The Alpha's Punishment

'A Likely Story'

It had been a few days since Jackson ran into Sariyah. He had been taking his aggression and new found fascination on the young woman out on the trees surrounding his home. He was angry at himself for thinking twice about this woman, after what he did to his mate, he couldn't harm another innocent woman. He did not deserve any of these positive feelings and he refused to give Sariyah another thought or glance. 

A loud crack echoed through the forest and was quickly followed by a resounding thump as the tree hit the ground. Huffing Jackson leaned back and squinted up at the gray sky above him. Oregon seemed to always be grey and it was just the way he liked it, the weather matched his mood and mannerisms. After his curse Jackson gave up all hope deciding solitude was better than some silly little fantasy of a "second chance" as the Saline had called it. So why was he feeling an almost 'mate like' connection to Sariyah?

Growling, Jackson lifted his axe and swung it down cleaning the branches off of the trunk of the tree. He was fighting a strong urge to make his way to that stupid book store so he could just get a glimpse of her. Once the truck was clean he began to work on cutting the trunk into pieces to make transportation easier. Sure, cutting trees by hand was more work and took more time, but it allowed him to express his anger in a safe manner. The physical labor wasn't bad for his body either, anyone with eyes could tell see that. 

After storing the logs he had harvested for the day Jackson found himself sitting behind the wheel of his truck. He kept trying to talk himself out of what he was doing but it seemed his body had a mind of its own. The truck roared to life and started down the road that took Jackson to town. Before long he found himself parked in front of Sariyah's store.

"Don't do it Jackson," he mumbled. "This is such a bad idea."

No matter what he said it seemed he couldn't quite convince himself to turn around and head home. With a sigh of defeat Jackson slowly climbed out of his truck and made his way inside of the store. It was definitely not what he was expecting. Instead of just rows of dusty books and a filthy worn down carpet, he saw the walls filled with books from floor to ceiling. A balcony was halfway up and the stairs at the back of the store. In the middle of the hardware floor were couches, bean bag chairs, recliners even with coffee tables and side tables for customers to place their drinks. There were plants hanging in any open space Sariyah could find. It was quaint and cozy, something Jackson wasn't. 

As he surveyed the store he saw a small figure sitting in a corner, her brown hair pulled into a loose bun and large rimmed glasses sitting on her cute little nose. Instead of announcing himself Jackson quietly moved closer so he could observe her better. He just couldn't fathom why he was so enamored with this woman. She was nothing like his old mate and nothing like the bitch he stupidly chose over her. Wouldn't his 'second chance' be similar to his first mate if it existed at all?

Suddenly brown eyes met his across the room and a large smile broke her beautiful heart shaped face. 

"Jackson, you did come back! Romance section is on the second floor on the wall behind you," she teased the grin never leaving her face. 

A smile threatened to break out on Jackson's face but all that was visible was a slight twitch, but Sariyah noticed. 

"Romance isn't my style," he rasped. 

"Hmmm, no I can definitely see that, you strike me as more of a western style guy."

Jackson shook his head replying, "I'm not much of a reader."

Humming Sariyah nodded and said, "You're not much of a talker either."

All he could do was stare at her instead of responding. He could swear that his wolf would be howling mate right about now, if he hadn't lost him of course. Second chance mates were almost unheard of, extremely rare in fact and usually only saved for those who tragically lost their mates after they had officially claimed each other. These were not his conditions, yes his mate was gone but by his foolish actions not natural causes or death in battle. His was murdered in cold blood, the same blood that stained his hands. 

"Would you like to grab some lunch with me? The company would be nice since I usually tend to just read a book and eat alone," Sariyah spoke, breaking his train of thought.

Jackson was busy fighting an interior war. He wanted to take her up on her offer, he truly did, wanting to dig deeper into who she was, find out what made her tick. But the other side of him, the logical side, told him no, he was bad news for her. 

"Come on, two friends having lunch. What do you say?"

Sariyah's eyes were filled with excitement and anticipation and even though he didn't want to disappoint her, he couldn't seem to force back the horrid memories of what he did to his mate.

"No," was his curt reply before he turned his back and walked out.