The Genius and The Prince

Chapter 8 – My Mate

Jackson – POV

She walks in the door holding his hand. His HAND! Why him? Why did it have to be him, again? He was my best friend; he was to be my Beta. I was already the cause of so much pain to him before, and now will he understand?

Cass was using him to get to me. And I didn’t believe him and said he was just jealous. Now I know he was right the whole time. She doesn’t love me; she loves power and money. I can already tell Emily is different. She stands there looking at me and I can see the hurt in her eyes. She didn’t know that I only had s*x once with Cass and never did it again because it felt wrong. It has been almost 2 and a half years since that happened, and I didn’t have the courage to tell her we were never going to be anything more than friends. All because I didn’t want to admit to my parents, they were right. I was stubborn, and a fool. Part of me thought love would come eventually, that once my parents accepted her, I could love her. They never did and could never accept her. Now I look at my mate and see why. She is beautiful, her dark auburn hair, her body is perfect, and her hazel eyes were sparkling when she walked in. That is until she looked at me. We stand frozen. I see her hand in his again and I let out a growl and then hear my father in my head.

‘That is not helping.’ He chastises me.

‘She’s been here less than 2 hours, and he has already moved in!’ I call back to him in our link. ‘She must know he’s not her mate!’ I tell him.

‘Yes, but you are not one to judge right now, after 3 years with someone who is not your mate, you live in a nice large glass house!’ He says to me. ‘Do not pick up any stones there boy.’ I swear if this man can use an old saying or analogy he will at any given moment. I just watch Lemon walk to them and talk about how tired Emily must be and excuses them from dinner. As they leave, I see Braxton touch her again and let out another growl and I feel my dad smack my arm. As Braxton asks what my problem is. I just shake my head and watch them walk out. I sit back down and put my elbows on my knees and hold my head. How am I going to fix this?

“Son?” My dad says as he puts a hand on my back. I look up and see Richard looking down at me and then next to him is Lemon. Her arms are crossed, and she is quite angry.

“I guess it is safe to assume you learned your lesson in patience?” Lemon said. I just nod. “And now you are going to break my son again?” She says as she glares at me. “Dammit Jackson!” She says as she walks out of the room and into their kitchen telling to cooks to box up 2 plates of food. Is she going to let me take it to her?

“Listen Jackson, Emily is a great girl. I brought her here because I was hoping she would be Braxton’s mate.” Richard told me. “I am not going to lie and say I am not disappointed, because right now, I am trying to figure out how to make sure she isn’t hurt by you.” I can hear the anger in his voice. Lemon comes back in and nods.

“I know. I have known for a while that Braxton was right, and I was too stubborn to admit it.” I said, looking at both of them. “I was wrong, and I lost my best friend. He was the one that I needed the most. He always kept me grounded. I miss him more than anyone knows.” I tell them.

Lemon nods, “Serves you right. You wouldn’t listen to any of us!” She is still standing with her arms crossed over her yellow sleeveless top, with her crisp white pants. She always looked like a summer day. “Are you sure Emi is your mate?” I just nod.

“I knew it when we stopped at her pack and met her father. It was her scent. Axel told me it was my mates.” I said, holding my head again. I look up at them. “I will do anything to make this right. I had already decided before I got out of the car at her pack that I was going to break everything off with Cassandra. I told her on the phone that when I got back home, we had to talk.” I explained to them.

“Well, at least you realized you needed to take out the trash finally,” Lemon said as she paced. "Braxton doesn’t know y’all are mates. He thinks you are just jealous. I suggest you fix it with him first. He is coming back to get some food to take over there.” Lemon states. “Poor girl, on her birthday no less.”

“Can’t I take it to her?” I ask as she looks at me like I lost my mind.

“I don’t think so!” she scoffs. “You still have to tell Cassandra that you don’t want her. And pray she doesn’t come up with some scheme to keep you.” Lemon tells me like she used to reprimand me when we were kids. I hear the door open and see Braxton walking in again. We all stand up as he walks in.

“How is she?” Lemon says. Braxton is glaring daggers at me.

“She is okay, I guess. What the hell Jackson? What did she ever do to you?” Braxton comes to stand in front of me with his arms folded in front of him. I think he learned that from his mother.

