TWO MONTHS LATER
Climbing off the car, I swallowed deeply, the pack house in front of me was almost two times the size of the one back home and I felt my palms sweat.
When Luna Yasmin proposed the idea of moving to America for a while, I agreed very hesitantly, after all, we were at her mercy, but the last thing I expected was to be brought to one of the biggest, most notorious packs in werewolf history.
Stories of Alpha Allison’s victory over the rogue uprising spread far and wide, she was a legend. After our pack had been devastated by the rogue attacks that took place five years ago, none of us ever expected that we would recover from that, but after a trip to the Blue Moon pack, Luna Yasmin returned to Gwydir with her mate and born Alpha in tow, ready to fix what was broken and our fate was restored.
“Oliver, Yasmin, welcome back!” A handsome young man approached us with a wide smile on his face.
“Jacob it’s very good to see you both!” Alpha Oliver embraced the man while his wife timidly greeted Luna Yasmin with a hug.
“You remember Harry and Lucas,” She pointed to the Theta and head guard that joined us on the trip, “this is Sophia and Ben Hastings, Allison has invited them to stay with you guys for a while.” Luna Yasmin pointed out making Ben and I shift awkwardly on our feet.
“Hi.” Ben voiced and I waved timidly.
“Hi, I’m Beta Jacob and this is my mate, Rosie. You all must be exhausted after the long journey, Rosie has prepared rooms for all of you in the pack house.” The Beta smiled at all of us and winked at Olsin who hid shyly behind her mother’s leg.
“Thank you, Jacob.” Alpha Oliver thanked him and motioned for us all to follow them inside, “If I may ask, where are Devin and Allison, I hope everything is okay?”
Beta Jacob grinned widely, “Everything is perfect, Allison went into labour early this morning and just a little while ago Devin announced the arrival of their healthy baby boy.” Luna Yasmin’s face lit up at the mention and everyone congratulated them.
“That’s wonderful news, I cannot wait to meet them.” Luna Yasmin gushed, it was evident on her face how happy she was for her friends.
“She had a difficult labour, but thank the Moon Goddess she pulled through, she’s resting now.” Beta Jacob supplied.
“The six rooms on the right are all yours. Please let us know if you need anything” The beta female pointed down a long hallway.
“Thanks, Rosie, we will do so.”
~~~
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Jas asked suddenly breaking my concentration and I looked up at him.
“I want to be a midwife like my mum,” I answered without a moment’s hesitation, I always admired what she did and I could only wish to be as good as she was.
“Eew, babies.” He pulled his face, but a smile broke through his demeanour.
“What, they’re cute!” I defended, slightly offended by his comment and he threw his hands up in surrender.
“Nothing, nothing.” He chuckled and I rolled my eyes.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I tilted my head at him, watching how his eyes lit up with possibilities.
“A great explorer who travels the world looking for hidden treasures and discovering abandoned castles in dark, unexplored caves.” I couldn’t help but smile at the passion with which he spoke, he was so sure of himself.
“Our very own Indiana Jones.” I teased and he grinned.
“Don’t worry Fia, no matter how far my travels take me, I’ll never forget you.” He nudged my shoulder and stared ahead, no doubt planning his first adventure already.
Sometimes I wondered what he was doing sitting beside me, the same adventurous boy who wandered into rival pack lands and sought danger simply to risk finding something amazing was silently sitting beside me as I drew, seeming completely content.
“It’s okay if you do, I’ll always remember the days you spent with me instead of being off on your next greatest adventure.” I continued to scribble on the page, unable to meet his eyes and show him the vulnerability in them.
“Fia, do you know what an adventure is all about?” He asked and I looked up, shaking my head. “As much as it’s about the journey and the struggles to making your discovery, it's the final treasure you find that holds true value and I don’t mean a treasure you’re content seeing only once,” Jasper said and shuffled onto his back so his head lay in my lap.
Staring down at the boy with my hands buried in his hair I felt my heart beat wildly in my chest. I didn’t know what he was implying, but his words had me wishing for a future the way he pictured it.
“Are you sure you really want to become a great adventurer then?” I smiled slyly, rethinking his words.
