Chapter Five

Jasmine’s POV

As soon as the door to the study slammed shut behind me, I breathed a sign of relief. I could feel my aching shoulders relax and felt such ease being away from the scorching gaze of the Alpha.

Looking forward to where Luke now stood with a teasing glint in his hazel eyes, no doubt seeing my relief, I felt my shoulders tense once again.

The fact that the Alpha was more scary didn’t mean I wasn’t still scared of Luke.

“Believe me when I say you have less to fear from me”, he said as if reading my mind. “I will not hurt you if you do not give me a reason to”, he added turning away from me to start walking down a hallway.

Since he was the only one I could somewhat trust to not harm me as long as I behaved, I hurried after him, making sure to walk behind him with my eyes downcast to avoid the stares from any werewolves we came across.

He led me out the way we had come and into the gaze of the fully risen Sun. He took the opposite path from the woods and led me down a quiet path. I knew this because I could no longer hear the sounds of werewolves from the distance and could no longer feel eyes on me.

Since it was somewhat safe to do so, I looked up to see that we were approaching a big cabin. While this was obviously not the pack house and not as big, there was something intimidating about this house that was away from the rest of the pack houses.

Luke led me to the big door and pushed it, holding it open for me to nervously walk in before doing the same.

The inside of the house was stunning.

From the high ceiling and big fireplace to the dark wood and several animal furs used to make furniture, It had to be the most impressive cabin I had ever been in.

Luke let me look my fill before leading me down a hallway and past several shut doors before finally coming to a door at the end of the hallway and pushing it open.

Rather than go in, he stepped aside to let me through and I did so hesitantly.

It revealed a room that was small but cozy, with a small fire place and an actual bed made of furs. There was a window on the right side of the room that had a view of a very large field where I could see werewolves interacting from a distance.

I turned to notice a door to the left and carefully walked to it. I pushed it open to reveal a small wash room with a wooden bowl and some other things I did not try to inspect with Luke watching me from the hallway.

I turned back to him and took a step forward.

“M-may I ask a question?” I requested, eyes on a tear in my dress.

“You may”, I heard him say.

I swallowed, hoping my words would not anger him.

“What am I to do here?” I asked and went on. “I do not mean to sound ungrateful since I know you are the reason the Alpha allowed me to stay but I would like to know what is expected of me”, I said, keeping my voice low to not offend him.

I don’t know what I expected him to say. But it certainly was not what I heard next.

“What is your name?” He asked, causing my eyes to snap up to his in surprise.

A corner of his mouth kicked up in a half smile at the look on my face.

I immediately looked away.

“F-forgive me”, I said head bowed. “I did not realize I had forgotten to tell you”.

“In all honesty”, he said leaning against the doorframe, causing me to look up at him. “With being kidnapped and scared witless I would be surprised if you even remembered your name”, he said with a not-so-scary smile.

“And your name is?” He repeated as I continued to stare at him without answering.

I quickly looked away.

“Jasmine”, I said. “My name is Jasmine”.

“Jasmine”, I heard him say, as if trying out the name for himself. “I have never met anyone by that name before”, he mused.

“Now you have, Sir”, I said, feeling confused about the whole interaction.

“My name is Luke”, he said. “As I am sure you already know. So call me Luke”.

Rather than respond, I nodded.

“A woman with red hair will come to fetch you before nightfall”, he informed. “She will show you what you are expected to do here. Until then, rest”, he said and before I could ask any questions, the door was shut and he was gone.

I took a deep, calming breath and made my way to the fur bed. I ran my hand over it, feeling the softness beneath my palm before deciding that I would take a quick nap.

The bruises on my body still hurt but I believed a short rest would do me good.

So I slowly climbed onto my new bed, careful to avoid the side with the more painful bruises as I laid down.

A sigh of contentment escaped me as the softness of the bed welcomed my aching body.

I shut my eyes and an image of Tyler’s angry face came to mind.

Unwillingly, the memories of everything I had gone through began to cloud my mind.

My guardian had been the Beta of the Ravenclaw Pack.

For as long as I could remember, he had never been kind to me. Though he had taken me in out of an obligation he somehow owed to my father, the title of his ward was merely a formality when I was treated as nothing more than a maid.

