CLAIR

"We are almost here. Get yourself ready."

"What do you mean?" I looked at the view in front of us as we approached. Confusion was written all over my face. I turned to Aaron with a raised eyebrow. "This is not home as I remember. This is the packhouse, right? You and Dad live here now?"

Aaron shook his head as he put the car to a full halt and unbuckled his seatbelt. "No. I stay here, but Dad lives alone in our house. But I will stay at home with you and Dad for a few days until you turn 18. I assumed I needed to teach you the basics of pack life first. But for now, hop off — we’re meeting Alpha Jake. He is expecting us." He said it nonchalantly as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

He walked out of the car even before I could berate him for not telling me about this stopover. I sighed and slumped my back onto the seat before unbuckling my belt. Although there was nothing wrong with meeting the Alpha, I suddenly developed a sickening feeling in my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to meet Jake.

But I guess I have no choice now.

I let out another sigh and let my gaze wander up at the entrance of the packhouse, and there he was.

Alpha Jake in all his god-like glory.

My heart started beating erratically at the sight of him. He didn’t look like this when I left. I felt my mouth water at the sight of him. I slapped my thoughts and tried to compose myself.

Cut it out, Clair! He’s like your brother, so why are you drooling at the sight of him? I reminded myself.

I snickered at my own thoughts. Who was I kidding? I was already starting to have a crush on him before I left, so this justifies why I was still a little attracted to him.

Yeah, just a little.

But then I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. He had surely grown muscles in all the right places.

Oh, Goddess! Those biceps! I wondered how it felt to be wrapped around them.

"Shit!" My throat started to dry up, so I looked for my bottled water only to remember that this was not my car. I shifted around, looking for something to help me out.

Facing Jake with bad breath was not really sexy. Not that I care. He was used to seeing me with all the mess and dirt from playing, so it shouldn’t matter. I tried to convince myself, but then I knew it mattered. It matters now!

I sent a silent thank you to the Goddess upon seeing the bubble gum on Aaron’s dashboard. As much as I hated the idea of chewing gum, I grabbed it and popped it in my mouth, and started chewing. Anything to help with the dryness and nervousness.

I let out a big sigh before I slipped out of my seat and stepped out of Aaron’s car. I fixed my gaze directly at the Alpha as I made my way in front of him and tried my best to act anything but nervous.

I discreetly roamed my eyes over his body again, soaking in all of his assets.

He surely looked different from the skinny 17-year-old Alpha that I remembered.

He kept his black hair longer than necessary, and the little stubble of hair on his face just added to his intimidating look. His perfectly sculpted nose and lips made me bite my lower lip.

He had a light blue shirt on that perfectly fitted his toned body, accentuating his biceps and chest. Aaron and Beta Gavin were both muscled up and stunning, but nothing compared to the god-like aura this man exuded.

I didn’t notice that I raised a brow and bit my lower lip again when my eyes then darted down to his perfectly fitted black pants. Naughty thoughts were running through my mind as I wondered what was hiding in his pants and if his ass was as perfect as the bulge I saw in his front.

Oh Goddess, could I jump on him now?

My cheeks were already burning from my own thoughts. I had to stop myself from thinking further than I already had or I might end up making myself look like a hormonal teenager eyeing her crush.

¤¤¤¤¤

JAKE

They were about to approach the packhouse when Aaron, my Gamma, sent a mindlink. I rose swiftly from my seat and left my office. As expected, Beta Gavin was already standing and waiting for their arrival.

I saw Aaron’s car was already pulling up a few meters away from the steps, and I watched as he descended from it. I gave him a curt nod as I acknowledged his greeting before my gaze turned to the passenger side of his car, my eyes squinting, wanting to get a view of her.

The sun shredded shadows on the car so that it was impossible to see if someone was inside, but I expected her to get out any moment, skipping and running for a hug like she always does.

But the moment she stepped out of the car, my whole body froze. I wasn’t expecting a full-grown woman to come out of the passenger seat.

'What the fuck?!' I exclaimed to my wolf, Echo, while he was running around like he had gone mad in my mind. Did she really grow up in just a few years?

She’s 17 and turning into a full woman soon. Why was I expecting a 12-year-old girl to get out of the car?

Her long, slightly wavy hair bounced perfectly as she made her way toward us. I assumed she was around 5’3 inches, but it didn’t come as a surprise since she was short even way back then, but I couldn’t deny the fact that she turned out perfect with her curves in all the right places.

I stopped myself from swallowing when my gaze left her face to wander over her body — a perfectly sized breast that I believed my hand could handle. I was fucking sure I wouldn’t get enough of it. And those hips that swayed seductively. I was almost certain she was not doing it on purpose. It was just the way her body moved and just by looking at her, something twitched inside my pants.

