Chapter 3
*****
*Jayden’s POV*
I didn’t bother looking up. I knew what was above us, it was a tradition. At events, our leaders sometimes got a witch to do that and then released confetti, balloons, sweets or something from the hole for everyone and usually, I loved it. Usually.
It was the only thing I loved about any gathering in the ballroom – or any gathering, period. I wasn’t interested this time, though. All I could think about was him. I was trying not to because he was actively avoiding me.
He had ever since our eyes first met. I remembered being so excited, so elated as soon as I saw him, my wolf almost forced a shift, but his face had dropped. It felt like something in my core shattered when I realised how disappointed, how upset he looked.
Then he just left.
The feeling didn’t fade even though I had not seen him for months after that. It just got worse. What had I done wrong?
Now he was back, and it was like I wasn’t even there to him.
Was I the only one feeling the mate pull? Was this somehow one-sided?
No. It was clear he knew I was his mate. He didn’t like it. That hurt.
Why would he hate me so much?
I hadn’t even spoken to him; we had never interacted at all. There could not be anything I had done to make him hate me…
Unless…
I swallowed feeling anxiety rise in my chest, my eyes dropping to the blank notebook that currently rested open on my legs.
Maybe he could feel it. Maybe he knew there was something wrong with me. He probably did; mates knew that sort of thing. We could feel everything. Just like how I could feel how happy he had been to see Samantha.
He must have known… and it probably disgusted him.
“Hey, Jay. Aren’t you going to get up and have some fun?” Kaden’s voice had me looking back up.
“Uh…” My mind went blank as I tried to find an excuse not to move.
“Jayden, you do this every year. Get off your ass and learn to have a good time!” our friend Bentley said, frowning as he joined Kaden leaning over above me.
They were two-thirds of my best and only friends, the other being Layla, but she was visiting her aunt in Africa for the holidays. Cape Town. Her aunt was part of a pack there.
Tyler and Alexis did not count as friends, because they were close to everyone.
Bentley was right. Another ‘usual’ thing at our pack gatherings or parties was my being antisocial and sitting in the furthest corner away from everyone. Parties weren’t really my thing.
It was draining being around so many people with so much noise. I also didn’t really like having people too close to me or feeling like I couldn’t leave quickly because of how densely packed parties could get.
“Or… we could bring the party to him?”
I chuckled at Izabella’s suggestion.
“No, thank you. I’m awesome right where I –” I was saying when Kaden suddenly snatched my phone. “Kade! No!” I shouted as he ran into the crowd.
“Ooo, he’s probably going to go plug that in and put you on blast.” Bentley just had to make the situation worse.
“Great idea, Ben!” I heard Kaden somewhere in the room.
“No, no, no! Fine, I’ll join the stupid party. Just – don’t do anything,” I hissed, anything to make him give my phone back. All of my recordings were on there and I did not want almost the entire pack hearing it.
Kaden instantly reappeared in front of me. It was Alpha speed; even to other werewolves, it basically looked like he could teleport.
“When will you learn to call my bluffs?” Kaden tilted his head at me.
Right. He wouldn’t play it, but I just panicked, and I knew that was what he had been banking on. The thought of being the centre of attention made my head feel light.
“Kade… One day your novelty as the popular Alpha who can help me with things is going to wear out… And then you’re going to be a memory to me,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. My face broke when he tilted his head, and I chuckled despite trying to appear serious. It resulted in Kaden laughing as Bentley rolled his eyes. I could never be intimidating no matter how much I practiced.
“Why not play it? You have an amazing voice,” Hayley speaking made me turn to her.
I had delved into everything Corey after he disappeared. I knew who most of his friends were. It was torturous and Kaden had tried to distract me or get my mind off him, but I was just desperately trying to get to know the mate who ran away…
“How do you –? Kade!” I was going to kill him! Who else had he made listen to my stuff?!
“P-party?” Kaden gave me a guilty smile. “It was only one! She walked in when I was listening!”
“Jayden, come on! Dance with us!” Bently whined.
I sighed, defeated, and got up. I held my hand under Kaden’s, trying to act cool and waiting for him to release my phone so it would fall into my hand instead of just taking it like normal. He did, but immediately caught it again when it slipped from my palm after I failed to catch it. I glared at him as he laughed in amusement and placed the phone in my hand.
