Trashed & Treasured

13

.Cameron

I didn't know what else to do other than stand there and watch Jade walk into the arms of another man as my wolf cursed me to high hell for it.

A claim. I heard the doctor loud and clear when he said that it was that initial claiming that brought forth Jade's wolf. A claim that wasn't mine.

I couldn't help but scold myself over that fact as I watched her outrun Jaxon, one of our pack's fastest and one of the only pure color wolves. Not only had she shifted, but she shifted into a beautiful wolf with abilities that exceed those with enhanced strengths. And like a dumb ass, I messed up.

How in the hell was I supposed to know that if I claimed her she'd finally shift? Who could really fault me for wanting nothing to do with her before now? Human mates come with extra baggage, need constant protection in case of some kind of an attack, and then there's that possibility that the offspring's human genes may be more dominant. Not being connected to her wolf made Jade basically human meaning all this applied to her. Now that I think back on it, I can do nothing but kick myself for that, too.

Something changed in me the moment I called myself teaching her a lesson, biting into her flesh and hoping it caused her just as much pain as she'd caused me. When I pulled away and saw the blood pour down her neck I instantly felt regret, sadness, and didn't understand it. Before she could hit the floor I caught her with my arms and watched the color slowly drain from her face...that beautiful face that I'd never really noticed until then.

At that moment, she looked like death and it pained me. The thought of losing her at my own hand. I begged her, pressed my lips against her clammy and damp forehead silently apologizing when I caught Kenya's scent drawing near and decided it be best if I exited through the already open window.

I didn't know where to go and had no one to turn to, so I ran as fast as my human legs could take me into the trees, stripped down and shifted, running off the pain I felt along with new feelings I never wanted to have.

As I take in the sight of this man smiling at Jade as she shifted back into her human form, I realize now that the feeling that overtook me after I tried to reclaim my mate, the feeling that I feel now, that won't allow me to stand back and let this happen, is love. In my quest to foolishly make her pay, I cursed myself by giving my wolf what he wanted all along. But we were too late.

It's never too late!

My wolf growls within me refusing to believe what's happening before us. Now that Jade is one with her wolf, she shouldn't be able to resist me...us. I'm hellbent on showing everyone that. My wolf is pushing forward once again, craving blood and at this point, he doesn't care where it comes from. Rather than shifting there on the spot and mauling the closest person to me, I took off toward that very treeline the doctor had my mate running off to, shifting mid-stride. The last thing I really want right now is to leave my mate alone with Dominic but I know I can't get to her with him around. Or with any of them around for that matter. My best bet is to wait, catch her when she is alone and make her see that where she belongs is with me.

***

One after another I watched as everyone filed into the packhouse. Through faint whispers and hums of chatter, I could make out that this sudden meeting was about Jade. When what I thought was the last person entered the packhouse, I crept in and stood in a corner in the very back behind the very last row of seats. Even from there her scent was overpowering, wafted through the air like the onset of rain, and enticed me in ways that I couldn't even explain. I want to drink her in like my life depends on it. Hold her so close to me that I can feel her heart change its rhythmic beating to match mine. Embed my scent so deep within her that each and every male within a 20-mile radius will know that she belongs to me. The thought alone gives me a semi-hard on that keeps growing at the thought.