Chapter 40

Elizabeth Summers’ POV
The rest of the evening passed by as a blur of anxiety and awkwardness. I found it difficult to focus on anything that was going on around me, I was so worried about shifting. What if I did it wrong and ended up getting hurt, or even worse I ended up being the omega I always thought I was going to be.
Jasper might say that he doesn’t care if I end up being an omega wolf. I had believed his reassurances but that was before I knew about his parents plans for me. For some reason they were pinning all their hopes for the future on me taking the role of the pack’s next alpha. It was a lot of pressure. I had never trained to take on that kind of responsibility and I wasn’t sure that I even wanted to be an alpha.
Jasper and Adam spent a couple of hours trying to keep me occupied by playing films and feeding me popcorn. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that their fussing was only making me feel worse. At times like this I wished there was somewhere I could go to be alone with a good book, or any book at all really.
Feeling a tingling down my spine, I shifted in my seat. Within less than a second Jasper was kneeled in front of me, his eyes filled with concern. Ugh, that wasn’t the way you acted if there was nothing to worry about, was there something wrong with me?
“I am just feeling tingly,” I told them. I tried not to let on how on edge I was but my voice quivered, betraying me.
“Maybe we should head outside,” Adam suggested.
“There’s no we, you are going to stay away from my mate.” Jasper growled, his eyes changing colour as his wolf tried to take control. I leaned forward and pulled him towards me. Comforting him with my embrace and my scent, while Adam quickly got out of the room.
“You know that he wasn’t trying to steal me from you, right?” I asked.
“I know,” Jasper whispered. I wanted to give him a hard time about his possessiveness but he sounded so embarrassed that I decided to let it go, just this once. Insead I got to my feet and extended my hands out towards him. He took them happily and followed me out into the night.
Jasper insisted on walking me deep into the forest before he would let me undress, ready for my shift. He didn’t want to risk anyone walking past and seeing me without any clothes on. I know it was part of his possessive nature and I was thankful for it. I was a little self conscious about my body, I hadn’t even been brave enough to let him see me naked yet.
“This seems like a good enough place,” Jasper said. Finally, we had been walking for ages and the tingly sensation was starting to become painful.
I stopped walking and looked around the place Jasper had chosen for my first shift. We had just entered a small clearing in the middle of the forest. I had never been in this part of the forest and I was willing to bet that was the case for a large proportion of the pack. We had to be close to the border.
It was pretty here. There were small flowers dotted through the clearing and the moon was shining brightly through the gap in the trees, giving everything a beautiful glow. If I was to undress right now the illumination from the moon would give Jasper a great view of my body. I started to fiddle with the hem of my jacket, the thought of undressing for him was making my heart flutter. I wanted to be the kind of girl who could be brave and seduce their mate.
Jasper cleared his throat.
“Maybe I should give you a bit of privacy,” Jasper suggested. His voice was quivering slightly, he didn’t want to walk away from me. Emboldened by his response, I started to remove my jacket. I peeled it off and threw it onto the floor beside me just as pain radiates down my spine and through the rest of my body. Sinking to my knees, I cried out in pain.
“Shit, you should probably get those clothes off or you will be walking back naked.” Jasper got down on his knees beside me and started to pull my clothes off frantically.
When I thought about getting undressed by my mate for the first time, this wasn’t really what I had in mind. If the pain wasn’t so intense then I would probably make some kind of joke. At the moment I couldn’t do anything other than lie on the floor in pain and let him undress me. Ugh, this was so embarrassing, why hadn’t I insisted on doing this alone?
“You will be fine baby, just let your wolf take over.” He told me. I tried to do as he told me, closing my eyes and letting go of conscious control. When I opened my eyes again, the pain had receded and I was in my wolf form.
Getting to my feet, I shook out my fur. Jasper was smiling at me, he looked as though he was in complete awe of me. It was already clear that I was a large wolf, Jasper was having to look up to meet my eyes. That in itself was a strange feeling, I was used to being the shortest person in a room but apparently my wolf was one of the largest. Maybe even larger than Jasper's father’s wolf.
‘Yeah, well that is because he is a weak ass alpha.” My wolf told me. She sounded confident and powerful, just as an alpha wolf should be.
‘Of course, my name is Hazel by the way.’ she purred.
“Would you like to go for a run together?” Jasper asked me, he was still smiling at me and he was reaching his hand out towards me as though he wanted to run his fingers through my fur. Hazel nodded her head and yipped excitedly at Jasper’s suggestion. Jasper took a couple of steps back and started to slowly take off his clothes. Was he trying to tease me?
‘I think he is, he’s such an idiot. I can’t believe you almost let him mark you,’ she mumbled. Her disapproval of our mate was clear but I didn’t understand it, wolves were meant to love their mate unconditionally. Why didn’t she want us to be with Jasper?
‘You misunderstand me. I want him but before we give ourselves to him, he has to prove himself worthy.’ She glanced at Jasper, watching him critically as he shifted into his wolf. Jasper’s wolf was much smaller than mine but he was still beautiful. His brown hair looked so soft, I wanted to run my fingers through it. Hazel was laughing at me.
‘This is what I am talking about. You are so ready to forgive him and get all snuggly. Don’t you remember all those years of pain he put you through?’ She growled, her sudden anger making me shudder.
Of course I remembered the pain. He bullied me at school everyday for as long as I could remember and there was no escape, not even when I got home. Jasper might not have bullied me when we were at home but his presence acted as a constant reminder of the pain he inflicted on me. There was no chance of me forgetting about that any time soon.
‘So, wouldn’t you like to see him get down on his knees and beg for our forgiveness?’ Hazel asked me.
Jasper had shifted now and they were running together in the forest. It felt amazing to have the wind flowing through my fur, I could get used to this feeling. It made things feel a heck of a lot simpler. There were no alpha meetings or traitorous pack members out here, only the night and the forest.
My wolf glanced over her shoulder, looking at Jasper who was currently a metre or so behind. My wolf was much bigger and faster than his and he was having trouble keeping up with us. Maybe it was a bit mean to make him run so fast but it felt good to be in control for once. It might be nice to have Jasper begging for my forgiveness but what would I do if he decided I wasn’t worth the effort?
‘Don’t be silly. I have seen the way he looks at you. He loves us and he would never let us go.’ As she spoke in my mind Jasper rushed to catch up with me. He was panting heavily but he looked to be enjoying himself. He nudged into my shoulder, trying to encourage me to slow down for him.
Hazel groaned.
‘I will slow down if you agree to follow my plan with Jasper.’ I had no idea what she had in mind but I didn’t want to see Jasper suffering any longer so I agreed, much too quickly. I am sure my wolf knew I would do just that, I was born an omega after all, it is in my nature to be amenable.
‘Don’t worry so much human. You will love it when he is on his knees begging for our mark on his neck, particularly with what I will have him do with his tongue.’ She told me. I was glad I wasn’t in my human form right now because if I was then I would be the same colour as a tomato.