33: Betrayal and curses

**Jasmine**

"Jared?!" I exclaimed almost breathless. His smile deepened and he stood up and gave a short bow.
"It's wonderful to see you. I see your hair has grown, and you've changed the colour?"
I said nothing for a while, and instead stared at him for a moment before walking up to him and placing my index finger against his cheek. When I felt the warm flesh beneath it, I gasped and gripped his arm, pulling him into a tight hug. Tears threatened to fall from my lower lids, but I blinked them away and buried my face into the crook of his neck, taking in the warmth and familiarity of his citrusy scent. "I can't believe it's really you."
"Sounds like you’ve been through quite a bit," he whispered against the top of my head.
I nodded and said, "You don't know the half of it."
The feeling from this reunion was warm and nostalgic. Jared was the closest thing to family, apart from Loren and Timmy. To me he was the equivalent of a brother. After a few more moments of our warm embrace, I let go and took hold of his face. "You look awful... handsome as ever, but awful."
He scratched the back of his neck nervously and said, "Well, it's been rough for me as well."
"Is that why you haven't contacted us in a while? And by the way..." I took a look around before continuing, "why am I here?"
"You wanted to call a meeting the other day regarding the Andrew issue. I've been aware of it for quite some time now, so, after he kidnapped your friend, I thought I would move the date closer... to today."
I eyed him curiously, and then wondered what he told Damon to get me here. I was about to ask, when the devil himself walked through the door and gazed at the two of us. He raised an eyebrow at our close proximity but said nothing about it, instead he nodded at Jared and asked, "Are the others on their way?"
Others? Did Damon know? I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I began to come up with all sorts of scenarios for what was going on here. Most of them −no, all of them were absurd. There was no fucking way that Damon knew about everything and had kept it a secret from me, right? But I waved the thought away almost as quickly as I’d thought it up. I could not bring myself to come to such a conclusion. Damon couldn’t have been selfish enough to watch my suffering and say nothing... right?
I never asked any further questions and instead waited for my denial to backfire on me.
"Hmm, yes, they should be here about−" the gates to the property began opening, cutting him off. Luxurious cars made their way onto the property. The last time we had a gathering like this, was the first time Jared had introduced me into our little group as the tenth member. The pleasant memories were, however put to a hold when Damon took my hand in his and I looked up into his worried face. I furrowed my brows and asked him what the matter was.
"Just... don't hate me too much." And by then, I could no longer deny anything. Today would be our last goodbye.
The doors to the first car opened, revealing Yuki, Viktor and Cody. Yuki was known as ‘the Silver Bullet’. She specialised in werewolf problems, since she was the strongest of us while using suppressants which meant she could get close to werewolves and still give them hell without her wolf abilities. Viktor went by ‘the Heartbreaker’. He was known for literally ripping the hearts out of his victims and crushing them in his hands. Next, was Cody, ‘the Fox’. Whereas I was the only seductress in the group, he was the only seducer. The list of his conquests was endless, and he had me outmatched sexually.
The car behind theirs contained the next set of deranged vigilantes: Kristal and Peter. They were twin siblings known as ‘Rip’ and ‘Dismember’ respectively, and their names did a good job of describing exactly what they were known for. And finally, following closely behind, contained the three last members of our death squad: Rene, Blake and Loren. Rene was our very own ‘Princess’. She did everything with a royal flair and elegant air. Everything she killed or attacked was undoubtedly 'blessed with her royal touches'. Blake was the most incognito of us all and was named ‘the Assassin’. He was involved mostly in what his name suggested, assassinations. Loren was, as stated before, ‘the Slaughterer’, probably the messiest of us all, and the richest, second to Jared. He was our founder and known as ‘the Mercy Killer’. He never tortured and only killed when necessary, in a quick and merciful manner. And together, with me included, we made up a group of ten, bored, but talented werewolves, all bound together by our sad single lives.
Each person made their way to the front and as soon as they saw the three of us −Jared and I especially− they went ballistic, swarming us both and suffocating the living daylights out of us.
"Ah! It's my favourite Vixen!" Cody yelled out, gripping my arm and embracing me very tightly before kissing me lightly on the lips. Damon growled lowly and suddenly all the fun and laughter was put to an end as everyone stared at him in curiosity. Everyone except Loren who I now noticed had not joined in on the previous ruckus and instead stood and stared at Damon as though she were seeing a ghost.
