~*Edited to my liking*~
December 11
"Emma? Emma?!"
"Mommy!"
I'm woken up by Sarah's scream.
I look around to get my bearings. Right next to me is a black werewolf.
Last night comes back to me.
Jason!
"Emma?!" I can hear Joey calling after me.
Jason wakes up. I don't tell him anything and take off running.
Emma? I can hear him, but I don't answer.
I keep running. I have to get back to Sarah. I have to get back to my daughter.
"Emma! Emma, where are you?" I can now hear Michael.
Emma. Come back! Jason is running after me.
I want to stop, but I can't.
"Mommy!" I'm coming Sarah!
I jump over the water bank and nearly twist my leg, but I can't stop. I don't hear Jason anymore. I hope he isn't following me anymore.
I made it back to my house and see Michael and Jacob in the backyard. They can see me coming out of the woods.
"Emma!"
I run past them and morph back into human form before I run in through the back door.
"Sarah!"
I look around the house. Nothing.
"Sarah?" I head up the stairs.
"Mommy?"
I hear her running out of her room. I make it to the top of the stairs when I see her.
"Mommy!" She runs up to me as I go to catch her, crouching down.
"Mommy." I can hear her crying. I made her cry?
"Sarah." I'm panting. I push her from me and look at her.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"Mommy. Where were you? I went in your room and you weren't there." She hugs me again. "I got scared."
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh. I'm sorry baby. I didn't mean to scare you." I pull her closer to me.
"But where were you mommy?" She starts to hiccup.
"I couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk." I rub her back.
"But I came back running as soon as I heard you."
In that moment, I realized she wasn't calling me Emma anymore. Pulling her away from me, I stare at the little girl before me.
"You called me mommy." I stated.
Blushing, Sarah looks down at her feet. "I don't want to lose you."
Sarah was so worried about me and the whole way back I was afraid something had happened to her. It seems our connection has grown since I first took her in. I couldn't but feel happy about this.
"Don't ever leave me momma."
"Never Sarah. I'll never leave you. I promise."
I pick her up and walk into her room. I put her in her bed and lay down next to her.
"Emma?" Joey knocks on Sarah's door.
"Not now." Joey nods and closes the door behind her.
I notice that the clock says 7 am. How long was I asleep with Jason.
I look at Sarah.
"Sleep."
I lay my head down with her and we both fall asleep.
I think about Jason and how I spent the night with him.
Jack told me not to trust him. And I still can't.
Jason may be my mate, even though I don't want him to be, but he is still a criminal. He could be a murderer. I can't expose Sarah to that life.
I can't go back to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mommy. Mommy wake up!" Sarah shakes me.
"Ugh. I don't wanna!" I roll over throwing the pillow over my head.
"Come on Momma. Jamie is making us pancakes!"
I turn back around.
"I'll be down in a bit. I gotta shower."
Jamie makes delicious pancakes.
"Hurry up, momma. Or else Jacob is gonna eat all the pancakes."
I laugh, "Don't worry. I'll be there."
Sarah smiles at me and runs downstairs.
I get up and go into my bathroom to shower.
When I finish, I walk back into my room and head towards my closet. I feel eyes on me. But nothing seems out of place as I look around.
My door is closed and everyone is downstairs eating breakfast. There's no one in here.
But I still feel like I'm being watched. I glance by the glass door of my balcony. I double back when I see eyes coming from the forest.
I slowly creep to the window. I look into the forest and see him staring at me.
Jason.
He followed me back home. But why didn't Michael or Jacob see him?
I can't move away. He's just sitting there looking back at me.
I feel my shoulders relax as I stare deep into his eyes. How does he do it?
I snap out of this trance when I feel something wet hitting my nose. It's water. Coming from my hair?
I look down. Oh My God! I pull away from the door and hide behind the wall.
"Shit!" I'm still in my towel.
My face is heating up.
After a few seconds, I slowly exhale. I take a peek back out the window of my door. Thankfully I had curtains put up that way he wouldn't see me. But I left them open halfway which allowed my entire figure to be seen through the glass doors.
I look to where he was, but he's gone.
