Jasper Hartford
“Where is Lizzy?” I asked as I walked into the dining room for dinner the following evening. I hadn’t seen Lizzy since her accident and I had done nothing but worry about her for the last 24 hours. My mom had kept her out of school to make sure that she was fully recovered but part of me wondered if that was just a ploy to keep her away from me.
I felt like I was dying without her. She was all I could think about and it felt as though there was a knife in my heart not knowing where she was or how she was feeling. The whole time I was at college she never left my mind once. Now I was sitting at the dining table with the rest of my family but Lizzy was nowhere in sight. That only made me worry more, she never missed a family meal and she was never late to anything.
“She will be here in a moment” My mom replied.
“Good.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I started to fill my plate with the food on the table in front of me only to be distracted a few minutes later when Lizzy walked into the room. She was wearing a dark blue knee-length dress and she looked completely stunning. She froze in the doorway when she saw me, her eyes went wide and her heart rate spiked. It felt like being stabbed in my heart to see her reacting like that to my presence.
I was across the room standing in front of her before I had a chance to think about what I was doing. Lizzy flinched but she didn’t move away from me when I took her hands in mine and looked directly into her eyes.
“I’m so sorry about what happened yesterday, I never wanted you to get hurt.” Lizzy flinched again as I spoke, it looked as though she was fighting the urge to run away. In the end, her bravery won out and she even managed to look into my eyes when she replied to me.
“It is OK, I forgive you.”
I wanted to wrap my arms around her and kiss her but I didn’t think that would go down very well. After my dad’s talk yesterday, I realised I needed to handle things differently. That meant I would have to take things very slowly in our relationship if I was going to prove that I wasn’t the bully she thought I was.
I kept holding onto one of her hands and led her over to the table. I sat her down next to me rather than her usual place next to my mom. She seemed nervous but I was sure she would relax once she realised that I wasn’t going to hurt her. I wanted her to start feeling more comfortable around me, I thought this would be a way to get her used to being close to me.
“Are you nervous about your first shift later?” My dad asked. I would turn nineteen at midnight and shortly after that my wolf would wake up and I would experience my first shift into wolf form. It was meant to be painful the first time you shifted but that didn’t worry me, I was too excited about meeting my wolf and my mate.
“I am looking forward to going for a run,” I told him.
“Are you sure you don’t want me or your mom to come with you?”
“No, I am fine.” The Alpha in me hated the idea of anyone seeing me in such a weakened state.
“I bet you are excited to meet your mate, you should make sure that your room is ready for her to move into.” My mom sounded excited. Lizzy tried to hide her giggle behind her hand, if she knew how much attention I paid to her every moment then she would have known better than to try.
“What?” Why was she laughing at me?
“Nothing.” She mumbled without looking at me.
“Please tell me.” I needed to know what she was thinking.
“Ermm. I was just thinking that you should probably make sure you remove all traces of the other women you brought there.” Those words stung more than I wanted to admit. I didn’t think she knew about my history and now I was worried about what she thought of me. I was looking at her but she wouldn’t meet my gaze and it was making my panic levels rise.
Would she reject me because I had slept with so many women? She wouldn’t do that, would she? She must know that they didn’t mean anything to me, that she was the only one I ever had feelings for.
“Are you excited about finding your mate Liz?” My mom asked, changing the subject.
Lizzy shook her head. She looked down at her plate and started prodding her food with her fork.
“Why not? Don’t you want to find the love of your life?”
“It’s not that.” She started shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
“Is there nobody in the pack you would like as your mate?” My mom didn’t seem to want to drop the subject despite Lizzy’s obvious discomfort. Liz looked at everyone around the table as though she was looking for a way out of this conversation. I felt a surge of jealousy, was there someone else she liked and secretly hoped would be her mate?
This would be the point where I would have done or said something stupid in the past. Even now that I knew what could be at stake I could feel the urge to lash out strongly within me. I clenched my fists and bit down on my tongue, forcing myself to stay quiet.
“It’s not like that,” Lizzy said, shaking her head.
“Then what is the problem?”
“There isn’t anyone in this pack who would be happy to find out I was their mate and I don’t want to be a burden to anyone.” She was trying to sound strong but I could see the pain behind those words so strongly that I could practically feel it in my chest. She was worried about being rejected and unloved so she didn’t want to meet her mate. Maybe that would mean she wouldn’t reject me as long as I could prove to her how much I cared about her.
“You know that’s not true, you could never be a burden,” I told her. She glanced in my direction, looking at me through her eyelashes. Even that simple look was enough to make my heart skip a beat, it made me wonder what it would feel like to kiss her and hold her in my arms.
“Thank You.” She mumbled but I could tell that it lacked sincerity. She didn’t believe me, I think she might have even thought I was mocking her.