I snapped my thoughts away from it and masked my emotions. If her look mesmerized me, I didn’t let it show. But I was in constant battle with my wolf, trying to tame him down. An annoyed look took over my expression, and before I realized it, Clair was already standing in front of me.

"Alpha Jake." Her sweet voice brought me back to the present.

Was she chewing gum? Seriously? I stayed away from women chewing gum. They reminded me of the ladies who tried to get into my pants whenever we drove around. She might have noticed the scowl on my face because she started talking sarcastically.

"Are we just going to stand here for eternity or can I go home now? If you have no idea, Jake, I drove through three states to get here." She huffed before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"It’s Alpha Jake, Clair!" Aaron scolded her before turning his face on me. "My apologies, Alpha. Clair is just tired, and if it suits you, we can come back tomorrow when she is fully rested and in her right mind."

I saw her roll her eyes at her brother before crossing her arms over her chest. She’s wearing a nicely fitted white shirt, and her action just emphasized her breasts more.

"You don’t need to jump up and defend me, Aaron. I’m not twelve anymore." She sighed before she continued. "My apologies, Alpha. I’m just tired and have no idea why I’m here right now and you’re not saying anything. I just want to lie down and rest. " Her eyes avoided mine as she spoke, but I could still sense her annoyance.

I turned my head to my Gamma, frowning. "You didn’t tell her why she needed to see me?"

Aaron scratched his head, looking at me apologetically. "It slipped my mind, Alpha. I was busy catching up with her, and before I knew it, we were in front of the packhouse."

Aaron then tilted his head to the left in submission.

I nodded in acknowledgment before turning my back on them. "Very well then, follow me to my office, Clair."

I walked away without looking back to see if she was following. I heard Aaron tell her that he would wait for her outside before I heard tiny, steady footsteps behind me. I walked up to the end of the hallway and opened the door, leaving it open as I sat on my chair and waited for her to step in.

She closed the door behind her as I pointed to the seat in front of my desk. She sat down, but nobody said a word. We stayed in silence for a while before she broke it.

"So... why am I here?" She asked with a raised brow.

Clair was the same old Clair. She couldn’t keep silent to save her life.

CLAIR

I followed him to his office after making sure Aaron would stay and wait for me outside. I threw the gum discreetly into the waste bin along the way. It didn’t escape my eyes that Jake scowled at the sight of me chewing gum. Not that I care. It’s just that it’s better to throw it away, and maybe he would stop scowling and be more welcoming.

Jake’s scent enveloped me as soon as I stepped into his office. It’s calming but doesn’t stop me from being annoyed with his silence.

I was at least expecting him to be a little enthusiastic upon seeing me back. I set myself up for failure. The boy, no, the man in front of me, was stoic as stone. No emotions at all. But I should have expected it from him, like what Aaron said, he changed. He was no longer the lovable Jake I adored as a kid.

"So... why am I here again?" I broke the silence that was killing me while I sat in front of him. My fingers reached for the pen laying down on the table and started twiddling with it.

It took him a few seconds before he started to speak. "Did you by any chance reject the pack five years ago when you left? Or maybe within the last few years?"

I felt his gaze on me. I lifted mine to look at him and just found myself getting lost in his eyes. I had forgotten how beautiful they were, but I was only twelve when I left. And although I already felt an admiration for him at that time, I never really took the time to appreciate his features. But the dark blue eyes that stared at me right now were nothing short of beautiful. They were hypnotizing, if I may say.

I heard him clear his throat before speaking again, which took me out of my trance. "Clair, did you hear me?"

I blinked twice and nodded my head a little too fast. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. And I was sure I was already blushing. If he noticed, he didn't show any sign that he had.

"So you did denounce it?" He asked again, his brows furrowing.

"What? Denounce what? No. What were you asking again?" I stuttered as my cheeks continued to burn.

He shook his head before letting out a smile, which he took back after a split second and replaced with a serious look again.

"Did you do anything to cut off your connection with the pack? Reject me as your Alpha? Can you mindlink?"

"No. I don’t think so. Can I do that, reject you as my Alpha?"

He simply nodded and stared at me again. He looked relaxed now as he settled his back on his chair. "Good to know that you didn’t. Then we don’t need the formality of the ceremony to accept you back into my pack."

I nodded and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, still looking at him but avoiding his gaze. "Okay. Nice to know then."

I waited for him to say something more but he just continued to stare at me in silence.

His gaze made me uncomfortable. I could feel my body heating up just with his gaze, and if I stayed here longer, I felt like I would start to burn.

"Can you not stare at me? It’s rude." I broke the silence again.

He cocked his head without taking his attention away from me. His stoic expression was not changing. "Is it making you uncomfortable? You used to ask me to look at you all the time, whether you were dancing, singing, or simply wanting my attention. Now I am giving it to you and it seems rude?"