Jasper pondered on the idea for a short while before scrambling up, “Will you wait for me?” He locked eyes with me, staring me down with such intensity, goosebumps raised on my arms.
“Do you promise you’ll always come back to me?” My heart thudded in my chest.
“As long as I live, I’ll always come back to you.” Jasper stroked my cheek with his knuckles, leaving a trail of tingles beneath his touch.
“Okay, I’ll wait.” My voice was barely above a whisper. The effect of his touch was too much for my poor little heart to handle.
We were young and naive and our promises would probably amount to nothing, but as Jasper leaned in closer, never breaking eye contact with me, I prayed they would turn out to be true.
My eyes fell shut just as Jasper’s lips landed on my cheek, just barely brushing the corner of my lips and my whole body erupted in butterflies.
“What was that for?” I blinked up at him.
“Think of it as my pinky promise.” He winked and again my already wild heart pounded faster.
“A normal pinky promise would have sufficed.” I dropped my gaze, wishing away the intense redness on my cheeks.
“Then I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see you blush.” He smirked.
“Meanie.” I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest as I looked away from him.
“One day, Fia. One day.” He promised, pulling my back into his chest.
Is this what love feels like?
There's two thinks I love apart from my characters and my books, that's readers and reviews. So dearly beloved, please drop me a review and let me know what you think of the story so far -Love Author Kajal PS: Flashbacks are indicated by "~~~" and time skips are indicated by "***"
The sky was a deep shade of blue littered with thousands of glowing stars and the evening breeze was cool against my skin as I sat in the bay window of the Alpha House. The day Alpha Allison was discharged from the infirmary, she insisted that Ben and I move into the Alpha house, citing that she needed help with Dominic and I was powerless to disagree. There was a low rumble that emanated from the living room downstairs, which was followed by the smell of popcorn. Everything around me was peaceful and at some point in my life the smell of popcorn would have me racing down the stairs, but the peace inside me didn’t match the world around me and that alone froze my muscles in place. “Sophia?” A soft knock on my bedroom door startled me, I didn’t even hear someone coming up the stairs. “Alpha Allison, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you coming.” I hurriedly pulled the door open, worried that she might scold me for locking it, but she only chuckled. “Not to worry dear, all the rooms in the
My body jerked as I shot up in my bed, the sound of a baby’s cries suddenly fading away as I surveyed the dark, empty room. Sighing aloud, I threw the covers off my body and placed my feet on the cool floor, there was no way I’d fall asleep after that. Pulling on the door handle, I opened it a little more and a familiar sound reached my ears, I could hear Alpha Allison softly cooing at the restless baby downstairs and another pair of footsteps I assumed belonged to Alpha Devin which made me freeze with the door wide open. Baby Dominic’s cries sounded tired, I didn’t even realize when I’d stepped out of the room and onto the staircase till Alpha Allison’s pacing figure came into view. Her shoulders were sagging and her steps were sluggish, I could see the exhaustion written all over her face when Alpha Devin approached her, holding a bottle of milk. I watched silently as she tried feeding him, but the attempt only seemed to make him more irritable and his cries got louder, making
Fear gripped me as I looked around the darkened forest. The cool breeze that blew left a trail of goosebumps on my skin and the shadows of the tall trees felt like they were closing in on me. In the distance, an owl hooted which only added to the eeriness of my surroundings. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how I got there, the last memory I had was watching reruns of a random TV show after Dominic’s welcome ceremony. A rustling nearby kicked my heartbeat up a notch and once again I surveyed the area, hoping to spot something even remotely familiar, but the Moon Shadow pack was new to me, I’d only been here a week and apart from the drive from the airport, I hadn’t stepped foot in the forest. The rustling grew louder and my head whipped around for any indication that I wasn’t alone when suddenly a figure pounced from the bushes, eliciting a high-pitched scream from my throat before I watched the red-eyed rabbit hop off into the darkness, as far away from me as it could g
