Trashed & Treasured

9

Dominic.

Jade.

My mind wouldn't stop circling around her. The sassy way she speaks, the way her nose scrunches when she's frustrated, the look in her eyes when she explained why I wasn't able to sense her wolf.

A dormant gene. Never in my life have I ever heard of anything like that and don't recall Lance mentioning it on the many occasions he boasted about his kids; the son with a heightened sense of smell and daughter with a killer smile. He was absolutely right about that. The boy sniffed me out the second he walked into his house and it'd taken everything in me not to follow Jade into that building and stay up under her like a lost puppy after the way she smiled at me, bit her lip, and backed away looking sexy as hell in my jacket. My wolf and I both reeled over the memory, wanting nothing more than to embed our scent into her in so many other ways.

While my wolf had his mind made about her, there was still a part of me questioning things. With no wolf to connect to, why was he so drawn to her? Again my mind wandered to his level of anxiousness to mate. Then again, even the human side of me agreed with his choice. In a matter of days she managed to change me from the cold, lonely, antisocial shell that I was, into someone that feels alive again. Makes me want the very same things with her that I'd once dreamed of. WithAlice.

A pang of guilt stung my heart with just the thought of her name. Turning off the interstate, I sped down the city streets until the scenery became painfully familiar. Parking my bike along the curb near the large duck pond, I walked the short distance to the shady oak tree, feeling my eyes fill as the white granite tombstone engraved in gold came into view.

Plucking a few of the morning glory flowers that she loved from a nearby bush, I knelt down next to the flat stone and placed it right beside her name. I traced each letter wishing it was a lock of her hair I was playing with instead.

"I hope you're not mad at me for taking so long to visit. I had no intention of coming back to this place, alive."

I shook my head willing away the thoughts that would have reunited me with my first love, remembering the reason why I was actually glad I'd never gone through with it. Jade.

"I'm pretty sure you saw what happened. What's funny is, I thought that maybe you'd sent her to me, but now that I'm here I feel like I've betrayed you somehow. I honestly meant that I wanted you to love again if I hadn't returned and even now I hope some angel is making you smile. Not too handsome, though. Anyway, I just wanted you to see me since I'm back. Lance is trying to put me back to work, but I promise I'll be back soon." I stood with one last look and turned toward my bike stopping after taking a few short steps and ended up right back under Alice's tree.

"Baby, I need a sigh Any kind of sign! I'm so confused. My wolf is telling me one thing, but it doesn't make sense. She has a mate already. Yet, I feel like there is some force pushing me toward her. Before this girl entered my life I couldn't speak your name without needing a drink. Now... Am I just imagining this or is she really my second chance?"

Before I could even finish what I was saying the wind picked up blowing so harshly that I stumbled a few steps. Just then an intense pain shot through my neck and down my spine drawing a pained groan from me. It felt as if a piece of my heart was cut away. Just like when I saw the lifeless body of my mate laying in that field.

Jade.

Without a second thought, I was back on the road, bypassing the speed limit without a care. When I pulled up at the building, I practically jumped off my motorcycle before it even came to a complete stop. Sent a hard boot into the kickstand locking it in place and ran in shouting her name.