Beyond Fate

The truth is out

( Jasmine pov)

I could still hear the blissful sound of Carter wailing and ruining for his life just ahead of me along the long corridor. I chuckled to myself thinking about the look on his face when I had flashed him my cains had been priceless. Now the poor soul was running for his life giving me a very nice view of his firm backside. I hated to admit it but the guy did have a cute behind, I had to get one final look at it, after all it was about the only part of him that was impressive.

Ugh. I can’t believe I fell for the puppy dog look, it was pathetic yet with Carter surprisingly effective. To be honest I hadn’t thought much the first time we slept together, I found him in my bed all dazed and confused so I’d thought why not but afterwards like most men I hadn’t found myself wanting to go back for seconds, yet the next day when I had gone to deliver my usual ‘ last night was fun but only a one time thing’ speech he had given me the puppy dog eye and some story about how sad life was and somehow it had turned into a pity f**k that had included me inviting him to the wedding, even though I knew it was a bad idea. Alpha Felix had even expressed his disapproval personally to me. The kid was good. I'd give him that, what he lacked in the bedroom he made up for in his game of manipulation.

I wasn’t easily fooled with the opposite s*x either, that’s what had made Alisha’s revelation such a blow for me. I knew what men wanted from me and usually I wanted the same thing from them, I knew pack members looked down their noses at me for my lifestyle but their judgement had never bothered me before, they were all massive hypocrite’s as far as I was concerned because they never scalded the single males of our pack for sleeping around. My own father was included in that, he had always had female after female in his bed since my mother had passed away when I was ten, never once had he considered himself with how it made me feel having to see these women coming and going at all hours, I was pretty sure by this point there wasn’t a female in the pack he hadn’t had his way with, it was probably why he never had any male friends.

He would often lecture me about how I should act like a more respectful female yet it was acceptable for a male to live their life that way but a woman was considered a slut. our pack was backward and I had known for a long time I would refuse to bow down to what the pack deemed fit for me. I was my own person and no one was going to tell me how to live my life.

I had always believed there was no point getting serious with men when they weren't my mate, that wasn’t to say like any other girl I didn’t pine to find mine. I had all but given up at this point though, travelling around the world you would think that I would have found him by now but no such luck. So for now every other man would have to do.

However I wouldn’t be played by a man. There was no need with me and with Carter's little mind games it was all about him boosting his ego. Men like him enjoyed making powerful women revert back to being doting little servants, only caring about her man. It was a power play. But he was playing the wrong female.

As soon as Alisha confirmed it I decided to take sweet little Carter back to the room. He was surprisingly up for being tied to the bed. I'd even go as far as to say his facade had slipped slightly and he had seemed rather eager.

The funny thing about healers is that not many know we don’t just have the power to heal we also have the power to injure. I could break a bone with one touch as easily as I could mend it. When I had laid Carter out on the bed grinning like a little kid at Christmas I had circled him like a predictor, slowly, calculating but also biding my time thinking of what I was going to do to make him pay and maybe think twice about who he’s playing next time.

I started by dripping hot wax on him from one of the candles pretending to seduce him before I made my move, he was really into it, moaning like a moron while I was relaxing his muscles to the point where he was unable to control his bladder completely killing the moment and also humiliating him. I pretended to be shocked and then did the same with his tear ducts until he was a crying mess on the bed, begging to be untied. Then finally I had suggested to him that playing mind games with powerful women could be hazardous to his health especially if that powerful female has a bit of a beast in her too. As I said all this I extended my claws dragging them along his chest not enough to cause injury but enough to leave a little warning scratch that he wouldn’t be forgetting in a hurry.

After I had sufficiently frightened him I untied his wrists and feet, freeing him. He had gotten up from the bed staring wide eyed at me and I was sure he thought he had been dreaming so as a final farewell I told him if he didn’t behave he’d be seeing me in the future and had flashed my cains growling at him, it was then he had snapped out of it and run for the hills, not even bothering to pick up his clothes as he went.

I took my time walking down the stairs allowing poor Carter to make his escape. I planned on heading back to the party and drown my sorrows in a bottle of Jack and then maybe find myself another jack for the night.

