22: Catching up

**Jasmine**

I hated−no, *loathed* being in enclosed, public spaces. There were always so many scents, bodies and sounds, making it the ultimate sensory overload. But a promise was a promise, and I had stupidly agreed to drop Macy off for her date. Why she did not ask Damon, only she knew. Damon was another 'thing' I was beginning to hate. I should have just kept quiet that day I dropped Timmy off and found myself in Damon's arms−or more correctly put, found him in my pants. When he said 'revenge', he really meant *revenge* and he spent the entire week tormenting me. Not only did I have to do both Hannah's job and mine, but he made me stay in late every day, mopping up the entire place, dusting the surfaces and shining the utensils. To make it worse he wore latex white gloves and would drag his gloved fingers all over the place, making sure I did a 'proper job'. And I could do nothing about it since the man practically put money into my bank account. That was the problem when you were Damon Michaels and had lots of time and money to waste... you ended up wasting other's time too. I couldn't even fit in a request to fulfil since I also had to study throughout the week, for the online test I probably failed this morning. Honestly, I was beginning to wonder when he would truly go home. Now it just seemed he was enjoying torturing me too much to even think about leaving.

"Hey Quinn, I think this is it, would you walk me inside, please?" I nodded curtly as Macy and I began nearing the gorgeous, expensive restaurant. Everything inside it, oozed class and radiated sophistication, making my old and casual attire stand out against the elegant wear the other people were wearing. Macy, however fit right in with her beautiful blond hair loose and falling to her hips, her body tightly hugged by a gorgeous lilac dress and her face with light, neutral make-up, enhancing her already beautiful features. "Table for two?" The maître d’ asked, standing at the entrance with a stern look on his face.
"Uh no, I'm just here to drop her off inside."
The man, grey and wrinkled, muttered underneath his breath, "Thank God." Unfortunately for him my hearing was spectacular, and so I retorted, half in anger, half annoyed, "Excuse me, do you have a problem?"
The man looked up, taken aback when he met my raging eyes, gulped and then said with shaky breaths, "N-no ma'am, please, come inside, you are most welcome."
"Thought so."
Macy shook her head at me when we entered and reprimanded me for my little outburst. Apparently, I was not supposed to yell at people older than me, even if what they said−or implied−was wrong and insulting.
Macy and I continued walking past the well decorated tables and chairs. The place was quite large, and I wondered how we would ever find her date. But finding him was easier than expected and my eyes caught the sight of a familiar face. Gorgeous, smooth brown skin, soft, hazel eyes, well maintained body hugged by an expensive suit, and a friendly smile decorating his dashingly handsome face. The Alpha's bitch−Landon Wood. He looked the same appearance-wise, but beneath the surface of his glittering eyes, was something I could only describe as hidden, soft sadness. Clearly Damon was not the only person who had undergone some emotional changes over these two years.
His eyes brightened when he saw Macy and I, and he immediately came striding towards us. He smiled gently at Macy and said, politely, "You look beautiful Macy." She blushed and thanked him, and he took her hand in his, placing a soft kiss on it. His eyes then landed on me, and his smile grew.
"Well, well well, if it's not Ja−"
"Quinn, my name is Quinn Emerson. I don't think we've met before Mr-?"
"Landon"−he held a hand out, catching on to what I was hinting at−"Landon Wood. Sorry, I think I must have had you mistaken with someone else." He chuckled lightly. I nodded and then said, "Well, I better get going. You kids have fun." I winked at Macy, bid the both of them farewell and then proceeded to exit the restaurant. Before I reached the entrance though, I heard Landon at the back of my mind. "*Catch up later, over coffee?*"
"*Sure, meet me at Raina’s, just down the road from here.*" I turned back, smiled and he returned it. Landon and I were never friends, but we were definitely not strangers. Especially considering that he was more tolerable and easier to get along with than Damon.