This was going to be harder than I thought. I had never had to try to gain a woman’s affection before, they normally just threw themselves at me in the hope of becoming my Luna. Lizzy wasn’t like any of them and I had no idea how to show her how I felt about her.
I spent the rest of the meal silently eating while keeping one eye on Lizzy. Once the attention was no longer on her she seemed more comfortable, she ate her food and even joined in with some of my family’s conversation.
After dessert, I dismissed myself from the table. I went upstairs to clear one of my closets and some drawers ready for my Luna. Once I was done it was already getting late so I headed into the forest. I walked around for about an hour before finding a quiet spot and stripping off ready for my first shift. The first traces of pain started just after midnight and I was fully shifted only a few minutes later.
I looked down at myself. It was strange, my wolf was a lot smaller than I thought he would be. Alpha wolves are usually much larger than any other rank. I could tell from my line of sight that I wasn’t the right height for an Alpha or even a Beta.
‘That is because I am not an Alpha or a Beta.’ My wolf told me. What the hell did that mean?
‘I am an Omega wolf and my name is Garnet.’
That can’t be true. My wolf can’t be an Omega, that is impossible. I am the son of an Alpha and his fated mate, my wolf had to be an Alpha. This had to be some kind of mistake.
I had only ever heard of two cases where the son of an Alpha didn’t have an Alpha wolf. Both of those were born to Alpha’s who rejected their fated mates and marked someone else. Even then they were only slightly weaker, still strong enough to carry the Beta rank. My parents were fated to be together, so how could I be an Omega?
‘Don’t ask me, I’m just a wolf.’ Garnet replied while laughing at me. Why was he laughing, this was serious.
‘Chill out, there is no need to be so serious all the time. Let’s go for a run.’ Garnet suggested.
That was the first rational thing he had ever said. I let Garnet have complete control over our body and he took off running instantly. He ran through the forest for at least an hour while I thought about how to deal with our problem. I didn’t come to any conclusions but there was one thing I knew for sure, I needed information. I had to find out if anything like this had ever happened before and if there was any way to fix it.
It was also clear that whatever the reason behind this was, I couldn’t let anyone else know that my wolf was an Omega. If anyone found out then it would put me and my family in a difficult position. They would have to choose to either disown me as their son or risk others seeing our pack as weak and attacking us. I had no other option, I had to keep this secret from everybody.
The house was dark and silent when I got back home but I became aware of my mate’s scent the moment I walked into the house. I followed the scent all the way to Lizzy’s room and opened the door ever so quietly. Lizzy was in bed, fast asleep. She looked so beautiful lying there, her hair all messed up from sleep. I wanted to lie in bed next to her and stroke her hair.
‘Do it.’
It was so tempting but I knew if she found me in bed with her then she would freak out, and understandably so. I had to be careful with her. I needed her and if I was going to keep her in my life I had to go about this the right way.
I watched her for a few moments longer before I was able to gather enough strength to drag myself away. I would see her again in a few hours and I would spend the whole day proving myself worthy of being her mate.
Elizabeth Summers When I woke up this morning my room smelled faintly of Jasper. It was almost as though he had been in my room watching me while I was sleeping but that couldn’t be true. I had to be imagining it, at least that is what I tried to convince myself of as I got dressed for college. After all, the alternative was just strange. What possible reason would Jasper have to be in my room? I didn’t have anything that he could want unless he wanted to see me and he usually only wanted to do that so he could bully me. No, I must have been imagining it, he usually tried to stay as far away from me as possible when we were both at home. Come to think about it, he was uncharacteristically kind to me last night, maybe he felt guilty about the fact that he almost killed me. I heard some of the Omega’s talking yesterday, they said that Jasper and his dad had an argument after what happened to me the other day. Maybe I am being overly optimistic by making conclusions after one day but i
Jasper Hartford My lips were only a few centimetres away from Lizzy’s. They looked so warm and inviting, slightly parted as though she was waiting for me to claim them. I could feel her breath on my skin, causing my whole body to respond as I longed for her touch. I desperately wanted to push her against the wall and make her scream my name in pleasure. “Jasper, what are you doing?” “Kissing you.” I crossed the remaining space between us and closed my eyes as I brought my lips towards hers. I waited for the moment our lips made contact but that moment never came. When I opened my eyes again I realised that Lizzy was no longer standing directly in front of me, she had taken a couple of steps back. Why would she back away from me like that? The way she was looking at me and the way she whispered my name made it feel like she wanted me just as much as I wanted her, so why would she back away? ‘Maybe she is shy, maybe you should take things a bit more slowly.’ Garnet suggested. I igno
