The Mate He Couldn’t Control (complete)

Chapter 10

Over the course of a week, I fully forgave Jaylon, even though I hadn’t seen him at all. His flowers were the last I have ‘heard’ from him. I’ve been to the packhouse every other day to spend time with everyone, but he was never out of his, or Loren’s room. No one was sure where he was either. Bridget was the same way. I tried going to her room and her parents house but she’d never be there at the time I’d show up. She refused any mind link from me. I even tried to apologize to Loren since I was entertaining her boyfriend. I didn’t do it knowingly, but still, I’m sure it hurt. Although, Jaylon and Bridget slept together ‘occasionally’ according to him so I wonder if Loren knew that. Either way, I tried to mind link Loren, but according to Nick she was never actually admitted to the pack so she wouldn’t be in the link until she found her mate.

Ultimately, I decided that I wouldn’t be able to find Bridget until she wanted to be found which bummed me out. She’s my cousin, my family. I shouldn’t have let Jaylon anywhere near me without talking to her first, regardless of a magical mate bond. That was an avoidable mistake that I shouldn’t have overlooked.

I headed downstairs to go on a nice human run. I haven’t done that since I met Nick, but between everyone around me being werewolves and my daily morning dates with magic, I decided I needed some human moments. As I was pulling my curls into a messy bun on the last step, I was surprised to see my family sitting at the breakfast table waiting patiently. My whole family, aside from Jaylon (yes, I still feel he should be included).

I sat down beside Bentley and smiled warmly at Bridget who sat across from me with the same irritated face she left with last week. I could understand the pain she was in. Bridget thought Jaylon would be hers and here I am taking something else from her. “Seriously, you're still ignoring her, Bridget?” Dalton asked, breaking the silence.

“Seriously, you’re still taking her side, Dalton?” she shot back, mockingly.

“She didn’t do anything to you! she isn’t even with him! He is literally with Loren all day, every day! If you would like someone to be mad at, may I suggest her?”

“No, you may not.”

“Dalton it’s fine,” I tried to calm the situation.

“No it’s not!”

“Literally no one is talking to you Alison!” Bridget yelled.

“That’s it!” my aunt said from the bottom of the table. “You three are going to spend the night camping on the island! That way you have no choice but to get along!”

“But I wasn’t arguing?” I shot back.

“No you didn’t honey, but you're the whole reason this is even an argument,” my mother added in.

“For always getting everything handed to you!” Bridget yelled.

“You can have Jalon! I don’t care! I have been worried about you, not him!”

“Then why don’t you reject him!”

“I’ve been waiting!”

“Yeah, for him to come back and you to get your way!”

“BRIDGET!” my aunt screamed and the table fell silent. I fought off tears as I came to the realization that she may never forgive me. I didn’t want to upset my nephews, so I focused on the pancakes that they decorated with whipped cream and fruit for me. I smiled down at how sweet they were. They were my favorite. At least my babies don’t hate me.

My glimpse of happiness was ruined when Bridget shot up arguing about how they couldn’t make her do anything. At that, my aunt shot her a look that I’m guessing came with a mind link because she sat back down irritated. I guess I wasn’t going to be enjoying my jog.

Later that afternoon, an hour before sunset, I changed my clothes into something that would get me through the night. I observed in the mirror as usual. It was weird, I was more toned, but what I didn’t expect was how big my hips would get. Over the past week they’ve grown excessively because of my shifting, and hopefully don’t anymore. Yeah, I loved my new curves, but I was having trouble fitting into most of my jeans and shorts. The problem though is that I can’t find the time to go shopping because it will take hours to try on everything.

We do have a boat specifically for when we visit the island, that’s it’s only purpose. We used to come here a lot as kids to play but they’ve never trapped me on it overnight. I met my dad at the boat and he helped me on. I sat in the chair beside him as he started it and headed for my aunt and uncle's house. “Every time we got into an argument, your grandmother would zap us to the island. The last few times it happened we didn’t even know she had heard, we just popped up there,” he started, laughing to himself. “You know, being able to have these amazing abilities is quite fun and you truly are never bored, but they do come with lots of pain and responsibility.”

“Like what?”

“Supernatural beings tend to be cursed and blessed in a way. Our emotions are so strong that they consume us. Now in some cases, this is good, like when we are happy or in love. But, when we're in pain or mad, it's extremely difficult to reason with ourselves. That’s why everyone is worried about you. We aren’t sure if you truly are okay, or if you're on the verge of breaking.”

“Dad, I truly am okay. I cannot play the victim. I hurt my cousin and then her friend. The only pain I feel is for them.”

