ALPHA(34)

The man looked surprised to see them, and I took advantage of his pause by yanking my arm and running towards Jasmine. The second man pushed Jasmine away, hard, causing her to fall in to me and we both crashed to the ground. I checked that she was okay, before looking up to find Tyler and Ethan beating the crap out of the two guys. My heart was pounding and I had no idea what they wanted with me; I was just so thankful for Tyler and Ethan’s perfect timing. My head span as I saw them land blow after blow on the guys, before they realised they were screwed and quickly ran off. Ethan ran after them, while Tyler turned back to us, helping us both off the floor and looking us over.

“You guys okay?” He asked, not even out of breath from the fight he just had. I was so jealous - I only had to run for five minutes and I collapsed from exhaustion.

“I’m fine, are you okay Jasmine?” I asked her, to which she responded with a shaky nod of her head.

“I’m sorry, I can’t shift.”

I was confused momentarily, before what she said sunk in.

“Are you a human?”

“No, I’m a latent shifter. Happens occasionally. I don’t ever feel the urge to shift, which is good in some ways, but it makes me pretty much useless in fights.” She looked at the floor and I could tell she was uncomfortable with the conversation. I couldn’t bear that sadness gracing her face, so I walked over to her and gave her a hug, trying to communicate to her that she didn’t have to say anything else.

Ethan came back a few minutes later, telling us he didn’t manage to catch the guys as they had driven off in their van, but he didn’t think they would be back for fear of what would happen to them. All they knew was that they didn’t belong to Jackson’s pack, and that was worrying because other packs were not normally brave - or stupid - enough to trespass on other’s territory.

“Come on, let’s get you home.” Tyler said, before ushering me and Jasmine in to his car and driving us back through the forest towards Jackson’s house. On the way over, he called Jackson whose angry voice reverberated through the telephone, and I found I couldn’t wait to get a hug from him. I must have it bad.

We pulled up outside Jackson’s house and he and Noah came rushing out the front door before we could even get our seatbelts undone. Noah opened Jasmine’s door and had her up in his arms faster that I could blink, and started carrying her towards the house, whispering in her ear as he went. Jackson came around to my door, and helped me out of the car, before enveloping me in his arms and making me feel so safe I never wanted to leave. He placed a kiss to the top of my head, before putting his arm around my waist and walking with me towards the front door of the house. His body was like granite and I could feel the rage in him as he shook slightly, but he was trying to mask his emotions from me. I quickly remembered Tyler and turned around to thank him, but the car was already gone. I made a mental note to thank him later on, and let Jackson practically carry me in to the kitchen and seat me at the table. He sat opposite me, but pulled my chair closer so our knees were touching, and he held my hands, the chill instantly leaving my body as his warmth touched me.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine. Is Jasmine okay?”

“She’ll be fine. Noah’s looking after her.”

“Who were they?” I asked, certain that Jackson would know.

“Tyler tells me they were definitely from the Grove Pack. It’s rare for wolves to trespass on others territory, with the fear of war being very real. Unfortunately, it looks like they don’t care about that. They’re getting cocky and that makes them dangerous. I would just take my men and go after the pack but I need to think about my family and the people here. We want to avoid war, but if they keep coming after you I may be forced in to it. When Tyler phoned me I was so scared.”

My heart warmed as I saw real fear in his eyes, and concern for me shining through.

“Jackson? Scared? I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.” I smiled.

“I’m afraid of losing you.” My chest tightens as if serious gaze settles on mine, and he squeezed my hands before continuing.

“I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but I’ve never felt like this before in my life. You make me laugh, you make me happy and you make me willing to do anything for you. I’m falling in love with you, Laura, and I’m not going to let anyone take you away from me.”

I remained silent while my brain tried to process everything he was saying to me. My heart rejoiced as I knew I felt the same way about him, and I cried out in elation before throwing my arms around his neck. I hugged him before pulling back and beaming at him.