We attempted to head towards the clear side of the ballroom, but Kaden was called away by Alpha Joe who wanted him to help carry some objects and Bently tagged along.
As Izabella and Hayley forced me to dance, I was reminded of the reason I didn’t want to attend that particular party when my eyes fell on Corey and Samantha making out. It made me cringe and my wolf whimpered at the sight. How many times could they kiss each other? Didn’t it get old after a while? Didn’t they need to breathe? Also, wasn’t it awkward while surrounded by so many people?
I turned away hoping to ignore them – yeah, right. I could feel him there.
Luckily, I was too far, and the music was too loud for me to hear them.
I really didn’t want to be there. My room and guitar were screaming for me to join them, but I was going to be stuck down there with everyone else for the next week because of our leaders. I wanted to bet they would hate to spend a week stuck in the ballroom with all the adults in the pack…
“I think Corey has a girlfriend,” Alexis spoke.
I was quite sure the only people who knew I was mated to Corey were Izabella and Hayley.
“And it’s Sam! I’ll introduce her to you!” she said.
“Yeah, let’s go!”
Before I could object, Izabella grabbed my wrist.
“Uh – I-I have things to do –” I tried to say as my heart picked up in panic.
“Hey, Corey.”
I froze as he looked by Samantha and grinned at Izabella. The smile instantly made my heart skip.
“Izzy!”
He looked so happy to see her. It was striking to see an emotion in his eyes that didn’t burn with hatred. It was safe to assume that that look was reserved for me.
“Hayley!” He pulled Samantha to his side. “Uh, this is Sam,” he introduced, motioning to Samantha and completely ignoring my presence.
“Hey, nice to meet you. Oh, Jayden! You’re out of your room!”
Usually, someone saying that just annoyed me because everyone constantly said it when they spotted me, as though I really never left my room, but at the moment it just left me embarrassed. So, I nodded and looked around, avoiding Corey’s scorching eyes.
“Hey, Sam. Can you show me to the bathroom, please?” Hayley smiled.
“Of course! I love your hair!”
The pair seemed to get along well immediately. Samantha was a nice person, so it made sense that he would like her.
“You know, I wanna go too. Be right back,”
Wait, what? I tensed as Izabella grabbed Hayley and Samantha’s arms and pulled them off with Alexis, leaving Corey and me alone.
We were silent for what was only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity. I had never been close enough to smell his scent so intensely. My wolf began stirring. I almost couldn’t hear the music because my heart was beating so hard in my chest. I was so nervous, that even my palms were sweating. It was the fact that my mate was just a few inches away from me.
“Don’t expect anything.”
My eyes widened and I looked to see who he had spoken to. Me? He was speaking to me… The look of hate in his eyes was still there.
I cleared my throat, not trusting my voice before I asked, “What?”
“Don’t get your hopes up just because you’ve convinced those two to lobby for you,” he scoffed before glaring at me. “I’ll make it clear now: I’m not into guys, I’m not gay. You…” he let out an annoyed breath as his eyes glanced over me, “clearly are. I want nothing to do with you. Don’t mess with my friends to get to me; you do not want to make me angry,” his voice was a low warning that sent a shiver down my spine.
He looked so angry already. Like was so close to swinging, and he could probably kill me. I was not very bulky.Â
While he obviously worked out daily and radiated the strength of a powerful Beta, I was quite skinny. He was taller than I was, not to mention that I wasn’t the strongest wolf on the planet.
“I-I didn’t convince them to do anything –” I tried to explain.
“Shut up,” he cut me off. “Take the hint. Stay the fuck away from me. Know that I will never accept you,” he spat, stepping forward. It made me finch and stumble, but I quickly regained my footing to keep from falling.
I realised quickly that he was attempting to walk by and wasn’t going to hit me. The sudden movement and the look on his face just made me assume…
He looked at me, appearing both annoyed and confused before rolling his eyes as he walked off.
I forcefully swallowed the suffocating knot growing in my throat as my eyes burnt and didn’t turn to see where he was headed. It didn’t matter.
*****
Thank you for reading 🙂
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