Chapter Sixteen

Regan’s POV

I had meant it when I said that I wanted an answer from her by breakfast the following day.

Rage’s behavior had helped me prove my point.

I still could not believe Rage had made us do that.

I ran I hand through my hair in frustration on remembering what had happened.

He had taken control and grabbed her into a hug despite my warning.

However, what had surprised me more than Rage’s actions was her response to his high handedness.

I had expected her to freeze up in fear but her reaction was the exact opposite.

Instead of being scared, she had buried her small hands in my hair and I could have sworn that she had taken a good whiff of my scent.

That was enough to snap me back into taking control from Rage.

That was the second time I had held her in my arms, the first being that day in the woods.

I had already understood that the intoxicating scent of blueberries and vanilla belonged to her and could even track it if I wanted to.

I did not want to.

Rage’s latest response to her made me begin to rethink the wisdom of having her as a playmate for him.

What if the next time, he decided to take liberties she did not consent to, then what?

Even remembering the position he had put us in drew a curse from my lips.

It was all going to be a lot harder than I had originally thought.

Running a hand through my hair once again, I made my way out of my room, firmly pushing aside thoughts of the feeling of her hands running through my hair as I made my way to the breakfast room in my cabin.

Somehow, I had always preferred breaking my fast in my cabin to taking supper at the pack house.

Not that I did not enjoy the company of my pack, but I preferred the intimacy that having breakfast with the people who truly knew me and who I called family afforded.

As I made my way inside the breakfast room, I could already see that I was a little late.

The table had already been set and everyone was seated in their places.

I gave a nod of acknowledgment to their greetings and made my way to my seat at the head of the table, briefly leaning forward to receive a kiss on the cheek from Nana who was seated to my left.

It was a familiar gesture by now.

Ever since the loss of our family members, Nana had all but adopted me as her grandson. She had lost both her children and oldest grandchild in the attack years back.

Her kisses and affection were the only things close to motherly or even fatherly affections I had known in a long time.

Since it was customary that the Alpha had to take the first bite in order for a meal to start, I wasted no time in tearing a piece of freshly baked bread and stuffing it into my mouth so the others could eat.

Luke immediately began to wolf down his breakfast as he always did, with Nana scolded him to not rush his meal and stop behaving like an animal -which he partly was - and Lena seated beside him laughing alongside…her.

Though I had tried not to, I had immediately noticed her seated beside Nana when I walked in and caught a whiff of her intoxicating scent when I leaned in to receive the kiss from Nana.

It was just the five of us at breakfast since we took it earlier than the only other two occupants of the cabin.

The other two occupants were my Gamma and his pregnant mate.

I had temporarily relieved Mark of most of his duties so he could spend more time looking after his pregnant mate who was nearing her birthing season. It was the least I could do to help both of them be at ease and remain stress free until the pup arrived.

However, my decision simply meant more work for Luke to do and he was not impressed. He had to handle his duties as well as most of Mark’s duties as well.

He finally stopped complaining after Mark and his mate promised to name the pup after him if it turned out to be male.

Breakfast ended quickly and I stood to go the pack house with Luke who had finished earlier.

“I would like my answer now, Jasmine”, I said to her, causing her to pause with her mouth open since she was in the process of putting a grape in her mouth.

She recovered quickly and nodded.

“Of course, Alpha”, she said, pushing her almost empty plate aside and rising to her feet.

I ignored the curious stares burning holes in me from Nana and Lena and simply walked out of the room with Luke right behind me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug at Nana and Lena who were no doubt mind linking him to know what I could possibly want from Jasmine.

As we exited the house and made our way to the pack house, I could hear her hurried footsteps as she tried to meet our pace.

Unconsciously, I slowed my pace so she could easily keep up and earned a teasing look from Luke that I pretended not to notice.

We made our way to my study and she shut the door behind her.

I watched from where I sat behind my desk as she made her way into the room and came to a stop at the exact spot Rage had made us grab her the previous day.

As if realizing it as well, she glanced at me, only to catch my eyes already on her before hastily looking away, her cheeks turning rosy in an instant.

Ever observant, Luke immediately noticed her actions and mind linked me.

‘I wonder what that was about’, he said, shooting me a piercing look.

Maintaining a blank expression, I mind linked back.

‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean’.

There was a reason I had wanted Luke present, but him noticing things I did not want him noticing was not part of that.

“Why exactly am I here?” He suddenly asked aloud.

“You’re here as a sort of precaution”, I told his, rising from my seat to make my way around the table to where he stood.

“Precaution for what”, he asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion and looking from me to Jasmine.

“For Rage to spend time with Jasmine”,I simply said.

His eyes instantly snapped up to meet mine.

‘You did not’, he mind linked, the disbelief clear as day to see on his face.

‘But I did’, I replied. ‘It was your idea after all’, I reminded.

‘I have all sorts of ideas and say all sorts of nonsense, it doesn’t mean you should pay any heed to them’, he complained. ‘That beast of yours will maul her to death’, he mind linked with a glare. ‘And Nana and Lena would never forgive you’.