“She’s my mate!” I tell him. He looks like he has been punched in the stomach.

“You have got to be shitting me! Why YOU!” He backs away and shakes his head, putting his hands on either side of his head. He points at me, “You don’t get it, she is not Cassandra, she is sweet, kind, and pure. I will not let you have her.” He says as his dad comes and puts an arm around him.

“Braxton! Stop, he can’t control it any more than you can,” Richard says to him.

“Like hell I can,” Braxton says, looking from his dad to me. “I tried to warn you about Cass, and you didn’t listen. You thought I was jealous. Now I am jealous, she is better than Cass! She doesn’t care about status, she doesn’t care about money, and she wanted a mate that waited for her!” His anger is seeping out of him.

“I am sorry Braxton.” He stops and looks at me shocked.

“You never apologize,” He says astonished. “For anything, like ever. You never apologized even when we were kids, and you took toys.” He says looking at me with his eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

“Braxton, the worst thing I ever did was not listen to you.” I tell him looking in his eyes willing him to understand and listen. “You were and are still the best friend I ever had. I was frustrated with not having a mate. Cass was all over you and you kept telling her you were waiting, but she chipped away at you, and you let her in. Only to have her walk all over you and come to me. She told me so many lies. I was an i***t. I just wanted someone to love me, and I thought she did, but you’re right, she wants the money and power.” I tell him as I look down at the end.

“How do you know for sure?” he asks. “What if she does love you? Would you reject Emily?” He asks almost sounding hopeful.

Now I must admit what I knew would anger everyone and make me look like an even bigger i***t, but it had to be done. “I caught her with someone else.” I say going back to the couch and sitting down.

My father was first to respond. “When?”

“A year ago.” I tell him hanging my head.

“A year ago? And you kept her by your side!” My dad says in anger.

“I haven’t been that way with her in over 2 years. She said she had gone out and got drunk with her friends and it happened.” I explain.

“That’s a load of crap.” Braxton says. “You want the truth?” He asks coming to stand over me.

“I don’t know if it matters anymore. I had already planned on breaking it off tomorrow when we got back, but now I don’t want to leave here unless my mate is with me.” I tell him almost pleading.

“She won’t leave with you.” Braxton says as he walks to the omega that came in with a basket. I know it’s for Emily. “She is going to want you to prove that you’re not with Cassandra, and that you truly want to be with her.” He walks to the door and opens it. “I know more than anyone how manipulative Cassandra is, and can be, you need to get rid of her quickly, because if she hurts Emi, I swear to you I will kill her.” He says watching me as I nod. He starts to walk out, and I stop him.

“Wait Brax, do you think we, you and I, can be friends again?” I ask him as stops at the door.

“Jack, I never stopped being your friend,” He says with sincerity in his eyes. “Who do you think has been helping you with the paperwork that your dad gives you? Ian? He sends it to me, and I review it and tell him what to do. And who do you think sent you the message the morning you found Cass in bed with someone else? I have been watching her since I left. I know everything she did and has done. You probably don’t even know she was the one that moved that large sum of cash from your account? You thought it was what, identity theft?” He laughed a little. “And do you even know the number of times she’s been on your laptop? Or the fact she tried to submit a marriage license to the State of North Carolina for you and her?” He tells me all this and I am stunned. I just look at him and shake my head. “I have been blocking her for 3 years to help you cover all the crap she has done to you and your family. You want to know why?” I don’t need to know why; he is my brother and my best friend.

“Brax, I am so sorry. I will forever be in your debt.” I say as I walk to the door where I hold out my arm. He takes my forearm and I take his and we put our foreheads together, something we did as kids and continued to do till he left almost 3 years ago.

“I am your Beta.” He says with a smile. “I have to go take care of Emi.” He says with a small smile. “You know earlier we were in the park, and we had each spoken to our wolves and they both told us she would need me. And mine told me I needed to protect her. I think they knew she is my Queen, not my mate, but my best friend’s mate. I may not like helping you Jack, but I am going to because I know she is supposed to be with you. She is more like a sister to me, I want to protect her, and that is what I am going to do.” He says as he nods to me and walks out of the house.