Jax POV

As soon as I stepped foot on the stage I could feel that she was near. It was just a matter of concentrating and following the unseen force that eventually led me directly to her. I knew this was going to be a challenge based on the number of wolves and humans that showed up to my pack's unethical mating ball, “The Eligible Bachelor Party”.

My Beta and I wanted to do something different and out of the ordinary with this party. Most of the unmated wolves in my pack were all male and fairly young, some not even reaching the ripe age of 21. Being the Alpha that I am, I wanted to ensure they would have a good time. What better way than to have all the women there swooning over them, even if their mate did not attend.

***

I pressed my finger against the lit-up screen and ended the call before putting the phone back into my pocket. I knew that it was rude to be answering a call, but it was also not my phone. It belonged to Trey Westing, a longtime friend of mine from the Moonstone pack. He too was at my party hoping to find his mate.

Turning my body to the side to face her, I propped myself up with my elbow and perched my head atop my hand. She was still laying flat on her back with her hands crossed over her abdomen, looking up. She was even more beautiful under the stars than she was standing awkwardly among all the others.

Her long golden blonde hair laid over her breasts, accentuating her curves. She looked content laying there, like an angel whose wings rested behind her like a pillow, ready to drift off to sleep.

She must have felt my eyes on her causing her to turn her head toward me. Her beautiful crystalline blue eyes scanned over my body.

“Can I ask you a question? She breathed out.

I nodded my head, wanting her to keep talking. The low gentle tone of her voice was soothing, yet exciting at the same time.

“What exactly did you pick me for?”

Ah, the burning question I knew she would eventually be asking me, and one I have been reflecting on myself. From the question itself, I could tell she was one of the many humans that doesn’t yet know that werewolves exist.

I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “First, I’m going to ask that you keep an open mind. Can you do that?”

Her eyebrows furrowed in thought, but after a second she turned on her side, mirroring my position.

I smiled widely, and took the gesture as a means to continue.

“Do you believe that there are or could be other beings that live among us?”

“Like aliens?” She questioned, seeming amused with her quick-wittedness and excited with her answer.

I snorted, impressed with her attempt to play along.

“Yes, like aliens, but not so green or grey.” I cleared my throat. “So, do you believe in werewolves?”

The words just slipped off my tongue before I could bite them back. They were blunt, yes, but I needed to be direct. I didn’t want to pussyfoot around telling her. I wanted to just dive in headfirst and deal with the consequences later. That is if it didn’t go over well.

“I’ve heard stories,” she explained. “but never thought much about it. Why?”

I reached my free hand around to the back of my head and ran my fingers over my hair, enjoying the feeling of my fresh buzz cut. This was going to be the easy part of it all. The hardest would be convincing her to stay here, with me.

“Here is your chance to think a lot about it.” I smiled.

“Vivian? Vivian?” A female voice called out.

I raised myself up with my hands into a sitting position as the small brunette from earlier came prancing over. She looked nothing like Vivian. Her short untamed caramel curls hung on her shoulders complimenting her heart-shaped face as she tried her best to smile and bat her eyelashes.

“I’m Hannah.” She announced, brushing away a single ringlet that hung down into her pinkened face.

It smelt like a brewery was looming over us the longer she stood there. I could tell from the swaying of her body that she was highly intoxicated. When we left her with the group she was sober.

Vivian jumped to her feet extending her hands out to grab her. Hannah placed all her weight onto her body, practically throwing her arm around Vivian's shoulders.

“I can’t believe you! I left you alone for not even an hour. Damn it, Hannah!” She said through gritted teeth.

The animosity in her voice and the look of disgust was hard for even me to swallow. Her emotion was raw, causing my heart to flutter for a second. It may not have been the right time for it, but it was hard to ignore a strong sense of feeling Vivian gave off. It was intoxicating.

“I’m fine.” She slurred, as her glassy eyes looked daringly into Vivian’s.