I reached the bottom step and I could hear the faint cries of someone close by. I rounded the corner of the staircase to see a young girl sitting on the floor sobbing into her knees she clutched them to her chest like they were the only thing protecting her now. I couldn’t see her face but recognised the pink in her neat bun on top of her head. She was the girl who knew Carter, the one that had revealed the truth to Alisha about little Carter. I hadn’t been a hundred percent convinced by her sudden personality change as Alisha had, my girl always believed the best in people even when it wasn’t there I however was a bit more of a sceptic. The only reason I had been convinced by the Carter story was because moments after Alisha had mindlinked me Carter had pouted like a child to try and get me away from the male warriors we had been talking to. It had felt utterly patronising and in that moment I had seen Carter's character so clearly.

“ hey are you ok?” I asked, concerned, walking towards the girl squatting on the floor. I know I didn’t really know her but as a healer I had a natural instinct to stick my nose in when I saw people suffering. It was a problem when people didn’t want help but one of the things that made us great at what we do, healers were more intuitive with others' pain, I was sure we had powers of an empath as well because it was as if I could read peoples soul when they were in pain and this girl's soul was radiating something excruciating it was consuming her from the inside. What had happened to her?

She didn’t even look up when I sat down next to her, just continued to sob into her knees, she was so distraught her whole body was trembling.

“ married….didn’t…wait….me” she mumbled a few words through her sobs but I couldn’t make much sense of it all. I gently placed my hand on her back releasing my healing power in an attempt to help her, she flinched at first but then began to relax into my touch. Maybe if I could calm her enough she would be able to tell me who had hurt her. I couldn’t see any physical injuries which reassured me she hadn’t been attacked at least but something terrible had happened to this girl.

Moments later Alpha Mitchell came running round the corner in a daze. He was scanning the room when his eyes fell on us, no sooner had he caught sight of the girl he was on his knees in front of her.

Alpha what’s happened? She's practically catatonic. I asked through the mindlink, he didn’t look up from the girl trembling in front of him but he answered through his mindlink.

She just discovered Johnny is her mate. I couldn’t get over the shock, she was Johnny's mate. I cringed in my head at the thought of this poor girl having to discover her fated mate as he celebrated his marriage to another female. No wonder she was so distraught.

How is Johnny? Alpha Mitchell glanced down at the girl and then at me shaking his head, letting me know that Johnny wasn’t in much better shape. Why did the goddess insist on hurting my friend and her family? They must all be as heartbroken as Johnny was. None of them had wanted this marriage in the first place and now this. Why was fate so cruel?

“Let me take care of her sir, I will take her home so she is safe” alpha Mitchell nodded handing the girl off to me I wrapped my arms around her tiny frame with ease as she clung to me for life I kept releasing my power through my palms to try and ease her suffering but it did little to help I was sure. Alpha Mitchell took out a set of car keys from his pocket and handed them to me taking one last glance at the weeping woman in my arms. He nodded in gratitude before moving back towards the main ballroom.

I had to get the girl home, I wasn’t lying when I said ‘ safe’ I knew Johnny's mate wasn’t safe here especially not if everyone knew she was his mate the pack bitches and Bridezilla would soon descend on her.

Tammy and Kelly were notorious in our pack, if they wanted something they got it, No matter who they had to take down in the process.

We all knew Tammy becoming pregnant the second she started fooling around with Johnny was no accident. she hadn’t even tried to deny trapping him on purpose either. she took too much pleasure in seeing the look of devastation on a person's face, it was never enough to take from someone with those girls they had to destroy the person completely. It wouldn’t have taken long for her and her minions to come and find Johnny's mate to stick the knife in deeper, they were probably just distracted by the scene in the other room at the moment, those girls got off on all the chaos especially if they had caused it and I was not having this innocent girl getting caught up in the crossfire just because Johnny had been stupid and couldn’t keep it in his pants, I was sure he was suffering for it now.

We head for the doors and are almost outside when we hear the most powerful roar. I felt my entire body halt and my head dipped instinctively at the sound of my alpha. This wasn’t good, things were getting crazy in there. I held onto the door frame and noticed it was trembling as well or was that me. Either way I had to get out of here. I worried about leaving Alisha alone but she wasn’t as weak as everyone thought, plus she had her big brooding Alpha to keep her safe. I smiled inwardly.

