Chapter 4

“Hi, guys.” Sarah said to Jennifer and me with a friendly smile on her face.

“Stop it,” I said to my growling wolf. “Being jealous won’t be of any use.”

“Hi Sarah,” Jennifer said stiffly, plastering a fake smile on her face. She was interrupted when a crumpled napkin hit her cheek. Her smile fell and she turned to glare at Nell’s smug face. “You’re such an attention seeker, drama queen!”

Perry and Jake groaned as the couple argued again.

“Hey Sarah,” I said, turning back to Sarah with the friendliest expression I could muster. I probably looked like a hyperactive chipmunk, but it was better than being stoic.

“Jessie,” she returned. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Your group of friends had many good things to say about you. I was excited to meet you from the way they described you.”

“Oh, that’s good, I hope,” I laughed awkwardly.

Although Sarah was being immensely nice and kind, I couldn’t help but feel awkward around her. She was dating the man that was made for me – my soul mate. She loved my first love, my current love, and the person I will love forever no matter the circumstances.

“From the way your friends talked about you, I don’t think there was anything bad to say,” she laughed.

“Good, because I would have smacked them all,” I said jokingly.

I noticed Harrison was staring at me. I somehow feel like he was still in love with me. No, no way, that must be my pitiful imagination. Sarah looked at him and he removed his gaze away from me. It made me wonder if she knew about me and Harrison’s past.

“So,” I cleared my throat. “You and Harrison, huh?”

“Yeah,” she gushed like a girly teenager. “We’ve been together for six months.”

Even if I prepared myself for her answer, it still caused my stomach to twist into an agonizing knot. My wolf howled at the thought of her mate being with someone else. I ignored the growing ache in my chest and quickly shook off the feelings before Sarah saw.

“That’s great,” I said brightly although I wasn’t feeling so bright at the moment.

“He’s the best,” she continued to gush. “I’m so lucky that he’s my boy friend. He’s really sweet, funny, and gosh, is he handsome.”

“I’m happy for you two!” I exclaimed. My statement was half-true. I was happy that Harrison was happy. “How did you guys meet?”

“As cliché as it sounds, I was walking to the store when I bumped into him. From there, our journey started.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. She was one heck of a vulnerable, hopeless romantic.

I didn’t know what to say next, because of my raging jealousy. I wasn’t going to lie and say I wasn’t jealous. I also wasn’t going to lie and say Holly wasn’t a friendly girl just because I envied her relationship with my soul mate. The hard truth was Harrison had found a girl worth keeping.

“The dessert is finally ready,” Betty sang, saving me from responding to Sarah. “Sorry it took so long. Brian here was no help at all.”

“I did mostly everything,” he cried, following behind her. He held a huge cake in his hands and I resisted the urge to attack it. They knew how much I loved carrot cake and there it was, glorious on the porcelain platter. “I iced it, I piped out the letter, and I even baked it! Sorry dear, but you are one horrible cook.”

“Anyways,” Betty digressed, straying away from her embarrassment. “We made Jessie’s favorite cake to welcome Jessie and Jake.”

“You guys are too kind,” I said, shooting appreciative smiles towards Betty and Brian. I looked at everyone – including Harrison – in the eyes with gratitude. “Thank you for welcoming me back and being friendly towards my cousin although he is a little slow – “

“Hey,” Jake warned.

“I’ve missed you guys a whole lot and I’m glad that I’m here right now. You guys have been amazing friends. Actually, you all are like my family and you will always be my family,” I said honestly while everyone at the table awed.

“Hey, is this the end of this world?” Brian asked jokingly. “I’ve never seen Jessie be so nice.”

“I suppose it is, then.” Nell and Perry said in unison.

“We’ve missed you,” Daisy said, pushing her platinum blonde hair out of her face to give me a warm smile. “Welcome to Lancetown, Jake.”

“Thank you,” Jake said, smiling. “Thank you for taking me in.”

“Oh, we’ll take you in anytime, handsome,” Betty said bluntly.

“I agree,” Jennifer giggled.

I laughed when Jake blushed and shot me a frightened look when Brian and Nell growled. “Oh, relax,” Jennifer and Betty said simultaneously, laughing, and giving each other a high five.

“Welcome back, Jessie,” Everyone said while Daisy, Jennifer, and Betty hugged me.

“The fabulous four are reunited,” Betty cried.

“This is way too sentimental for my taste,” I joked bitterly.

“Whatever,” Daisy said. “I know you missed us.”

