Fighting Fate (Moonlight Trials Series #2)

Chapter 25 – Decisions

Chapter 25 – Decisions



Jaspers POV

Three weeks went by with Ivy still being strange. She was avoiding me at school except for when we had to talk. I could see she was constantly holding back though, and her heartbeat quickened when she saw me. I had tried talking to her, being friendly and eventually flirty. I had elicited a few smiles and a lot of giggling from her group of friends. However, she still wasn’t really talking to me.

Annoyed, this morning I decided that I needed to go for a run before school. I needed to let off some steam. I ran and ran through the woods as fast as I could, feeling the cool spring air trailing across my face. The sun was still fairly low in the sky, so I knew I had time to walk around a little before heading back to the house. I walked on the edge of the forest towards Frank’s café wondering if I should call for a coffee. I always kept a stash of clothes hidden in a tree near there, just in case, so I could head straight for the bus.

Suddenly, I heard something to my right. It wasn’t the usual sounds of the forest. It wasn’t a person’s boot, or a rabbit or bird. This sounded like a larger animal. My hair stood on end at the possibility there was another wolf or something worse. I smelled and knew it wasn’t Tracker, but the scent did seem familiar, and it was definitely a wolf. I walked towards the wolf, silently.

Onyx? Any ideas?

I recognise her scent but its really weak. I don’t think it’s a pack member though…

The wolf was fairly small compared to me or Tracker, so definitely a female, as Onyx thought. It was grey, except for a blue mark at the end of its tail. Its eyes were also a cool grey blue. I stalked closer, and it didn’t notice me, walking calm and collected towards Frank’s, until I growled. It turned to me and started… wagging its tail. This threw me for a loop, tail wags meant they were happy or playful. Did this wolf know me? I sniffed deeper this time and realised I did recognise the scent, although the berry smell was less potent in her wolf form. Karma.

Sighing I tilted my head for her to follow me. Why was she here without Tracker? He was clearly ok as she wasn’t acting worried. Maybe she had just come for a run too? I lead her towards Franks. I wondered if she wanted to grab a coffee, after all I probably should get to know her with Tracker being my best friend. I signaled for her to stop as we couldn’t communicate by mind link. Even though myself and Tracker could do it, there was no bond between Karma and me, so it wouldn’t work, it would only hurt.

I ran to the cafe, knowing Ivy usually left spare clothes here and headed to the back door. Yes! It was open as always and Ruby was serving a customer. Perfect! I ran into the staff room and grabbed a black dress and sneaker in my mouth then ran back out of the café, making sure no one saw me. I dropped the dress and sneakers by Karma’s feet then without waiting for her I ran to grab my duffel bag from near the bins. I would often hide it behind them as they were large and metal and no one would move them. I came every Thursday evening to move the bag before the bins were emptied.

I ran back to the treeline but far enough away from Karma that she wouldn’t see me and I wouldn’t see her change. I got dressed into my usual attire, I could always hang around with Karma until the school bus arrived in a few hours. The only problem would be that I didn’t get home as a wolf before Ivy went to school, she might worry or become suspicious again. Sighing I grabbed the leather jacket I had borrowed from Tracker a few months ago and never returned. Karma could return it for me. I gave her a few extra minutes to ensure she would at least have the dress on. I found her tying up the laces on the sneakers and dropped the leather jacket over her shoulders, knowing she must be cold.

“I owe that to Tracker anyways, so it’s all yours now.” Karma looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

“Wow, you’re different than what I expected. Nice to finally meet you, Jasper.” I furrowed my brows at her. What did she expect? She saw how Tracker dressed and lived and we were best friends, we were likely to have things in common, even if we weren’t exactly the same. She chuckled explaining that she thought as I was with Ivy that her gentleness would have rubbed off on me. AS we walked to the café I chuckled and explained mine and Ivy’s relationship.

She seemed shocked that we weren’t together in real life or even friends for that matter. I explained a few things, not filling her in on the full details but she asked If I loved her. I thought about it for a second before answering that I definitely did but we weren’t mates. When I explained the mate sparks her face seemed in awe. Something I hadn’t expected.

“How much has Tracker told you about our… situation?” She asked as we started walking towards the café, slowly. I told her what he had said, and she nodded her head and began filling me in on the situation.

Karma had fallen in love with Chase because she grew up with him and they were extremely close, she had always hoped they would be fated mates. When he turned 18, he scented her out and recognised her as his fated mate. The problem was that even though Karma was under 18 she didn’t feel the pull even a little bit. Which wasn’t uncommon for underage wolves but their counterpart usually let something. However, she did feel the pull to Tracker when she met him before she was 18, even though she didn’t want to. She told me how she did feel the mate sparks, to Chase though for a full year when she decided she would reject Tracker for Chase, they just weren’t as extreme as with Tracker, so she was happy she could be with Chase. Her wolf recognised both as mates, but when it really came to crunch time, on her 18th birthday, her wolf was drawn to Tracker and Chase had turned her away for her true mate. She then went on to explain that she had been having dreams about the moon goddess helping guide her towards who she assumed was Tracker, but her heart couldn’t fully accept him.

“Maybe there’s more going off than we know.” I said, as she finished talking. She was a little deep in thought as I spoke. “But it helps some with me and Ivy. It gives me hope that maybe if we aren’t true mates, we could at least move forward with just us, especially because she’s human.”

And it really did give me hope. Maybe what I was feeling with Ivy was what Karma was feeling with Chase. We had become extremely close over the last 11 years and maybe the mate bond had developed instead of being forced upon us by the moon goddess. Maybe I could reject my original mate. Karma had told me how she tried but finding out that Tracker actually knew her before hand and that he had been falling in love with her for years made it hard for him to accept the rejection. My mate didn’t know me, and I hadn’t grown up around wolves so there was no danger of that. Could I just choose Ivy and live with her as my mate?

“CRAP! Tracker…” Karma suddenly shouted, getting nearly everyone’s attention. “Do you have a phone?” I nodded and handed her my mobile phone, almost in shock that she could be that loud. She spoke to Tracker for a while, explaining where she was and asking him if he wanted to join us. By the smile on her face, I assumed he said yes, and I smiled at how much she did seem to like Tracker, even if she also loved this, Chase.

We drank our coffees and spoke about a few things related to wolves and her childhood and how I would move forward with Ivy before Tracker pulled up on his bike. The way they looked at each other did seem like love and I heard Onyx whine a little in the back of my head. It looked nice to have a mate, they seemed unbreakable, in love and made for eachother. They didn’t break eye contact for a second.

“Eurgh!” I interrupted. “Right, I’m headed to school, so I don’t have to burn out my eyeballs. Thanks for the chat and fill me in when you find out anything else. See you later guys!”

I let the building, waving at a bewildered Tracker and laughed. It was nice to see him so mellow and happy. But it only made me worry. Having a mate seemed like an amazing opportunity and Onyx defiantly wanted a mate. However, I could also understand Karma’s worry and feelings. I loved Ivy, I never wanted to leave her. If I found my mate, would I be strong enough to resist the pull to her? Would I choose Ivy as Karma had tried to do with Chase? And if Ivy accepted me, would things be different for us than they were for Karma.

I really needed to up my game. I needed to talk to Ivy, move forward with her and admit my feelings. I would then touch her properly, see if the sparks were there, fated or chosen, as Karma had called them. Either way, I would then tell her what I really was and, given she accepted me and forgave me for years of secrets, I would run away with her to wherever she wanted to go. I headed to the school bus and got on, smiling hugely at Ivy as I headed for my usual back seat.