Elizabeth Summers I had been sitting on the sofa at home for the last half an hour waiting for Oliver to pick me up. I had been avoiding him ever since this morning, in fact, I had been avoiding everyone since this morning. I didn’t want to have to deal with any of them. Oliver with his stupid ideas about our relationship, my other friends trying to push us together, and Jasper with his mind-boggling behaviour over the last few days. I had considered more than once messaging Oliver to cancel whatever tonight was. Then I could spend the whole night locked in my room instead, pretending that the world around me hadn’t suddenly turned itself upside down. Unfortunately, my Omega side wouldn’t let me do that, the thought of letting Oliver down made me feel so bad that I thought I might throw up. That meant I was left with no option other than to go on this stupid fake date with Oliver. “Are you OK dear? You have been distracted all afternoon.” Jasper’s mom asked. “It is nothing.” “No o
Elizabeth Summers I didn’t see Oliver during the game, I assume he went home after being accosted by Jasper and Nico. So instead I spent the game sitting next to Adam, which wasn’t too bad even though I had very little idea what was going on in the game. To me, it just looked like a lot of needless running and shouting. It was safe to say this wasn’t my usual scene, I preferred quieter pastimes with fewer people around. “Adam, would you be able to drive me home?” I asked, as the game finished and people started getting up to leave. I had been worrying about how to get home ever since I realised that Oliver wasn’t coming back. It took me almost the whole duration of the game to build up the confidence to ask that one simple question. Even now I could feel my heart pounding in my chest while I waited for his response. “No, I know Jasper would want to take you home personally.” “Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say to that. I was sure Jasper would much rather give one of his cheerleadi
Jasper Hartford Lizzy stepped out of her room wearing the dress my mom bought her looking absolutely stunning. She normally wore clothes that hid her body, I know that was mostly my fault but I still felt guilty about it. Maybe when we had completed our bond and she felt more comfortable around me I could convince her to dress like this more often. I had overheard her talking to my mom about me. She seemed happy that I was her mate which was a nice surprise after how badly I had messed things up in the past. I had been worried that she would be shocked and upset once she worked out I was hers, the fact that she seemed to be taking it so well made me want to throw caution to the wind and kiss her. ‘Say something, you are staring at her like an idiot.’ Garnet groaned. “Wow,” I mumbled, unable to think of anything more profound to say. ‘I should have been more specific. I should have told you to say something smart.’ Garnet complained, sharing some of his embarrassment with me. “Tha
Elizabeth Summers Jasper held his hand out towards me. He had just told the whole pack that I was his mate and now he was expecting me to run into his arms when all I wanted to do was run away. I wanted to sneak out of the back door then run into the forest and never come back, but I knew that would only make things worse for everyone. It would embarrass Alpha and Luna Hartford and undermine Jasper’s position as Alpha when he took over. That would put them and the rest of the pack in danger, I couldn’t do that to them, they were the only family I knew. Besides, Jasper’s wolf was an Alpha so if I ran from him he would be compelled to chase me and when he inevitably caught me he wouldn’t be able to stop his wolf from marking me. The best thing I could do for the time being was to play along and act like the perfect future Luna. I would talk to him about how I felt later, but at that moment I needed to do as he wished for the good of the pack. I walked towards Jasper and brought my han
Jasper Hartford I was so happy. I have been walking around with a huge grin on my face ever since I told the pack that Lizzy was my mate. I declared her mine, I even kissed her and she didn’t push me away or tell me to leave her alone. She may not have come to bed with me but that didn’t matter as long as she was mine. I would wait as long as it took for her to be ready to take that step with me. I took longer than usual to get ready this morning. I wanted to look perfect for my mate. I kept trying on different outfits but nothing felt right. I didn’t want to look too formal but I also didn’t want to look too casual in case she thought I wasn’t making an effort for her. I spent so long worrying about how I looked that by the time I got downstairs to breakfast, she had already eaten and left the table. The only people left in the dining room were my parents. I sat down opposite them and poured myself a cup of coffee from the jug. “I am not sure that was the best way of telling Liz t
Elizabeth Summers I paced my room as I waited for my date with Jasper. He had really worried me earlier when he walked into the library. I was sure that he was going to mock me for spending my Saturday morning in the library but he didn’t. He sat with me reading for a while and then he started holding me. He wasn’t reading or looking at his phone or anything. He just sat there for hours with my head resting on his chest as he watched me read. He stroked and kissed my hair but what was even more surprising was that I actually enjoyed it. The closeness, the warmth and even the scent of his masculine grooming products. It felt really nice just to be held in his arms. I had intended to keep Jasper at arm’s length until I turned nineteen in case he decided that he wanted to reject me, but that wasn’t working out so well. It has been less than a day since I found out I was his mate and I am already feeling the effects of our bond. That was the only possible explanation for the way I felt