The Wild Within

Chapter 3 Jasmine/Luke

Jasmine

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell them about me, Julius!” I growled as soon as we were alone. “For six months! I’ve even slept here on weekends when you would send them on hunts; did they never smell my scent?”

Julius's face blanched and he looked away. I grabbed his chin to force his gaze on me. His green eyes were wide and apologetic because he knew he royally screwed up.

“I always made sure you left a couple of hours earlier,” he said. “And I would clean the house of your scent before they got back. They’ve never noticed nor questioned me about it.”

“And if they had?” I asked.

“I’d tell them about you then,” he answered and swallowed hard. I slid my hand to his throat and squeezed tightly.

“Why would you hide me?” I asked, and the tears I didn’t want to show welled up and spilled. “That hurts my feelings, Julius.”

“I’m so sorry, Bunny,” he said.

“No, there is no Bunny right now,” I said. “This is Jasmine, your mate. The one you were hiding from your sons. And then you create two more and don’t even mention mates to them?”

“I know,” he said, dropping his head. “I screwed up; I just wanted to keep you to myself a little while longer.”

“Julius, I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” I tried not to shout. “I’m you’re mate. I’m with you until death. I’m always going to be by your side, and yet you hid me from your pack?”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I accept whatever punishment you see fit.”

“You are on standby until further notice,” I declared. “You may not look nor touch. If you do, standby will be extended another day. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” he said with his head bowed.

“You may look me in the eye only when we are in front of the boys,” I said. “Nothing below the neckline, and I’ll know if you break the rules.”

“Yes, I understand,” he replied.

“Good,” I said. “Now, let’s eat because that food smells amazing.”

“May I make a request?” He asked quickly, head still bowed.

“What?” I asked.

“The boys, they know me as their creator, the father. I’m dominant when I’m with them,” he said. “I need to keep my place.”

“Fine,” I said. “I understand; you’re their alpha. But keep it respectful, Julius. I won’t bow down to you, understand? But I’ll try not to show the boys who’s really the boss.”

“Thank you,” he said before peeking his eyes up at me. “May I have a kiss?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was hard to stay mad at this man, even how infuriated and hurt I was. I knew he didn’t mean to hurt me, but he did. We will have to work on his communication skills, especially when it comes to the boys.  

“You’re such a brat,” I said and pulled him into a deeply sensual, longing kiss. “That’s strike one, my sweet.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “But it was worth it.”

Luke

“What the f**k is happening?” I tried not to shout at the other three.

“Julius met his mate,” Nathan said. “She’s the other half to his soul.”

“So She’s his soulmate?” Ryan asked and looked at the other two for confirmation.

“Basically,” Doug said with a shrug.

“What was that about a strong smell?” I asked.

“That’s how you know you met your mate,” Nick said. “They’ll have a scent so strong it pulls you to them. It’s all you think about until you finally lock eyes, and you just know.”

“And none of you found that?” I said.

Everyone shook their heads except one. We all turned to stare at Ryan. He was standing stiffly and looking away from us as tears began to well up in his eyes. He refused to make eye contact with anyone.

“Ryan?” Nathan said. “Did you find something like that?”

“Yeah,” He coughed out, trying to hide the emotion in his voice. “About three months ago. We went out to some bar in town, and there was this gorgeous redhead there, and she smelled like cherry pie. It was almost orgasmic.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I f****d her,” he said. “I almost couldn’t control myself. My wolf took over at some point while we were going at it in the bathroom. He kept saying mark her. But I didn’t know what the f**k that meant. Then my teeth grew, and I felt the urge to bite her, so I freaked. I pulled out, picked up my pants, and ran the f**k away. I didn’t even get her name.”

“Holy s**t, bro,” Nick gasped. “Is that what’s been up your ass lately?”

“I can’t get her out of my head, dude,” he said, and the tears began to fall down his cheeks. “I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can’t f*****g breathe! My wolf is constantly whining and crying, and I had no f*****g clue why!”

“Why didn’t you tell Julius?” Doug asked. “Why didn’t you come to us?”

“I was freaked out, man!” He roared. “I almost bit a human! Julius would’ve killed me, and so would any of you.”

“s**t, man,” Nick said, totally stunned by the bombshell. “What you gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “She probably hates my guts. That’s why I haven’t been to town. I didn’t want to run into her somewhere.”

“It all makes sense now,” Doug said. “No offense, Ryan, but you’ve been a real b***h the past few months. Moody as hell, ready to fight over the littlest s**t. I almost thrashed you a hundred times.”

“What the f**k, Doug,” Nathan said. “That’s not something he needs to hear right now, and that was beyond offensive. Don’t be a dick.”

“Sorry, bro,” Doug said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Nah, I get it,” Ryan said. “So, what do I do?”

“I think you should ask Jasmine,” I said. “You should’ve told her when she asked.”

“I know,” he said. “But I was busy putting it all together, and then my mind got all reblown by the way she handled Julius like a puppy on a leash.”

“Yeah, that was some s**t,” Nick replied. “I wonder what that was about.”

“I don’t think we want to know,” Nathan said.

“Don’t want to know what?” Jasmine asked as she and Julius came back into the room.