Something So Unexpected

Chapter 18

Jillian’s POV

My phone buzzed. Stealing a glance at it, I saw Jamie’s name across the screen. I felt relief seeing her name. I knew where she was, but still couldn’t believe what I was being told. Supposedly she and I were werewolves? I took a breath before answering the phone.

“Hello?” I asked, waiting for a reply. Last time when I called her, it wasn’t Jamie on the other end, but her new love interest Aiden.

“Hey, Jilly Bean,” came Jamie from the other end. I involuntarily smiled at her nickname for me. “We need to talk, I hate how we left things,” she continued. I hated how we left things too, but I didn’t know where to go from here.

“Me too… I’m sorry I stormed out like that. It was too much to take at one time,” I explained, hoping that made sense. Jamie always understood me. Must be that twin thing everyone talks about.

“I get it. I was freaking out too,” she sympathized. But then I thought of her seemingly calm demeanor with Aiden, and the look that she gave him. She wasn’t scared of him at all. Who the hell meets someone, finds out they’re a werewolf, and isn’t freaked out? In fact, they looked at each other softly and I felt like a third wheel in the hospital room.

“I didn’t see you freaking out, Jamie. In fact, I saw you quite comfortable next to your new boyfriend!” I spat.

After Jason left me, it broke me. I have not even been out on a date since. Some might say that I’m bitter to the whole romance thing after heartbreak. Jason and I had dated for years. Loving him felt so right, until he left me when I got pregnant. The fucker even went on to accuse me of cheating on him. He knew damn well I’d never been with anyone else, but that was what he told me right before he rejected me, rejected us. He left me and Bella to fend for ourselves, and it broke me. I thought I was going to die from the pain I felt in my heart, but I knew I had to carry on for Bella.

“I uhh I am..” Jamie stammered a reply.

Jamie helped me get through that. Now that Jamie had the chance of happiness for herself, I would need to work harder to be happy for her.

“Sorry, Jamie, I shouldn’t have said that. This is hard for me after my experience with Jason,” I said. I felt shitty that I was taking away her chances at happiness.

“It’s ok,” she said. “I actually had something to talk to you about.”

“Ok?” I said, unsure where this was going.

“I found us new living arrangements,” she said, clearly skimming over details.

“With Aiden?” I asked, trying but failing to hide my annoyance.

“Kind of. He wants me to work for him as his assistant, kind of. They call it the Luna. He is offering me a very generous salary, much more than the diner. He said we can live with him in the pack house, which is built kind of like a hotel, or we can get a cottage together on the property. Bella would really enjoy a back yard,” she said cheerfully. “Oh, and they also have a daycare onsite so it’d be convenient for Bella and the daycare is paid for by the pack. We don’t have to worry about extra expenses. It’ll help Bella get socialized!”

I could hear her excitement as she tried to sell me on this idea. “Socialized with… literal wolves?” I said, a bit incredulously.

“Well, if we’re wolves too…” Jamie started.

“How do you even know we’re wolves? Because he said so?” I asked, raising my voice slightly. I was more than a little frustrated at the fact that I was expected to take what he said at face value.

I think part of my frustration was that I didn’t really know him, but Jamie expected me to take insight from him without knowing his credentials. In college, before anyone speaks they announce the credentials of why you should listen to them and explain how they know more than you. This guy was more just placed in front of me expecting me to take orders and that’s not who I was.

What I wasn’t expecting, though, was Jamie’s response. “Because I can feel it, Jilly Bean. It feels right. I had heard some thoughts from my wolf before, but it wasn’t till he was hurt that she unleashed something truly releasing herself from whatever was suppressing her. She still seems a little weak, but Aiden wants to work on fixing this.”

I never had a voice like that. Maybe it was because I never found my mate or whatever they have or maybe I don’t have one. Who knows.

“And how does he want to fix it exactly?” I asked, still skeptical about this werewolf business and how willing a stranger was to help two damsels in distress, especially because we were doing just fine on our own.

“Well moving here, being part of the community. Apparently, a bunch of the kids here actually go to Blackthorne Elementary. It can help you feel closer to your community and your students.” Man, she was really selling it.

“And what if I say no?” I felt like she was trapping me. If there was one thing Jamie and I liked, it was our freedom.

“That is your prerogative. You can choose to say no obviously, but Jillian, I honestly feel like this is the right move for us. If you choose not to, or even not yet, that’s okay. I can still pay my portion of the rent, but I want to stay here, for now at least,” she said. I could hear in her voice the sincerity that she believed this was the right choice.

“Okay, we’ll see how this goes. I’m not saying yes and I’m going to keep the apartment for now. By the way, did you forget about Open House on Monday?” I asked. Jamie was my go to sitter and I wanted to make sure her new job didn’t interfere with taking care of Bella.

“I remember. Don’t worry, I will make sure I can take her that night,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

With that, we chatted and hung up. Open house would be a late afternoon ordeal where I would meet the parents of my Kindergarteners. If werewolf kids went to my school, then there is a good chance I will meet more werewolves on Monday night. Great. I can’t wait, I thought with an eyeroll.