Rage growled at the insinuation and I warned him to calm down, reminding him that I would only let him out to play with Jasmine if Luke was around.

‘He won’t mail her to death’, I told him. ‘Besides, you will be there to make sure that does not happen’.

‘How delightful’, he replied, sarcasm dripping from every word as it floated in my head. ‘It is good to know that I am the one who would be mauled to death after all’.

For some reason, that brought a smile to my lips.

A smile that immediately disappeared as soon as I noticed that she was watching both of us quietly, no doubt aware that we had been mind linking each other.

“Luke will be there to make sure all goes well, even though I am quite positive that nothing will go wrong”. I told her.

I caught Luke rolling his eyes and shot him a glare before turning back to her.

She nodded slowly, the fear easy to see even as she tried to hide it.

“We will start at dawn tomorrow”, I told her and turned away to make my way back to my desk.

“Alpha”, I heard her call and came to a stop, turning back to look at her in surprise.

“Respectfully, I would rather we start now”, she said.

“Marvelous”, Luke breathed as he lazily rose to his feet. “I’ll be outside waiting to die whenever you two decide you’re ready”, he said and left the study.

I turned my gaze back to her.

Noting her clenched fists at her sides, suddenly pale face and labored breathing, not to mention clearly hearing the thundering of her heart, I was suddenly greatly impressed that she wanted to go immediately despite how scared she obviously was.

Perhaps feeling the need to comfort her, I drew closer to her - but not close enough as last time so as not to tempt Rage- and spoke softly.

“I won’t let him harm you”, I told her, causing those blue eyes to come up to look at me. “You have my word on that”.

For the first time ever, something I could only describe as a scoff escaped Rage and I got a clear image of him rolling his eyes at me.

For a moment I froze in shock.

I had never seen Rage display such a behavior before.

He had only ever either looked bored or angry.

For some reason, his childish display brought a smile to my lips.

He had no doubt picked that up from Luke.

Noticing the questioning look she was giving me, I gave a nod towards the door.

“We should go now”, I said, leading the way out of the study.

We met up with Luke who was waiting in front of the pack house before we all made our way towards the woods.

Rather than the spot we had met her last time, Rage insisted we take her to our spot - the place we always went to cool off.

Not wanting to displease him in any way, I agreed and moved behind a tree to shift.

Seeing us, Luke went to do the same as well.

When we finally came out, Luke had already shifted into his wolf form and was standing beside her. This did not seem to bode well with Rage who let out a growl, scaring Jasmine in the process and causing her to take a step back.

‘I swear by the Moon Goddess that I will never forgive you if he attacks me’, Luke mind linked me. ‘Nana and Lena will never forgive you either’, he said, causing Rage to roll his eyes once more.

‘Look what you did’, I said to Rage. ‘You scared her’.

He turned his head to where she stood almost hidden behind Luke’s wolf.

For some reason, the sight of her hiding behind Luke in fear of me left a bad taste in my mouth. It seemed Rage didn’t like it either, especially when she saw his gaze on her and held onto the fur of Luke’s wolf.

‘She’s touching him’, Rage suddenly said, the jealousy clear to detect in his voice.

‘That is because you scared her’, I reminded him. ‘Let her ride on Luke on our way to our spot’, I told him.

‘No!’ He instantly objected with a loud growl that had Jasmine burying her face in Luke’s fur and clutching him tightly.

I sighed.

Talking to Rage was becoming more and more similar to talking to a stubborn pup.

‘She’s touching him again’, he complained.

‘Because you keep scaring her’, I told him. ‘Do you want to scare her away?’I asked.

‘No’ he replied immediately.

‘Then stop growling and acting like a pup’, I told him.

He huffed, something he had never done before.

‘I do not like that she is touching him’, he said.

‘Well, he is her friend’, I told him. ‘He was the one who rescued her and brought her here so she trusts him. So if you want to be her friend, you have to earn her trust like he did’, I lectured, realizing how much I sounded like I was advising a young pup as each word left my mouth.

‘If I earn her trust will I become her only friend?’Rage asked.

I took a deep breath before answering since it had become abundantly clear that my wolf had turned into a desperate pup.

‘No, you will not become her only friend’, I told him and he let out a whine. ‘But you might become her very favorite friend’, I told him, feeling his immediate excitement as he began to wag his large tail.

I tiredly mind linked Luke.

‘Let her ride on you’, I told him. ‘Be careful and stay close. I don’t think I could stop Rage if she gets hurt’.

‘Seeing that she is clearly my only chance of survival, I will protect her with my life’, he vowed.

His words seemed to please Rage since he howled happily and began to jump around, startling both Luke and Jasmine for a second before Luke let out a howl as well and dropped down to allow Jasmine Jasmine climb onto his back.

As soon as she was safely seated, Rage took off in the direction of our spot, hearing Luke following closely behind us.

It did not escape my notice that Rage was not going even half as fast as we usually did.

The realization brought yet another smile to my lips.