled with rage.

*******