“I’ve been wondering where you’ve been,” Kaspen said as his sleepy eyes set on me.
“I was out with Nick.” I don’t know why but I was enclosed with guilt.
If I was feeling guilty maybe Nick wasn’t my mate. It was hard to tell who was better for me because I had a history with Kaspen. Maybe if I hadn’t met Kaspen first it would be different.
The thing is… I felt more interested in Kaspen when we met him three and a half years ago than I do with meeting Jonas or Nick now. Even when he was annoying me at the library I felt interested in him.
Kaspen sighed of yearning. “Be careful with Nicholas, Yue,” he warned in his husky voice as he ran his hand through his hair.
“A mage said they might be able to undo the suppression of my supernatural side,” I changed the subject.
“That’s great.” His mood lifted from my news which even brightened my spirit.
He was actually happy for me. Nick reacted oppositely when I told him but I guess it was because he was worried about me.
“But what do you think about sorcerers?”
“Magic comes in handy,” he said. “I’m only thankful for sorcerers.”
“They can be trusted then?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ve never met a licensed sorcerer who wasn’t trustworthy,” he answered and gathered my hand in his.
“Kas?”
“Sorry, it’s hard not to.” His gaze shifted away from me sadly.
I pulled my hand away slowly. “I know you don’t have much self-control but I’ll remind you about personal space,” I goaded him on.
“Alright,” he chuckled and returned his focus down to my eyes. “You are small so you don’t have much of it to begin with.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t respond.
“Did you sleep alone in the human realm?” He asked.
“Huh? What do you mean? I had a roommate and sometimes she slept in my room.” She did it to help me with Josie some nights.
“If you ever don’t want to sleep alone,” he began. The longer I made eye contact with him, the more intimate it got. “You know where to find me or you could text or call me so I can go to you.”
“I think I’ll pass but thanks.” I wanted to say yes but I had Josie and I don’t think I trusted myself to sleep in Kaspen’s room without something happening.
Kaspen nodded and passed me with a faint trace of defeat.
In the morning Autumn offered to watch Josie after breakfast.
I spent some time in the lounge on my phone. Ever since Maya gave me a magical SIM card I was able to access the internet in the supernatural realm.
I was trying to find out more about people suppressing their shifter sides but I was interrupted. Jonas dropped down onto the coffee table in front of me.
I jerked back in my seat out of surprise. “What the hell?? Where did you come from??” My tone might have been a little dramatic and slightly harsh.
He pointed up to the loft space that I didn’t realize was in the library. I still didn’t understand why he jumped down over the railing onto the coffee table.
“Come do something fun with me,” Jonas requested. His bright smile had a lot of presence.
“Sure.” I did need to spend time with all three of them.
Jonas took me to the gym. There were already a lot of pack members standing around as if they were waiting for something.
“You can watch me train some of these wolves,” Jonas said with glee. “It might seem a little boring but trust me it’s cool to watch. Maybe I’ll be training you soon too.” Optimism radiated from him.
“You’re in charge of the pack’s training?”
“Mainly,” he answered. “Along with Gamma Leo. I’m the head warrior.”
“That’s cool.”
I watched him start his training. I think today they were focusing on sparing in their human forms. A few of them did shift, there was enough room for it. It made me think back to my childhood as a hunter and I hated that. I didn’t want wolves to remind me of that horrible time in my life. I’d be a horrible mother if I did because Josie was half werewolf.
“I love training with Jonas,” I overheard one of the girls say during the break.
“Yeah, I prefer to train with an alpha like him. Beta Maya and Alpha Kaspen are great alphas but they barely train us,” another girl agreed. “Gamma Leo is only a Beta so I’d prefer not to train under him.”
“You’re just an average wolf though,” she pointed out accompanied by a laugh.
“Well yeah, but an average wolf trained by an alpha is stronger than an average wolf trained by a beta.”
So Jonas and Maya were biologically alphas too.
“You don’t look too good,” Jonas said breathily after approaching me.
He was sweaty but he had a towel with him. A few girls stared at him in lust as he dried himself off.
“Oh yeah, I have a lot on my mind,” I stated.
Jonas turned around and called out to his pack members. “I have to cut the session short but we’ll have another tomorrow and I’ll make it up to you!” He couldn’t have done that for me. When he turned back to me I braced myself for his next words. “Let’s get out of here and cheer you up.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” I stood up and Jonas grasped my hand.
I looked at the pack members that he dismissed. I expected them to look upset but they weren’t. A few smiled at me and waved. “Feel better!” One yelled out to me as we walked out of the gym.
“I did have to do that,” Jonas insisted. “Do you have anything you need to take care of?”
“Actually I do. I have a mage to see.”
“Then that’s what we’re doing next,” he decided confidently. “I’ll drive.”