"Stop it, Jake. I’m not a kid anymore." I glared at him, trying to hide the embarrassment I felt from his statement.

He started to run his eyes from my face to my chest before looking into my eyes again. "I am very much aware of that."

I had no idea what was going through his head, but this conversation had gone horribly wrong.

I was pretty sure he was fully aware that I was gawking at him earlier, and he made it a point to embarrass me more. I stood up from where I was sitting, not able to stand his stare.

"Do you really need to bring me here just for one question? You could have saved your precious time if you just asked me there outside."

I was about to turn around when he asked something. "Why can’t I reach you through the mind link?"

I looked at him confused. "I don’t know. I don’t even know how it works." I replied.

"You should be able to do it once you turn fifteen." He leaned his arms on the table and entwined his fingers, still looking at me.

I rolled my eyes and slumped back in the chair. "I said I don’t know. In case you were not aware of where I’ve been for the last five years, let me inform you. I live with the humans. We don’t mind links. We talked with our mouths." I couldn’t stop the annoyance from rolling my tongue.

And he just stared at me. Not once did his gaze move away from mine.

"Maybe if you tell me how to do it then I can practice. But you know what, it doesn’t matter, I won’t be needing it. In a few days, I’ll be out of here."

He raised his eyebrows, confused by my response.

"Explain." His tone suddenly changed from passive to angry. I felt his Alpha aura rolling over me that I couldn’t find my voice to speak again.

"Explain." His tone softened, and I straightened up in my seat and tried to answer confidently.

"I mean, I don’t need it when I return to live with the humans."

"You’re not staying?" His voice came out so low that if I wasn’t looking at his face void of emotions, I would think that my answer made him sad.

I nodded. "Yup, not staying. I’m only here to shift, and Aaron convinced me that I needed assistance to do so. So here I am."

Silence.

"Uhm, anything more you need to know, Alpha?" I asked, breaking the silence once more.

Silence.

I raised an eyebrow and waited for more. After what felt like an eternity, I slapped my hands on my thighs in frustration and stood up. "Okay, I’m done. Thank you for the warm welcome, Alpha!"

I faced his desk and bowed sarcastically before turning on my heel. I was already by the door when I heard him speak up.

"Open your mindlink."

I stopped in my tracks. My hand grasped the door handle but did not turn it.

"No," I replied, not looking back. "I don’t know how."

"Clear your mind and think that you want to communicate with me."

My heart fluttered with the thought of communicating with him through a mind link. A smile curved on my lips, but I stopped myself from turning around so as not to show him how the idea affected me. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on communicating with him, but nothing snapped into my mind.

I let out a sigh and my shoulders slumped, "It’s not working..."

'Clair?' My ears perked up and I felt my skin shiver from the tone he used.

Why did it sound so sexy?

"Yes, Alpha?" I stayed rooted in place because the idea of looking at him right now would surely make my knees buckle, and I didn’t want to fall on my ass in his presence.

'Turn around. Training tomorrow at six in the morning. Don’t be late.'

"What?!" I gasped and let go of the door handle to turn around and face him. "I don’t need to train. I’m not aiming to be a warrior."

'Try talking to me with your mind.'

My jaws dropped open when the realization hit me that he did not open his mouth to speak with me. In the blink of an eye, I forgot about the training and a wide smile made its way onto my lips.

'Hey! It’s me, Clair!' I answered enthusiastically, and my body jerked up in excitement as my mind linked with the Alpha.

And then I saw it. A smile crept across his face, but it was gone before I could confirm that it was an actual smile. Instead, he looked down at his hands.

'I know it’s you, Clair. So tomorrow at six in the morning? You need to train. Your human body might not handle your shifting well if you don’t train. You only have four days from tomorrow until the full moon. You can’t be weak. Some don’t make it out alive if they are too weak.'

My eyes grew bigger with the thought of dying in the middle of shifting. The thought eventually scared me, and I nodded in agreement. 'Okay. Six then.'

I waited for anything he wanted to say more and hoped he would look at me again. But there was just silence.

"Umm Alpha, can I go now?"

He nodded without throwing me a glance.

I huffed in frustration. "Thank you, Alpha."

CLAIR

"Thank you, Alpha." I turned around and grabbed the door handle again.

I stopped for a moment when I felt my neck burn. I know he’s watching me. I contemplated if I should look back, but decided against it and turned the knob to open the door. I hurriedly exited his office, and as soon as I closed the door, a loud smashed sound of glass against the wall was heard.

I stood frozen in shock for a couple of seconds before I was able to compose myself and walk away completely from his office, shaking my head in disbelief.

'What a prick!' I told myself.

'I heard you, princess. You forgot to turn off the mind link.' I stopped on my track and felt the hair at the back of my neck stand up when I heard his voice in my mind. And did he just chuckle?

