Chapter Six

Jane stood transfixed, their scents mingling around her. She felt compelled to walk towards them but she shook her head fiercely and thought, hell no! Reid stood with his eyes closed as he sniffed the air and Ryan’s eyes were darkening.

Jane took a step backwards, forgetting that the first step was right behind her. Before she could land on her ass though, Ryan had a grip on her arm and steadied her. He blinked and his eyes returned to their normal sea green.

“It’s you.” Jane had never before seen that smile on his face. “The dreams all make sense now.”

Dreams? Had they been dreaming about her like she’d been dreaming about them? Was it so bad that they had intensified their meanness towards her? Jane couldn’t wrap her mind around that. How were the two of them her mates?

“No. This isn’t happening to me.”

Reid’s hand touched her other arm and she felt the most delicious sensation go through her. “We should probably talk.”

Jane could only nod her head. They did need to talk but their closeness to her was confusing because the newly awakened wolf in her wanted to be close to them, rub up against them but her mind, which had been fuzzy a minute ago, cleared and she took a step away from them.

“Jane, we’ve been looking for our mate for almost a year now. I never thought this moment would be so … so surreal and yet, here you are, right in front of us,” Reid said. Jane vaguely noticed that he hadn’t called her little pup this time.

Jane turned to look at Ryan. “So this is where you reject me, right? Isn’t that what you said?”

Reid glanced at Ryan, who seemed lost for words, and then turned back to Jane. “What? Reject you? Jane, no …”

Jane shook her head. “I can’t …”

“Jane, wait. We need to talk about what this all means.”

Jane shook her head, thinking back to all the nasty comments about how she looked, what she wore, the fact that she wore glasses, which seemed to be messing with her eyesight all day. “This is too much … I ca …”

The front door opened and Jane turned around as her mother appeared on the patio. “Is everything alright out here?”

Ryan shifted on his feet and took a step forward. “Yes, Sarah. We were just wishing Jane a happy birthday.” Ryan smiled his dazzling smile and Jane could only gape at him.

“I’m so glad to see you all getting along! Well … don’t just stand there, come inside, it’s getting chilly now in the afternoons.”

Jane walked past her mother and glanced back to see both Reid and Ryan staring at her, their eyes glued to where she stood by the front door. She couldn’t focus around them, the mate bond really was a bitch! She shook her head again and rushed upstairs to her room.

Jane fished her phone from her backpack as it rang and she looked at the screen. She hurriedly pressed the answer button and sat down on her bed. “Hi Daddy.”

“Happy birthday, angel.”

Jane sniffed and wiped her nose. “Thanks Daddy.”

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“It’s just been a long day.” Jane could hear rustling in the background and then the babble of a toddler. Her heart sank at the little laugh and she could hear her father’s footsteps.

“Jane … are you still there?”

“You have a new child.” It wasn’t a question but more of a statement.

“Jane … I wanted to wait until you could come visit us so you could meet your brother. He’s almost one.”

“It’s just … it feels like you’ve replaced us.”

“My sweet angel, I could never replace you. Things have just been complicated. I never meant to hurt your mother … or you. I love you, Jane, and I always will.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

“Mae really wants to meet you. How about the upcoming week holiday before winter? Can we arrange a visit then? I’d love to see you and show you around here. My new Alpha’s a really nice guy and he has a son your age … that reminds me, any mate feelings out there?”

Jane snorted then as her father laughed. She closed her eyes when she heard his laugh. She had missed that sound. “Daddy, what happens if you don’t like your mate?”

“What do you mean? Of course you’ll like your mate. He’s the perfect person for you. You’ll never be as happy as you’ll be with him.”

“I just mean … what if he’s not a nice person?” Jane didn’t really know how to tell her father about what had happened earlier. She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell anybody.

“Jane, your mate is made to suit you. He’ll be exactly what you need and want. Where’s all this coming from? Did you meet your mate?”

Jane was quiet or a few seconds. ‘No, if she told her father about the twins then he’d call her mother and demand to know what was going on,’ she thought to herself. “No Daddy, I didn’t meet my mate.”

“I’ll tell you a secret, angel. If he’s not exactly what you’ve been hoping for then I’ll come beat some sense into him.”

Jane smiled as she envisioned her father beating the twins up and a laugh bubbled up from her throat. “Thanks Daddy, I’m sure I’ll be able to handle him.”

“Your gift will be there tomorrow, it’s being delivered.”

Jane perked up at the mention of his gift. Her father had always been very generous with his gifts. “What did you get me?”

“It’s a surprise but I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. Mae helped me pick it out.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

She heard another fumble and then the creak of a leather chair. “I meant what I said, Jane. We want you to come visit us. I want you to get to know Mae and Grant. You’re a part of this family too and Mae’s very excited for you to visit us.”

Jane bit her bottom lip as she contemplated his invitation. It would be good to see her father again and see this Mae woman for herself. It would also be good to get the hell out of Los Avalos for a bit. The week’s holiday her father had been referring to was less than month away.