We left the packhouse after I called the sorcerer and walked to the parking lot. I noticed Kaspen’s car from three and a half years ago. He still had it after all this time. It reminded me of that date and that more than memorable m night with him. Now I was thinking about Kaspen when I was Jonas.
I shook my head to bounce the thoughts of Kaspen into silence then got into his car. “So are you rich too or what?” I asked because of how expensive his car looked.
“Billionaire,” he answered simply.
“I heard you’re an alpha too,” I mentioned.
“Yeah, biologically but I don’t like to talk about that. Maybe when you get to know me a little better.” He smiled.
His response masqueraded as him being humble but I think there was another reason he didn’t like to talk about it.
“Okay.”
“Are you hungry?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I answered since my stomach had been tight with hunger.
“I can buy you whatever you want before we go see the sorcerer.”
“Okay.”
We drove around until we found a fast food place I thought looked interesting. It wasn’t like fast food in the human realm. It was fast here because of magic. He let me eat in his car while we drove.
We parked outside the house at the address the sorcerer gave me. Then walked in when he answered his door and exchanged greetings.
“I plan to pay with trade,” I announced.
“I can pay with money for you,” Jonas offered.
I shook my head in disagreement. Then I laid down where the Sorcerer pointed and he started to prepare some things.
Jonas extended his hand out for me to hold. He had taken me here without any further questions and offered his support. I held his hand and he smiled at me kindly. It eased my anxiety.
The sorcerer started chanting, inviting my ears to ring.
When he was done he sighed. “Nope, your suppression isn’t from magic. I’m sorry about that.”
I sat up slowly and my hand left Jonas’ before I responded, “It’s fine. What do you want me to trade as p*****t?”
“Only some blood.” The sorcerer said.
What if Nick was right and I had been scammed? “I’m sorry if this is rude but are you licensed?” I thought about what Kaspen said to me.
The sorcerer nodded and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “Here it is.” He showed me his card. “I apologize for not showing you upfront. People don’t usually care when it’s a small freelance job.”
“Looks good,” Jonas confirmed for me.
I nodded and provided my hand to the sorcerer. He cut the palm of my hand and I squeezed the blood out into a vial.
“When I find out what I am, I’ll let you know so you know how to use that,” I said.
I walked out with Jonas. “Dark magic,” Jonas whispered. Using the blood of others in magic is considered dark magic.
Delrose taught me about dark magic. She said it was even eviler than regular magic. The users of dark magic would have their souls lost upon death but Delrose liked that part. He thought it was a punishment that they deserved.
“Yeah…,” I said sadly. I felt Jonas pull me into a warm hug without anticipation. “What… why?”
“You’re upset.”
“No… I’m disappointed,” I corrected.
“Same thing, you can cry,” he mumbled and rubbed my back.
“You’ll get wet by my tears,” I said lightheartedly in a brittle tone.
“I don’t care.” He kissed the top of my head.
Why was he doing this? It had to be because of the mate bond. Why would he be so caring if it wasn’t? I wasn’t being interesting and I wasn’t opening up to him. A normal person wouldn’t care if I didn’t put in the same amount of effort. Maybe Jonas made me want to but not in a romantic way.
I felt safe enough to let two or three drops of tears out. Then I pushed away from him gently and wiped my eyes dry.
He got back into his car and he started driving.
“What do you think about the pack?” Jonas asked.
“I like it so far, especially Maya.” And Kaspen.
“Maya?” He chuckled nervously and his glance traveled around rapidly before landing back on the road. “She’s great right? She takes on so many duties. I love her devotion to the pack.”
“Maya is really nice. What do you think about Nick?” I asked.
“He sucks.” There was resentment buried in his eyes. “Do you want to watch me shift and run around the forest?”
“I don’t think so,” I said plainly.
“Well, what’s your favorite hobby?”
“I don’t have one.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“I don’t have one.”
He was trying to get to know me but there wasn’t much ordinary stuff to know about me. Anything between ten and fifteen is way too personal. Anything before that I barely remember and after that is boring because it was all about how I could live stably. I don’t know if I’ve ever really let myself find out what kind of stuff I like.
He pulled over. “Yue,” he uttered.
“What?”
He leaned over and grabbed my hand. “What are your goals?”
“What?” I had never been asked that before.
This was a question I could answer, maybe one I had always wanted to be asked.
“What do you strive for more than anything?” He clarified.
“My biggest goal is to find out what species I am and find out more about the town I came from.”
“That makes sense, when we left the sorcerer's house you were disappointed,” he concluded.
“Yeah…”
“I want to be of help to you.”
“Thank you, Jonas.”
I didn’t expect to have such a nice time with Jonas.
Last but not least, a date with Kaspen was next.