***

It was exactly 5 p.m. when Landon stepped into the coffee shop, now dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He smiled as soon as he saw me, and I stood up to greet him with a hand held out. He glanced at it for a moment, before grabbing it and pulling me into his chest in a tight embrace.
"Jasmine Spectra. It is refreshing to see you. Damon told me he came here to find you, but I never expected this”−he let me go and took a few strands of my blonde hair between his fingers−"a blonde babe!"
I chuckled at his comment and we both took our seats. It was then that I decided that I was actually happy to see such a familiar face from the past.
"So"−he grabbed a menu, raking his eyes over the various options−"what's new? Why do you have a different name here?"
Someone actually cared about my life. Shocking!
"You know, new me. I just don't want to draw too much attention to myself." I smiled. But he picked up on my little lie immediately and gave me a questioning look. So, to avoid further interrogation, I asked, "So what is the famed Alpha's bitch doing here?"
This seemed to grab his attention and he replied by telling me that he just needed to get away from home. That was when I noticed more of the sadness beginning to pool in his eyes, and I questioned it. "You look different Landon, what's happened to you and Damon over these years?" I was partially concerned and partially hoping for a better answer than what Damon kept providing me with.
He hesitated a little, before answering me. "Things have certainly changed over these past few years." He gave a deep sigh but was cut short from saying anything when a waitress came to take our order.
"I'll have an Americano and a slice of your finest chocolate cake." I ordered the same as him. We both sat in awkward silence for a period of time, with me unsure of how to approach the previous topic, and him, clearly avoiding it.
"You know Landon, whatever it is, you can tell me. Unlike Damon I actually do know how to be compassionate."
He chuckled before commenting, "Oh, you'd be surprised Jasmine." Then his smile fell before he began to tell me the reason for his clear sadness.
Landon had found his mate, just a month or so after I'd escaped. Unfortunately for him, his mate rejected him and left. "... I was so happy. I thought, 'damn, finally someone to save me from my complete and utter loneliness'. I guess I was stupid for even thinking that. Not even a glance back, the fucking ass left without even looking back." By now tears glistened in his eyes, and my heart grew sore at the sight. Landon was a good person−maybe a little nosey−but he was still good, and pure.
"The pain is awful, deep and excruciating. It's as though your heart is being ripped apart over and over again. For a long while I didn't even leave the house. I stayed with Damon most of the time, he was the only person who didn't completely give up hope in me. And I know, to you it must seem absurd to think that he could ever be anything but a cold, heartless man. But he isn't, he's just… afraid."
I looked up, confused and asked, "Afraid of what?"
"Of himself. He is afraid of becoming his father." He then chuckled and leaned his head back, before saying, "Isn't it funny how hard we try not to be our parents, and in trying to avoid becoming like them, we only start becoming more and more similar." He then paused a while, contemplated something deeply and then he spoke again. "But something did change in him the day you left, and it continued to change when he witnessed my rejection. I think his fear has grown into something deeper−the fear of breaking you has mixed with the fear of you rejecting him. It drives him crazy, because the more he tries to stay away from you, the more he wants to be near you. But it's clear that him wanting to be near you wins the battle every time. Otherwise, why would he be here?"
And it was then that I realised what a bunch of messed up people we each were. Landon, the shining young man cloaked in light which was now all the dimmer with the rejection from his mate and the burning loneliness he wished they could fill. Damon tainted and imprisoned by the cold darkness which his father clearly left behind. And me, half in the dark−ruled by desire and a hunger for vengeance−and half in the light−ruled by my blind compassion. It was this realisation which led me to my next few words: "I guess Damon and I will always be two broken people who will never be able to meet each other halfway." I didn't even realise it, but a tear fell from my eye, falling down my pale cheek onto the table. It was only when Landon took my hand in his and I looked up at him, that I realised I was crying, and I had no idea why.
"Listen, Jasmine, I myself am not sure if you and Damon will ever find middle-ground. What I do know though, is with the right push, you will be able to see the Damon that both Macy and I get to see. Then maybe, just maybe he won't hide himself from, not just you, but everyone else." He reached up and glided a soft thumb across my cheek, wiping the tears away.
