Chapter 3

Five Years Earlier:

“Smile!” My mother said excitedly and I offered a small smile, one that grew wider when Simon draped his hands over my shoulder and gave the biggest smile.

My mother clicked the camera to take the picture and I turned towards her completely horrified.

“Mom! I wasn’t ready, I was still watching Simon smile his weird smile.” I said rushing after the woman that was already scrolling through the pictures with a wide smile on her face.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter honey. These are so cute, you both have to come in soon so you can cut your cake, okay? I’m going to show these to your father.” She said and before I could respond she was already heading back into the house.

“Happy birthday once again Jess. Sorry I got here late, Emilia spent hours trying to pick out the perfect fit.” Simon apologized and I shook my head, chuckling a little bit.

“It’s okay, I’m really glad you made it in time. I barely get to see you these days and it’s really sad.” I said, smiling when Simon held on to my hand and pulled me to the bench in the center of the garden.

“There’s been a lot of troubles with our pack lately so leaving is usually difficult, but everything is starting to settle now so it should be better.” Simon said and I frowned.

“Why don’t you guys talk to my dad about whatever issues you’re having, you know he’ll help or better still come live in this pack. There will be housing, Emilia will be able to settle in just fine and you too and we also get to see everyday. There’s nothing stopping the both of you, why have you refused to do it?” I asked, genuinely upset.

“You wouldn’t understand Jess, but let’s drop it for now. It’s your birthday and we don’t need to focus on those things. Here, I got you something.” He said, pulling out a small box from his pocket.

I took it excitedly, ripping the wrapping quickly. The velvet box that was revealed already made me anticipate it’s content, but nothing had prepared me for what I found when I pulled open the box.

It was a beautiful silver necklace with a heart shaped pendant.

The pendant had been lined with little stones making the light from the glowing bulbs around the garden catch onto it and make it more beautiful.

When I turned the pendant the other way I found the inscription. SJ in a beautiful font.

“Goddess Simon. This is beautiful, thank you so much.” I said, tears stinging at my eyes.

“Happy sixteenth birthday Jessy.” He responded.

Simon took the necklace from me and gently turned me around to place it on my neck. The silver of the necklace was a perfect contrast to my skin and I loved how it sat perfectly on my neck like it was always meant to be. I stared down at the piece, rubbing the small pendant between my fingers and reveling in the feeling of satisfaction that I got from it.

I raised my head once more but only this time it was to find Simon leaning so close to my face, I didn’t realize when he had moved, he was so close that I could feel his breath fanning against my face. I swallowed painfully, darting my tongue out to lick at my dry lips, shivering slightly when his eyes followed the movement.

It happened so fast, one moment I was looking into his eyes and in the next my eyes were shutting completely when Simon covered my lips in a kiss. It didn’t last long and it was over just as quickly as it had started but it made my entire body tingle.

“Jess! Mom says it’s time to cut your cake, come on in.” Kevin announced from the doorway and I offered him a smile, before turning back to Simon.

“Go on in. I’ll be right behind you.” Simon said.

***

Back To Present:

That had been the last time that I had seen my best friend and the only boy that I had ever fallen in love with. I remembered how he had never come inside and how somehow he and Emilia had vanished for the night and no one could find them.

I remembered how I had called him for days and weeks and months and left him several texts hoping to get something from him but it had all been in vain. I had cried to my father and forced him to search every pack, I didn’t mind if he had to search the entire world just to find them, but there had just been nothing.

I rubbed the pendant of my necklace, the one that I never took off, no matter the situation and a heavy sigh left my lips, i didn’t break down in tears every time that I thought about him anymore but I definitely still felt the emptiness.

“Are you ready honey? Do you have everything?” My mother asked and I offered her a smile, nodding my head.

“Here you go babe.” My dad said, offering me a set of keys.

“Dad, I’m trying to disappear for a bit and no one who wants to disappear drives around in an Escalade.” I said when I took the keys.

“Yes they do. Come on, let’s not keep Lila waiting.” he said. Moving to pick up my bags but I moved in front of him to stop him.

“We talked about this honey. I need to make sure you’ll be fine and I need you to accept these little things because I promise they will reassure me that you’re going to be okay while you’re away.” He said softly.

“Yes, but not the Escalade.” I said

And after a long back and forth we both compromised on a smaller, more disguised car and after an emotional round of farewell from my family, I was on my way with Lila driving the car.

