Gwen
7:30 pm.Just as I had anticipated. The knee got better. But I limped while walking. I pull out a white shirt, a pair of jeans, and a hoodie from my closet. It might get chilly tonight so I need to dress for the weather."Where are you off to? Isn't your knee sprained?" Lionel asked. He lowered his head to observe me. He had the remote control in his hands. His favourite TV show playing when I came into the sitting room.I lied to him. "To see Leo."Lionel continued to stare at me suspiciously. "But he was here this afternoon.""He forgot his study notes here. I want to give them back to —"He cuts me off. "Whatever. It's not like you are useful in this house anyway."I paid him no attention."When mom and dad get home. Tell them I went to see Leo."I didn't wait for him to answer. I slipped out of the house and headed in the direction of the children's pack.It was a busy night. The street was bustling with so many activities. San Francisco was even more beautiful at night. I loved how tonight smells. Earthy and fruity.Just as I had suspected, the night was a bit chilly and windy combined with the fruity smell coming from the fruit shop by my right. A great mix that calmed my nerves.I saw no one in the park. It was empty. I grabbed my phone to check the time. 8:05 pm.Had he left? But waiting for five minutes shouldn't make him leave already."You are late." His voice makes my spine stiffen with fear.He must have crept up behind me. I didn't even hear him coming. I slowly turn around to face him. "I am sorry. It's —""Enough," he said. "I didn't ask for an explanation."I kept my mouth shut on his demand."Are you here alone?" He looks around as if to confirm by himself. He was wearing a grey hoodie with matching sweatpants. His beautiful eyes flickered beneath the light."Yes," I whispered."Good. Come with me."I refused to move an inch. I couldn't follow him nor could I ask him where he was taking me to."Are you deaf?" He stands still. "I said come with me."Surprisingly, I summoned the courage to ask. "Are you going to hurt me?"He chuckled. "I've better things to do than hurting a weakling like you. Don't waste any more of my time."Not like I believed him but he sounded believable. I dragged after him.He brought us to a small booth in the park. I could feel his eyes observing my every move. "What happened to your legs?"I was surprised he asked. Jasper never cares. He made fun of people when he pleased. Unfortunately, I was one of those people."I sprained my knee," I simply said. I didn't want to explain further before he shut me up again."Is that why you didn't come to school today?"I nod. "Yes""Sit down.""Huh.""You heard me. Sit!" He beckoned with his head in the direction of the chair.I sat and clasped my hands together. Maybe I should have listened to Leo. This meeting was getting awkward by the minute.Jasper didn't sit. He stood staring at me. He placed his hands in his pockets. "Now let's begin." ****"You must be wondering why I called you here, right?"I nodded."I am a guy who doesn't like to beat about the bush. I will go straight to the point."He spoke confidently. Regardless of Jasper's immoral ways. I have always admired how he spoke. He had high self-esteem which I lacked.Among his friends in school, he stood out when it came to being book-smart and street-smart.I have secretly admired him for years. If I could be half as good as him without the trouble-making part though, I would gladly thank the Moon goddess."We are the only two rejected werewolves at the last Luna Covergence and coincidentally we are from the same park. I come here with a proposition that will help us both, at least before the next Lunar Convergence," He said, then paused as if to make me assimilate what he had just said.I narrowed my eyes. Proposition. What was Jasper playing at this time? "What proposition?" I asked."To forge a fake mate bond," he blurted out without hesitation."What?!" I almost fell from the chair I was sitting on. I stutter out of shock. "You…are…joking right?""No. I meant what I said.""But we can't do that. You know the rules. The punishment for committing such is grave."I had to remind him. The punishment is serious because faking a mate bond is not only a crime but one was also lying against the Moon goddess. It's like telling everyone she paired two people when that isn't the case."The last time I checked I am soon-to-be Alpha, not you," he said. "So yes I know the rules better than you do. Stop lecturing me!" This time he yelled. I cowered leaning closely to the wall of the booth."Now what I want from you is for you to act as my mate for the next four months. It's as