The Alpha and the Omega

Chapter 17

Jayson’s POV

I have sent her picture to every pack in the United States. I would find her and I would drag her home. As soon as she was in my arms I would mark her. She would never leave me again.

I sent groups of wolves to each location. The bus was supposed to arrive but I was too far behind. There were too many people and her scent was not present anywhere.

How did I let this happen? I had never wanted a mate and now I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. To make it worse, Beau hasn’t talked to me since she disappeared.

I don’t blame him. I am pathetic. I hurt her because of my pride and, instead of telling her everything, I still kept her at arms-length. I couldn’t help it. I knew I was the reason her wolf was gone.

Milly had seen the box when she first came to the pack house. She lied and told me it was used the same way segregation is used now. She said it wasn’t as bad and that was why segregation was implemented.

I was so stupid to believe her. Had Beau not blocked me out for spending time with her, he could have corrected her lies. But again my stupid pride came into play. I thought putting her in the box would show my pack what happened when their Alpha was disrespected. I should have told them she was my mate and Luna. They would have understood if I had done nothing.

The ‘What If’s’ plague my mind. I just need to find her. Jaclyn, where are you?

Jaclyn’s POV

The next three weeks went by too fast. I took my driving test and passed on the first try. Maggie let me use her address since I didn’t have one to use.

We managed to find everything I needed for my dorm room on sale or second hand. During that time I managed to gain weight. Eating 3 meals a day and snacks will do that for a girl. But it was good weight. I had curves and I looked healthy. I am sure if my self-esteem was better I might say I was hot.

I had to purchase some new clothes and I swear every time Maggie went out she brought me home something new to wear.

Today was the day we would start traveling to South Dakota. I was excited and nervous. Maggie made a good point that if Jayson was looking for me he would be looking for a young girl traveling alone. With her help, I should be fine.

To drive straight there without stopping would take just over 13 hours but we had booked a hotel half way. I was super excited! I had never been to a hotel before. I know it seems silly, but there are a lot of little things I have never experienced.

We stayed in a super nice hotel. Again, I didn’t have a lot to compare it to, but it was nice for me. We had a nice dinner and headed to bed early. We still had a 6 hour drive and I wanted to get settled as soon as possible. Maggie had a hotel booked and would be staying for a couple of days before driving home. I didn’t like that she would be driving home herself, but when I tried to bring it up to her she would just tell me to hush.

During my stay with Maggie, I noticed she tried to call her son on multiple occasions and he was always busy. Not once during those three weeks did he make an attempt to call her. She brushed it off but it broke my heart. In a short time, she had become a mother figure to me. I couldn’t imagine how her own child didn’t see how amazingly lucky they are to have her.

Before I knew it, we were standing in front of the admissions office. I was excited and a little nervous at the same time. We were directed to another room and upon entering the room it looked like it had been ransacked.

“Come in and have a seat. I will be right with you.” Said a deep voice from behind the desk.

I hadn’t noticed he was sitting behind the desk because of the mess. Maggie and I made our way to the two chairs in front of his desk. I couldn’t help but stare. He was very handsome. He had very sharp features and was clean shaven. Black hair and the most amazing blue eyes I had ever seen. I felt like I could get lost in his eyes.

“First and last name?” He asked without looking up from his computer screen.

“Jaclyn Grey,” I said softly. It was almost as if I had lost the will to talk. I felt an instant attraction to this man. Not a mate attraction, but a primal attraction for sure.

He didn’t seem to notice. He just typed away on his computer. After a couple of minutes, he pushed his chair back and turned his back to us. The process only took a couple of minutes, but it felt like forever.

He turned back with some papers and a set of keys. “If you lose these keys there is a fee to have the locks changed. If you lock yourself out, I am the only one that can let you into your room. So don’t make a habit of locking yourself out. Sign these papers.”

I signed the papers and realized he had yet to even look at me.

He grabbed up the papers and set the key and another paper on the desk right in front of me. “This map will show you how to get to your room. You can start to move in right away. Then he placed a plastic card in front of me. You need to go down the hall, third door on the left, and they will get you a badge with your photo. Your meal plan is attached to your ID. Any questions?”

“Yes, If I happen to lock myself out of my room. How do I contact you? I don’t even know your name.” Out of nowhere my voice was back.

I felt like he was being very short to us and it’s rude to not introduce yourself.

He finally looked at me. When he did, it felt like he was burning a hole in my soul. His stare was extremely intense. “I am so sorry. My name is Liam Carter. My office number is listed on the map.”

“Thank you. It was nice to meet you.” I stood to leave.

“I am terribly sorry. I usually have an assistant to help me but she decided to quit 2 days ago and, well, she apparently hadn’t done any work for the past two weeks. So I am a little behind and I don’t even have time to try and find help.”

Before I could say anything, Maggie jumped in. “Well, if you are hiring, Jaclyn is looking for a job.”

“Really? I mean that would be great. You wouldn’t want to start right now? “

“She will.” Maggie responded without letting me say anything. “I will go get you both lunch and Jaclyn and run down and get her ID and meet you back here and start.”

She smiled at me and left the room. “I will be right back. As soon as I get my ID.”

It didn’t take long for the girl running the photos to hand me an ID and I was heading back to Liam.

“Where do you want me to start?” I asked as soon as I entered the room.

He stopped and looked at me. But this time it was different. His eyes traveled from my eyes down and back. I felt myself blush from the intensity of his gaze.

He quickly composed himself and started me on a pile of work. Maggie returned an hour later with food as promised and left again to go check into her hotel.

Before I knew it, Maggie was back and it was 4PM. “Thank you for the help today. Can you be here tomorrow at 8?”

“Sure.” Again I was at a loss for words. In fact, the entire 4 hours of working for Liam, we didn’t say anything except me asking what he wanted me to do next and him giving me directions. A couple of times he seemed surprised that I was asking for more work.

“Great! Just come right to my office. We will get your paper work filled out so I can make sure you get paid.”

“I will see you tomorrow.” With that I left the office with Maggie.

Maggie and I made our way to my dorm. Once parked in front of the building, we started to unpack her car. I left Maggie in my room to start unpacking and hurried down to the car a second time. My room was on the second floor and I didn’t want her having to go up and down the stairs.

Even losing Nova, I still maintained my wolf hearing, speed, smell, and strength. I opened the trunk and started to pull my mini refrigerator out.

“Hey, let me help you with that.”

I turned quickly to see Liam standing behind me. I didn’t mean to jump, but I wasn’t expecting him to be so close.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But I realized you spent your afternoon helping me when you should have been unpacking and getting settled. So if you will have me, I would love to help out.”

I smiled and nodded. With that, we went to work unpacking the rest of Maggies' car.