“How far away is it?” I asked and Lila took her attention away from the road for a second to smile at me.

“A couple of hours. You can sleep if you want, I’ll be fine.” She responded.

“No I have to keep your company. What’s this new pack like?” I asked, relaxing into the seat and preparing for the long drive.

“Definitely different from what you’re used to, but it’s also very easy to adjust. You didn’t tell your parents about the pack right?” Lila asked, her voice slightly cracking with nerves.

“I promise, I didn’t.” I said, my attention taken away when my phone dinged with a text.

Kyla- 10:34 “Can you please tell Kevin you said I could take over your room?”

The message read and I chuckled but just as I was about to respond another text came in from Kevin.

Kevin- 10:35 “Tell Kyla I already called dips on your room!!!”

“Your family? Are they bothering you already? You’re going to have to ignore them if you plan on moving forward in this new pack, you know that right?” Lila said l, causing me to frown.

I had no intentions of ignoring my family, the fact that I was moving away from them didn’t mean that I was going to ignore or abandon them. I planned on updating them as often as possible and keeping in touch as much as I could. This decision had been hard on each of us and I wasn’t about to make it even harder for them.

I kept my thoughts to myself though and quickly typed a response to each of my brothers before putting my phone away.

“Jess, Jessy, we’re here. Come on, lets get your things.” Lila said, shaking me gently to wake me up.

I blinked hoping to chase away the sleep from my eyes, before pulling open my door and stepping out, the fresh evening air hitting me straight in the face, the entire place looked different, really different from what I was used to.

I could already feel the size difference compared to my father’s pack and the fact that there was only one person that I could see so far from the front of the house we pulled up at, only proved how much smaller the population here was.

But everything was clean and beautiful too, in a simple way. It made a smile form across my lips.

Lila helped me with taking my bags into the house. The house was small but cozy and I found myself instantly in love with the place, especially with all the windows that overlooked the streets.

“Do you need any help with unpacking? I need to go see Arthur but I’ll be back soon enough if you do need help. The house has everything you need, it’s originally mine but I mostly stay at Arthur’s so you can have it to yourself for the most part, just incase you finish unpacking early enough, Arthur asked me to invite you to dinner just for a proper meeting. He was skeptical about letting you in especially since I refused to give in-depth description of your background and kept evading questions, but I was only trying to keep you safe, but don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” Lila said and I gave her a small grateful hug in response. Watching as she walked out of the house.

I stretched a little, the car ride had been really long and my muscles were starting to feel strained from staying cooped up in the car for so long. I set out to unpacking my things and although it took awhile because I kept getting distracted with the little things, I eventually finished doing it.

All I really wanted was to go to bed and sleep out the stress that the day had brought but instead, I took a bath and began dressing up in something simple. I wasn’t sure what to wear to this kind of dinner but I also didn’t want to overthink it and so I went with what felt comfortable.

I was just putting my hair into a ponytail when my screen lit up with Lila’s text asking me to come out. I picked up my purse and once I was sure that I looked fine once more, I made my way out of the house.

“Oou you look pretty.” She commented and I blushed lightly, whispering my thanks.

The drive to the Alpha’s house wasn’t long, but it gave me the opportunity to see more of the town, all the people had smiles on their faces and the everywhere felt homely enough, I didn’t feel weird or out of place and it made me happy yet, maybe this had been a good decision after all.

“Here we are!” Lila said excitedly and I exited the car as she did.

The Alphas home was beautiful and moderate, nothing like the elaborate mansion that I was used to. I liked it. I held my purse closer to myself as Lila lead the way into the house.

The interior was just as I had expected , plenty of open space, masculine colors, and comfortable furniture. It was welcoming and I took a second to just admire the space.

“Babe! We’re here.” Lila called and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, a door being opened then slammed shut and soon a man emerged at the end of the hallway.

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t expecting you to be back so early.” He said and I raised my head to look at him, but all the color left my face when I did.

“Babe, this is Jessy, she’s the friend I told you about that needed a little assistance and Jess, this is my boyfriend and Alpha of the Blue Satin pack, Arthur.” Lila introduced.

But I wasn’t listening, I couldn’t pay attention anymore. I could hear my heart ringing in my ears and it felt like all the air had seized from my lungs.

I was looking at Simon.