5
1744 Words
SEAN
It had been rather shocking to come home and find that my parents wanted me to join them in London, where they'd gone the week before.
It was strange: I was rarely involved in foreign affairs. I was still learning how to be an Alpha - the most they usually did was to leave me in control of the pack sometimes, under our Beta Roger's supervision.
I leave for a few hours of chill and all hell breaks loose, I grumbled as I walked off the plane. It's not like I've been away for six months. Seven hours. I can't leave these guys for seven hours.
On top of all this, I hadn't even been able to contact Jess - which was odd. She hadn't been in her room at the pack house, and she'd answered none of my calls.
Tired and hungry, I started looking for a place where to eat. The airport was chock-full of restaurants and fast-food corners, and my eyes were immediately drawn to the tempting M, as yellow as the fries they sold.
Oh, yes. A BigMac is just what I need.
I checked my phone again to see if there were any new messages or missed calls from Jess, but nothing.
She'll call back, I told myself. She always does. Now, let's eat.
I made my way towards McDonald's, dodging lazy travelers and looking for a free table, when that scent hit my senses like a truck.
No, I thought, horrified. Not again.
It was unmistakable, and even stronger than the night before, now that it wasn't covered by the stench of alcohol and food.
The mysterious girl from the tavern was right there in the airport - and judging by how strong her scent was, she was incredibly close.
Don't think about her, I reminded myself. You already knew she was one of the Elite, so being surprised that she's in the human world is stupid. Besides, you wouldn't be able to recognize her. She'll have a glamour. Think about the BigMac, Sean, just about the BigMac. That's what you're looking for, now.
Swallowing, I lined up in front of the counter to order my burger, trying to focus on everything but that peachy scent. Yet, as I waited for the incredibly slow line to proceed, I found myself looking around, studying the people sitting at the tables, trying to figure out which of them might be her. An impossible task, given the thousands of people around the airport and their scents all mixing up together with the heavy stench of sweat and fried food coming from the kitchen. In no time, it was my turn, and I hadn't found her.
“A large BigMac menu, please,” I asked the cashier, who nodded absently and typed the order. "And ketchup ... and two cheeseburgers".
I was really hungry.
As soon as I had my tray in my hands, I went to sit at the tiny table I'd been eyeing and started devouring my meal, checking my phone again.
Nothing.
It's been more than thirty minutes, I thought, bewildered. And Jess checks her phone every ten.
When I opened w******p, however, I found something that left me with a sour taste in my mouth: all my texts had been read. Her last access was five minutes ago.
She's ignoring me, I realized. But why? What did I do?
Inevitably, my mind raced back to the night before: the girl, the strange impulses I'd felt towards her ... the connection was nonsense (it was impossible that Jess knew), but my guilt was still there, gnawing at my stomach. Soon, anxiety and worry joined her.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the subtle irony of that situation; the woman I loved ignored me just as the scent of the girl who'd made me feel so guilty the night before enveloped me like a soft, fresh bubble.
I tried to call her again; no answer. I could almost picture her sitting at her desk, staring at the vibrating phone, never answering. At that point, I tried again with a text.
Jess, are you okay? I'm getting worried. You know you can tell me everything. I love you.
One tick, two ticks, which then lit up in blue.
I waited half an hour, sitting at that sticky and dirty table, before realizing she wouldn't answer me - and when I looked up from the phone and focused on the surrounding environment, I realized that the mysterious girl's peachy scent had faded.
She was gone.
My family's London home was in Knightsbridge, one of the poshest neighborhoods in the entire city; my grandfather had bought it,
"Hi guys," I said as I entered, thanking with a nod the butler, that had taken my suitcase.
At first, no one answered me; then, my mother came out of the kitchen with a large smile.
"Here you are!" she beamed, wrapping me in a breathtaking hug. "Are you hungry? I've kept the fish and chips from your favorite place warm."
She looked so happy to see me that I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd already eaten; but even if that wasn't the case, the mere mention of fish and chips stirred something in my stomach, which formed a space large enough to hold a second meal. So, I followed her into the kitchen and we sat across from each other on the high stools, and I started nibbling on my fish and chips.
