Jason’s POV:
After a long drive, Josephine and I finally arrived at the wedding dress store. As we got out of the car, my wolf began to get excited. “I think our mate is in the store!” he told me excitedly.
When he said that, I began to get nervous. I had joked about picking up women shopping for wedding dresses, but I never expected to pick up my own mate.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
On one hand, I have dreamed of meeting my mate. Wolves can meet their mates as early as 18, and I was already 25. Seven years is a long time to wait.
On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed seven years of bachelor fun. Sex with different women every night; freedom to go and do as I please. Was I ready to give all that up?
Yeah, yeah I was. If I was being honest, none of the women I’d slept with had ever really satisfied me. That was why I kept trying different ones. The idea of spending the rest of my life with one woman who really, truly loved me… and with whom I could have the kind of relationship I’d heard of, with sparks and amazing sexual chemistry… that sounded really appealing.
Having had that honest conversation with myself, I excitedly walked in to the store with Josephine and glanced around, hoping to see the lady whose smell had triggered my wolf senses.
My heart dropped when I saw her.
She was gorgeous. The most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. It was that kind of effortless beauty –the kind where I’m not sure she even knows how beautiful she is. Her blond hair was in a ponytail and she had no makeup on that I could see, not that she needed it.
But she wasn’t there supporting her friend who was getting married. No, she was the one wearing the wedding dress. Was my mate already engaged to another man? The thought sent a strong wave of anger and jealousy throughout my body, and I had to hold my wolf back from shifting right there in the store.
Before I could think too much more, Josephine excitedly pointed towards my mate and said she found her dress.
Of course she did.
Oh, goddess, what to do.
One of the sales clerks approached us, and Josephine told her that she wanted to see the dress my mate was wearing. The sales clerk frowned and told us that my mate was wearing a one of a kind dress. I asked if it could be recreated, or if they had something similar. The answer was either no or not anytime this year; I really wasn’t paying attention.
No problem, I thought. As long as my mate didn’t buy the dress, Josephine could have it.
We really needed Josephine to find her dress today.
Josephine looked at me disappointed but hopeful. I decided that I would approach my mate and ask her about the dress. It was a great way to break the ice, and also to confirm that she was in fact the one getting married.
Reminding my wolf to stay back, I quickly approached my mate. Unfortunately, my mate seemed to have other ideas, as she started to walk back to what I presume were the dressing rooms.
“Wait!” I shouted. My mate turned to me with confusion in her eyes, paused, and then continued to head back to the dressing rooms. “Wait! I need to talk to you!” I shouted again.
“Baby! It’s fine! Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll find something else!” Josephine commented, grabbing my arm.
I saw a brief look of hurt in my mate’s eyes and Josephine approached, but I didn’t quite understand it. “Josephine, you don’t need to find anything else. We don’t even know if this lady wants the dress.”
My mate froze upon hearing that, and turned to me with anger in her eyes. “Oh, I want the dress.”
I heard gasps nearby, from two somewhat older ladies and a little girl. One of them spoke up, “What? Cassie, you want the dress?”
Ah, so my mate’s name is Cassie. What a beautiful and fitting name.
Cassie turned to face the woman. “Yes, mother, I want the dress. It is the perfect dress for me to get married in. They can’t have it.”
My heart fell. So Cassie is the one getting married. And the way she’s talking, she seems like she still intends to get married, even with me right here. She does know I’m her mate, yes?
The older woman protested. “But, Cassie, you aren’t getting married ---”
“Right away,” Cassie cut in. “I’m not getting married right away. But weddings take a long time to plan, and this dress is one of a kind. I’m buying this dress. I love it.”
Cassie turned back to me, and our eyes locked. She had a look I did not understand. I’m sure the look in my eyes was just as confusing; even I didn’t know how I felt at this moment. After a minute of silence, Cassie rushed back to the dressing room. This time, I did not stop her.
Josephine sighed. “It’s not a problem. We will find another dress.”
I remembered my discussion with Aaron and Alpha Blake this morning. “No, Josephine. That is your dress, and I am going to get it for you. Sit down and wait for me.”
I then started studying the two sales clerks, and I began to formulate a plan.