"You must be Jasmine's mate... David, was it?" teased Cody. Damon's eyes flashed red, and Cody chuckled.
"What, you don't like it when other people touch Jasmine? Well, she−"
But before he could continue, Damon's fist made contact with his face, emitting a loud crushing sound and sending him flying into one of the pillars. Cody clutched his cheek and whimpered while the others took a protective stance, ready to attack. But all was halted when Loren finally made a move and stood in front of him. Damon's eyes returned to its hazel colour and his facial features softened as he looked at her.
"Loren Parker? Is that you?" He breathed out. I had no clue whether to feel shocked or disturbed.
"Y-you two know each other?" I asked.
Loren sighed and turned toward me. "Yes... he was once my fiancé."
"F-fiancé?" I was about to ask more when Jared interrupted us.
"It's nice that we're all getting along, but I have something important to say, so if you could all take a seat?"
We complied with him, and I made it a point to sit as far away from Loren and Damon as possible.
*Fiancé?*
I could understand why Damon would not have said anything about it, but why didn't Loren? She knew he was my mate from the start. Both of them shared awkward glances towards me while I just looked away. I was angry that they’d lied to me, and the guilty looks on their faces made me even angrier.
The air at the table was thick with awkward tension and everyone could feel it, that was evident when Yuki, who sat to my left gave me nervous glance and gently squeezed my hand in reassurance.
"Well”−Jared started, breaking the awkward tension−"I'm sure you are all aware of the Andrew problem by now, and the reason we have called you all here is because it has gotten worse over the months." Jared then turned towards me, and so did the others. "The member he was targeting all this time, *was* Jasmine, as I suspected."
I gulped down as the realisation set in. Everyone had known about Andrew long before I did.
"Which is why I thought it best to finally make this announcement." He turned towards Damon, and then let the heart shattering words leave his mouth. "I'd like to introduce all of you to our eleventh member, Damon Caesar Michaels, the second Alpha wolf to join our little group."
I could barely contain myself as hot rage coursed through every single vein in my body. It was all a game of secrets and lies, and they’d made it a point to keep me out of it. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut; I wouldn’t.
"Are you fucking kidding me? So, you all knew *everything* long before I did? How long?"
"A few months now… almost a year, just three months before I recruited Damon."
He’d just struck a nerve. "So, you recruited Damon, despite knowing that he was my mate and that I specifically told you I wanted nothing to do with him."
Jared now stood up and tried to keep his composure as he said, “Come on Jasmine, what the hell was I supposed to do? Andrew began taunting and chasing after us the moment you joined. I'd suspected that he was after you then, but I couldn’t be sure. It was only when I’d recruited Damon for more information, that I found myself comfy enough to start telling the others. He was the only werewolf with enough power and resources to help us constantly keep track of Andrew."
His reasons were valid, yes, but still, it was wrong. He knew how much I wanted to stay away from him, and he knew the pain Damon had caused me. The least he could have done was told me everything from the very beginning.
However, nothing could have prepared me for what came out of his mouth next, "That's why I sent him to you a couple of weeks ago, when Loren told me that Andrew left for the town you were in. I needed to make sure you were safe."
I had come to two conclusions. First, that Damon had completely bullshitted me about his reason for finding me in the first place, and second, that this entire organisation had lied to my face.
"So, was any of what you said real? That you couldn't stay away from me?" I asked Damon. A sore lump had formed in my throat, and I feared I would burst out into tears if I found out that everything he’d said was a lie.
Damon nodded violently and said, "I was asked to guard everyone in this group but refused. The only time I said yes, was when Jared asked me to protect you."
Even though what he’d said kept my tears at bay, it still did nothing to dampen my anger, because there still stood a thick wall between us, and that was Timmy.
