"Well, he didn't tell us how beautiful you were."
I smiled when Jackson growled beside me. If he getting jealous of the other guys then that was definitely a good sign. Tyler winked before stepping back and Jackson turned back to face me.
"Everyone in the town now knows you are a member of this pack. Human or not, it doesn't matter. They will treat you like pack or they will suffer the consequences." God, he was hot when he got all bossy like that. My body heated and my face flushed with embarrassment as I worried he could use his shifter senses to detect how I felt. I blushed harder when I saw his lips turn up slightly and I could tell that he knew the effect he was having on me. Dammit.
"The rest of my men are out working, but I can introduce you another time."
"Sure."
We walked back outside in to the late afternoon sunshine, confused when Jackson pulled me in the opposite direction to the car.
"Where are we going?" I asked, as he took my hand and pulled me in to the trees.
"You'll see," he answered, squeezing my hand but not letting it go. My inner girl squealed at the fact he kept hold of my hand, trying not to scoff at myself for being so ridiculous.
A few minutes later, Jackson moved to the side so I could see what he wanted to show me. I beamed as I saw a picnic blanket laid on the floor, with a hamper full of food and a bottle of wine with two glasses. My eyes widened in shock as Jackson pulled me down next to him on the blanket.
"What is this?" I asked, still in a state of shock.
"I wanted to do something nice for you. You've been through some tough times since arriving here and I wanted to show you it's not always drama and doom and gloom. You handled finding out about us really well and you've become a part of this town. You've lifted people's spirits around here, so I wanted to thank you in some way."
My heart warmed at his words and I didn't think my smile could get any bigger.
"So, is it just the people's spirits I've lifted? Because I swear I just saw a smile cross your face." I nudged him playfully and gasped in shock as he pulled me in to his body so our noses were practically touching, staring in to my eyes with such intensity it took my breath away.
"You've done something to me, alright. I've never been that much interested in finding a woman. My main duty is to my pack." His hand caressed the back of my neck and I shivered.
"I can't explain it, but there's something about you. You make me smile when I find it hard to, and I can't stop thinking about you. I'd always scoffed at the idea of getting a mate and never understood the love that Noah and Jasmine have for each other. But since meeting you, it's become clearer in my mind." I melted at his words, trying to put my brain back in to motion and say something useful, when he leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. I opened my mouth and his tongue entered, massaging my tongue and eliciting a moan from deep within me. I'd forgotten how much I missed just kissing. I felt his hand slowly reach under my t-shirt and I shivered when his heat touched my chilled skin. I pulled him closer to me when he ended the kiss, panting and looking at me like I'd hung the moon.
"Why did you stop?" I panted, cringing with how needy I sounded.
"I'm not gonna take you in the woods like a damn animal."
"Well … when in Rome?"
He laughed and gave me a hard peck on the lips. "Are you calling me an animal?"
"If the shoe fits?"
"Any other sayings you want to throw at me there?"
I giggled, like a bloody schoolgirl. "No, I think I'm done."
"Laura, I haven't felt this way in a long time and I want to do it right. So, how about we start casual dating? You know, formally seeing each other?"
"Okay, so if it's casual then you'll be okay if I see some other guys too?"
He growled, kissing me again with a ferocity that took my breath away.
"They can try, but I'll kill them."
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Oh yeah, he was definitely an alpha.
We sat there for hours just enjoying the picnic and learning more about each other. I admired the love he had for not only his family, but the members of his pack and it was shown in the pride that shone in his eyes when he spoke of them. He loved each and every one of them, which made me like him even more. I knew that we had only recently met, but I'd felt more affection for him that I had ever felt for Craig and the feelings were so much more intense, they terrified me. It was probably a good idea Jackson wanted to date for a while before anything happened. I had a feeling that if we had slept together in the forest right then, that I would have spontaneously combusted. And that would have been embarrassing for everyone, I think we'll agree. He held my hand all the way back to the car which was still parked at the pub, driving back to his in a comfortable silence. His hand never left mine, the whole drive home.
****
"So, what did you do last night?" Jasmine shouted over the fitting suite door. We had both decided that some retail therapy would do us some good and perk us up, so we were currently trying on clothes in booths next to each other. Jasmine had been bombarding me with questions about Jackson since we'd left the house and it didn't look like she was going to let up, anytime soon.
I was trying on a floaty, fifties style dress which I never had any occasion to wear anywhere but I'd fallen in love with as soon as I'd seen it.
"Um, the usual. Jackson drove us out to an amazing restaurant in the next town over."
"Wow, Jackson voluntarily spending time in a human town? He must really like you!" She shouted, while I blushed, thankful that she couldn't see me. The night had been perfect and was mine and Jackson's third date. I'd kind of been hoping that it would end up with him ravishing me in the car, or the woods - I mean I wasn't really fussy - but he'd been a perfect gentleman once again. Dammit.
The drive over had been lovely and I'd been in awe of the beautiful surroundings. I knew Jackson was uncomfortable leaving the town to hang out with humans, but he'd done it for me and I admired him so much for it. He'd told me on the way to dinner that although I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about the shifter town or the pack, I was in no way a prisoner there. If I wanted to visit the local areas, then I could. I loved the fact that he always thought about my well-being, with my feelings for him growing stronger by the day. Our relationship was so new, but I felt like I'd known him forever. I knew I was ready to take our relationship to the next level.
"Well, we know that spell definitely works!" I shouted back over the door, remembering the horrible way I felt when Jackson had driven us back in to town after the meal. Jackson - being a total sweetheart - had looked mortified and apologised for causing me distress but I assured him that I was completely fine and the bad feeling soon evaporated. It was similar to the feeling I had when I'd first arrived in the woods and my car had broken down. Had my car not stopped working, I would have driven through and never stopped in the place, purely because of the negative vibes I was getting from it.
I heard the door open from Jasmine's fitting suite, hearing her voice right outside my own door.
"Yeah, those witches really know their stuff."
I finished dressing myself before Jasmine's words registered in my brain. I opened my door and looked at her in confusion, as she stood outside with her arms full of clothes and a smile on her face.
"There are witches too?"
"Well, yeah. Who else do you think could cast a perimeter spell like that?"
"Hold on. Actual witches?" A smile crossed my face and Jasmine laughed.
"Yeah. They live in their own private towns, but they are a lot more suspicious than we are. They tend to live in places humans would never go anyway, like mountains and caves. We do them favours, they help us out, hence the spell."
"Wow, that is so cool." I felt like a child who'd just been told all of the characters from my fairy tales were real, I was so excited.
"Can I meet them sometime?"
"Sure. I'd be careful, though. If you thought us lot were hostile around you to begin with, you haven't seen anything yet. The witches don't hate humans, but they don't want to socialise with them either. They're relatively peaceful, but if you mess with them you're bound to regret it within about five minutes."
I felt scared, but also so excited at this whole world which I had been thrown in to. I couldn't wait to find out more about it.