I let out a sigh of relief. Yet a small part of me was a little disappointed that he left.
I felt lust coursing through me as I stared into Jason's eyes and thought about our first night together under the full moon.
Wait! NO!
Snap out of it Emma!
You cannot think about this man!
It cannot happen again!
It will not happen again!
Will it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 15
"Okay. So I got what I need for Michael."
"I just need to grab something for Jake." Christmas shopping is hard.
We still had a whole week until Christmas. I was finishing up on my shopping with Sarah.
"Mommy. What did I get for Mikey again?" Sarah asks me again.
"Scarf and a tie."
I'm walking down the same street where I first saw him. I've been avoiding Jason since that morning.
I had gone to the public library to look at the newspaper records in order to find information about him. All the information came from police reports.
Jason and his pack were involved in drug dealings, burglary, identity theft, armed robbery, and of course, murder. They did most of this while they were still minors. Jason was 18 when he was arrested.
But like Jack had said before, he wasn't convicted of murder. He was, however, found guilty for being an accessory.
Jason is 24 years old now.
I'm not sure if he did murder anyone, or not, but I still have my doubts about him. And these doubts are telling me to protect my family and keep Sarah safe.
"Hey Emma. Sarah."
I respond to the greeting. "Jack. Hey."
"Hey. I haven't seen you in awhile. Not since you ran off the other day." He smiles at me.
"Oh. Sorry about that." I fluster.
"It's cool. If you didn't like me, you should've just said so."
"What? No."
Jack starts to laugh.
"Your face was priceless."
Anger sets in my eyes.
"Jerk!" I smack him in the arm.
"Ow." He rubs it. "Guess you're not the friendly type." He laughs again.
"Shut up."
"So, how have you been? You know, since you left me here in the dust." He chuckles.
Jack is not going to let me live this down.
I throw him a dirty look. "I already apologized. I do feel bad for running off."
"Are you going to tell me why?" He smirks.
My eyes widen.
I can't tell him I left because I found out Jason is my mate.
He bursts out laughing. "I'm not going to get tired of that face."
"It okay though." He stops laughing "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
I can feel my face heat up. Not because of Jack, but the thought of Jason.
"Thanks." I look away.
It becomes silent between us both. I don't know whether to break the ice or if he should.
"So have you bought all your christmas presents?" He crouches down to Sarah's level.
"Yup." She smiles proudly. "But my mommy still has to get something for my Uncle Jake."
"Tsk. Tsk, Emma. You better hurry up then." Jack waves his index finger at me.
I lift my eyebrows at him. What a dork. But his dorkiness is making Sarah giggle, so I'll take it.
"So how are you liking Cross Hill?" Jack stands back up.
"It's pretty cool. We're still trying to find jobs, but I like it." I smile at him.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find one soon." Wow. Jack does have a beautiful smile.
But something is off. The way he makes me feel is different from when we first met. I had felt such an attraction to him that day, but now he's just another handsome face. Something happened since that day, but wh--?
Jason.
Ever since I've seen Jason, he's all I can think about. Ugh.
I notice Jack is trying to say something, but he's having a lot of trouble.
"So Emma. I was wondering. . . " He can't seem to keep eye contact.
"Maybe you and I . . . could like . . . go on a date . . . or something." He blushes as he looks at me.
I blush as well and look down.
"Oh. Well I--"
I'm cut off when something goes passed me and tackles Jack to the ground.
Sarah is startled by it. I'm in shock when I see what - more like who - tackled Jack.
Jason!
"Stay away from her!" Jason growls at Jack. "She's mine!"
Jack is angry and confused.
"What are you talking about?'
He struggles to push Jason off him, but Jason doesn't budge.
"Jason!" Who said that?
"Get off him!" It's me!
I lean over Jason and pull him off of Jack, without breaking a sweat.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" My eyes begin to change colors.
Jason's eyes change as well.
"He was all over you Emma!" He points at Jack. "He should know not to touch what's not his!"
Jason tries to go after him, but I don't let him.
"He wasn't touching me Jason!"
Ugh! I hate jealousy. It's so stupid.
"His?" Jack gets back up. "Emma. What's he talking about?"
