35

JASMINE
I sat still, looking at her without saying a word. Her eyes revealed a mix of fear and dread, which alarmed me. It was the first time since we met that I saw her in such a state. She seemed scared, uncertain, and exhausted. It felt like she was a different person standing in front of me. I had been reflecting on how she brought a fresh sense of hope into my life, and now that hope was flickering weakly before my eyes.
Until now, she had been the pillar I relied on and drew strength from. Her resilience inspired me to keep trying. But now, it seemed like that dream was crumbling away, just like Eleanor herself.
What was I thinking, depending solely on her to keep us going? She was just like me, facing the same fate and suffering, maybe even worse. This wasn’t typical of me. What happened to my rule of not trusting anyone, let alone placing my hope in them?
“She’s different. She’s not like the others who betrayed you. She’s genuine, and you know it. Now isn’t the time to question our dynamics. She’s in pain right now, and what you should be thinking about is how to help her,” Brie scolded, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded, realizing Brie was right. It was selfish to think this way about someone who hadn’t wronged me. This was the last thing she needed at the moment. But I was still confused.
“I’m lost, Brie,” I admitted. “I don’t know what to do. How can I help her when she’s already marked? She seems like a lost cause. Zane has trapped her and could easily harm her. I have no clue how to assist her. In fact, I’m not even sure if I’m the right person to comfort her now. What do you suggest I do?” I asked Brie, feeling completely stuck. This sudden and drastic turn of events caught me off guard, and Eleanor’s words about everything being ruined didn’t seem far-fetched.
Eleanor and I were supposed to join forces to protect Clara, but now she found herself in the same dangerous situation as Clara, or maybe even worse since she now carried the mark of the man responsible for the massacre of her people.
“If you’d just calm down and clear your mind of doubt, you would have noticed something about her. Use your senses for once, human!” Brie scolded loudly, and I paused, taken aback by her words.
“Use my senses? That’s what I’m doing right now. All I can smell is that bastard pheromones all over her, and I see the mark on her neck, which is scalded because of the injuries she is inflicting on herself. What else am I missing?” I asked, feeling a sense of frustration.
“You’re smarter than this, Jasmine. Has being a slave for so long clouded your ability to reason? You’re a Beta. Your powers of observation should be sharper than this. I can’t help but be disappointed at the lack of it. I’m disappointed in you,” Brie scolded, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“Instead of scolding me and expressing your disappointment, why don’t you actually help me? Tell me what it is that you think I should have noticed,” I retorted, and after a brief moment of silence that probably meant she was unimpressed, Brie spoke again.
“Examine the mark on her neck. If it’s taking a specific shape, then it confirms she’s truly marked. But if not, it’s probably just a damn hickey or a light press of his teeth. Based on what I see, it doesn’t seem like he broke the skin… damn I wonder what that fellow is teaching you because you seem lacking in so many areas,” Brie commented, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“That ‘fellow’ is teaching me more than enough, and you know it. You should appreciate him because, without him, we wouldn’t be alive right now. You should learn to say thank you because he belongs to us, whether you accept it or not,” I stated firmly, making my position clear.
“Yeah, yeah. I admit he’s trying. He’s teaching you a bunch of different skills our previous pack never did, and I’m impressed. But there’s something mysterious about him. I feel like he’s hiding something from us, and whatever it is might not be good for both of us,” Brie said, and I knew she had a valid point.
She had a reason to suspect him, but then again without him, I wouldn’t have been this strong, and he had valuable information about this pack, which is of good use to us. He knows a lot of things about life here, and together, we had been planning our escapes, which had been soiled and thrown aside until Eleanor came along. I had also become suspicious of his late-night activities, but I couldn’t ask him about it. I wanted to believe that whatever he was involved in would benefit us and the girls, but that wasn’t my main concern at the moment.
“We’ll address this later; she needs our help,” I said, snapping out of my thoughts and crawling closer to Eleanor, who was curled up on the bathroom floor. Her self-inflicted wounds were slowly healing, and her neck would soon heal too. Then I could check if she had really been marked.
“Eleanor,” I called out to her. She sniffled and slowly raised her head to meet my gaze. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but my wolf just informed me that the mark might not be what you think it is,” I explained.
I could see a glimmer of hope find its way into her eyes, but it was gone almost immediately, followed by an unamused chuckle.
“But… I felt it. I felt the tingling sensation all over when he marked me. I felt it so overwhelmingly that it irked me and made me hate myself. He couldn’t have done that without actually marking me. There’s no point in trying to deny it.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken, Eleanor. A hickey can also cause tingling and painful sensations too, but it’s different from marking. If Zane had truly marked you, you would be able to feel him. You and him would have formed a bond by now, feeling each other’s heartbeat, and you would have been feeling him right now. You would be connected to him in so many ways that you would long for him, and your hatred for him would have dissipated into nothing. That’s the difference between a mating mark and a hickey,” I explained, willing to share more information if it meant I could see that little glimmer of hope in her eyes again.
“Nice explanation, human. It seems your beta skills are returning to you,” Brie teased. I quickly hushed her and leaned closer to Eleanor to examine her neck since that region had been healed.
I let out a relieved sigh, almost dropping to the ground when I realized it was just a hickey, accompanied by now faint indents of his teeth and not what I had feared-a mate mark.
“Oh, thank the goddess! It’s a hickey, Eleanor, and not what you feared. Zane really knows how to mess with you. He really wasn’t joking when he said he would break you until you crawl on your knees begging him. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said sadly before getting on my feet and extending a hand to help Eleanor up, leaving her bewildered.
“Y-y-you’re saying it’s a h-h-hickey and not a mate mark? He gave me a hickey?” she asked, touching the spot in question. I nodded in confirmation, letting a smile stretch onto my face, “thank goodness,” She cried out, falling into my arms and pulling me into a hug.
“How do you feel now?” I asked once we separated.
“I’m relieved enough to want to tear that bastard apart for playing with my emotions. I thought it was all over, Jasmine! I almost gave up on everything, thinking I had finally met my doom. I was even considering waiting it out here, knowing the steam and lack of oxygen would eventually kill me from the blood loss. But then, you came in and hugged me, and I actually thought about facing him just so I could kill him and myself when he demands me again,” she revealed, and I gasped.
“You were going to end it all on your own without your friends?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Well… I mean… that way, at least I’d be sure of both your safety and the girls’ too, especially since I’d be taking that jerk with me,” she replied, a small smile finally appearing on her bitten lips and I suddenly felt my stomach churn as guilt suddenly washed over me, and self-loathing consumed me.
“Jasmine, you need to tell her. Eleanor is not like the others. You need to tell her about your mate. Don’t you think she deserves to know after everything she has been through?” Brie interjected, but I shook my head.
“Not now. The timing isn’t right. I’ll tell her once I have all the information I need to know about my mate. I need to figure out if he’s truly on my side or if he’s working with Zane. After all, he is Zane’s Beta, his second-in-command. I have to know if he’s mine or Zane’s.”