Still nothing, I noticed, from Jessica.
"Mom, do you know if Jess is okay?" I asked both saddened and worried by her lack of replies. She and my mother had always been very close - this is because our families were, too. My mom and her own had been best friends since elementary school.
When I saw my mom tighten her lips, I felt my stomach suddenly turn sour.
"Honey ... I ... you have to know it was a shock for us, too," she said, her voice trembling.
My hands grew sweaty. "What are you trying to say?"
She swallowed. "She has ... she's a Luna, now."
Silence.
Only silence filled my head, my ears, interrupted by that one word, which was endlessly repeated in my mind.
Luna.
Luna.
Luna.
But ... how was it possible? Jessica… damn, she was my girlfriend. My future Luna.
This didn't make a f*****g sense.
"I don't understand," was the only thing I could get out. Talking was physically painful - my throat was so dry it felt like sand was crawling up my vocal cords.
"Oh, baby," mom muttered painfully, reaching out to hold my hand. “We found out from Roger last night, shortly after you left. The Alpha of the Sapphire Stone came to the pack house and ... "
That was all I needed to know.
I bolted out of the kitchen, walked across the living room and into the garden, quickly dialing the Sapphire Stone's pack house landline number.
Our main ally. Our f*****g ally.
It rang.
And rang.
At each ring, I felt more and more sweat slither down my back - and it was absurd, because all I felt was cold. Pure, utter cold. My hands were shivering.
Finally, though, someone picked up.
“I'm Sean Anderson, of the Moon Claw pack,” I said, my words quick and cutting. "I want to talk to Jessica."
Bailey, the Beta, swallowed loudly. "I'm afraid the Luna is not available now."
"I don't give a flying f**k," I hissed. “Tell her and the Alpha that it's the Sapphires who need the Moon Claws and not the other way around. So, if she doesn't bring her ass to the phone and talks to me, you guys won't benefit from this alliance anymore”.
Silence.
One, two, three seconds.
"Ok, just give me five minutes".
My hands were itching with impatience, anger, confusion, with the need to do something. I started pacing back and forth around the perimeter of the garden, aware that my mother was watching me from the other side of the window, pain and worry growing on her face.
Exactly five minutes later, I heard her voice.
"Hello?"
"Jessica".
A name, a plea.
I hadn't even realized how much I'd missed her voice - and it had been less than twenty-four hours since I'd last seen her. Still, they'd been some extremely eventful twenty-four hours.
"Sean".
Her voice was as cold as ice, which slipped through my veins.
"Tell me that's not true," I whispered. "Tell me it's a joke."
When I heard her sigh, I felt my heart break into a thousand pieces.
"I'm sorry, Sean," she said. “But… Mark is my mate. I made him wait too long. I had to do my duty”.
It took me a while to digest that information.
Mate.
I made him wait.
Jessica… Jessica had found her mate. Before last night, when she'd left our pack.
She knew she had a mate, and she hadn't told me anything.
"How long have you known?"
"Two months".
She didn't even try to hide it. Didn't even hesitate. Two months ... two months of lies.
I felt something inside me break.
"Why ... why didn't you tell me?"
It was the only thing I could ask her. Although countless other questions roared inside me, only that one came out - the one that most of all shouted to the rooftops how destroyed, how wrecked I was.
A few seconds passed. "I ... I was trying to understand," she finally admitted. “Which situation was more… convenient. Which one of you was the better match. Who would have made me Luna first. It was a purely political decision”.
"You know I would have made you my Luna," I hissed. “We would have done the choice ceremony together, Jess! It was all planned! We had a life together planned, damn it!"
“I won't apologize, Sean. He's my mate - and when you'll meet your other half, you'll understand. The love I felt for you died as soon as I met him. Please don't bother me anymore. Our paths are no longer the same now”.
She was the one who hung up - I was too shocked, too annihilated, to do anything.
My mother's warm embrace was the last thing I felt before I burst into tears.
- Writer