Shit! Jack doesn't know.
"Emma?"
"Nothing. It's not important." I don't look at him.
I keep my focus and hands on Jason's chest. Jason's muscular chest.
No Emma!
"What?" Jason whispers as he looks at me, but I keep my eyes away from him.
"Well it must be. He just assaulted a police officer!" I look back at Jack as he yells at us both.
"Shut the hell up! You're off duty!" Jason becomes angry again.
I'm not having trouble keeping Jason from attacking Jack again, but I feel like letting him go and getting out of here.
"That doesn't matter! What are you doing being so close to him Emma? You know what he's done?"
Damn It!
Did he have to bring that up now?
My eyes dart to Jason's. He realizes I know about his past. He slowly lets his shoulders fall and grabs my hand that's on his chest. His eye change back to blue-green.
"Emma!" Jason's eyes become ice-blue once more.
He faces Jack.
"You stay away from her! She belongs WITH me!" Jason lets out another growl towards Jack.
"Belong with you? What the hell does that m--"
Now he knows.
"Emma . . . is your mate?" I can tell Jack's voice has softened as he says this.
Jason wraps his arm around my waist and pull me closer to him. Damn he smells good.
"Yes!"
"Emma. Is this true?" I turn my head to the right not wanting to admit it.
"Emma?" Jack says my name again.
Taking in a deep breath, though it's mixed with Jason's scent, I regain my composure.
"No."
I pull myself away from Jason and walk towards Sarah.
"Emma!" Jason tries to pull me back.
"I. Am. Not. Yours!" I poke my finger into his chest.
I turn back to Sarah. Her face is mortified by this entire scene. I grab her hand and our bags and head to the car. I've got to get out of here!
"Emma, wait!" I can hear Jason following me, but I ignore him.
I make it to the back of my car and open the trunk to put the bags in. I can feel Jason standing next to me.
"Emma."
"Stay away from me Jason." I keep my eyes down. I know if I look at him, I won't be able to move.
"Emma, please. You have to let me explain."
He lightly touches my arm. His voice sounds so sincere.
No!
"Explain what Jason?" I pull my arm away.
"Explain to me about your criminal record. Or how you fought with Jack in front of my daughter!"
I slam the trunk close and pick up Sarah. I walk around Jason to the passenger door.
"Daughter?" Jason turns his body to face me, but I don't respond.
"Mommy?"
I place Sarah in her booster seat. I wish she hadn't seen any of this.
"It's okay." I smile at her as I kiss her forehead.
After buckling her in, I shut the door and go to the driver's door. I'm surprised by Jason's presence in front of me, but I don't flinch.
"You have a daughter?" I give him a dirty look and open the car door.
He moves around me and shuts it.
"Emma, answer me." Jason tries to use his alpha voice, but that only makes me angrier.
"What for?" I try to open the door, but he keeps a tight grip on the handle.
"How do you have a daughter?" We both get caught in each other's eyes.
How can two beautiful blue-green eyes belong to a man like Jason Lune.
As Jason stares into my eyes, I feel my anger starting to slip away.
"Sarah lost her parents a few weeks ago when I found her. I saved her from three men who wanted to hurt her. I couldn't leave her there, so I took her in as my daughter."
His eyes begin to soften when he hears this.
"Not that it's any of your business!" I snap at him. It's difficult staying angry at him, but I have too.
I yank his hand off the handle and open the door to get in.
"It is my business."
I stop and face Jason. What did he just say?
"I know she is important to you, Emma. So she's important to me too."
What?
Once again, Jason has put me into a frozen stance. Did he really just say that?
He steps forward, pulling me away from the car and closer to him. I can feel eyes watching us, but I don't seem to care at the moment.
He places his hand on my cheek. Our faces are only inches away. I feel his breath hitting my lips. I can't pull away. My eyes are so deep into his.
It looks like he's about to kiss me, but slowly whispers.
"You are important to me, Emma." He looks at my lips.
He moves in closer to me. My heart is beating rapidly and I can feel his heart as well. I close my eyes as I wait for his lips to press against mine.
"Mommy?"
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So I decided to bold Jason's dialogue when they speak through telepathy.