Chapter 4
Jasmine's POV
"Jazz, are you okay?" A voice to my right made me open my eyes and it was Nadia's.
"Huh?"
"You closed your eyes and shuddered, like you were having a nightmare. Your food is going to get cold."
I had totally forgotten that we were in the cafeteria and as my eyes met with Hardin's from where he was seated at the popular table again, I realized why I had gone into a trance instead of eating my lunch.
It had been a week since the wedding.
Where Hardin had threatened me and I had wept like a baby instead of standing up to him.
I realized now that the one time I did it was a knock off, and I understood why no one ever stood up to him.
Far away from him was the only way anyone could ever have the liver to talk back to him.
I couldn't get the way he had looked at me from the other end of the aisle on the day of the wedding, his face completely expressionless but his blue jade eyes hot with rage.
His hands had tightened into fists as his face took me in and recognition hit. I didn't know why I had expected any thing better from the pack's golden boy who thought everyone that was not him was trash and should lick his boots.
I was naive enough to believe that he was getting over the fact that I was his stepsister when he had asked me to dance, his handsome face putting up a smile that I found out was fake in the worst way possible.
I had no idea what would have happened if his dad had not saved me that day in the study. Maybe I might have lost a bone from the way he continued pushing me.
And even though Hardin had said nothing since that day, I could not help but feel that he was planning something.
It was in the way he looked at me, face taut and fists tight.
It made all the goosebumps on my body erupt in fear.
"Is it him?" Nadia said and I broke the stare off I had been having with Hardin, to look at her.
"Huh?"
Nadia shook her head and squeezed my hand.
"You've said the same thing twice now. Are you sure you're okay? Is he giving you trouble already?"
Quickly shaking my head, I made an attempt to smile.
"No, he is not. Not yet anyways."
"Perhaps, he will stick to what his father said and leave you alone. Don't worry about it and eat, alright?"
I nodded in response, forcing a smile to her words.
"Thank you Nadia."
I did not have it in me to break it to her that people like Hardin did not suddenly change overnight. Especially when he believed that my mother and I were really just after his father's fortune.
It was only going to be a matter of time before he struck and I could only imagine what Hardin had in mind.
Something not good, I was sure.
I spent the entirety of lunch ruminating on what he might be planning but by the end of the school day, I had completely forgotten all about cracking my head about Hardin's next move as I entered the mansion.
It still felt like a dream that I got to live in a place like this considering where I was coming from with my mother.
"Jazz? Is that you? I'm in the kitchen." I heard my mother say as I was about to climb the stairs to my bedroom.
"Okay, mum." I replied and headed to the kitchen to see her nodding as she swayed to a slow tune of music.
She looked so happy and relaxed. Much more content than I had seen her in a while and I knew Hardin was wrong.
My mother was not someone who was opportunistic or interested in what the Alpha could offer if he didn't love her and one thing I was certain of, was that they loved each other.
"Hello, mum." I said in greeting and she smiled, pulling me in for a hug.
"How was school today? Did you have lunch?" Nodding, I told her all about my day at school, conveniently omitting anything about Hardin.
When her brows raised in question, expecting more and I shrugged, she sighed.
"Are you sure? How about Hardin?"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
My mother had been trying to get Hardin to be accepting of her since he learned of her existence and it was like pouring water in a basket.
I was grateful that as opposed to how rude and brash he was with me, not hesitating to air his opinions of what he thought of us, he was giving my mother the silent treatment.
I didn't even have it in me to tell her what he had said or about the incident in the study.
Ignorance was indeed bliss and I hoped it remained that way.
"I'm sure he is fine, mum."
"How about you invite him to join us for dinner tonight? Perhaps it'll be easier to listen to a sister instead."
"He is not my brother!" I snapped at her immediately.
No way in hell would I accept someone like him as my brother.
"It will take some time getting used to, I know. But please try? For my sake? I'll make some of his favorites. His father told me what he likes" She whispered with an expectant smile and it was only until it was almost time for dinner that I realized what exactly I had agreed to.
Stepping out of my room, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.
Hardin's room was beside mine so it would not take more than ten minutes to try and invite him for dinner, would it?
Taking a deep breath, I walked to his room, hearing the loud music that was blasting from behind the door and knocked.
When I didn't hear a reply, I knocked again and counted to ten before turning around and deciding to head down.
I had tried, didn't I?
But as my hand touched the railing of the stairs, I couldn't help but imagine the disappointment on my mum's face.
Turning around, I headed back to the room and knocked again.
When I didn't hear a response, I tried the door knob and froze in surprise when it opened.
Turning the door handle slowly, I opened the door, telling myself that I was not doing anything bad.
I was just going to peek if he was inside or not. If he was, I would try to invite him down for dinner.
The worst I would get is a no.
Okay, he might growl at me, slam me against the wall and choke me to death.
But a girl has got to try right?
As I entered the room, the music enveloped me, the volume loud enough that it would be hard to converse and when my eyes moved round the room that looked like mine and landed on the bed, I gasped.
Because splayed sideways on the bed with her feet on the floor and her ass hanging in the air was Dahlia.
I knew her from school. But that was not what was important.
It was how Hardin was ramming into her from behind, as he stood behind her, grabbing her waist and arching her back even lower.
I should have probably looked away. I should have kept knocking until he answered. I shouldn't have opened the door.
But even as I thought about everything I should have done, I was rooted in one spot, helpless as I watched him fuck Dahlia, each thrust harder and faster than the last.
I saw the ways she bit her lips, her eyes closed tight in pleasure as she raised her ass up to receive more of his thrusts and I fought the urge to squeeze my thighs together, my nipples straining against my shirt.
I had never had sex before or watched porn but I had read enough about it in novels to understand what was happening.
But seeing it, seeing Hardin's hand tighten on her hair and smack her ass as he fucked her into the bed made my mouth fall open in surprise and something more. A strange emotion that I didn't realize.
Pulling her up, his thrusts became frantic and urgent, his growls echoing with the music round the entire room and I watched transfixed until he suddenly froze and jerked.
Releasing Dahlia, she fell on her face to the bed and that's when my eyes moved down to stare at his groin.
My eyes widened as I took the entirety of him in. And as I moved up his body to see him staring at me with his eyes wide with shock, I choked on my saliva.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." I mouthed even though I didn't know if he heard and ran out of his room.