Sure I had been disappointed because I wanted to jump his bones and I wasn’t the type to act all shy about it. When I wanted a guy he knew about it and yes I had wanted alpha Mitchell. He was hot as hell even for an alpha. Every female in the pack wanted to jump on that, even the mated ones. I’d caught Katey, Colton’s mate checking our new alpha out more than once.

However It had been blatantly obvious early on that alpha Mitchell was besotted with my girl and why not Alisha was beautiful inside and out. She deserved to find some happiness in life. I hated this pack for the way they had treated her over the years. I had often thought about finishing my training early and coming home to fight her corner, every time I heard from her she seemed to have sunken lower into the hole this pack had been trying to throw her into.

When I had gone to her in the gym the other day I had finally seen a glimpse of the strong she wolf I had known as a child and I knew alpha Mitchell had been a part of that change in her. I was still concerned about the phone message she had received revealing the threat on her life and her ex Lucas seemingly unbothered by it. Who had sent it and why? Lucas was already gone so it couldn’t have been to spit them up, maybe it was to warn her about the threat, was it still out there though. So many secrets seemed to be in every corner of this pack the more closely you looked and I had the distinct feeling it was all coming to a head but I worried Alisha would be caught up in the middle.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the girl flung herself out of my hold and at one of the tables still heavily decorated from the wedding out on the patio, several bottles of champagne had been left out here. She grabbed the one already open and downed the lot before I could stop her. Then she opened another and cheered sarcastically at the pop sound.

“ That's not going to help huni” I sighed heavily, reaching for the bottle but she pulled it away. Ah who cared if anyone deserved to drown their sorrows it was this girl.

“ it’s Meg and I wasn’t asking you, I’m celebrating a life of freedom….never will I have to answer to any male…..woohoo” she cheered unconvincingly, her face immediately dropping and her red eyes once again streaming with tears, she slumped against the table staring off into the distance, her pretty pink blonde hair falling lose of the meat bun on top of her head.

I heard the distant sound of clicking heels coming from the gardens just a little further along the patio area that Meg and I were standing on. In the dim light I could see the distinctive shine of red hair and Natalia came strolling up to us a little dishevelled, straightening her dress and paying no attention to her surroundings. she kept walking almost bumping straight into me.

“ What's all this? Is that the so-called mate? my goddess she’s pathetic” she gestured a little too quickly for my liking as if she had just said the first thing she could think of, shocking that it would be to insult someone.

I didn’t answer her other than to frown but natalia didn’t seem to notice leaning in to whisper to me as if we were gossiping teens “you would think she was the first female to get dumped by her mate”. She sniggered and for the first time she looked unattractive watching poor Meg stubble for another bottle I had to get her out of here that had to be her fourth or fifth in about five minutes.

“ careful Natalia, someone might start to think you're not all sweetness and light” I mocked and her face dropped. This woman wasn’t fooling me, everyone in the pack had welcomed her and she gave off that she was a nice person. which had tipped me off straight away. No one was that nice and she wasn’t, the cracks were forming but she was no closer to her goal. Mitchell. She never would get what she wanted either because he had already fallen for my girl. The thought gave me the strength to smile sweetly at the woman.

“ get her out of here before someone sees” she pointed accusingly at Meg.

“ and why are you out here all alone natalia?” I asked ignoring her, funny she should be out here while all the others are inside where the chaos was happening.

“ to make sure THAT was gone and didn’t disturb the wedding any more than she already has” she all but screams at me as if I’m the cause of all this.

“ oh how very considerate of you… especially since you have no affiliation with silver moon whatsoever” I smiled smugly watching her face turn to rage, that one hit a sore spot I could tell. she recovered though, moments later and smiled at me.

“ You may want to choose your friends wisely HEALER…or you may find life exceptionally difficult when I’m Luna” she smiled brightly as if we were old friends. I held back my scoff. There was no way in hell this woman would ever become Luna.

