My paws pound against the ground. The anger doesn’t ebb, no matter what I do all I feel is this anger. Anger at everyone around me. They have no right to happiness if I can’t have mine. Nothing around me has substance. It is just anger. Then I feel it. I have stepped into pack territory. Which pack I have no idea. I should turn around. I don’t want to confront the guard of this pack right now. But something stops me right when I do.
The most delicious scent I have ever had crosses my nose. Nothing has ever been as appealing as this scent. I follow it a short ways away. Ducking and covering so that I am not caught by the guard. I am down wind from the scent, following it, I spot her. Her black fur is exquisite. With this adorable white spot on her chest. The very sight of her kills my anger. She is strong and powerful. I need her.
I watch as she moves closer to the end of the woods towards a clearing. She doesn’t know she is being watched. Doesn’t know the desire that floods my body for hers. She stops at a large tree, looks around and doesn’t see me. I begin to wonder if she senses me and that is why she is looking around so hard.
My eyes widen as she shifts. I see her all. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The very sight of her has me salivating. Her emerald green eyes radiating her very soul to me. The way that her chestnut hair falls around her face and down her shoulders makes me want to run my fingers through it. A body that calls to me. It’s perfect.
Only one thought fills me now. Mine. She will be mine.
CHAPTER 1- The pack outcast
JASMINE’S P. O. V.
I look myself over in the mirror and I am not as pleased as I would like to be. My hair is a beautiful chestnut color, not wispy or flyaway. It hangs in waves down to about my mid back. My eyes are a beautiful emerald green. They shine in the light. No, what I am talking about is my weight. I wear a size twelve. Not very large you would say, I wouldn’t really either, it’s everyone else. You see I am a werewolf, they are not large boned so to speak. They are lucky if they are over a size six. Ok I say lucky, but really it’s just their genes.
A werewolves metabolism is fast. Most wolves hardly have to do anything to burn off their fat and can eat whatever they want. I guess I am not so lucky. I really don’t have a problem with my body, I still move the way everyone else does. I am still healthy. Because of my weight, I have been the butt of the pack’s jokes for a while now. Of course my father doesn’t hear any of them, he is the Alpha and I am his only daughter, he wouldn’t be pleased to hear half the talk that I do.
My mother, the Luna, died when I was only six. She was a beautiful woman. She had the respect of the whole pack. I often hear about how it was a shame I didn’t take after her. Even though I look like her, I just don’t have her frame, that I got from my father. I miss her terribly. I often wonder if she would know what I should do about the taunts and jokes. Or if she would know what to do to fix me. Just so I can be like everyone else.
Our pack isn’t big enough to have our own school so we have to attend school with humans. At least that is what my father says, I think he really wants us to integrate with humans. After all, they are the dominant species on the planet. It would help to have a good relationship with them. At least I don’t stick out like a sore thumb when I am at school. There I have friends, even if they are human. None of them really put me down. There are a few jackasses, but mainly the ones that do are the pack members. They think they are so much better than me because they don’t pack on the pounds. Even though they eat five times as much as me.
That brings me back to this morning, here I stand in front of my mirror trying to find a way to cover some of my weight. Make it not look so bad. I am happy with my body in a way. I just hate hearing how everyone else doesn’t like it, it makes me feel like shit. Today I have on a pair of nice fitting jeans. They don’t cling but they don’t make me feel like I am swimming in them either. I have on a blue blouse that flows around my body so it looks good. Deciding that I do look good, regardless of what the pack thinks. I put on my shoes and head to the front door of the pack house.
Since we are the top ranking wolves of the pack, my dad and I share the top floor of the pack house. Second to top floor is reserved for the Beta and his family. Then the rest of the family pack members on the next level. Then the second story is split between the males and females. The single ones that haven’t found their mates yet. We aren’t a big pack, but big enough that we have other wolves that don’t live in the pack house. There are many that live in their own houses around inside the boundaries of the pack lands. The pack house looks more like a resort on the outside, if the humans could see it from the highway they would be stopping by all the time.
I take the stairs all the way down the five flights of stairs. Annoying but I don’t mind. At the floor below mine, I hear the sound I dread, a door closing behind me, I am joined by the Beta’s son, Hunter. This is why it is annoying the most. I have to walk right by his room. He has never wasted a chance to tell me how much he hates me. I think hate might be a strong word, let’s go with disgust. “Maybe you should take the stairs a few more times, lose some of that fat off your ass.” Yep, there is my good morning. He tells me something like this every morning. I am starting to take it as a term of endearment. Note the sarcasm.