“I know you say that and think that, but have you physically seen them together yet?” he asked, knowing the answer. I stayed silent in thought, worried about what would happen when I did. Will I be as reasonable?

We picked up my cousins and then my dad dropped us off on the island. None of us talked as we walked around looking for a place to stay. I walked back to the shore when I thought of how annoying the nats would be in the trees. We put down our bags and Dalton tried to make a fire so that we wouldn’t have to worry about the night breezes. He grew irritated since nothing would budge. Growing irritated myself, I mumbled, Incendio, and he jumped back at the blazing flames. I smirked to myself before going off and exploring the island. I hadn’t been here since I was little. We used to have “camp outs” here. It never lasted though, the second Jaylon or Dalton would tell a story Bridget would cry and make our parents come get us. Pretty entertaining though.

I was walking past the beautiful nature when I heard it. It was like multiple little voices whispering. Just like Nick had described. My eyes sharpened on the moving ground a few feet away. Carpe Retractum. Two books came flying out from the ground and landed in my hands. I opened one of them to see that this was the second set of books. She was revealing them to me in order.

I heard a branch snap behind me and quickly used a spell to send them to my bedroom. Just as they disappeared Dalton walked up beside me. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing, I thought I saw a bird over there,” I lied. The only person who had the slightest idea of what I was up to was Nick and he didn’t even know that I was practicing.

“Well, what are we supposed to do for the rest of the day? I talked to Bridget, she isn’t budging,” he replied, following me to the top of a little hill on the island.

“Bridget will be fine until we get back. What’s she gonna do? Swim to the packhouse?” I questioned as we made it to the top and I sat on a huge rock. I sighed with a feeling of accomplishment as I looked at the masterpiece in front of me. The huge mountains surrounding us and the sunset that was reflecting in the clear lake water below. It looked like a painting. This was one of the moments that made you rethink your whole life and its purpose. You see the beauty at the top of the hill and it makes you strive to get there. This made me think of Dimitry and our sunrise or sunset hikes, whichever we had time for. He always told me that nature had a way of healing and guiding us. Sometimes I thought he was just weird, but at times like this, I truly understood what he was saying.

I looked at Dalton who was equally mesmerized by the view. “It’s the same view everywhere you go, but I guess where your sitting makes the difference.”

“Exactly,” I replied, smiling to myself. I heard footsteps starting in our direction from the bottom of the hill. I knew she would come around.

Bridget came and sat behind us on the rock, giving up on the argument. “What are we supposed to do?” she whined, putting her chin on our shoulders.

“Well, Dalton can tell stories again,” I joked, getting my arm slapped by Bridget. I will never let that go.

After we watched the sunset, we decided to head back, so we were sitting by the fire, staring into the flames. Bridget was going off about how Jaylon was a jackass and that I shouldn’t pay attention to him or Loren, who is her best friend, I might add. The irony of all this is that the whole time Jaylon was dating her, they were friends and Bridget and Jaylon would hook up when they were at Dalton’s house. Along the time that Jaylon was dating and flirting with both of them, he had s*x with my best friend, yes I was obsessed with him up to that point, but I didn’t know everyone else had claims on him. Then I ended up being his mate. Jaylon doesn’t have the time to flirt with Bridget because he is never out of Loren's grip, but yet they both hate me? I was and still am the only one that was perfectly happy not being his mate. All I care about is seeing a smile on all of their faces.

“I get her parents are dead and all and that he doesn’t want to leave her, but wouldn’t you think they would have more of a sibling relationship instead of a relationship-relationship? What’s so special about her that he can just ignore a mate bond?” She went on.

“Love,” I cut in, focusing on the details of the flames.

I could feel the empathetic tension around me and I glared up at them. “You know it will get better, he physically won’t be able to ignore you,” Dalton said, giving me a reassuring look.

“But what if I could change it? What if I could talk to the moon goddess about it? Dalton, I don’t want someone to love me just because they are supposed to. There is someone out there that loves me on their own.”

“She wouldn’t change it, she made her decision for a reason, time will tell why. Maybe, with Loren, Jaylon wouldn’t meet his full potential,” Dalton continued.

“Trust me, Alison, they are the most toxic couple ever, she controls everything he does, between her and his parents, why do you think he stayed with us so much? Also, they always cheat on each other. Always. Like she is jealous one day, so she will go have s*x with Nick or some other guy. Then, he will have s*x with another girl. Or four other girls. Sometimes all at once. . . Anyways, it's a daily occurrence.”

“Thanks. . . for the visual,” I mumbled, uncomfortable. “But, I don’t understand, his parents were so kind?”