“ hmmm so you keep saying” I’d heard her say something similar to a few pack members recently. The woman was deluded, without giving her a chance to think of a comeback I went towards Meg and took her hand helping her stumble towards the Alpha’s car.

I managed to get out of Meg before she passed out. she lived in crescent lake pack, it was only an hour away from the wedding venue, we were actually neighbours her pack was the next closest one to ours. Not that you would know because alpha Felix never really spoke with the crescent lake alpha. Alpha Roland had won the pack by combat, he had killed the previous alpha in a fight to the death Felix didn’t agree with making alliances with alpha’s who had killed for their position but it was our way of life. It happened everyday. It always seemed to hit a soft spot for him though and he refused to acknowledge the crescent moon pack any more.

When I drove into the territory the guards recognised Meg and let me through, giving me half an hour to be back at the gates or I would be thrown off the land. Charming.

I drove up to a little old looking house. It seemed to be in a poorer part of the pack. The houses around here were shabby looking like they needed a lick of paint and new windows, however it still had the suburbia feel about it there was a white picket fence and flowers growing around the borders of the front lawn. Meg stumbled slightly ahead of me now, every time I tried to help she would brush me off seeming more pissed off than upset. I had respect for the girl. She was a strong one. She had a badass attitude to survive a night like tonight and not have had a complete meltdown. I hated to admit it but her take no s**t attitude was perfect for Johnny. I loved the guy. He was a great warrior with the biggest heart but he needed to grow the hell up and Meg certainly wouldn’t have taken any of his s**t. She would have helped him grow where as Tammy will only beat him down till only a shell of him is left.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the small house was the immediate change in the air and the weight of power that almost had me choking, the aura was strong yet from what I could see no one else was here. The place was deserted. The windows were in darkness and everything was locked. Megan had to unlock the front door to get inside. But I couldn’t shake the feeling I had within me that my wolf was on edge.

“ s..s..sorry about the mess I’m still trying to move my stuff back in '' Meg tried to explain but her voice broke, I could tell she was trying not to cry. I saw boxes dotted around the place but it was otherwise tidy. Meg was embarrassed though I could tell she lived in a modest home but it was wonderful, pretty little floral curtains and lots of yellows and pinks dotting around the room.

I was about to say as much when Suddenly I felt the enormous weight of power lift from me and a light appeared at the end of a long corridor moments before I saw the figure of an older woman, another wolf that had similar features to Megan and a younger one looking about the same age as us, with dark hair.

“ Meg? Baby I thought you were working till tomorrow morning, who’s this?” The older woman asked, looking confused at me. Meg just broke down and ran into her arms.

“ hello my name is Jasmine I’m a healer from the silver moon pack, my alpha asked me to get Megan home safe” I said gently over megs sobs .

“ and why would he do that? What did he do to her?” The young woman said suspiciously, placing her hand on her hips, I sniffed the air cautiously there was and aura of natural authority around her but as far as I could tell she was human, what was a human doing living with wolves.

“ Lyla, don’t be so rude” the older woman scalds, whilst trying to calm a hysterical Meg in her arms.

I was extremely confused by the sudden power I’d felt when I walked into the house. I was even more confused when it suddenly dropped out. I wasn’t sure if either of the females were responsible or how to even go about finding out but one thing was certain. Someone extremely powerful resided inside this pack.

( Alisha pov )

My heart broke feeling that poor girl's pain as she ran crying from the room all the while Johnny stared after her rooted to the spot, Tammy was still shouting but he didn’t pay her any attention he just looked devastated watching his soulmate knowing he couldn’t go to her, I saw the disappear in the girls face that became more anogised when she saw Tammy begin to pull at Johnny to try and get his attention.

Shaking her head we all watched the poor girl disappear from sight weaving back through the crowd bumping into several people who had refused to move. Johnny was still having to deal with a demanding Tammy who was viciously attacking him slapping his face and chest with force but he didn’t move a muscle it was as if he couldn’t even feel it. I watched him look back towards the now empty space in the crowd where Meg had been stood only moments before, his body began to twitch and I knew he wanted to run after her how could he not from the moment he laid eyes on her she would be all he wanted till the end of his days. This shouldn’t have been how this should have ended for him, this should have been the happiest moment in his life, having his mate in his arms and introducing her to our family, today should have been so wonderful, yet it was full of misserey for my entire family.