“Good morning to you, Hunter. Ever as pleasant as always.” I nod my head. I don’t regard him in any other way.
“So, I hear your birthday is coming up. What are you going to do when your mate rejects you for being a fat ass?” I swear this guy is the biggest ass there is. Not literally of course. He is thin and well built. Hunter has dark hair and dark eyes. A body that the other she-wolves would die to be mated with. I however think if he was my mate I would reject him on his personality alone. I pray to the goddess that he is not my mate.
“Then I will be grateful for not being mated to a jackass for the rest of my life. I would rather mate with a human than a jackass like you.” I take the steps faster to get away from him. I know we have to ride in the same car but I need a few minutes without this person.
He jogs to catch up with me. “You honestly think I would want to be mated to someone like you. The only reason why I would stay mated to you is so that I wouldn’t be weak.” He stamers a little when he says it, but I can hear the sneer.
I sigh and roll my eyes, “I didn’t say that I was mated to you. I said a jackass like you. I know you and I would never be mated. If we were then the goddess surely has a beautiful sense of humor. She knows I can’t stand your guts. How we are supposed to run the pack together I have no idea.” I keep my pace up and get to the front door before the SUV that is supposed to take us to school. Now I am standing there waiting with Hunter. I would rather be swimming in a pool filled with piranha. Especially since I know what is going to happen next.
“Oh, look, it’s blimp girl.” And there it is people. Miss America, at least she thinks she is. That’s always what I call her in my head, sometimes other choice nicknames that I never repeat out loud. Allison is the pack bimbo and she has the nerve to pick on me. Sure I don’t have perfect blonde hair, or tits that I let hang out of my shirt. To be honest though I think our tits are the same size, hers might even be a little smaller, I just don’t flaunt mine. She even wears those shorts that should be dress coded, but of course she never is.
I get the joy of riding with these two every morning. Aren’t I lucky? I don’t even regard her with a remark, she just gets worse when I do. I think she is a little disappointed because she turned eighteen about a month ago and she still hasn’t found her mate. She thought it was Hunter, but he was eighteen two months before her. Not a mated pair. Thank the goddess. I mean these two together would be unbearable to handle for the rest of my life. At this point it is looking like Allison will have to go to another pack to find her mate.
She gives my body a once over. “Actually you don’t look that bad this morning. Did you lose a few pounds?”
Ok, did hell just freeze over? “I’m sorry what?” I blink at her a few times, I can’t believe that actually sounded half way like a compliment.
She flings her hair to the side. “Look, I heard that you are having a big party for your birthday and your dad is inviting wolves from other packs so that you can find your mate. I want an invite.” She puts her hand on her hip like she is giving me direction instead of asking for an invitation to my birthday party.
“Well, you can cut the crap, I am sure my dad is inviting the whole pack. Don’t worry I don’t think you will be left out.” I roll my eyes and step at least three feet to the left. Hopefully she will take this as a hint that I don’t really want to continue this conversation.
“I heard that too, but I also heard that you get final say on the guest list. So, just don’t leave my name out alright.” She isn’t asking. I really don’t care about the party to begin with.
“To be honest I could care less. It is my dad’s idea. I don’t care who is on the list. Come, I don’t care.” I step down to the final step so that I am as far away from them as I can get without being too far from the pick up spot.
Finally I see Carlos, our driver, coming around the bend. My savior has arrived. “Good, I look forward to it.” Of course she would say some shit like that. It isn’t because it’s my birthday, it’s because she is hoping to meet her mate.
I get in the front seat of the SUV next to Carlos, while Allison and Hunter take the back seat. It is about a thirty minute drive to school and they always seem to get a little too cozy on the way there. Not as much in the last few months but it is still too much for me. I used to sit back there with them but I finally convinced Carlos that it was best for me if I sat with him.
He greets me with a pleasant smile, he is older, about fifty. Hair slightly graying but kept in that swagger way. He is big, I mean almost as big as my father. That is why he was selected for this detail. I think he is like my unofficial bodyguard. “Good morning Jasmine. I heard that you are having a big birthday party. That sounds like fun.” He starts pulling away from the pack house. He is a little naive to think that I actually want to have this party. He is much like my father in this respect.
“I am sure it is for some people.” I stare out the window. I don’t want to push the fact that I hate this party already and they haven’t finished planning it. I am glad that Carlos has gotten the hint that I do not want to talk about the party. He is good like that. I am starting to think it is more of a political thing. My father has invited all the local packs. I think he is planning on having some peace treaty talks during the party. Not that we really need it, but you never know with rogues.