“Why don’t we take her inside?”

“No,” Vivian interrupted. “I need to take her home. This is my fault anyway. I never should have agreed to come here. Now I have to try and-.” She paused. She was starting to get emotional, trying to take all of the problems that weren’t hers and pile them on her shoulders.

“This is not your burden to carry,” I said, gently lifting her head up by her chin to look at me. “You did not pour the alcohol down her throat. That was her choice, and she should be the only one to be held accountable.”

The top of her cheeks started to glisten as tears slipped down them and onto my forefinger. She understood, but my words still couldn’t take away her guilt that weighed down her heart.

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I slowly retracted my hand from her face, letting my body finally absorb the numbness and warmth it endured by touching her skin. There was no denying that this woman is my mate, even my wolf is yearning to be close to her.

“Let's get her inside.” I persisted this time, leaving no room for argument. I hoisted Hannah up in my arms bridal style and started our journey to the packhouse.

—————————

By the time we arrived back at the packhouse most of the guests were already gone. The few remaining souls that roamed the back patio stayed to help with the cleaning endeavors. We knew we would need all hands on deck since it was such a big turnout.

I could feel Hannah’s body becoming heavier, her dead weight signaling she was almost passed out. Unfortunately, I didn’t know if it was from the alcohol, exhaustion, or a combination of both. I glanced over to Vivian who was walking with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso and her shoulders slightly slouched. The confident, yet nervous woman I met earlier was slowly slipping away.

“In here.” I gestured with my head, leading her through the patio door and into the kitchen. The house smelt almost as bad as the girl in my arms did. I growled internally, pissed at the disarray. The farther in the house I walked, the more cups I had seemed to have kicked and stepped on. The cracking of the broken plastic sounding much like that of a snapping turtle ready to defend itself. Food was thrown about like the floor was a massive garbage can and the crunching of chips under my feet unnerved me even more. These people were savages.

Passing through the gourmet kitchen and then the living room, I started debating on where to put her. I wanted to talk more with Vivian, but I wanted privacy.

A guest bedroom was just a short walk down the hall so I settled on that one.

I pushed the door open lightly with my foot trying carefully not to jostle or bump Hannah’s head. A dim light lit up the room, allowing me to easily find my way to the bed. I laid her down gently and proceeded to take her high heels from off of her feet. A small multicolored afghan laid at the foot of the bed, folded in a way that didn’t require me to fight with it to cover her up. Leaning over and past the small black wooden nightstand, I grabbed a small metal garbage can and sat it close to the bed, readily available if she was to need it.

“Thank you.” Vivian's voice cracked. “You didn’t have to do all of that. I mean, we won’t be here long, just a few minutes and then we will be out of your hair.”

I smiled at her, watching as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

“I insist you both stay. There is plenty of room and Hannah is already in la-la land.” I pointed back over to her limp body as she snored loudly into the echoing room. “There is another guest room down the hall that you can sleep in and I’m sure I could scrounge up some of my shirts for you to change into. I think they would fit you like a nightgown.”

She snorted, obviously agreeing with our size difference. Her dainty body would be swallowed up, but I could almost guarantee she would be comfortable.

“Okay,” she agreed. “But, you need to let me make this up to you somehow. Maybe lunch one day or something. Anything you’d like really.”

“I shall take you up on that.”

A sudden thrill shot through my body. I didn’t have to touch the girl for my knees to go weak and for my heart to skip. I so badly want her to know who and what I really am, but tonight is not the night. We all needed some rest and maybe after some consideration she would allow me to spoil her with the love an Alpha has for his Luna. And just maybe, she will give in to the love that binds us as mates.

“Come, I’ll show you to your room.”

I gently wrapped my hand around her and rested it flat on her lower back, pressing slightly to move her along. She walked willing, scanning the picture frames that lined the hallway walls as we made it into the next room.