“They usually aren’t and they're very hard, especially on him,” Dalton said.

“Then why are they nice to me?”

“Well, for starters you are the true Alphas daughter. Second, you're what they want him to be,” Dalton explained, making me feel bad. Parents are the ones that should love you know matter what. Support you no matter what.

“Ali?” Bridget started quietly. I looked at her before she continued. “Do you truly not care? It doesn’t hurt?”

“Well, I was very taken back. I was embarrassed. But then I was fine. I don’t feel anything, other than sympathy I guess. I hate that he was put with someone that was the complete opposite of what he wanted. I hate that they don’t get to live out their fantasy. I hate that he cheated on her with me and I participated. And lastly I hate that I hurt you,” I explained as tears filled Bridget’s eyes.

“I think that’s what I envy most about you. You care more about others than yourself. I guess that’s why you were chosen.”

“Well, I guess I won’t be Luna either way. When Jaylon and I reject each other, it’s up to him who takes my place.”

“When you reject each other?” Dalton questioned.

“Yeah, is that not what’s going to happen? We can reject each other and he can take Loren as his mate. I’ll either have another or I won’t. I honestly don’t care. I have just as much, if not more fun, alone. At the end of it all, all I care about is seeing a smile on all of your faces.” Dalton looked at me confused. I didn’t understand why this was such a hard concept. Why wouldn’t we reject each other?

When a different conversation was struck, I tried to listen to them as much as possible, but I could hear something in the water a mile behind us. My head snapped in that direction and I was gone in a second. I went full speed through the trees and stopped at the edge of the water.

I was surprised to see two boys from the pack whose names I haven’t learned yet walk out of the water. They had a cable in their hands and I looked at them confused before one of them started climbing a tree beside me. “We have come to rescue you from boredom, my lady,” he said, with a big smile across his face.

I smiled at them as I realized what they were doing. Werewolves will do anything to have a party. Once the other one motioned that the zipline was intact, people started ziplining down to the island and others rode in boats, some even swam. I'm guessing we have sparked a new idea for them.

I turned around to find that Bridget and Dalton had just caught up with me. Dalton’s mate stepped off of a boat and greeted him with a big hug. “I couldn’t go all night without you!” she protested, which made me realize that this was all her idea. The smile on his face melted my heart, his mate was by far the love of his life. I hope Bridget’s mate loves her like they’re supposed to, if she gets a hoe I will kill his ass. “Ali! Oh honey I haven’t seen you!” she continued, bringing me into a hug. I’m surprised she’s being nice to me, seeing as though I broke her best friend’s hearts, but I know Dalton like the back of my hand. The moon goddess would never pair him with someone other than an angel.

“Hi!” I beamed shyly.

“I’m so sorry about your situation! I understand on a certain level what you're going through. I promise things will look up!”

“I know they will. One way or the other,” I smiled at her as she turned back to Dalton. She was the light of his life and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy for a couple in my life.

My attention was drawn away from the affectionate couple when Bridget started talking in the fakest voice I have ever heard in my life. “Loren! I haven’t seen you all week!” I quickly glanced at the couple walking in front of me. Loren was complaining about the water and Jaylon was mumbling about someone being an i***t. What a lovely couple. I smiled at them, which earned me eyerolls.

I looked behind them at Ethan’s half-drunk ass almost falling off the zipline and into the water. My whole face lit up at the sight. The rest of my friends followed after them and brushed by the couple without a second thought. “Come on, we have a fire about a mile back this way,” I said, pointing back.

I grabbed Ethan’s hand and we started running to beat everyone else there. Jacob caught up to us and lifted me, hanging me over his back as I protested. “That’s what you get for not inviting us,” Julia and Penelope laughed behind us as I let out a giggle.

Jacob put me down beside him at the fire and Benny and Seth carried two tables over. Nick was carrying one of the ice coolers. Other people brought other things like more ice coolers, drinks, and music.

“Ali, do you want me to get you something to drink?” Penelope asked, backing away to the drink table. I don’t know. . .

“Look, there’s no but’s tonight,” Benny pressed.

“Oh, so I don’t have a choice? Are you peer pressuring me?” I questioned jokingly.

“Oh come on! It’s just a little experiment! We just wanna know how long it takes those Alpha veins to get drunk,” Seth smirked

“Hmm. . . well if it’s for learning purposes I guess so. Surprise me.”

“THE Alison King is actually going to drink? Oh my, I am witnessing a truly life-changing event,” Jacob joked, as overdramatic as possible. They all joined in with the mocking. What have I gotten myself into?

“Ali, I need your help for a second,” Dalton came over, giving me an uncomfortable expression.