'Shit! How can I turn this off?'I asked myself but I was well aware that he heard that too.

'Find it out yourself.'

'F**k!'

'Your mouth, princess.'

'F**k! F**k! F**k! Can you still hear me?' I closed my eyes and my hands rolled into fists.

'Yes.'

'Aarrgh!!! Help me! Or cut it off!' I snapped at him through mindlink.

'It’s actually fascinating to hear your thoughts, so why should I?' He replied, and I could imagine him smirking, which irritated me more.

'It’s not funny, Jake! I swear you’ll be annoyed the whole night if you don’t cut it off!'

'Really? What thoughts will you share with me tonight then?' He seemed to enjoy this.

'Have you got nothing else to do Alpha? You should keep yourself busy with work rather than annoy your pack members!' I spat out angrily as I stomped my way outside the pack house towards Aaron’s car.

"Hey, you’re back, finally!" Aaron greeted me. "Everything turned out well?"

"Yeah. All is good. Can we go home now?" I asked him, as I tried to hide the anger building up inside me.

'Liar. I thought you were a little pissed. Maybe share it with your brother as to why instead of lying.'

'F**k off.' I closed my eyes as soon as I sat down in the passenger seat beside Aaron.

'Yeah, I might as well do that, maybe in my room.' I blushed at his words and the picture my crazy mind put into my head.

"Clair?" I flipped my eyes open to see my brother looking at me with a worried look on his face. "Did you hear me? Are you okay?"

"What?" I looked at him, trying not to think of Jake.

"I said put your belt on so we can drive home now."

"Ah okay," I replied as I stumbled to put on my seatbelt. "Aaron, how does mindlink work? How can you turn it off?"

"Just turn it off. Can you mindlink now?"

"No, not yet. Just curious." I answered too quickly as he started the car’s engine. I wondered why I didn’t just tell him that I could mindlink now.

'Lies. Lies again, princess.'

I was so annoyed that I snapped back at Aaron. I asked a little louder this time. "But how do you turn it off? Should I just say turn?"

"Calm down, Clairy. We can practice at home. No need to be so riled up! Okay?" He chuckled as he started to maneuver the wheel.

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, and pressed my mind hard to cut off the mindlink.

'Still there?' I asked, hoping he would not reply.

'Always here.'

That was it! I was so pissed off that I unbuckled my belt and ordered Aaron to stop the car and jumped out of it before he could ask me anything. With large steps and my nose flaring, I walked towards the Alpha’s office and barged in without knocking.

"Cut it off, Jake! It’s not funny anymore!" My voice was full of desperation and anger.

"What? Maybe try to ask a little nicer and you won’t have to deal with this." He chuckled. If I was not pissed off, I would have appreciated it if he finally showed me a different emotion rather than the stoic face he had earlier.

"I’m running out of patience!" I huffed while folding my arms across my chest, still standing in front of his desk.

He glanced at me for a while before returning his attention to the papers in front of him. "And so I am little one. Leave Clair. I´m busy!"

I walked closer and rested my palms on his desk, glaring at him. "Don’t you get it? I don’t want you in my head!"

He continued to work on his papers and kept his answers short, which irritated me more. "It will get easier."

"What? Don’t you know how to keep a conversation going? How come you’re an Alpha? It feels like I’m talking to a robot! Oh, Goddess, you are one hell of a frustrating man!"

He looked up at me again, and I thought I saw a flash of hurt across his eyes before they turned passive again. "Go home. I already turned it off. Next time you show me disrespect in any form, I will not hesitate to punish you." He stated firmly before returning his attention to his work again.

I stood there in silence. I was pissed off earlier, but the hurt I saw in his eyes earlier pained me as well. Me and my big mouth!

"Uhm, Jake..." I stuttered, my voice caught in my throat.

"Hmmm.." He didn’t even bother to look at me.

"I’m sorry... It’s just that... I don’t know. You were..." I actually have no idea what I wanted to tell him when a knock came out of the door.

"Come in," He answered, and Aaron stepped in, confusion written on his face.

"Alpha, Clair. I was just wondering if everything is okay?" His gaze shifted from me to Jake.

"Nothing big, man. I’m just confirming her training schedule starting tomorrow. You can take her home. I’ll see you both tomorrow." He answered him and dismissed us without even looking at us and just continued looking over the document in his hand.

"Yes, Alpha." Aaron motioned with his hand for me to follow him. "Clair, come now."

I took one last glance at Jake before turning around to follow Aaron. I would have wanted to apologize to him for raising my voice, but I didn’t know how to open my mindlink again, and even if I could, I didn’t want the risk of opening my mind to him and not being able to shut it down myself. So I just shrugged my shoulders and left with Aaron. If anything, he was the one who started teasing me, so I shouldn’t feel too guilty about it.