TALIA Blake looked at Tyler, shook his head, and sighed. “No, I can’t put this on you and Jack. I’ve already asked Jack for too many favors. Talia, why don’t you come stay at the packhouse for now? We have plenty of room. Do you know anything about babies? Maybe you can help my beta’s mate out with her pup. She’s having a hard time. The baby had colic for three months and she’s apparently still not sleeping through the entire night now.” “I don’t know anything about babies, but I can try to help,” I replied, unsure of the idea but also with no place to go. At least it seemed he’d left everything that happened the previous day in the past. I didn’t know if I’d ever stop feeling ashamed of what had happened. “Okay. Do you have anything that you need to take with you?” I shook my head. “Okay, well, let’s go then,” he said, getting up. I followed him out to his SUV. He opened the door for me and helped me into the car. He was very polite. We drove in silence. I looked around as we dr
JASMINE As soon as the bell signaled the end of training for the day, I caught the girls in my group snickering together. I looked up to catch them whispering with their heads turned toward the bleachers, where I spotted Blake sitting, waiting for me. “Daddy’s here,” I overheard one of the girls say. I rolled my eyes at the jab, telling myself how childish they were. But, in reality, it stung—my transition to warrior had not exactly been easy. It felt like high school all over again, maybe even worse. I mean, we all try to pretend we’re past that whole “need to fit in” thing once we become adults, but then when you don’t, it’s like you’re back there all over again. Even my old high school nickname, PJ, that my classmates would use to taunt me for being “Perfect Jasmine” had been resurrected. Salt in the wound. It all started because Blake wanted our training schedules to be identical, making the argument that I was going to be his luna and therefore I should train with the alpha. I
JASMINE When my parents and I finally arrived at the packhouse, everyone else was already there. Blake greeted us at the door, shaking both my parents’ hands and leading them inside. He then turned to me and kissed me on the cheek. “You look stunning tonight, Miss Alpha. I can tell you’ve been working out.” He winked at me. It was true—I had become much more toned than I ever was before from all of the training. He asked my parents what he could get them to drink, leading them over to where a drink station was set up. I grinned to myself at how adorable he looked showcasing all the soft drinks available. I had no idea how he did it, but Blake had completely charmed my parents, and they had actually lightened up a lot since Blake and I started seriously dating. I mean, they weren’t exactly at the same level of relaxed as Lucy’s parents, but they had come a long way from how they’d been a year earlier. “Hey, Jaz.” Tyler came over and pulled me in for a hug. “Nice to see you,” Jack sa
JASMINE When we were well into dinner, Blake’s mom came in wearing her scrubs. She waved hello to everyone and walked over to Blake, kissing him on his head. She then looked up, locking eyes with Talia. Our side of the table went quiet as she began to lose color from her face. “Bianca,” she gasped. “Mom!” Blake got up pushing his chair back. “Shit, I should have told you.” “You didn’t tell your mom?” Beta Alfred, who was normally calm, suddenly stood, puffing his chest and glaring at Blake. The entire table was now quiet, staring at the scene unfolding. He got up and took Luna Sienna’s arm, leading her out of the room. “That was really stupid, Blake,” Robin snapped at him, getting up to follow. Lucy’s baby started crying. This set off Luke’s sister, Lauren’s, baby as well. They both got up, trying to comfort them and walking into the living room. “Fuck,” Blake said and followed Robin. The rest of the table was left in shock, not saying anything. Breaking the silence, Peyton’s mat
TALIA Well, that was really awkward. Scratch that—the whole day was really awkward and uncomfortable. I should make a list of all of the uncomfortable things that happened since I got to this place: 1. I tried to sleep with my brother. 2. I tried to sleep with a gay man. 3. I found out my father is dead. Still not sure how he died, but maybe I can find out. 4. I found out that my mom was a nanny mistress at only eighteen years old. 5. I found out why my mom got banished from the pack—and it was because of me. 6. The two men who witnessed me seducing my brother, who I now know are named Luke and Jack, know that I tried to seduce my brother. Will they tell other people? How many people know now? 7. Oh, right, my brother has a girlfriend. Does she know? What does she think? 8. This blonde girl who lives here, Lucy, is a bitch. She keeps calling me the rogue. Blake forced her to give me a dress to wear for tonight. I really didn’t want to wear it, but I didn’t have much of a choic
TALIA After we finished eating breakfast, Blake took me to his mom’s house. It was a pretty short walk from the packhouse. When we arrived, his mom smiled at me in greeting. She had a very warm smile that extended to her whole face. I could instantly tell she was a good person. Her eyes, on the other hand, looked sad. I wasn’t even sure how exactly I could tell they were sad. And then, after a few moments, it clicked. They reminded me of my own mother’s eyes—a haunted look of something gripping her that she couldn’t shake off. “Hello, Talia.” She put her hand out to shake mine. I extended my own hand and she had a surprisingly firm handshake. “Thanks for coming by. Why don’t you come sit in the kitchen, and I’ll bring over some tea?” “That’d be great, Mom.” Blake wrapped his arms around her as she patted his back and kissed his cheek, and I instantly understood they had a close relationship. After Blake’s mom laid everything out, she took a seat at the table with us. We all made sm
TALIA Once Lucy was ready to go, we headed outside to Jasmine’s blue Jeep Wrangler Sport. I pulled my seat forward so that Lucy could climb into the back seat. When we were all buckled in, Jasmine pulled out of the lot and sped out of the pack territory. We drove about an hour to Burlington, Vermont to go to a shopping mall that was located there. Lucy dragged us to Victoria’s Secret first. I was relieved since I did need bras and underwear big time! I looked around and decided to settle for the cotton panties since they were the best deal at five for thirty dollars. It was pretty pricey, and much more than I normally spent on underwear, but I wasn’t sure if I’d end up anywhere else that sold underwear. I quickly grabbed five pairs. “You should get something sexier than that.” Lucy came up behind me. “They have some really cute lacey thongs over there.” She pointed over to a display. “These are fine,” I replied. It’s not like I’d be wearing these for anyone anyway. I’d already emba
TALIA Once we got into H&M, I began picking out some basic clothing such as leggings and T-shirts. Then I checked the sales rack to see what they had. There usually wasn’t much good on the sale rack but I found a few things to try on. When I looked up, I spotted Lucy holding a bodycon dress against Jasmine. Jasmine looked very irritated, rolling her eyes dramatically. I chuckled to myself because it was actually pretty entertaining. The two of them had a very interesting dynamic. I couldn’t tell if they were best friends or enemies. It could really go either way. I pulled everything that fit together after going into the fitting room. I was relieved that the prices at H&M were much more reasonable, especially for their basics and sale items. Maybe if I kept a note of how much everything cost, I could eventually pay Blake back. I could also pay Hugo back for the wolfsbane. Once I figured out how to make money of course. I wished I had my cell phone because I desperately wanted to text