35: Landon's Heartbreak

**Jasmine**

The moment I reached my door, I realised that it was unlocked. Cautious and ready to attack, I stepped into my apartment, trying to gather a scent. Unfortunately, my nose was still a little rusty and so the only thing I could make out was the stench of vodka and sweat. The moment I switched on the lights, however, I was put at ease. The intruder had been Landon who was drunkenly sprawled out on my living room mat.
I shook my head at him, and when I was near enough, kicked into his side. He whimpered and opened his eyes, and when he saw me, they were consumed by burning rage. I didn’t quite understand what he was upset about, but I assumed it was something serious based on his current… situation.
"Y-y-you! How c-c-could you! Jasssmine." He slurred out.
I stared down at him confused. "English please, I don't speak 'drunk'."
He made it to his feet, stumbled forward and then wobbled slightly before he pointed at me. "You and D-Damon can g-go to hell."
That was all it took for me to find him deserving of a punch hard enough to send him collapsing to the floor. Perhaps a good night's rest would be sufficient enough to get some coherence out of his sentences. I then went to my bathroom and ran some cool water over my knuckles. The healing process had begun, but it was slower than usual, and I opted to bandage my knuckles to keep them safer. Once I was done, I grabbed a blanket and threw it over Landon, along with a pillow. I seriously wondered about him and why he was drunk and not with Damon, and how he got into my apartment.
After I was sure Landon was comfortable−as comfortable as he could be on the floor- I went to my room and began taking my phone which Damon had given to me during the course of our journey. I would not risk using any of the resources available to the Vixen, but I would be using this. After a few moments of aimless scrolling, I realised just how stupid I’d been. Yes, I talked a big game, but I had no resources and no idea where Andrew was. Perhaps I’d made a mistake.
"Fuck, Jasmine, you always need to be a badass, don't you!" I said silently to myself and then reclined into my bedsheets. I’d come up with a plan to save Macy tomorrow. For now, my body craved sleep more than vengeance.
I wrapped myself up in sheets and when I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but think about Damon. Usually, his scent would always be around to irk me and drive me insane, but now it was too watered down and my nose wasn’t working to its full capacity as yet. I therefore decided to cause my own little disruption by letting him occupy more and more of my thoughts. I wondered where he was now and whether he was thinking about me too. I'd grown so used to his company and presence, that now that I was without it, I craved it more. I wanted him. He was probably the only thing I'd ever wanted this desperately in my life. His skin, his scent, his lips, his touch and even the way we fought, I wanted it all, and I knew that if we were ever to meet again, I'd have him. I already owned his body, but now I wanted everything else as well.

***

Landon slept through until mid-day and awoke mildly confused. "Where the fuck am I?"
By mildly, I meant completely confused and highly aggressive.
I laughed, trying to put him at ease, then grabbed a glass of water and handed it to him. "My house. Why and how you ended up here are questions only you can answer. Though I’ll admit, I’m curious about your answers."
He sipped at his water and then fell silent as he thought back on what had happened the prior night. When he had finished all of the liquid in the glass, he handed it to me, and I set it on the table.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Why do you care?" He got up and then pushed passed me.
Irritated, I grabbed at him and pulled him towards me. "If you have a problem Landon, then say it. Stop being a little bitch."
He shrugged my hand off and scowled at me. "You and fucking Damon teamed up with *him*."
I stared at him confused and annoyed. "Am I supposed to fucking know who ‘him’ is?"
He ran his hands through his hair in frustration before yelling out, "My fucking mate! Jared Barsotti."
My eyes widened and I gasped. Oh how the plot thickened! Admittedly, there was something I was rather confused about. Jared was a kind man, so why would he reject his mate, especially when his mate was someone as pure and good as Landon? It made no sense to me.
"J-Jared... are you sure?"
Landon froze, stared up at me and then frowned before asking, "You didn't know?"
"I thought that was fucking obvious the entire time. There are lots of things I don't know. For instance, I didn’t know Damon was even working with Jared, just as you didn't."
"I thought... I'm sorry." He sighed and sank to the floor, his eyebrows now furrowed and tears streaming down his face. "I thought I'd never see him again, but then when Macy disappeared... I just thought that Damon always had my back and that he'd tell me everything, but I was wrong. He's a fucking prick and I'm fucking done with being his little bitch."
"Well, I guess we're both part of the ‘staying away from Jared and Damon’ club."
Still, I could not grasp onto the concept of Jared rejecting Landon. It did, however, explain his absence. Perhaps he was in pain as well from the rejection.
"I really didn't think Jared would ever do something like that to anyone else. He was always so kind and would never hurt anyone. But I guess everyone has their own reasons. And no, I'm not trying to defend him at all, but I can't help but wonder why."
Landon shrugged and then tried to convince himself that he didn’t care. But I could see by the look on his face that he did. Jared had hurt him, and it had clearly meant a lot to him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t relate to him. Damon and I had always held a strong dislike for each other in the beginning and so rejection wouldn’t have hurt as bad as it did for Landon. Nonetheless, I could relate to the whole 'dysfunctional mates' system. And so, with a smile, I asked, "Why don't you and I go for some lunch? My treat. You can tell me everything." I just wanted to talk to someone, and Landon was the easiest to talk to. I wanted someone to listen and tell me whether or not I was wrong.
Landon agreed, after a shower. I offered to let him use mine, but he declined. Apparently he’d moved in right across from me, occupying the space Damon had now left.