simple as ABC. I won't be surprised if it ain't that simple to you. A slug-like you will find it hard."I am not surprised Jasper is trying to bully me into breaking the rules with him. I was not going to allow myself to get severely punished because of him. It is a taboo to lie about a mate bond and here he is trying to do worse by faking it."I am sorry. I can't." I muttered.He jerked his head back and shuffled back a step. "You can't? Or you won't?""I can't. It's against the rules set by the pack community. If we are caught we would be punished or worse exiled.""Let me worry about that. And who is going to find out? Unless you go around blabbing about it."I rose to leave. I was scared of Jasper but I was more scared of the pack community."I need to go home now. I am sorry I can't do as you ask?""Don't you want to live without being humiliated and persecuted? I saw what happened to you at the school cafeteria yesterday."I shut my eyes. Of course, I want to leave like everyone else. But not like this. Not by faking a mate bond!"I don't care about such things anymore," I said, walking away from him."I give you two days."I stopped without turning around. I didn't want to look at him. "For what?""To think about it" He catches up to me and blocks my path. "Or else." He smirked.I knew what that smirk meant. He was going to force me even if I didn't want to do it.JasperI must say, she surprised me. I thought it was going to be easy, telling her exactly what I wanted and she would have no option but to do as I said. I'll admit I was too overconfident. I knew she feared me. That was the more reason why I thought she was going to agree to do this with me without hesitation. But she stood her ground. I didn't want to lose control of the conversation. I told her I'd only give her two days to think it through. I had to threaten her. Not like I was going to hurt her, but I am going to make her life miserable if she thinks she can get away from me.Gwen was like the nerdy girl next door. In our neighbourhood or colony, she's the nerdiest person anyone will ever set eyes on. She never wore makeup. Her clothes were oversized. Never made her hair. She was always wearing a shirt, hoodie and a pair of trousers. Like what the hell! How can a girl choose one particular way of dressing? If that isn't boring, then what is then? And she seems not to care.
Gwen My phone battery had died so I couldn't send a reply to Jasper. I looked for him around the school to give him my answer but he was nowhere to be found. I was running along his class when I saw him through the window. He looked lost and it seemed like the teacher was trying to walk him out of the class. Was he out of his mind? Didn't he know it was the mating class? What was he doing in there?I decided to take advantage of the situation.I clutched my backpack and took a deep breath before stepping into the class. I thought I was going to pass out as everyone's attention was on me. Mr Mike asked me what I was looking for. I answered him. But he didn't believe me when I told him I was there to attend the mating class. He asked me who my mate was and he was surprised that I pointed out Jasper as my mate. Mr Mike stared at me. I tried hard to not lose my composure. "If you are his mate, why didn't he say anything when I asked him to excuse us?" Mr Mike asked. I thought hard
JasperI could hug Gwen for what she did. But I wouldn't. What's the reason for making her feel too important? She will think I owe her. Never! I pretend not to feel moved by what she's done. I had lost track of time and forgot that the next class was the mating class. It was already too late for me to quietly slip out. Mr Mike wasn't a man to be tempered with. He was strict and a disciplinarian. He has taken the mating class for years. Not because he was good at teaching it but because he was the one who said the wild stuff we did during mating in a romantic way.I was about to shove my chair backward and walk out of the class when Mr Mike asked what Gwen was doing there. I was also surprised to see her. After ignoring my message, she appears here to give me my answer. What a girl!Perhaps she wasn't that much of a slug anyway, because one had to be smart to pull the stuff she did today. I told her to come by the house today. Terms and conditions! Is there a need? Definitely. I