He had declared me as useless when he found that I was too weak for a werewolf and decided to put me to ‘some use’ by making me a maid to his wife and two daughters.

I had begun doing all the chores as soon as I got there and the rest of his pack treated me the same.

His wife made sure I had no time for myself and that I was always busy ‘earning my keep’. As soon as she found that I had a talent for needlework, she immediately ensured I mended or made clothes for her and her daughters.

Once she saw that the pack women admired my work, she convinced her husband to allow me start working as a seamstress to pay them back for raising me.

When it was finally discovered at my coming of age ceremony at fifteen years of age that the reason for my weakness was because I had no wolf, I was all but excommunicated from the pack.

People avoided me like I had a plague and most would not even have me make their clothes.

That was why when I had overheard that my guardian was traveling to another pack for business, I pleaded for him to allow me come with him.

Since the werewolves of his pack would not buy my wares because I had no wolf, the werewolves of the pack he was visiting would buy them since they were not aware of my ‘plague’ as he called it.

He finally agreed to let me accompany him and his daughter after I promised to give him all the money from the sale of the wares.

That was how I had come to Blackmoon Pack.

Upon arriving, I had begun to catch a hint of a delicious scent at first. As we drew closer to the pack house, the enticing scent grew stronger but before I could find out what it was, my guardian had sent me off to sell my wares.

I had sold all my wares quickly at a market and was on my way to meet my guardian in front of the pack house when the enticing scent became more powerful.

I had just made it to the path leading to the pack house when someone had run towards me and tackled me into a bone crushing hug.

Certain that I would bruise badly, I ignored the pain from the hug as the delicious scent of pinewoods and something I could never place filled my senses and I came to the sudden realization that the scent I had perceived all day belonged to my mate.

The joy that had filled me in that moment was indescribable as he buried his face in my neck and inhaled my scent deeply.

I held onto him tightly, glad that I had finally found someone who would accept and love me.

Still intoxicated by his scent, I barely noticed the feel of his sharp teeth as they grazed the area of my neck that would bear his mark. It was the sound of my name being called sharply by none other than my guardian that had pulled me back to reality and caused him to pull away from him to see who had interrupted his marking of me.

I remember being in a daze as Tyler had told my guardian that I was his mate and demanded that I remained with him in Blackmoon Pack.

I remember seeing the relief on my guardian’s face upon realizing that he would finally be rid of me.

He immediately agreed to let me stay with Tyler in Blackmoon Pack only requesting to have a final moment to say goodbye to me.

Tyler must have thought he was a caring guardian who was heartbroken to see his ward go, but I knew better.

As soon as he was sure that Tyler was out of hearing range, he immediately demanded for the money from the sale of my wares as promised.

I handed them over to him, glad that I would never have to see him and his family and pack again.

He left without even saying goodbye and I watched him go without regret.

A few moments later, Tyler had come back to take me to his pack house.

It was there that I had met the witch, Bianca.

Upon hearing that I was Tyler’s mate, she had shot me a death glare and had immediately stormed off. Tyler had excused her behavior saying she did not like new people and would need time to warm up to me and I had believed him like a fool.

He hadn’t asked me any questions about myself but had instead spoken about his dream of power and greatness and how he would be even stronger now that he had found me.

I had thought every word from his mouth to be precious and had been to blind to see how selfish and obnoxious he had really been.

He had taken me on a tour of his pack, showing me only the parts he was proud of. I had later found out the other side of it for myself.

I had believed every word from his mouth when he had said he would take care of me and that I would want for nothing while he showed me to a luxurious room and demanded I get enough sleep since we had more to discuss the next day.

I had thought he was being considerate of me, not knowing he had gone to spend the night with his lover, Bianca.

I had been such a fool.

Because the very next day, he all but rejected when he had discovered my lack of rank and a wolf.

But he would pay.

Bianca would pay.

All of Blackmoon pack would pay for the pain and humiliation they had caused me.

I wanted revenge.

So did the scary looking Alpha, for some reason.

And I was going to help him get it.

With that thought in mind, I finally gave in to the promise of comfort from the soft fur bed and let it pull me into a deep, peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.