Chapter 21

Jasper Hartford’s POV
I gazed into the classroom through the small window in the door. The lesson should have finished a couple of minutes ago but Lizzy’s teacher was still droning on about something. Lizzy already had her bags packed and she looked as though she couldn’t wait to get out of there. Her legs were bouncing and she was glancing around the room.
She glanced towards the door as though she was contemplating sneaking out. When she saw me standing by the door she smiled. I don’t even think she knew she was smiling at me but it made me so happy to see that smile on her face. She seemed genuinely excited to see me.
I was so busy staring into Lizzy’s eyes through the window that I didn’t even notice the teacher letting the class go. I did notice the sudden rush of students making their way to the door though. I took a step back but kept my eyes on Lizzy as the rest of her classmates passed by.
“Jasper,” One of Lizzy’s classmates said as she walked towards me.
I couldn’t remember her name or even if we had a history together but I didn’t care. I was only interested in Lizzy, I couldn’t wait to have her mark on my neck. Nobody would dream of flirting with me like that when I did.
“Jasper, don’t you remember our night together,” She said as Lizzy walked up to me. I ignored the other women completely and focused all my attention on Lizzy.
“You look so beautiful,” I told her.
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I expected her to pull away from me and make some kind of snarky comment but instead she melted into my embrace and kissed me back passionately.
She kissed me for a few seconds more before she broke our kiss and pulled herself out of my embrace. She looked embarrassed by her own actions. I wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about but I didn’t want to say the wrong things and make things worse.
Instead I took hold of her hand and walked with her to the canteen. It was already busy by the time that we got there. My friends had saved me a spot at our usual table but every other place was already taken. Lizzy noticed this at the same time I did and she stopped walking.
“I should go and find my friends anyway,” She mumbled, trying to let go of my hand.
“Please come sit with me,” I said, pleading with her through my eyes. I knew that she wouldn’t be able to turn me down, she was my mate and mates didn’t like seeing each other unhappy.
“I wouldn’t have anywhere to sit,” She said.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” I replied.
I started walking towards my seat. Lizzy was clearly confused but she soon started walking beside me again. When we reached the table I sat down at the only free seat and pulled her into my lap. I wrapped my arms securely around her and kissed her cheek before she could protest.
At first she seemed uncomfortable but after she looked around the table she relaxed a little. She must have noticed she wasn’t the only girl sitting on their mate's lap. She relaxed into my arms, resting her head against my chest.
“You two look so comfy. Would you like me to get you something to eat?” Adam asked.
I smiled at him then turned to Lizzy to ask her what she wanted but as I did so I noticed something in my peripheral vision. Frankie had walked into the canteen and he was staring in our direction. One of his friends was trying to pull him away but he was so angry that he just kept staring at Lizzy and I.
“Some omegas are such whores, they will screw anyone for a chance at a better position in the pack,” He growled.
‘Kill him, kill him now!’ Garnet growled.
“Just look at the way she is all over him,” Frankie shouted.
My wolf wasn’t going to listen to any more of this. He pushed his way forwards in my mind before I could do anything to stop him. He growled deeply, causing everyone in the room to look in my direction.
The fear of people finding out my secret was enough to push me into action. I was able to regain most of my control and push him back within my head but it was too late. Some people in the room must have seen that my eyes weren’t the red that you would expect from an alpha wolf.
Nico had already jumped out of his seat and was trying to drag Frankie out of the room. I could hear Frankie complaining about his treatment and refusing to go along with what Nico wanted.
Nico wasn’t going to accept that from him, especially not in a room full of our packmates. He kicked Frankie in his knee and pushed him to the floor, he had one hand around his neck and one knee on his chest.
Frankie tried to push Nico away but Nico was much stronger than him so Nico was able to completely ignore his attempts. In a desperate bid for freedom Frankie tried to punch Nico in the face. Nico caught his fist before it managed to get anywhere near his face and tightened his grip. They were half way across the room but I could hear the bones in Frankie’s hand crack.
“The next time that you insult the future alpha’s mate he is going to kill you and I’m not going to do a damned thing to intervene. Do you understand?” He asked.
He spoke quietly so that the humans in the room wouldn’t be able to make out what he said but loud enough for every werewolf to hear. Now every werewolf in the room knew that Lizzy was not to be messed with.
Frankie couldn’t speak with Nico’s hand around his throat so he nodded his head in agreement. Nico punched the ground a couple of centimetres away from Frankie’s head as a final warning before getting to his feet and joining us back at the table.
Everyone in the room was watching Frankie as he got to his feet and tried to salvage what was left of his dignity. While they were preoccupied I glanced around everyone in the room. Nobody seemed to be looking at me, their attention was solely on Frankie or Nico. Maybe I had gotten lucky and they didn’t notice that my wolf was different but that luck wouldn’t last forever.
‘What did you want me to do? You were just sitting there listening to him disrespecting our mate,’ Garnet growled.
‘You should have left it to me to deal with,’ I replied to him.
‘When would that have happened. Before or after graduation?’ Garnet said. I mentally rolled my eyes at him.
‘What did you expect to do anyway? Frankie’s wolf is stronger than you,’ I told him.
‘I would have scratched his eyes out. He wouldn’t have been able to fight me then,’ Garnet suggested.
Oh great, my wolf is an idiot. He is so eager to get into a fight that he has no chance of winning. In human form I am probably still strong enough to take on anyone in the pack but in wolf form I was one of the weakest. My wolf needed to remember that and let me deal with things like this in the future.
Garnet growled at me in frustration then blocked his connection to me. Well that’s fine, I didn’t want to talk to him anyway. I turned my attention back to what was really important, Lizzy. Adam was asking her what she wanted to eat.
“I have some snacks, I don’t need anything,” She said.
“Can you get her a burger and me something healthy,” I said, ignoring Lizzy’s objections.
Adam nodded his head in acknowledgment then left to order our food.
“You don’t need to get me anything. I don’t want to cause any trouble,” She said.
“Don’t be silly. I am your mate, it is literally my job to take care of you,” I replied.
Adam came back a few minutes later with two trays and a bottle of soda. He put the trays in front of us then took his place at the table. I spent the rest of my lunch break holding my mate and kissing her between bites of my pasta salad.
When the bell chimed to signify the end of lunch I stood up to leave when Nico grabbed hold of my arm.
“I need to speak to you, alone.” He said.