Trekking back to the packhouse with a young boy clutching my hand was not the way I planned to spend the early hours of Saturday morning, but as the sun rose in the sky and the scars on his malnourished body became visible, I scratched any item from my non-existent to-do list. “We’re almost at the infirmary, Allison has the team waiting for us to check him out.” Alpha Devin informed after a few good kilometres of walking and the treeline came into view, revealing the buildings of the pack. “Sophia! Are you okay?!” Alpha Allison engulfed me in a tight hug before letting go to examine my body for any sign of injury, which apart from a few small scratches, I was free of, “I was so worried!” she smoothed her hands over my face and looked at me with a deep frown. “I’m sorry I worried you, I’ll-” I looked around at the curious eyes which wouldn’t seem to leave us and dropped my gaze to the hand clutching mine, “I’ll explain later, he needs medical attention first.” As if she only then
Footsteps outside my door shocked me from my trance, my eyes shot up just as Alpha Allison pushed open the door to peek inside. “Hey, are you busy?” She questioned, scanning the room. “No, it’s- it’s okay.” Glancing back down at the sketchbook my heart skipped a beat, I quickly shut the book and shoved it off my lap. “May I?” She pointed to the space beside me at the bay window and I nodded quickly, scooting over to give her more room. “Did- did you speak to him?” I wrung my hands together and resisted the urge to tap my foot, the suspense was nearly killing me. “I did.” She raised an eyebrow at my antics, “His name is Jasper Queen, he’s a wanderer.” A shiver ran through my body at the name. “How did he find us?” Questions were running rampant through my head, but somehow I was able to get one out. “He claims he saw the boy in a vision, he says he’s been trying to find him for months.” Alpha Allison frowned thoughtfully. “What’s going on, Sophia?” Her voice held confusion
“We have decided that it would be best if Jasper remains close by while we figure out the reason for these visions and dreams you are having. He has taken up temporary residence in the main pack house.” Alpha Allison’s explanation came as more of a surprise to me than seeing him outside the infirmary, but when I made no acknowledgement her face grew worried, “Is everything okay, Sophia? You have been really quiet since yesterday afternoon?” Memories of our encounter in the forest replayed in my head and my heart squeezed painfully, that seemed to be all it did these days. “I’m fine, I was just tired.” I lied, plastering a smile on my face to reassure her and though her eyebrows knitted she returned my smile. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Sophia. I promise.” She laid a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, the concern on her face made me feel bad for lying to her. “Good morning Jasper, I’d like you to meet Sophia Hastings, I’m sure you remember her from yesterday
“This is the secondary pack house which was actually built for the Full Moon pack after the rogue attack devastated their old one before Alpha Allison and Alpha Devin got married.” I rambled despite knowing he wasn’t the least bit interested, being around him made me nervous. That and I simply needed something to keep my focus on so my eyes wouldn’t stray to his tanned muscles bulging under the Californian sun. “That’s enough!” Jasper threw his hands in the air, finally growing fed up with my ranting which made me sigh in relief, “You’ve shown me the pack, I’m leaving now.” He didn’t wait for me to speak, instead, he took off into the trees and within seconds he was out of sight. “Great job, Sophia, not only do you annoy him, you nearly bored him to death too.” I berated myself, I didn’t know what I was thinking when I insisted he see the pack. I sighed in resignation. “Don’t blame yourself, he looked like a hardass.” The voice appeared suddenly, startling me which made the girl
“Mum, I’m going out, I’ll be back later,” I called to her wherever she was in the house. “Okay, be back in time for dinner, I’m making steak.” She responded and I couldn’t help but smile. Mum made the best steak. “And be careful!” She added and my smile widened. “I’ll be okay, Mum. See you later.” I chuckled softly and closed the door behind me. I hurried to the clearing, anxious to finish the sketch I was busy with. My attention was focused on the white page slowly turning grey when I heard rustling in the trees to my right. “The coast is clear,” I announced and from behind the bushes sprung a handsome boy. “How do you always hear me coming?” He whined, unhappy that he failed at yet another attempt at scaring me. “Your fat feet shake the ground when you walk.” I teased sticking out my tongue and his jaw dropped open in shock. “How dare you!” He advanced towards me at an inhumane speed and before I could react his hand were on my waist digging into my skin in a hilarious