GwenWas he serious right now? Why would he ask me such private questions?He just told me that I wasn't his type and here he is asking me if I've ever kissed or had sex before. Not to mention that he was scaring the shit out of me. "No," I said with a shaky voice. It was true for the sex part but a lie for the kiss part. I have been kissed before but I wouldn't tell him that. "Good. Let it remain that way because whoever is going to have sex with you has some fucking work to do."I was reevaluating my decision. I think agreeing to this is a bad idea. The moment I stood by his door about to enter his room I knew I was doomed. What I saw on his wall made me speechless. It shook me to my core. Pictures of half-naked girls everywhere, some in bikinis, some barely had any clothes on. Was he a pervert? I just stood there lost until he yelled at me, pulling me from my thoughts and asking why I was still standing there. I thought I had seen it all. Until I saw a large painting of a na
Jasper"Why are you touching your lips?" Her fingers were caressing her lips as she read through the paper. She immediately withdrew her hands. And clears her throat. What was she thinking about? I observed her. "Haven't you finished going through it?""I have," she said. I shrugged. "So?""Um. I have a question. Sorry, I mean questions." She clears her throat again. "What if we do this and one of us gets a second chance mate before the next Lunar Convergence?""Then we can annul the fake arrangement. And everyone can walk away."I wondered why her first question would be this. Was she expecting to have a second chance mate before the next Lunar Convergence? She must be kidding. She wasn't going out of this before me. If anyone has to leave first. It will be me. "I'll reject you immediately we find our mates and make it look like it isn't working between us," I said. "We see mates in San Francisco split up occasionally and get claimed by another, as long as they are above twenty ye
GwenI smiled all the way home. Tara would be mad. I was supposed to clean up her closet this weekend and do her laundry too. Now, she can do it herself or look for someone else.Days ago she made me cry after she and her friends teased me about getting rejected. I go to do the chores for her every weekend. Last week, before the Lunar Convergence, she had told me to read her lips. That I wasn't going to get a mate. That no one would want me. I almost believed her and It turned out she was right after what happened during the Lunar Convergence. I wasn't looking forward to going to her place this weekend because I knew she was waiting to have the last laugh. Agreeing to cooperate with Jasper has its own benefits. I never thought in that direction. This was great! This weekend I'll definitely have the last laugh, not her. I can't wait to see Tara's face when she finds out that Jasper is my mate. I was nearing my house, I saw someone on the terrace leaning on the wall. I wonder. Who
GwenThe knock at my door woke me up. I slowly stepped out of my bed to check who it was. It was Lionel. That's surprising because Lionel never knocks. But he did today."What do you want?" I asked, yawning, and stretching my arms. I was still feeling sleepy."Tara is downstairs. She asked me to call you," he said. He sounded polite. Recently the way he speaks to me has changed. I could still remember the look on my parents' faces when Lionel told them what happened at school. My mother was so happy for me. My dad congratulated me, although that's after he showed a bit of discomfort that I got Jasper who is known to be trouble maker. I was almost in tears after seeing them rejoice over the news that I've a mate and he is the Alpha's son. It's so sad that four months from now I'll be shattering their happiness. "What does she want?" I asked. "It is weekend. She must have been waiting for you to—" Lionel "To come clean her stuff. I can't do that anymore." I said, proudly.I was i
Jasper I thought that was someone else.Tara dragged a girl out of Miles's car and pulled her along the driveway. Tara's house was next to ours. I could see all that was happening.The Alpha and Beta's houses are usually next to each other. That's how it was in all four community packs or colonies. I could only see the girl's back as Tara pulled her along the house. Her beautiful long black hair cascaded over her body. She was in a purple pyjama made of a shirt and shorts. It was hard not to fall for her lovely legs. For a minute. I wondered where Tara found such a girl. I hadn't seen the face yet. Until they took a bend to enter the house. Gwen! She looked nothing like the Gwen Blackthorn I knew. The oversized hoodie and trousers Gwen. There was only one way to find out. I quickly ran out of the house to Tara's. I didn't bother knocking. Tara was being annoying when I asked her where Gwen was. I wasn't here to play with her for fucks sake. I remember that Gwen would be working