CHAPTER 47

JASMINES POV

I was too wasted to act. I just sat there, letting the chaos around me do its thing. My head fell to the chair, watching as the ceiling traveled in circles. I thought I saw some runes on them, calling into me with its blue glowing light.

They looked pretty, and I extended my hands, wishing I could float in the air and know what they felt like. But the music in the room died down, cutting my solemn moment short.

“Let’s go, Jasmine,” I heard Caines voice. He sounded muffled, and I couldn’t see his face. “You’re drunk, how much did you have to drink?” He asked, throwing my hand around his shoulder and grabbing me from the waist.

I knew what was happening around me, but at the same time, I didn’t. For a second I thought I was levitating, but then whenever I looked at Caine, that hope was gone. I didn’t feel sad or anything, just…empty.

For once., nothing bothered me.

Caine led me out of the room, and to stop my eyes from hurting, I closed them and rested my head on his shoulder. The next time I opened them, I was lying in a bed, with Caine tucking me in.

“When you wake up, you’ll have a whole lot of explanation to do,” he said, but I chuckled, reaching for his bare chest—or was I seeing things? Wasn’t he just wearing a…a…colored shirt? I laughed, stirring to slip out of the duvet.

“Stay put, Jasmine. You could hurt yourself,” he warned. I could feel my wolf again, stirring in my head and pushing me to grab Caine. Whatever happened after that feeling? I bet we would know after I woke up.

With every passing second, I felt my world drifting away. And soon, my battle with the king of the night ended with him overcoming me entirely.

******

A sharp pain thonged in my head as I felt my consciousness kicking in.

“Damn!” I muttered, holding my head with both hands and I sat up. The rays of the sun seethed through the tall curtains of the room, blinding my eyes before I could shield them with my palm.

“Finally, I thought you’d never make it back from the world of the dead,” I heard Caine say.

“The dead? What do you mean dead, did I…”

“Just pulling your legs Jas,” Caine cut me short, taking the curtains farther apart. I yawned, rubbing my eyes to take off the remnants of sleep in it. I sat at the edge of the bed, trying to piece together the events of the night before.

My head pounded like a drum, and the room tilted slightly as I tried to stand.

“Easy,” Caine left the curtains and raced to help me. I sat back on the bed and scanned the room. It wasn’t mine.

“Water, please,” I requested.

“Yeah, water,” he muttered before leaving the room. I forced myself out of bed again and walked to the mirror. I felt bare under, but the big shirt I was wearing covered my body down to my thigh. I spotted a hickey on my neck, and that sent my heart racing.

The door opened and Caine stormed in while I was still touching the mark.

“Did we…?” I involuntarily threw the question at him because my guilt was eating me up. He stood confused for a split second before grasping what I was asking about.

“Ohh…ohh…no, Jesus! No,” he rushed, dropping the cup on the table. “No, we didn’t,”

“Ohhh…” I breathed, a mix of relief and regret flushing down my nerves. Something in me wished we did. But even if we did have sex, I’ll not have remembered what it felt like, or what he looked like.

So maybe, this was good.

“Cool,” I broke the awkward silence before gulping the water down.

“Unfortunately there’s not much time to stay up here and do nothing. My father assigned Alyssa and me to take you on personal training for your wolf. You won’t be working at the diner anymore,” he said.

That was good news on one hand. “But the list. There’s only been Jerry ticked off,” I reminded Caine. He tilted his head, his eyes squinting like I was running some thoughts in his head.

“There’s more than one way to kill a bird, Jas,” he said.

“So when do we start?” I asked, walking away from the mirror. He looked out of the window, nodding his head like he was listening to music, then he turned to me.

“Today,”

*****

The whistle blew again, and I took to my heels, racing up the hill. The goal was to make it to the finish line before Alyssa, and I had just lost four rounds.

My speed was different this time, a little upgrade like I noticed. I doubted getting to that finish line before Alyssa, and it played out just like I expected.

By the time I raced out of the thick bushes, Alyssa was standing at that finish line, holding up her red flag.

“You did better this time,” she said, sticking the flag to the ground. I rested my palms on my knees, trying to catch my breath. But something was off. A scent.

“Do you smell that?” I asked Alyssa, standing erect so my wolf could trace the scent.

“That’s what happens when you train your wolf, Jasmine. Your wolf starts…”

“No, this is different. Smells like….blood,” I hesitated before saying what it smelled like just to be sure. That strong metallic smell of blood hung in the air, and couldn’t just ignore it.

“Okay, I can’t pick anything up, can you take me there?” Alyssa asked after trying.

“What’s up?” Caine asked, walking out from the woods behind.

“She smells blood,” Alyssa said to him while I was busy trying to get in the right direction.

“Blood? Where?”

“This way,” I cut them short. We walked through the snowy grounds, going through vines and tangled bushes until we’d gone more than a mile away.

“How were you able to pick up a scent this far?” Alyssa broke the silence. But I didn’t give a response, because our journey just came to an end.

“Here,” I said.

There was a trail of blood, and we followed it to the snow clearing. Alyssa and Caine started digging out the snow, pulling out shoes and clothes until they came to a halt.

“Are those…werewolves?” I asked, fear crippling me as I stared at the dozen corpses lying in the snow.

“These marks…the bites,” Caine examined the bodies, then he turned to us, eyes filled with dread.

“Vampires,”

*******