"So, you knew about Andrew long before I did, and you knew he hurt Timmy, yet you said nothing to me when the guilt was eating me up inside. You watched me suffer knowing that it was not my fault that Timmy got hurt, but yours for not warning me." I then turned toward the entire group of people. "A little boy almost died because I was the last person to find out about Andrew." Slowly I began shaking my head, feeling all of the anger and bitterness course through me. "Do you know why I joined this group in the first place? Because my whole life I'd been betrayed, but you all promised me the day I met you, that there would be no secrets, and yet here you all are keeping the biggest secret possible. I could have spared Timmy and his mom all the stress and all the heartbreak, if you'd all just told me. So, I ask you now, on the verge of tears, why did you keep this from me?"
The whole table was silent, and no one seemed to want to speak, so I repeated, this time being met with a response from Damon. "It’s my fault. I asked Jared to insist that everyone here keep it a secret from you. I didn’t want you to interfere, especially because we still don’t know who hired him or what he wants from you."
Damon was right, after those words, saying goodbye to him would be *much* easier.
"I am so fucking tired of you Damon. You’re overbearing and overprotective and you let it interfere with my work." The words left my mouth in violent waves of anger. I didn’t know if I truly meant what I said. He had good intentions, but the moment Timmy came to mind, I forced myself to overlook them.
Damon shook his head and tried to reach out for me, but I pulled my hand away from his immediately. He frowned slightly and his eyes softened. “I’m sorry Jasmine. I didn’t mean to hurt you, all I wanted was to keep you safe. We all did.”
My anger subsided at the tone of his voice. But it still lingered in my heart, and I couldn’t pretend to forgive him, or anyone else at the table. Not even Loren, who’d lied about more than just Andrew. And so, I sighed, and stood back up, practically exhausted from this entire conversation. "I really expected more from all of you. I expected respect, honesty and trust. It’s no good trying to protect me while you’re lying to my face. And in the end, what good did it do anyone? I still got hurt, and so did others."
With that I turned and began walking away, despite the calls and yells for me to come back. I realised then that I was more hurt than anything else and I couldn’t get past it, no matter how hard I tried. My flesh was fragile and soft and so this betrayal cut deeper.
I was about to exit the gate when a hand gripped mine. I turned around to see Loren with Damon and Jared closely behind her.
"Jasmine I'm sorry! I know I should have told you, but it was a long time ago and it was before Damon and I had met our mates... It was an arranged marriage−"
I lifted my hands up to stop her from saying anymore. "I don't even care, Loren. It's a little too late for this now. I trusted you with everything, but you could not even trust me with this... or Andrew."
"Don't blame anyone here except me. It's my fault," Damon said, now next to Loren. "I was the one who made them all keep it a secret. And you're right, I was overbearing and overprotective. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to fend for yourself and that you *needed* my protection. I was wrong, I admit that now. So, don't leave this job because I ruined it for you... stay, and I'll leave."
I took in a deep breath and shook my head at him. "I refuse. We once stood for transparency and honesty, but you came here and destroyed it. You made my friends lie to me. Did anyone even ask why they had to keep it a secret, Jared?"
"Everyone."
"And what did you tell them?"
He gave a sigh and shook his head at himself. "I told them it was a matter of life and death."
I chuckled bitterly. "Well good luck keeping everyone together now that the truth is out that you lied as well."
"Well, it's not like you didn't hide anything either, Jasmine. Not once did you even mention working with Jared either," Damon said, as if this made things better, and levelled the playing field. But it did not, because this was different.
"I didn't tell you because as far as I was concerned it had nothing to do with you. *You* decided to re-enter my life. I had no obligation to tell you anything."
“You’re right. I’m always the bad guy, even when I’m just trying to keep your stubborn ass alive because between you and me, I’m the only one who actually gives a damn.”
But he was wrong, he wasn’t the only one. I cared for Damon too. That’s why this hurt so much, and that’s why I had to make this decision. I was so angry, but I was slowly starting to realise that most of it wasn’t even directed towards them. It was directed towards me. I wouldn’t have anyone put their life on the line for me again, the burden of it on me was too much. Instead, they were the ones who needed protection from me. Everywhere I went, I brought death and hurt. It was a lifelong curse which prevented me from ever getting too close and ever loving anyone. I couldn’t let them get caught up in it.
And so, cursed, betrayed and hurt, I uttered out my last goodbye. I’d forgive them once I got over myself. But I’d never forgive myself.

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And so the plot thickens...
Anybody think Jasmine overreacted, or has she reacted the way anyone trying to keep their loved ones safe would?