I watch as the trees pass by. We live in a remote area of northern California. We have been cleaned out by a lot of fires recently, but we still have a decent amount of trees. Of course they are thinner and farther apart then we would like, but we make do. I watch as the trees thin out even more and are replaced with scattered buildings. First a few houses, then gas stations, then businesses start to appear. We attend school in a small town, so our school population is only about two thousand. Nice for us, because there is less of a chance of a lot of people finding out what we are.
Carlos pulls in front of the school and parks by the gate. I step out first. I want to be as far away from those two in the backseat as fast as possible. It’s not that I don’t want to be seen with them, because everyone in school knows that we know each other. It’s that I don’t want to see them anymore. Once I enter the gate there is my best friend Zoe, waiting for me.
“There you are. Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?” She sounds exasperated, but I know it is all for show. She is a fun girl with wavy red hair and a killer body. I would literally kill to have her body. Just kidding, but she rocks it.
“Let me guess an eternity.” I grin at her.
“If only, it was so much longer than that.” She continues with the joke. Then she pulls my arm and gets all serious on me. “You are not going to believe who was asking about you yesterday.” Ok, now she has my interest.
“Who? It wasn’t that one guy from Chemistry again?” I shudder at the thought. The guy is less than appealing.
“No, it wasn’t. It was Nick.” She half giggles it out. Like she is too excited to even speak the words.
I stop in my tracks. Looking her dead in the eyes. “Are we talking about the same Nick here? The one that transferred here last month. The one that is so hot he should be registered as a national monument.”
Zoe giggles and jumps up and down. “Yes that one.”
“So there has to be something up. What did he ask about me?” I am in full on panic mode. Guys like him don’t talk about girls like me. I accepted this a long time ago.
“He asked Jay if you had a boyfriend.” She gets this quirky little excited look on her face, biting her bottom lip.
I am staring off into space now. What could this mean? “No way a guy that hot really is interested in me.” I start to breathe a little heavy. Yep panic is definitely setting in.
“Relax, girl. It’s not a natural disaster, it’s a guy.” She gave me a ‘get serious’ look. She doesn’t know what it is like for a girl like me to be talked about by a guy like Nick. I have to find Jay now. I need to know what all he said.
“Where is Jay?” I look around hoping to spot him. I am a girl on a mission now.
“I think he was out shooting hoops.” She points to the southside of campus. Crap, because I am later than usual I am not going to make it there and interrogate Jay in enough time to get to class on time.
“I guess I will have to talk to him at lunch.” I am defeated, but hey at least I have something to look forward to now.
Zoe decides to change the subject. “So, have you thought anymore about the dance on Saturday?”
I, of course, have not. I don’t go to dances. They are for people who have dates or at least have the prospect of having someone to dance with. I don’t have that very often. Except the guy in Chemistry class. Definitely not going there. “No, not really.”
She throws her hands up in the air. I think she is getting fed up with my antisocial behavior. “Come on Jas, it is senior year. You need to start getting out there. Come with me, I promise it will be fun.” Sure she likes to have fun, but she is just as antisocial as me.
I groan. I know she is not going to let this up. She came up with some bucket list thing for senior year and she is demanding that I do the stuff with her. Even if I don’t want to. “Fine I will go, but I get ditched one time I am calling Carlos to come get me.” I use my pointer finger to emphasize the point.
“Deal,” She is jumping up and down again. The first bell rings. “At lunch we are going to talk costumes.” She runs off before I even have a chance to say anything. I forgot that it is the halloween dance. I don’t dress up either. This is so going to blow.
Even more defeated, I head to my first period class. I like this class, even though I only have like one person in it that I can talk with on a decent level. It’s the teacher who makes it fun, he is a werewolf too. He likes to open the class up to more discussions about history, then just reading the textbook. In a way he lets us discuss the real history. The humans don’t know that.
“Good morning Mr. Brown.” I greet as I walk into class.
“Good morning.” Then he turns to his class, as I take a seat next to my friend Chloe. She has short brown hair that sits around her chin line. She has blue eyes and a pleasant face. She is slender as well. “Ok, folks. Let’s settle in. We are going over the Dark ages today. Kind of fitting since we are going into Halloween. I hope everyone did the reading.”
The rest of the class we discussed vampires and all the legends that started around the dark ages. Some of which were true, but some were complete shit. There was never any Dracula. Vampires yes, Dracula no. We even went into some werewolves. Someone had to bring up how they were killed. Most of which is crap. I mean we can be killed by anyone, not just someone who loves us. Although we are allergic to silver it isn’t the only thing that can kill us. I don’t correct any of this. The last thing that we need is a bunch of humans panicking and knowing how to kill us.