The Beta's curse (#1 of the Spike pack)

Outside

Jamie’s P.O.V.

Once Lana had left me and Luke at the bar, to help some other customers, I felt a hole burning in my heart.

Fuck

She was so angry at me…

And I couldn’t even blame her for it, to be honest…

I failed my mate.

I swallowed, feeling how my wolf Kiran had his tail between his legs and his snout against the ground. If only Lana knew. If only she knew, that secretly, I had been keeping an eye on her all this time. But truth be told, after talking to her last, which was now four months ago, I had been struggling hard to keep my control. My wolf and my heart, were both begging me to just grab Lana, mark and mate her, and get her home into the Spike pack, where I knew that she belonged, right next to me, for the rest of our lives. So we could start our happily ever after together, finally. But my life was still far from perfect. Which was another reason why I hadn’t had the courage to come here and talk to her some more. To fall in love with her even more.

My own pack was at this point on the verge of a full out war. Our Alpha, Alpha Michael, was a f*****g monster, who wasn’t worthy of his title to begin with. He was an Alpha who wanted nothing more than to use violence on his own pack members. Hurt the ones they love, in order to keep them all in line. And I would die, the day I would let my Alpha lay a finger on my precious mate. It was the reason why I hadn’t even spoken to Lana, the day I had seen her first, all those months ago. I would rather hurt myself, than to bring my mate into such a hostile pack. But my wolf was suffering right now, along with my heart. Even though my brain kept saying that we needed to be patient and wait until the time was right, to come and get Lana, my wolf and my heart were about to have a mental breakdown. And that was part of the reason why I was sitting at the bar again tonight. I had spent the last four months driving over here and looking at Lana from afar. It made me feel like a total stalker, which, by now, I also considered myself to be. But I needed to keep seeing her, I needed to know that she was still doing OK. While I was keeping my distance from her. The last thing I needed right now, was to come here to get her, once the time was right, to find out that she would have left this place for good. I honestly didn’t think I would have been able to survive that.

But now, my Alpha’s son, Ash, had started a rebellion against him. And with me being Ash’s Beta, I was right by his side during every step of the way. As was Luke, who was actually Ash’s Gamma. These two men were my best friends, and we were as close as brothers, maybe even closer, since we had to live in that f*****g hellhole of the Spike pack for as long as we could remember. We would gladly die for each other. And now with the rebellion, our group had grown in numbers over the last couple of weeks. We had been training in secrecy for months. And right now, we were so close to eliminating our Alpha. Once that was done, Ash would be able to take over and, finally, I would be able to bring my mate home. I would finally be able to bring Lana home. It would be any day now, when all of my waiting would finally be rewarded, and I found myself unable to wait any longer at this point.

Hell, even her scent was driving me crazy at this point, as a hint of coconut came my way, warming my heart and thickening the bulge I had sitting in my pants ever since I had seen her walk out of the restrooms tonight. And it made my breath stick in my throat.

“Well… she is really pretty, Jamie. I have to give you that.” Luke confessed to me, and I couldn’t help the small smile that spread over my cheeks, as I looked at Lana’s back, as she was helping other people who were sitting in one of the booths. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a black and red plaided shirt, but it still showed all her right curves in all the right places. Today, out of all days, she didn’t have her hair loose, but in a messy bun on top of her head, showing off her gorgeous long and lean neck. A neck that I wanted to mark so badly, as I would claim her as mine, for the rest of our lives.

“Billy.” I called out to the old man and owner of the bar, seeing how he turned to look at me.

“Yes, son?” He asked me, as I sighed and took my decision to move forward with this.

“Is there a chance Lana could get a break tonight?” And Billy grinned at me, the second he had heard me.

“Oh boy, you got it bad alright.” He laughed, as he shook his head in amusement, before he helped out some other customers without giving me a real answer. But to my surprise, once everyone was served, he stepped over towards Lana, who was now busy, washing glasses. They seemed to be talking together and, out of nowhere, Lana leaned down and as she stood back up, she was holding on to her jacket, and I couldn’t help but grin wide.

That Billy is a f*****g saint!

Finally, I can get some alone time with her!

“You have a break?” I smiled at her, as she walked over, to which she nodded at me. And I stood up, as we both walked out of the bar. I looked at Luke and smiled wide.

*Be right back, brother* and Luke grinned right back at me.

*Go get her, Jamie*

Spring was starting to set in, so it wasn’t that cold anymore during the day, though the nights could still get chilly sometimes. Fortunately for me, my wolf blood kept me warm all the time. So I never needed to bring a jacket with me, although I spotted Lana shivering, and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her to keep her warm.

No

You just want to hold her

for your selfish self…

“You want to sit down for a bit?” I asked her, waving at some Adirondack chairs that were placed in a circle around a fire pit. Lana nodded, as she walked over and placed herself down in one of them. Eyeing me with her gorgeous grey eyes.

“So, how is the security life treating you, Jamie?” Lana asked me, and the sound of her voice saying my name almost knocked me off of my seat. But I tried to hide it well, as I looked over at her and smiled.

“Well, honestly. It’s been quite intense lately. Hopefully, soon, things will calm down and I’ll finally be able to take some time off.” Lana looked at me, and I could have sworn I spotted worry in her eyes.

“Don’t overwork yourself.” She then smiled at me, taking my breath away once again.

Fuck, she is so beautiful

“So…” She continued, as she leaned back in her seat and looked up at the night sky.

“Spaghetti or pizza?” She asked me out of nowhere, making me frown at her question.

“Seriously? You want to talk about food preferences during your short break?” I asked her, and I saw her grin grow bigger.

