Chapter 11
Jasper Hartford’s POV
Lizzy stepped out of her room. She looked absolutely stunning. She normally wore clothes that hid her body, I know that was mostly my fault but I still felt guilty about it. Maybe when she feels more comfortable around me I could convince her to dress like this for me more often.
I had heard her talking to my mom about me. She seemed happy that I was her mate. I had thought that she would be unhappy after how badly I had messed things up in the past. I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her.
‘Say something, you are staring like an idiot.’ Garnet said.
“Wow.” I said, unable to think of anything more profound to say.
‘I should have been more specific. I should have told you to say something smart.’ Garnet said between giggles.
“Thank-you.” Lizzy mumbled.
She shifted her weight from foot to foot. She looked nervous. I wanted to tell her that she didn’t need to be so self conscious. That she was beautiful and that everything about her was pure perfection but every time I tried no words came out. She looked at me, waiting for me to say something.
After a few awkward moments I held my arm out towards her. She hesitated for a couple of seconds then looped her arms through mine. I felt a smile creeping over my face. Being close to her was calming, it made me and my wolf so happy. Maybe having her close by would give me the confidence I needed to talk to her about my feelings for her.
I led her downstairs to where the party was being held. I wanted to take her into the kitchen where my friends were waiting for me but I noticed Bev was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. With where she was standing there was no way that we could avoid her, I guess that had been her plan after all.
“Jasper.” She said, practically singing my name.
I cringed.
I tried to walk past her but she grabbed hold of my arm. I shrugged her off but at some point in the process Lizzy had let go of me. I looked around the room but I couldn’t see any trace of her. How had she managed to disappear so quickly?
‘Lose this bitch then we can find her.’ Garnet suggested.
“I have been waiting for you.” Bev sung.
“I don’t know why, it’s not like we are even friends.” I said.
Why couldn’t she seem to take a hint. I have been trying to tell her that I wasn't interested in her for months but nothing I said seemed to have any impact on her. She seemed to be under some kind of deluded fantasy that I was going to fall in love with her and make her into my luna.
I wouldn’t mind if I had done anything to give her that impression but I hadn’t. I may have slept with most of the girls at school but I had always steered clear of Bev. She had a reputation for not taking rejection very well and I knew better than to get involved with someone like that.
“Oh Jasper, you are so funny sometimes. Of course we are not friends, we are so much more than that.” She said.
She was speaking loudly, trying to make some kind of scene. A few people around us turned around to see what was happening. Well if she wanted a scene then that was exactly what she would get.
“Look Bev, let me make this clear once and for all. We have never and will never have any kind of relationship. You are not my mate and you are not my friend so get out of my face. I never want to see or hear from you again.” I said.
I pushed her to one side and walked away. I could hear her sobbing as I left, maybe I should feel guilty about that but I didn’t. She made my mate feel uncomfortable enough to walk away from me. I needed to make sure that she would never do that again.
I couldn’t see Lizzy anywhere in the crowd. I walked into each of the rooms and glanced around but there was no sign of her. Her scent was everywhere but I couldn’t follow it accurately with all these other scents to mess with my senses.
“This is where you are hiding.” Nico said, stepping out from behind me. I gave him a smile even though I didn’t feel like smiling right now.
“I heard what you said to Bev. What did she do to piss off the big bad alpha?” He asked.
“She tried to seduce me in front of Lizzy for the second time today. She needed to be taught a lesson.” I replied.
“Oh. Now I see why you were so harsh, this is exactly the reason I don’t want a mate. You need to mark her tonight before you start acting even more like a psychopath.” He said.
I had to love my beta’s simplistic view on the world. He didn’t fall in love and he didn’t get attached to anyone. His idea of claiming a mate was to sink his teeth into their neck and work out the rest later.
“It’s not as simple as that, I can’t take her choice away like that.” I said.
“She will forgive you once she starts to feel the bond.” Nico said.
I couldn’t believe he was trying to justify this, it was probably a good thing that he didn’t want a mate. For the first time in a long time I found myself wanting to punch my beta in the face.
“Everyone, make your way into the dining room.” My dad shouted. Thank fuck for that.
Before Nico could say anything else I walked away and joined the rest of my family at the front of the dining room. There were a lot of people already milling around but they moved out of my path as I approached. Part of me wondered if they would still show me so much respect if they knew my secret.
‘What does it matter? We can’t be alpha anyway.’ Garnet said.
That wasn’t necessarily true. There could be a way that my wolf could get stronger. Maybe my wolf would never be an alpha wolf but as long as my wolf could get a bit stronger I could keep my position.
‘You keep telling yourself that.’ Garnet said, I could hear the humour in his voice.
I took my place at the front of the room. I stood so that I was between my parents, Lizzy was standing next to my mom and my brothers were next to my dad.
My father smiled at me and started to give his speech. I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. I was too busy thinking about what my wolf said. There was nothing wrong with giving up my position, I could go to college and get a job. It wouldn’t be a bad life but I had been raised to be this pack's alpha for as long as I could remember. I wasn’t willing to give up on that without a fight. There had to be some information about this somewhere and I would find it.
I looked over at Lizzy. She was looking out over the crowd of people. She seemed to be bored by my dad’s speech. Her and everyone else in the room probably wanted him to stop talking already. Don’t get me wrong, his motivational talks were great but not when they were delivered in the middle of a party.
Lizzy’s eyes scanned the crowd until they finally came to rest on Adam. Adam made a face as though he was falling asleep, Lizzy watched him and smiled. I felt a pang of jealousy at their interaction. I knew it was irrational, he was the future gamma and she was the future luna. They would feel drawn to each other in a completely non-sexual way.
That didn’t take away my jealousy however, I wanted her to look at me the way that she was looking at Adam right now. I wanted to be the one who was making her smile. I felt a powerful need to let everyone know that she was mine, it was almost like a compulsion.
My father was wrapping up his speech so I stepped forwards. I touched his arm to let him know that I wanted to say something. My dad nodded his head in my direction then stepped back, wrapping his arm around my mom.
“Before I let you enjoy the party I wanted to announce that I met my mate and the next luna of our pack. Lizzy, come over here.” I said, holding my hand out towards her.