This guest room was bigger, fancier. I saw her eyes widen in surprise when she fully stepped through the door. The walls were splashed with charcoal grey as white and lavender marbled through the darker shade, grabbing the onlooker's eyes like a painting. The four-post bed sat lonely in the center of the room. The black silk comforter covered the soft mattress as decorative pillows relaxed on top, seducing and calling out like a Siren to anyone who dared to listen.

“I will let you get settled. The bathroom is there to the right,” I pointed to the closed door inside the room. “I will knock when I have a few shirts for you to choose from.” I smiled before turning heel and closing the door behind me.

I rested my back against the door quietly, replaying the sound of her voice in my head. She was absolutely perfect. Everything about her excited me in ways I didn’t know was possible.

I pushed myself off the wood and proceeded down to the end of the hall. My office was directly at the end. To most people they would have thought it was simply a wall, but the door was painted to be hidden within it. The only means to get inside was by pressing your foot along the bottom molding, allowing the wall to pop open toward you. Behind the wall was the door itself, handle, and all.

Walking inside, I immediately went to the small oak armoire that I used to store clothes in case of an emergency. Pulling the golden knobs toward me, a small stack of shirts laid folded in a pile. Without searching through them, I instinctively grabbed the whole lot and shut the doors.

I returned back to the room where Vivian was staying and placed my ear against it. It was completely silent. I rapped my knuckles against the wood and stood waiting, clutching the clothes close to my chest. She must have been sitting on the bed because I could hear her feet hit the floor with a thump before she opened the door.

Her eyes were glossy and practically slits. It was obvious she was tired.

“You can choose the one you’d like to wear.” I offered while handing them to her. She smiled sweetly and seemed to have just frozen, not knowing what to do next. She needed sleep and so did I.

“Goodnight,” I said, taking in her beauty one last time before she retired for the night.

“Goodnight.” She echoed, closing the door fully until it clicked.

And that was it. She was now hidden inside the sanctuary of the room and I was left to wander the house all by my lonesome. I was being selfish in more ways than one, wanting to spend more time with her knowing she was tired. Even after thirty-five years of life, I still can’t fully understand the amount of sleep a human needs. Werewolves are different. Our bodies require rest, but not an extended time. Humans truly are amazing creatures, and for the first time within my pack and my family line, I am the only wolf to ever be mated to a human.

Walking back the way I came, I bent my knees and crouched forward, picking up some broken cups and ripped up napkins. I had never seen my house a mess like this, and it bothered me to the core.

This house belongs to the pack, we all live here together, but at the end of the day, this used to be my home. I built this house with my own two hands alongside my father with the intention of it holding a family. That I would have my mate next to me watching as our small children danced around the rooms with Mulan and Aladdin blaring on the TVs. But, that never happened.

I stood up straight, shaking my head to settle the memories that were flooding back into view. Now was not the time to get emotional about something I had no control over.

“Jax?”

I turned around quickly and there was Vivian, poking her head back out.

“Yes?” I croaked, trying to ignore my increasingly fast-beating heart.

“Are werewolves real? Is that why you asked me that?”

Her face was questioning, and her eyes were dead set on mine. This was my chance, to be honest, to explain what really lies ahead of her. My wolf was itching for me to tell her, his selfish wants and needs being his sole reasoning for the reveal.

“We are real, yes,” I answered, waiting for her to absorb what I have just said. She was quiet. To be honest, it scared me. Did I just lose her before I even had a chance to have her?

“Oh.” She said quietly, pulling another strand of her hair into her fingers. She was nervous, she was thinking.

I racked my brain for something to say to save this moment, but it kept coming up blank. I had nothing. How could I have nothing to say to my own mate?

“I guess this will make for an interesting breakfast conversation then.” She smiled, before pulling her head back inside the room and closing the door, leaving me one hundred percent breathless.

I was already falling hard for this woman. All I can do is pray that I don’t crash and burn in the process.