Chapter Forty-Eight - Mason

The sound of the front door slamming woke me the next morning. I’d fallen asleep next to Jessica where her warmth lured me to rest.

None of the pack members woke me the night before which meant that nothing too damaging happened while out hunting the lycans.

I groaned, stretching my arms above my head, and sat up slowly. Jessica was still asleep, her peaceful face too perfect to wake up.

I went to the bathroom and noticed her grandmother’s diary on the floor. I put it on the counter. She seemed adamant that she’d find something in there.

Maybe she would. Perhaps it wouldn't be something that wrecked her entire family.

I didn’t know her grandmother well enough to make assumptions. I knew the old lady that lived there not the young girl. Sometimes you can’t tell what someone would do just by looking at them.

Time may have changed her grandmother.

Seth and Liam were downstairs making breakfast when I descended the stairs. Seth looked over his shoulder. His tired eyes looked back at me.

“Morning, you look rested,” he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes while grabbing myself a coffee cup. “Did y’all find anything?”

Liam shook his head. “Nothing. Everything looked like a ghost town last night.”

I sipped my black coffee. “Maybe we scared them off.”

Seth tossed me a look. “Right. I think they are plotting something. Marking and making more lycans. Before we know it, we’ll have to rename Slade Springs to Lycan Springs.”

I ignored Seth’s negative attitude, which I chalked up to being overtired. “Are you training with Jessica today?” Liam asked.

I sipped my coffee. “Yeah, she has mixed feelings about it. So do I, to be honest.”

Liam turned after popping some muffins into the oven. “She needs to know how to protect herself, Mason.”

“I know that. I wish she didn’t have to protect herself.”

“You wish she was human?” Seth asked.

I thought about it. Life wasn’t any more stressful before her shift. The lycans still terrorized the town back then, too.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, rubbing my temple. “I don’t think it matters at this point.”

My bedroom door shut from upstairs, and Jessica’s quick footsteps followed. She rounded the corner with excitement on her face. She was dressed in

leggings with a loose tank top and tennis shoes. “Good morning,” she said, meeting my gaze. “Are you ready to do this?”

I pointed toward the coffee. “Don’t you want breakfast first? You’ll need it.”

She snagged a piece of bacon from a plate by the stove. “We ate two boxes of pizza last night. I’ll be okay until lunch.”

I drained my coffee mug and sat it in the sink. “Let’s go then, Power Ranger.”

We spent the next three hours training. I couldn’t stop myself from fantasizing about dragging Jessica out of her clothes. She wore them incredibly well.

A look of determined frustration lined her face. Her human form wasn’t used to this kind of strenuous pressure on her body.

When she finally stuck her leg out and tripped me, she tossed her hands into the air and screamed, “Victory.”

I laughed, rolling over to my stomach to grab her ankle. “Don’t you dare. I’ve bitten the dust one too many times today.”

She slowly straddled me in the front yard and placed her palms on my chest. “My wolf is dying to fight you right now and I want nothing more than to let her. I’m tired. Let her tire herself out for all I care."

I patted her thighs. “Ok. Stand up.”

She climbed back to her feet and helped me to mine. Jessica began to take off her clothes until we both stood naked in front of one another.

“If this was under other circumstances…”

Jessica grinned and shifted swifter than I imagined she could seeing she was new to her wolf. When she finished, her wolf pawed at the ground anxiously waiting for me.

My wolf shifted quickly, stretching his paws out in front of him and moving amongst the ground.

Jessica lowered her head as a sign of submission, but my wolf didn’t want her submission. He just wanted her.

The breeze blew her scent all over us, making my wolf heave in anticipation of spending more time with her. He stepped over, his nose running up and down her body as if he’d never get another chance.

Her golden gaze met mine after he embarrassingly smelled her for five minutes. The anticipation inside of them rocketed through us.

He nudged her neck, attempting to get her to run with us, but she snorted loudly.

She wanted to fight. Bending, she barred her teeth and playfully pawed at the Earth. The human part of me loved the challenge. It made me happy to see her anxiously wanting to fit into the pack.

Her wolf was strong and ready.

She jumped at me, dragging my concentration back to reality and making my wolf shiver. We paced back and forth in a semicircle until Jessica leaped forward and went for my chest.

Her teeth scraped my skin, barely missing my wolf. He jumped to the side, excitement racing down him. In the middle of attempting to mind link, Jessica jumped at me again.

This time she snapped at my neck, drawing blood and knocking me over onto my back.

My wolf growled, irritation at being blindsided fueled him. It shocked me. Jessica’s swiftness was uncanny for a newbie.

Her ability to judge my next move felt unheard of for her age.

When she stepped over me, lowering her barred teeth to my neck, I stalled. This was an act of dominance. Her wolf wanted to be in charge.

Though I felt Jessica’s gasp through our mate bond, I knew she wasn’t the culprit.

It was her wolf.

The front door closed and Jacob stepped outside. He sensed the hostility between our wolves and motioned for us to shift.

Jessica immediately stepped back and shifted. When her human gaze landed on mine, she looked sick to her stomach. “I don’t know why she did that,” she said.

I shifted as Jacob walked over. “What happened?” he asked.

I looked at Jessica for guidance because I had no idea what just happened. “I don’t know why she did that,” Jessica said again. “She just wanted to beat him.”

Jacob looked worriedly between the two of us. “Maybe we should practice in threes from now on. Just until we get a better sense of Jessica’s wolf.”

I knew better. Jacob didn’t trust Jessica’s wolf. A wolf never attacks their pack member unless provoked by the alpha.

Jacob hadn’t asked Jessica to hurt me. Her wolf wanted me to step down.

“That’s fine with me,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

Jacob cleared his throat. “Jessica, go ahead and go inside. I need to speak with Mason.”

Jessica gave me a worried look but obeyed him.

When we were alone, he turned to look at me. “She drew blood? Did it seem accidental?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “I could feel her wolf's need for dominance. It was forceful. The truth is I couldn’t have stopped her if I wanted. She’s swift. Lean. A good opponent."

Jacob looked back at the pack house. “We need to keep a close eye on her. You have a mate bond, you can feel her better. Does she seem different in her human form?”

“Not at all. It’s only when she shifts.”

Jacob made a noise under his breath. “Ok. You keep a close eye on her. Lunch is ready inside if you want a break. I think you two need a break.”

I agreed. I needed more than just a break. That hadn’t just scared me for Jessica but emasculated me a bit.

“Why is she so strong?” I asked. “And trained. It’s not just her strength. Tons of wolves are strong immediately. This was…this was, well

thought out.”

Jacob leaned in and lowered his voice, “I think Liam is right. There has to be lycan in her.”

My wolf wasn’t repulsed by the thought. She was our mate. We loved her. But it made the human part of me scared.

If she didn’t have control over her wolf I wasn’t sure how that would play into our pack.

Or into our mate bond.

Jacob hit my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure this all out.”

I was sure we would one way or the other.