***

"I met him by accident. It was a while after you left. Damon told me that he had a private meeting with the leader of a new werewolf pack. I thought he’d drag me along too, the way he always did. But strangely enough, he made me stay behind. At the time I had no idea why, but now I’m starting to put all of the pieces together. He didn't want anyone to find out about you or where you'd gone, not even me… but I digress. I guess you could say I was nosey, because my boredom eventually led me to eavesdrop on the meeting. To my dismay, they had finished their meeting and Jared was just on his way out. That was when our eyes met, and I knew I'd found my mate. I was ecstatic, to be honest. He was… beautiful and bright. But everything changed the moment he neared me, turning cold and emotionless.” He paused for a bit, and with watery eyes took a sip of his coffee. "That was when he rejected me and left, never once looking back."
I placed a reassuring hand on his and gently rubbed my fingers over his knuckles. "Damn, Landon, I am truly sorry," I said before pushing my empty plate away to the side. "This whole mates system is pretty fucked up."
He chuckled, wiped away his tears and said, "No, it's pretty simple and convenient. The only time it's fucked up is when you're paired with mates like ours."
He was not wrong though. It was convenient, not having to go out and look for someone to spend your life with. But still, I believed love was an important factor. Perhaps I was a hypocrite, but I still stood by that belief.
“So, what happened with you? How’d you find out about everything?” Landon asked. A familiar sad feeling rippled through me, and I sighed before telling him everything. By the time I was done, Landon had his hand under his chin. My own problems had now become the focal point, and he seemed more than interested in dissecting them down.
“Wow, I’d forgotten all about his engagement to Loren. We honestly all thought that they’d really get along. But they were both very different people back then and they both never even dreamed of finding their mates.”
I looked up, half jealous, and half confused before managing to utter out, with shaky breaths, “I thought it was a marriage of convenience?”
Landon shrugged and said, “It was, initially, but at one stage, it became just a little bit more. Again, that was before everything went downhill. They never spoke to each other after she was rejected by her mate and he-”
But I stopped him from explaining further, having heard enough of Damon’s personal life. I knew that I had spoken about it first, but now I feared if I heard more, it would only make me understand him better and that would make staying away even harder. That, and the fact that he and Loren were once more than just friends had me unreasonably angry
"So, you’re sticking around, right?" He asked, in an attempt to change the topic.
I shook my head, no. "I might leave tomorrow morning. Move on to the next town and continue looking for Macy."
"I'll go with you."
I felt a little stab at my heart. Yet another person who wanted to be dragged into my crazy life.
"Um, I think it would be safer if you didn't. I've already left so much of damage behind, and I'm tired of having the people I love get hurt."
Landon sighed and looked at me funny. "Are you kidding, Jasmine. People will get hurt all the time; it does not mean that it's your fault."
But he was wrong, it was my fault. I was cursed and only death followed, and I would have been foolish to believe otherwise. And so, I stood up, shook my head and said, "Look, I can't. I'm doing this on my own."
He sighed, leaned back and said, "Fine. If you think you're a ticking bomb, then I can't stop you. But you're being foolish. Anyway, if you need a hacker, you know where to find me." He stood up and then left abruptly.
----
The plot is once again thickening. There are literally so many more reveals that still need to take place and I'm literally beyond excited to reveal them.