“I’ll be right back,” I smiled back at my friends, immediately following him over to the group of now unfriendly faces.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jaylon scolded me the second my feet came to a stop.

“Spending time with people that want my attention,” I replied, giving him a ‘duh’ expression.

“No one wants a sloppy drunk for a Luna! You need to get it together!”

“You know, you are a very confusing man,” I mumbled, keeping my smile so that it didn’t seem bitchy. It is true though, nothing he says matches what he says or does later.

“ALISON!”

“Yeah, okay, I got it!” I mumbled, turning and walking back to my friends. Dalton and Bridget were giving me apologetic looks though. I’m not sure why since Jaylon has always been stern with me. I should never have too much fun or else I’m annoying or over dramatic. It’s just how he is with me. It’s our little ‘relationship’.

“What was that about?” Nick complained.

“None of your business,” I joked.

“Yeah, I’m the one not minding my own business. Sure.”

“Nicky?” I questioned, raising my eyebrows at him.

“I’m sorry, I just hate watching him hurt you!”

“Who me? He’s not hurting me. Do you not see my smiles? I’m not the one that’s hurt Nick. You don’t have to protect me. Now let’s enjoy the night!”

After two hours of drinks and gossip, the fire was burning me up in my hoodie, so I took it off and left it in a random place on the ground. Julia and Penelope were drunk and since the boys had pregamed, they were very drunk.

“You guys, I don’t care who’s f*****g who, let's just go swimming! Look, we can swing on one of the old ropes,” I said, pointing to the tree beside us on a small hill above the shore of the lake.

“YES!” Benny shot up heading for the rope. I watched as the idiots started to take turns falling into the water. Well, that was easier than I thought. I grabbed onto the rope and let go the second it was over the water. When I hit the cool water I instantly felt better from the heat of the fire. I swam around in the water for a moment before I stopped and stood up to look at how beautiful the moonlight looked shining above us.

I heard water moving beside me and looked to my right to see Nick. “Is everything okay?” he asked gently, he almost sounded sober.

“Yes, I’m just looking at how beautiful the moon is, this all looks like it's from a movie or something. It's crazy to believe that this is my life,” I replied, looking back at the crowd of happy teenagers behind me.

“I love looking at the world through your eyes. You see everything through love and deep thought. It’s not very common for our age group.”

“Maybe I’m just an old soul,” I replied, before we headed back to shore. I looked around boredly as I came to the realization that everyone was gossiping, on the verge of having s*x, or leaving to do it. I think Loren and Jaylon were the worst. Every time I saw them they were with a different person. Wow. I thought these parties were supposed to be fun. So, I randomly declared for no one to let Jacob catch them and started running into the woods as everyone else spread out doing the same. I was gonna make Bridget it in our massive game of tag, or hide and seek, whatever this turned out to be, but I just got her out of her bad mood and didn’t want to be her first target. I made it to the other side of the island and no one was over there yet. After a few minutes, I heard a branch snap and twisted my head to look in that direction, only for me to be pushed against a tree and a hand to go over my mouth. I was about to send their ass flying, but then I realized it was Jaylon. He held a finger over his lips and removed his hand.

I looked up at him confused. He kissed me and I tried to push him away in protest, but he stayed where he was. I even mind linked him asking why he was doing this and demand that he stop, but no reply came. I ended up giving in and kissing back, hating myself for it in the process. He wrapped his arms around my waist and started kissing up my jawline. I wasn’t in the mood to fight and it felt good. He slowed as he started kissing down my neck and then sucked on one spot. I came out of my trance when he put his hand over my mouth and bit down on my neck as I fought off a scream and tried to push him away. He took out his teeth, kissed the spot gently, and left. Damn it Alison!

I could feel blood trailing down my neck as someone came nearby, I turned to see Jacob walking up slowly. I stood confused as he came up with an evil grin, but it dropped when his eyes went down to my neck. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, just confused,” I mumbled before perking up fakely and clearing my throat. “So, is it tag or hide-and-seek?”

“Hide-and-seek, that means you have to come with me to find everyone else,” he replied slowly. It was his way of keeping an eye on me and honestly, it made me feel better. I was so confused. I didn’t understand what just happened. I didn’t understand why it just happened. I don’t understand why I didn’t scream or push harder. I literally just got Bridget to like me again and here I am making out with him. I guess I’m not loyal, no matter how hard I try.

We found people one by one, sometimes in two’s, unfortunately. They didn’t have to tag along though, Jacob told them they had to wait by the fire. Loren for some reason decided to voluntarily leave her hiding place. She wanted to walk with us and I had no idea why, but once the game was over, it all became a blur.