Fuck

She is so playful!

“Well, technically, you are still a stranger to me. If we want to get to know each other, we should start out with the small stuff before we will spill our deepest and darkest secrets. Maybe after the small stuff, we will already hate each other.” She shrugged, looking at me, before her gaze shifted back towards the stars.

How could I ever hate you?

my precious little mate?

“Pizza, no brainer.” I answered, seeing her look at me with big eyes of curiosity.

“Pizza? Interesting! Does your fitness coach approve of that choice?” She asked me as she laughed, and once again I found myself bewitched by the sound of her laughter and hearing it for the first time without the sounds of the bar trying to cover it. And wanting nothing more, but to make her laugh again and again. I could listen to her laughing for the rest of my life, and I would die a happy man.

“I honestly don’t have a coach. And I don’t workout because I like it. But because I have to, I need to be strong in order to get this… case done.” I answered, weighing in my words once again. Lana swallowed, as she looked back over at me, and once again, I saw worry in her eyes.

Don’t worry little mate

I’ll be fine

I’ll make sure that I’m fine.

to come back to you.

“This case of yours, is it dangerous?” She asked me while her forehead made a small frown. I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t want to worry my mate, but I also found it difficult to lie to her. I didn’t want the beginning of our relationship to start off built on nothing but lies.

“It could be. But I promise, I will not do anything reckless.” I sighed, looking back into her grey eyes.

“What will you do, once this case of yours is done?” She asked me as she shivered from the cold. And I couldn’t help the words that came out of my mouth next.

“Come for you.”

Shit!

What the hell did I just say?

You f*****g moron!!!

But as I thought that I would scare her away with what I had just said, I was once again greeted by her laughter. A very sincere, happy and bubbly laughter. And I couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

“You sure are one smooth talker, Jamie.” She laughed again, shaking her head in awe.

“Your mother must be very proud of you.”

I sighed, pressing my lips shot. My mother died a few years ago. And it was something I was trying my best to forget at that point.

“I hope she is.” I smiled, looking back at her, giving her a small smile.

“You’re not in contact with her anymore?” She asked me, to which I shook my head.

“She died eight years ago.” I answered, my eyes never leaving Lana’s.

“I’m so sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut.” She gasped, as her cheeks turned pink.

“No worries.” I quickly told her, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

“I know for a fact, that she would be proud of you. Of the man that you have become.” Lana then told me, giving me a gorgeous smile. And I couldn’t help but smile back at her, being mesmerized by her beauty once again.

“Do you know, you have really special eyes?” I asked her, to which she looked away from me. Doing the exact opposite of what I had wanted her to do. I had wanted to keep staring into those eyes all night long.

“Yeah.” She spoke, as she took a loose strand of hair and placed it behind her ear. Seeing how her cheeks turned darker again, making her look so f*****g adorable.

“I get that a lot.” She shrugged, taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, I need to head back inside. Billy will need me back.” She spoke, to which she wanted to stand up, by placing her hands on both armrests of the chair to push herself up again.

“Please, Lana.” I panicked, reaching out to her and finding that I had just grabbed her hand. Once I felt her skin against mine, it was as if my own skin was set on fire. And it set of an alarm in my head, an alarm that told me that I was in big trouble starting now. Because from now on, after feeling her, touching her, it would only be harder for me, to be able to step away from her again. To leave her behind, again. However, I was surprised, since Lana looked at me, but didn’t make any effort to pull her hand away from mine.

Do something

think Jamie,

think!

“Can I have your phone number?” I blurted out at her, seeing how she swallowed at my words.

“Why would you need my number?” She asked me, still not pulling her hand away from mine, and I couldn’t help myself again, as I gently started to rub my thumb over her knuckles.

“Because I really want to call you and ask you out on a date,” I confessed.

I want to call you

Go out on a date

and kiss you

and stay with you forever

and mark you

and claim you as mine

FUCK!

“Uhm… sure.” She then smiled back at me, and it felt as if my heart was about to explode all over this small city of Redwater.

“But I don’t have my phone with me right now, it’s still inside the bar.” And then, against every fiber in my body, I forced myself to let go of her hand, as I pulled my phone from my pocket, before I reached it over to her. A phone that I had bought just for this event. Just for Lana and to be able to be in contact with her. Inside my pack, I didn’t even need a phone, we would simply mind link everyone we needed to speak to. But I knew with Lana, and with her being a human, some things would work differently between us than it would between other mates. Lana gave me a small smile, as she took my phone and started to add herself as a new contact inside the phone. As she was ready, she handed me my phone back. Seeing that she had added herself as ‘waitress Lana’ to my contact list.

“Waitress Lana? I didn’t know that was your full name.” I grinned at her, seeing how she shook her head and her cheeks became pink again. Making her look like the cutest thing in the world.

“Just so you’ll remember who I am. When I’ll see you in another four months” To which I sighed, getting up from my chair.

“I will remember it just fine, pretty lady. And I promise you, it will not be months this time.” Lana stood up and looked up at me, and my wolf, my heart and every fiber in my body, wanted nothing more, than to just step forward, lean down and kiss her pretty face. To tell her how much I wanted her right at that moment, that I wanted nothing more, than to put her in my car and just drive home to the Spike pack. But Lana was human, and the werewolf pace, which was f*****g fast, was not the way I could come on to her. I couldn’t scare her away. I needed to do this slowly. And I knew that kissing her right now was not the right way at human speed. I needed to be patient, in order to get what I so desperately wanted. What I had been wanting for months, since I had seen her for the very first time.