Chapter Forty-Five - Jessica

My heart stopped beating for several long seconds. Liam did not say my mark looked like a lycan’s mark.

Mason tilted his head, keeping his gaze on Liam before dragging it to me. “You’re sure?” he asked.

I scoffed, placing my hand on my chest before standing up. “Is he sure? There is no way I’m a lycan, Mason. My dad was a wolf. My mother’s side has wolf blood. How does a lycan fit into that?”

Liam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m just telling you what I know.”

Closing my eyes, I attempted to gather myself. My wolf didn’t like the idea of being a lycan. Why would she? They’d done nothing but stalk us and our town.

I hadn’t heard anything good about them since arriving at Slade Springs. Now Liam came in here with that know-it-all look, assuming I'm a lycan? Yeah, right.

“That’s not true,” I spat.

Liam shot Mason a look before pouring himself a cup of coffee. I watched as they all gave each other sly looks and then I laughed. “You all are entertaining the idea of me being a lycan? How dare you.”

Mason sighed heavily and reached out to grab my wrist. “We don’t think that, but we need to consider it. Wolves’ marks are blue…”

“How do you even know that?” I asked Liam, moving away from Mason. “Where did you get that information?”

He sipped his mug of coffee. “From some of our grandfather’s writings. We have books they passed down. Some have bits and pieces of knowledge they wanted us to remember."

Fear trickled down my spine. What would it mean to be a lycan? Would the pack disown me? It could explain why I was bigger than the other wolves.

Mason stepped over and tugged my lip from between my teeth. He smiled, and I felt out of sorts even though it fluttered my heart. “I need to see these books. What if the reason the lycans are stalking me is because I’m one of them? None of this makes sense."

Jacob and Liam both looked over at me while Mason stilled. It made sense. It hadn’t before. No one understood why the lycans were interested in me. I was human…or so we thought. Then I was a wolf; now they think I could be a lycan. I was going to get whiplash living here.

The front door opened, bringing in Dad’s scent and footsteps. “Anyone want to help me with the groceries?” he asked.

Dad dropped a load of paper sacks on the floor and looked around. He sensed the unease immediately. “What is wrong with everybody? What did I miss?

His gaze landed on mine and then on Mason. I watched as the blood drained from my father’s face, and he opened his mouth.

I waited for him to say something, but nothing came out.

Jacob cleared his throat after several seconds of silence. “I’ll help you with the groceries.”

Coward. He jolted from the kitchen with Liam on his tail. Dad finally found his words and pushed his fingers into his graying hair. “What is that?” he asked.

Mason shifted. “Jessica marked me.”

He blinked. “You marked him? Why does it look like that?”

Irritation flooded me. I lifted my hands and let them drop against my thighs. “Seriously, Dad? How would I know? Until a few days ago, I didn’t even know I was a wolf. I don’t know why it looks like that.”

Tears brimmed the corners of my eyes. Mason reached for me, and Dad took a step closer. I backtracked until I sat down at the dining table. “Liam thinks it looks like a lycan mark.”

Dad frowned. “Lycan marks are red. They don’t mate like us, but their bite leaves a red mark.”

Mason looked down at me. “That’s promising. They don’t mate. So you can’t be a true lycan.”

I twirled my finger around in a circle. “Spectacular. Now, we don’t know what I am. I’m a freak.”

Dad chuckled. “It’s nothing we can’t figure out. We can look at some of the books the elders left behind.”

My mind raced to my grandmother’s diary I’d left at her house. Maybe she knew more than I thought. She knew her husband was a wolf. What else did she know?

Liam and Jacob brought the rest of the groceries inside and began to put them away.

“Where are those books?” Mason asked Liam.

“In the library,” he said, avoiding my gaze. “They should be out on the desk.”

Mason turned to me. “I actually need to go home for a bit. I have something I need to get.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mason said.

I knew there would not be any way he’d let me go alone. Mason was my mate, and I could trust him. I wasn’t sure what I would find in my grandmother’s diary.

It was supposed to be private.

“Sure,” I said, standing up. Dad walked over and put his palms on my shoulders. “Don’t pity me,” I mumbled.

He chuckled. “I don’t pity you, Jess. I’m proud of how well you’re taking all of this.”

I grunted. Dad knew how scary and life-changing moving to Slade Springs would be for me. He let me do it because I was an adult. Letting me make my own decisions was part of watching your child grow.

I wish I had prepared for everything coming my way.

Mason and I stepped out of the pack house. The warm air settled on my skin and called to my wolf. Mason walked toward his truck, but I didn’t budge from the porch.

He looked back at me. “What’s the matter?”

“You think Jacob would care if we shifted and ran toward the house?”

A look of excitement crossed Mason’s face. This felt like something we could share. Something we would both enjoy together.

Mason tugged at the bottom of his T-shirt and pulled it off his body. The sunlight hit the edges and angles of his muscles. “I think he wouldn’t mind at all.”

I smiled. “I bet I can beat you.”

Mason lifted both brows. “You think you can beat me?”

I tugged off my shirt slowly, watching as he eyed me up and down. “Oh, I’m sure of it.”

Mason watched as I stripped in front of him. It was like a switch turned off when I shifted for the first time. It didn’t matter that the pack would see me naked.

Sure, I didn’t like it, but my wolf insisted it was part of being one of them.

Mason was awestruck as if he’d never seen me like this before, so I took advantage and shifted.

He backed away as my wolf stretched and pawed at the Earth. The shift was easy and only took a few minutes. It felt natural. Like I’d been shifting my entire life.

Mason stood in his human form, looking me up and down when reality hit him. He stepped back and shifted. My wolf immediately stepped over and rubbed her head against his.

His scent to her was greater than life itself.

She purred like a cat, begging for his attention. It was awfully embarrassing, but Mason seemed to enjoy it.

She spent ten minutes smelling and rubbing against him. She wanted him to smell like her as if more she-wolves were interested in Mason.

We stepped back while Mason’s golden eyes ate us alive.

Then she straightened. I felt her pride and excitement in running with her wolf.

In a mind link, she said, “Second place is the first loser.”

Then she took off into the woods, knowing the way to the estate without my help. The bond pulled as Mason raced behind us.

I’d never felt more fulfilled than in that moment.

In that second, it didn’t matter what color his mark was because he was my other half. The reason fate brought me to Slade Springs.