Chapter 23

Elizabeth Summers’ POV
I felt awkward as I walked onto the sports field. I would have felt a lot better with Jasper by my side but I hadn’t seen him all afternoon. I didn’t realise I was getting so used to his constant presence until I wasn’t there anymore. It felt like part of me was missing.
Walking out here alone felt wrong, like I was invading his territory somehow. I glanced around, I couldn’t see Jasper anywhere. The football players were all standing around together at the edge of the field. They were all there with the exception of Jasper. A few of the players' mates were sitting nearby gossiping together on the bleachers.
I froze. I couldn’t just walk over and sit with the other mates. I didn’t even know them but I also didn’t want to offend them by sitting on the other side of the bench. So instead I stayed frozen on the spot, unable to make myself move in any direction.
“Liz,” Adam shouted.
He had just noticed that I was here and he was already running across the field towards me. His sudden outburst had made everyone else aware of my presence and they were all looking in my direction.
I didn’t like it, I didn’t like all of the attention being directed at me. I know I was probably going to have to get used to it as the future luna but it was going to take some time. I had spent almost eighteen years trying to blend into the background, it was a hard habit to break.
“Hi,” I mumbled.
“I am so glad that you made it,” Adam said, smiling at me and making me feel at ease almost instantly. I tentatively returned his smile.
“Do you know where Jasper is? I haven’t seen him in hours,” Adam asked.
“I haven’t seen him all afternoon,” I replied, feeling a little concerned.
Why would he disappear without telling me? Did I do something wrong? He seemed happy the last time I spoke to him, what could have happened? My thoughts were chaotic and they were quickly spiralling towards the worst case scenario and there didn’t seem to be a damned thing I could do to stop them.
“Why didn’t he tell me he was away? I should have been watching you,” Adam said, his smile was gone now. It had been replaced with annoyance but I knew it wasn’t directed at me.
“Don’t panic, I was watching her,” Nico replied, rolling his eyes at Adam’s concern.
“Why did you have to watch her anyway? Where is Jasper?” Adam asked.
He had turned his attention back towards Nico and was slowly making his way over to him. I followed him, after all what else was I going to do?
“He had to see his dad about something,” Nico replied.
“What could possibly be so urgent that he had to leave his mate without proper protection?” Adam asked.
The tension between the two of them was growing quickly. I could feel it in the air. It was a special skill that omegas had, it allowed us to tell when trouble was about to start and make ourselves scarce.
It presented itself as a slight tingling in the back of my neck. Normally feeling that would be enough to send me running for the nearest shelter but not today. I thought about it but it was more out of habit than out of fear.
“I’m sorry Adam, I should have told you to look after Lizzy,” Jasper said as he came up behind me.
His arms wrapped around my waist from behind. The tension around us started to dissipate just as quickly as it formed and everyone went back to their individual conversations except for Adam and Nico.
Jasper didn’t seem to care about what anyone else was doing. His lips were pressed against my neck and he was holding me tightly. There was something incredibly possessive about the way he was holding me but I kind of liked it.
“Did everything go well with your father?” Nico asked.
“Everything is fine, perfect,” Jasper said. His lips were still touching my neck and his voice vibrated against my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
“Great, we should start practice,” Nico said, before running off to join his friends. A quiet whine, just loud enough for me to hear, escaped Jasper’s lips.
“Don’t worry, you will be back in my arms before you know it,” he said. I had a feeling he was trying to make himself feel better more than anything but it was comforting to hear him say it anyway.
For the next hour I watched as Jasper and the other members of the football team practised. Adam kept talking to me throughout. I know that he was trying to get to know me better but I was a bit distracted.
I was fascinated by the way Jasper moved, he was so strong and yet so agile. I had never really taken much notice of the way he moved before. I had plenty of opportunities over the years but in the past I always kept my head down whenever he was around so I never really paid attention. I had been missing out, he is delicious.
“Liz, are you ok?” Adam asked.
I nodded my head.
“I was asking if I could meet your friends tomorrow. We will be spending a lot more time together, you can’t keep us apart forever,” Adam said.
“Ok,” I agreed.
“I think they will like me, we might ever become friends,” Adam said, smiling at me. His smile was so large and warm that I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back.
“I think that is a good idea. That way you can keep an eye on her with her friends without them suspecting anything,” Jasper said. How did he get here so quickly?
He started to lean forward toward me but I shuffled out of his reach, I held out my hands in front of myself to stop him getting any closer. Being hugged by Jasper while he was literally dripping with sweat, no thank-you.
“You need a shower, you stink!” I exclaimed, causing Adam and Jasper to burst out laughing. Since when did I start speaking to an alpha with such disrespect?
“Just one little cuddle,” Jasper said. He was reaching out towards me, giggling as he closed the distance between us slowly.
“Don’t even think about it Jazzy,” I screamed. My voice was high pitched with nervous excitement.
“Jazzy?” Jasper asked. He had stopped moving towards me but his smile was brighter than before. That wasn’t quite the reaction I was looking for.
“Well if you insist on calling me Lizzy then I thought I would call you Jazzy,” I replied.
“Did you just give me a pet name?” Jasper asked.
“I guess so,” I replied hesitantly.
“That’s great. I love it and I love you,” He said. He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips before running off in the direction of the showers.
I had been thinking about this for a couple of days. Jasper was the only person who had ever called me Lizzy. He started using that nickname shortly after his parents took me in and he never stopped. I used to think that he kept using that nickname to make me feel like a child, just another way of making me feel inferior around him.
I don’t think that is the case anymore. I believe him when he tells me that he has always loved me and I guess that is why he had his own pet name for me. That didn’t mean I liked it, it still brought back so many memories of him bullying me.
I thought my little pet name would make him change his mind about mine, looks like that backfired on me. He loved my pet name for him, I guess I was going to have to get used to mine as well.
I sighed.
“You two are so cute together, you are so lucky,” Adam said once Jasper was out of sight.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
All mates were cute together, it was literally what the mate bond does. Some mates fight against the bond but in the end you always fall head over heels in love. The only way to stop it was to reject your mate and even that wasn’t guaranteed.
“I knew Jasper would accept his mate but I expected him to fight the bond and I never expected him to ever fall this deeply,” he said.
“What makes you think he loves me already?” I asked, letting my internal doubts surface just a little bit.
“I have seen the way he looks at you, particularly when he thinks you’re not looking. You can’t fake that look,” he said. There was a longing in his eyes.
“You will meet your mate soon and when you do it will be perfect,” I said, patting him on his back and trying my best to reassure him.