(Jason’s POV): I noticed that one of the sales clerks had a mating mark on her neck, but the other one did not. She therefore became my target. I approached her at the desk, and immediately asked her name. “Candy.” “Oh, what a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” She blushed. I gestured to where Josephine is sitting. “Do you see that lovely lady over there? She is getting married to my alpha, and it is really important that I make her happy.” “Oh, so she isn’t with you?” Candy asked, expectantly. “No,” I confirmed, giving her my best charming smile. I looked Candy up and down. “I like the ladies a little bit different than Josephine. Red hair is my favorite.” Candy smiled, and gently pushed her long red hair back, so that I could see her un-marked neck. “It is?” “Yes.” Candy looked into my eyes, and blushed again. “I wish I could make plans to take you on a date tonight, but my alpha won’t let me go anywhere until I’ve made his bride happy. Is there anything you t
Chapter 8 Aaron POV: I was working in my Dad’s office when I heard Josephine and Jason return from their shopping trip. I was praying to the Moon Goddess that they had been successful. I mind-linked Jason asking him to come see me. When he came into the office, I could tell immediately that something was wrong. “How did it go?” I asked. Surely it could not have gone that poorly. “Well, Josephine found a dress she liked.” My eyes widened. “That’s amazing!” As I said that, even I realized how crazy it was for me to be this excited. I am a grown man, who likes sports, cars, and working out. I am an alpha-to-be who will soon be in charge of a pack with over 2500 wolves relying on me. I normally could care less about dresses, shoes, and anything traditionally female. Yet, due to circumstances beyond my control, I find myself highly dependent on Josephine finding a wedding dress she likes. “She didn’t get it.” “Why not???” “There was only one. It’s one of a kind. It wil
(Aaron POV) Three days later after Jason’s failed shopping trip, I found myself outside an apartment complex in a human town. I wasn’t quite sure why a wolf –much less a female wolf—would choose to live in a human town, but to each their own. I knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments –and what sounded like a woman stubbing her toe and cursing, which brought a tiny smirk to my face—a woman opened the door. Holy Goddess. I was starting to see why Jason was being so weird. This woman had the face and body of an angel; she was easily the most beautiful she-wolf I had ever seen. She had the kind of beauty that would intimidate any male wolf, even wolves with tons of game like Jason. More importantly, she had this unique energy about her. Many she-wolves have a quiet, submissive energy about them –especially when around high ranked male wolves. This she-wolf had energy that was anything but submissive. Her energy felt energized, independent,
(Jason POV) I woke up to loud, angry pounding on my door. I looked over at the alarm clock and it read 6:15 a.m.. Whoever was knocking on my door at this hour had better have a damn good reason. “Who is it?” I heard the distinct and angry growl of my best friend. “Get the f--- up, Jason.” “Aaron?” I called through the door. “What on earth? Is there an emergency?” “Open this door now, Jason, or I’m going to break it down.” “Dude, chill. I’ve got a girl in here.” I mind-linked him. “You have three seconds.” Aaron shouted back. He wasn’t using the mind-link. He only doesn’t use the mind-link when his emotions are too high to control it. Whatever he is mad about, I knew it was going to be bad. “3….2….” I scrambled out of bed and opened the door. I was immediately greeted by a punch to my face that knocked me straight to the ground. “Dude, what the ---” I exclaimed
(Jason POV) I walked into Alpha Blake’s office expecting to see Aaron. As I walked in, I was surprised to find not one, but seven pairs of angry eyes staring at me. One pair obviously belonged to Aaron. Another belonged to Josephine, who was sitting on Alpha Blake’s lap. Both of my parents were also there, as was the current Gamma (Henry) and the Gamma-heir, Ben. I walked in, and quickly made a joke to break the tension. “I didn’t rob a bank, so you all should probably look for another suspect. Perhaps the cat did it.” I laughed, but quickly realized I was the only one who did. “Sit down, Son,” my father told me. There was only one open chair, and it was right in the middle of the room with the other chairs turned to face it. I sat down. “What’s this about?” The room was silent for a moment. I could feel the tension, and I could also see the eyes of everyone glaze over as they appeared to be mi
Jason’s POV After the intense meeting with pack leadership, including my own parents, I headed to my room to continue to think about what had happened and how I would go about fixing everything. I was happy that Cassie wasn’t engaged, but I was confused as to why she was trying on wedding dresses the day that I met her. I was also confused as to why I felt the betrayal pains. Did I misunderstand what I was feeling? I have never had a mate before so maybe I don’t know what betrayal feels like. It definitely didn’t feel like I was going to die. Maybe she wasn’t with another wolf? Or maybe she was but thought better of it? Also, why was Aaron so angry? Granted, I should have told him that Cassie was my mate before he went to meet with her. But his anger this morning was another level. He didn’t tell me the second he met Allison, and it took him weeks to tell me everything that happened between them. Surely, if anyone would under
(Aaron POV) The meeting with Jason and pack leadership was tough. I never thought that I would be in that kind of heated meeting with my best friend and future Beta, but it had to be done. I had been with Cassie when she felt the first round of betrayal pains. It had been horrible to watch, and there was nothing that I could do to comfort her or make it better. I was grateful that it had been fairly quick, but I couldn’t leave her alone after that. I had to wait around with her until she fell asleep and I could confirm that she was OK. She had done OK for a while, and I had been prepared to go ahead and leave, but then the pains started up again. And again, and again, and again, and again. I called our pack doctor to come to our location stat, and he thankfully was able to get to her apartment in 90 minutes instead of the two hours that it normally took to get from our pack to this location. He confirmed that she was showing signs of betrayal
Jason’s POV: Despite the rocky start to our lunch, the tension between Aaron and I eventually settled down and we were able to have a productive conversation about how I would go about fixing things with Cassie. That’s not to say either of us were fully past our issues with the other. I had obviously f---ed up, and Aaron was there to hold the pieces together. Meanwhile, my wolf was beside himself that my best friend had touched my mate, even if he didn’t know she was my mate when he did so. I probably would have been just as upset as my wolf, but for the fact that I was still a little taken aback – Cassie was the first she-wolf I am aware of that Aaron has kissed in seven years. Yes, seven years. Allison really did a number on him. I’m surprised he doesn’t have cobwebs growing out of his crotch by now. Either which way, we eventually agreed that Aaron should accompany me to my first visit with Cassie. Of course, the main reason was