Heart for Three

12

Jax

I stared blankly at my ceiling, wincing slightly as something crashed in the kitchen. Angry footsteps stomped across the floor, followed by the slamming of the front door. I heard the roar of the Mustangs engine start up before it peeled out of the driveway and sighed.

Arsen was pissed.

After my father had dismissed us last night at the ranch, Arsen had disappeared for hours. He hadn't come home until well past midnight, stumbling and glassy eyed.

Between the two of us, he had always been the wiser one. The voice of reason, the adult in almost all situations. It's why I'd chosen him to be my beta. Other than him being my best friend, he was the right man for the job, and always had been.

Seeing him stagger into the house last night, reeking of whiskey and eyes full of anger, I felt like I didn't even know who I was looking at. He had glared at me with such hatred, I contemplated if we were about to fight again.

But instead he had just scoffed, throwing his keys down onto the coffee table and walking drunkenly into his room, slamming the door behind him.

I had taken a curious glance out the window and sighed, seeing his beloved Mustang parked crookedly in the driveway, pulled in at an angle and blocking half of the sidewalk.

Grabbing his keys off the table, I had run outside to straighten it out. A glass bottle rolled across the floorboard when I put it in park and I picked it up, sighing at the empty bottle of Jameson.

When I got back into the house I could already hear his light snoring coming from his room. His deep breaths didn't falter as I got into my own room and fell into a restless sleep.

Now, the rays of sunlight stretched farther across the ceiling and I rubbed my tired eyes.

God, I had really fucked this up. I knew how much finding his mate meant to him. All these years, he'd been so patient, never getting into serious relationships. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd only slept with one or two girls ever.

I remembered the day I'd had to talk him out of going to buy a damn ring for the unknown woman. He was so dead set on doing everything right and cherishing her once he found her. I envied him then, and his unwavering devotion to a girl he hadn't even met yet.

With a groan I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I put my head in my hands and sighed. I'd entertained the idea of skipping school for the day but knew my dad would tan my hide if I did.

Begrudgingly I forced myself to stand up, and slowly got dressed.

I didn't speed off to school like I normally would. I needed to think. How could I stay away from Ava? She was just too damn beautiful. I had no plan on how to act if I saw her today.

I flipped on my turning signal to pull into McDonald's but then grimaced. Rose would be working. I'd ditched her and Brandy last night, and ignored their calls. Eventually I had just turned my phone off, wishing I could do the same thing with my brain.

I turned off my signal, deciding to drive straight to the school instead of stopping.

I pulled into my parking spot next to Arsen's car and sat back in my seat. It was days like today that I wished I could talk to my mom. She would have known what to do.

My mother had been Luna of our pack, the alpha female.

And she'd been taken from us by hunters, gunned down with silver bullets right in front of me.

I had been young, maybe twelve or thirteen when they stormed our ranch, shooting and stabbing as many of us as they could. My mother and I had been out in one of the lower pastures, working on controlling my shifts. Being a future alpha, I had shifted earlier than my peers, and I couldn't control it yet.