“I’d love to come visit you. I can’t believe I have a brother. You’ll have to send me every picture you’ve ever taken of him.”

Her father, Josh, laughed into the phone. “I’ll do that and I’ll organize everything with your mom. Love you my angel.”

“Love you too, Dad. Bye.”

Jane laid down on her bed feeling utterly exhausted by the day’s events and dozed until her mother knocked on her door a few hours later. “Jane, honey, it’s time for dinner.”

“I’m up Mom, I’ll be down in a minute!”

She sat up in the bed and yawned. She hadn’t realized how tired she was. She could still smell their lingering scents, given that their room was right across from hers. Chocolate infused with lavender and apple pie with cinnamon.

The scents reminded her of home, a safe place, it was so ironic that their scents did that to her. She smiled sadly as she stood up and walked to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and realized with a start that she could see herself clearly, without her glasses.

She leaned forward and thought that her skin had a new certain glow to it, it looked smoother, no blemishes in sight. Her hair had a golden luster to it that she hadn’t noticed before. She looked almost beautiful to herself.

She’d never really believed her mother when she said that with your eighteenth birthday certain changes took place. That when your wolf awakened you also changed, but now she could see those changes for herself.

She sniffed her shirt and shrugged, a dab of perfume would do the trick. She brushed her hair and decided that she wasn’t going to change her clothes. They had to accept her as she was and if they had a problem with how she looked, well, then it’d be their problem.

She reasoned that if they were going to reject her in any way like Ryan had said her mate would do, then why should she bother to make an effort. She wasn’t going to change who she was just for them. They might be fashion conscious, but she wasn’t.

Jane walked down the stairs and into the dining room where Kyle stood next to her mother and Reid and Ryan stood behind their chairs, with the empty chair between them. “Happy Birthday Jane!”

Jane smiled despite the awkward situation she found herself in. Ryan pulled her chair out and she walked towards it. Reid smiled as she sat down and three wrapped presents stood in front of her plate on the table.

“Thank you everyone.”

“The rectangular one is from me,” Kyle said with a smile.

Jane took the wrapped gift and tore the paper off. It was a dark blue velvet box and she flipped it open and gasped. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she’d ever seen and she looked up at Kyle with tears in her eyes.

“When my sister turned eighteen my parents bought her a diamond necklace, to signify her transformation from girl to woman and I thought I’d do the same for you.”

“Kyle … it’s beautiful. Thank you so much.” Jane fingered the necklace. It truly was beautiful. It was simple in design yet extraordinary.

“Ours are the smaller one, it matches the necklace.” Reid handed a smaller box over to her.

A present from the twins? Jane gingerly opened the smaller gift to reveal a matching set of earrings. The small studded diamonds glittered in the lights and she smiled. She did like them and they suited the necklace perfectly.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful.”

Ryan gave her a teasing smile. “You know where we come from, when you get a gift it’s rewarded with a kiss.”

Jane’s mouth opened as she looked at him and Kyle laughed loudly. “Stop teasing her Ryan.”

Sarah cleared her throat and Jane looked at the big box in front of her. She stood up to tear the paper off as her mother clasped her hands together in anticipation. “I truly hope you like it Jane.”

Jane smiled as she opened the box and pulled the quilt out. She folded it open and looked at it. Tears made their way to her eyes as she looked at baby pictures, pictures of her with her father and grandparents, all lovingly designed into a quilt.

“Oh Mom, this is amazing.”

“I thought something handmade with love and filled with memories would be more appropriate.”

Jane rushed from her chair to her mother’s side and hugged her tightly. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

Kyle cleared his throat and Jane swore she saw him wipe a tear away. “Your mom made all your favourites and I helped with the cake.”

Jane laughed as she sat back down after placing the quilt back into the box. She didn’t want it to get ruined by a stain from the wine or food. They ate and made small talk and she blew out the eighteen candles on the cake.

“Oh sweetie, I wanted to ask you earlier, have you felt your mate? Did you meet him?”

Jane could feel the twins’ eyes on her as she looked up from her piece of cake and into her mother’s eyes. “Nope, no mate.”

Jane felt completely embarrassed now as her mother went on about how glorious it is to find your mate and completing the bond. She didn’t even want to think about her being naked with Reid and Ryan despite their smirks that told her they wouldn’t mind seeing her naked.

“Thank you for my gifts but I’m quite exhausted. It’s been a long day.”

“I understand sweetie. I was thinking maybe we could go shopping on Saturday.”

Jane shook her head at her mother. “I can’t. I promised Sebastian I’d go swimming with him on Saturday.”

“Oh … is Sebastian a friend or …”

“He’s just a friend Mom!”

After assuring her mother about her relationship status she left the dining room. She had noticed Reid stiffening at the mention of Sebastian’s name and she wondered again which story Freya had told her were true.

Jane got ready for bed and lovingly placed the quilt over her bedspread. She leaned towards the lamp to put the light off and stiffened as chocolate lavender and apple pie with cinnamon crept into her nostrils. She inhaled deeply just as a knock fell on her door.