But what if I did not want to push him? What if I was happy with things the way they were−safe. It was safer with us just hurting each other meaninglessly and playing our little games. If emotions were to get involved, I feared it would only make things messier and even more complicated. I didn't say this to Landon though. I couldn't, with him looking so hopeful for a future I could not even fathom. And so, I just nodded, lying with every single head movement.
The coffee soon arrived, cutting our tears and emotional performance off.
"So, why Macy?" I asked, scooping some chocolate cake into my mouth.
"She's not a rebound or anything, if that's what you're thinking."
Landon was clearly more observant than I thought. And here I always thought he was just a handsome idiot, blindly following his Alpha.
"I just enjoy her company. I'm not planning on anything serious, and neither is she. In fact, after our date, we decided to keep things strictly friendly between the two of us, like it was back in high school."
My eyes brightened at the mention of this. “You also went to the same high school?”
He nodded and said, “All the kids in my pack went to the same school and high school. Heck we were grateful just to get some out-of-pack education. Damon’s father was the most stubborn man ever.”
It was the second time he had mentioned Damon’s father, and I grew curious, especially because I distinctly remembered Macy saying something about Damon growing up in a dysfunctional home.
“Damon’s father, where is he now?” I asked, wondering if he was still even a part of his son’s life. I didn’t recall seeing him back at home though.
Landon stayed quiet for a moment or so. “You know, Damon doesn’t really like people knowing about his personal life. But you are his mate, so you deserve to know *something* at least. The rest, you will need to find to out by yourself.
“Damon’s father died a few weeks before his mother, so he is now, hopefully burning in hell. It was unfortunate though. Have you heard the myth of werewolves dying of heartbreak when their mate passes away?”
I shook my head, no. I didn’t really learn much about mates, outside of what was necessary.
“Well, they say if the mate bond is strong enough, then losing your mate to death would mean you’d die too. Unfortunately, Damon’s mother truly loved her son-of-a-bitch husband deeply, and the myth became all too real for Damon and his siblings. But that’s all you’ll get from me Jasmine.”
I nodded, trying to process what Landon had said. I would be lying to say I wasn’t curious to find out more: What did he do to make not just Damon, but Landon hate him? Why did Damon fear turning into him? And finally, what did he mean by siblings? But these, I told myself, were questions best left unanswered. Diving too deep into Damon’s life would be a recipe for disaster.
Once Landon and I had finished our coffee, he offered to walk me home. It was, after all, on the way to the glamourous hotel he was staying at.
"I can't believe Damon actually decided to stay in such a bland apartment. The extent that man will go through to be near you is sometimes frightening."
"You can say that again." I chuckled.
By the time we reached the apartment building, the sun had begun setting behind the buildings, casting a rich, orangey pink glow across the edges of the sky.
"Well, it was nice catching up with you Jasmine. I'll probably see you around more often than not"−he then paused for a while, looked down and kicked a random rock to the side "-can you just do me a favour?”
“What is it, Landon?” I asked.
He took in a deep breath, stared me right in the eye and said, “Please do not ever reject Damon, no matter how much you end up hating him.”
And this was something I could truly promise and so I nodded my head. “Don’t worry, I won’t. If I did, it would only prove to him that I actually cared and acknowledged this whole mate bullshit.”
He chuckled, winked, and thereafter bid me farewell. I could not get our conversation out of my head though. Landon was asking too much of me. He was asking me to find that part of Damon I only caught a glimpse of occasionally. It was a side of himself he preferred to keep hidden, and I was not sure that I was the person to bring that little glimpse of him fully to life. Damon had shown no desire to want to be freed, in fact, it seemed that with every little sliver of himself he accidentally exposed, he immediately made it a point to cover up. Nothing would change between the two of us. Or at least... that was what I thought. Little did I know that with every step I took upstairs towards my apartment door, the match was being lit with the flame of both our pasts, awaiting to set my life as I knew it aflame.