“ You stay with Johnny, he needs you right now, I'll check on the girl” Mitchell said, rubbing my shoulders before letting me go. The second I saw him leave the room I felt a chill travel down my spine, losing my anchor. I couldn’t do this. Johnny needed me. I had to be strong for my brother.

When Johnny went to move my dad was there to grab him clutching Johnny to his chest letting him know he was there. Mom was barely able to stand. Luna Jamie held her up right while alpha Felix scooped Mina up who was crying at the sight of her Johnny so broken. She was so small yet even she understood what an utter heartbreaking moment this was for Johnny. Whereas other pack members stood in the crowd shaking their heads disapprovingly at the scene. Others looked on with sympathy but they were far too few for my liking, the entire pack should have shared this pain with Johnny seeing as they were all so keen to watch the show. No one had made any effort to clear the room or give their head warrior space to grieve. Johnny was well thought of in this pack he was their protector he and his men kept them safe to live their lives yet none could offer their support or even discretion at a time like this. Mom was weeping in Luna Jamie’s arms. She was heart broken for my brother just as I was.

I rushed towards my family, not sure who to go to first. I just wanted to hug them all and make the last few minutes become a distant memory. Like my arms would somehow release my brother's pain.

Suddenly I felt someone behind me grab my wrist. I instantly went on the defence and tried to yank it back but their grip tightened painfully on my arm.

“ don’t make a scene” Nathan glared down at me in anger, his voice low enough so no one would hear.

What the hell, was he kidding, how was I going to make any more of a scene by grieving with my family. My brother had just met his mate in front of the entire pack on his wedding day. He should have been introducing Megan to my family, we should have been welcoming her into our pack, celebrating my brother finding the other half of his soul. Instead we were mourning a mateship that would never be. I’d had enough of this prick and his orders.

“ Get.Off.Me….NOW!!” I growled at him, drawing attention from those around us. Nathan raised his eyebrows in surprise but quickly recovered. I felt his nails change into claws and dig into my flesh, I bit down on the inside of my mouth to distract from the pain. He wouldn’t get any more tears from me.

“ That's enough! Today isn’t about you, your brother has plenty of others to get him through this, now stand back.” I stared at Nathan wide eyed like he’d gone insane, I didn’t care how many pack members were there for Johnny. I was his sister, his only sibling and the only person that understood what he was going through right now.

“ I.Said….LET GO!!” I raised my voice growling. I was raging and so was my wolf. How dare he.

I tried to yank my hand free but all I managed to do was move Nathan’s hand dragging his claws down my arm making the cuts he had made even longer, he smiled in satisfaction and as payback dug them in deeper. Just as I was about to shout and really make a scene I heard a menacing growl seconds before Mitchell shoved Nathan away from me.

Thankfully his claws came free of my arm. I looked down, rubbing soreness trying to ease the pain. There were several deep cuts along my wrists from where Nathan’s claws had dug into my flesh but they would heal soon. I watched as Nathan and Mitchell glared at each other.

“ I’VE TOLD YOU!! STAY THE f**k AWAY FROM HER!!!” Mitchell roared, causing the entire room to shake the power in his voice sent a wave of fear through me at the sound of my alphas' anger. I was sure everyone had their heads lowered in submission, only Nathan seemed to be fighting his dominance.

While my head dipped at the power of my alpha I took my eyes off Nathan for a split second and he used it to his advantage grabbing me by the wrist again making me bite back a groan as he clutched my wound but thankfully he didn’t dig his claws in this time. This time he pulled me behind him out of mitchells sight, they were both growling at each other now.

“ I WILL DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR MY MATE!!!”. Nathan roared and my entire body froze. Gasps and cries rang out all around the room. I silently began begging the moon goddess that I had heard him wrong, but as the gaps and squeals rang out around like an alarm letting me know I hadn’t, everyone had heard him. The entire pack now knew I was Nathan’s mate.

“WHAT THE f**k DID YOU JUST SAY?” My brother roared almost as fearsome as Mitchell had and I knew it was over, no more hiding. The entire pack knew my darkest secret.