“You love us,” Jennifer joined in.

“Hey,” I yelled when I saw that Brian already started eating the carrot cake. He froze with cream cheese on the corner of his mouth, brown eyes widening in horror. “You didn’t just touch that carrot cake first!”

“Oh, I did,” Brian said in a smug tone, taking another bite of the angelic cake on his plate.

I poked his belly. “You better watch out. You’ve got big troubles.” I lied. Everyone roared in laughter.

“Oh please,” Brian said, not bothered by what I just said. He flexed his arm. “The only thing that got big were these muscles.”

Everyone started teasing Brian and the laughter and conversation just grew from there. It was loud, everyone fighting and joking with each other. I looked at my friends with a big, genuine smile on my face.

Although it was loud and crazy, I was happy to be back home.

---

My heart raced in my chest as the phone rang. Please be okay.The knots in my stomach constricted as I tightened my grip on my cell phone. Shaking slightly, I drew in an unstable breath.

I looked up at the dark sky, which was dotted with twinkling stars. There was a slight breeze, causing a rustle to come from the millions of leaves in the forest behind the pack house. It was silent as I sat on the porch steps, waiting for Andrew to pick up.

“Hello,” a tired voice answered from the other end.

“Andrew,” my voice shook. “What happened? Why you didn’t call me? Did something happen with mom?”

“I’m sorry, Jessie,” He said. “I just didn’t want to bother you. I knew the packs planned a welcome back dinner.”

“Mom is my top priority. It was the reason I came here.”

“She’s fine,” Andrew reassured with a lighter voice. “The doc said she’d be able to eat right in a couple of days.”

“Can I visit?” I said, anxious to hold my mother in my arms.

“Sure, you may even come over now, but she’s sleeping,” Andrew said.

“Oh,” I said slightly disappointed. “I think I’ll just come over tomorrow after the meeting. She’s resting. I don’t want to bother her. She needs to get some rest.”

“Okay, then I’m going over there to come see you,” Andrew said. I heard the jingling of keys. He yawned. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to welcome you home.”

“Andrew, just get some sleep. I’ll come tomorrow. Don’t worry. I would rather you take care of mom than welcome me home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” I smiled even if he couldn’t see me. “Just so you know, I’m smiling right now.

“That’s right, kiddo,” I heard Andrew’s voice lace with happiness. “Hold your head up high and smile. Stand –“

“Stand up tall and remain strong. You are strong,” I recited, remembering the words my older brother always told me when we were going through rough times. “You too, Andrew,” I sighed, hoping that my brother was okay. “Are you okay?”

There was a short pause before he sighed. “I’ll be fine. Now go sleep. You must be tired from your road trip.”

“See you tomorrow. Good night, Andrew. I love you.”

“Love you too, my little sis,” Andrew said, before the line went dead.

Tears slipped down my cheeks, wanting to embrace my family in my arms. I felt useless sitting here, crying while I could be over there to help Andrew take care of my family. There was only one reason that made me take residency in the pack house for my stay in Lancetown.

I had a feeling that the only reason they were attacked was because of me and I didn’t need to lead any more danger towards my injured mother.

“Are you okay?” I heard a familiar voice say. I closed my eyes, my chest clenching at the soothing, male voice. Although I hated that he had to see me like this, a shiver went down my spine.

I got up from my seat on the porch steps and turned to face Harrison. His crystal blue eyes still held a lot of emotion. He slightly flinched when a traitor tear rolled down my cheek.

“I’m fine,” I said distantly, walking around him to go back into the house.

“Jes,” he whispered. The pain in my chest grew, hearing him use the nickname he gave me. I closed my eyes once again, walking towards the door as if I’ve never heard him.

“Jes,” he said with concern. I froze when I felt his hand on my arm, causing the familiar warmth and tingles to spread all throughout my body. My wolf howled, wanting to be closer to her mate.

I refused to turn around to face him. I felt the tears rolled down my cheeks some more. There were a lot of emotions surfacing now that I just talked to my brother and Harrison finally wanted to talk to me after fourteen months. “Yes?” I whispered, my voice quavered and I cursed myself for being so weak.

“Can we talk?” He asked after a short silence. He dropped his hand. I felt his eyes burning holes in my back.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“We need to talk – or I think we should talk – about the – about where we -,” Harrison sighed. “Can we talk about us?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m fine with you hanging out with your little lover.” I shrugged. Even if my back was facing him, I felt him flinch.

“We need to talk about us and I know you’re probably wondering about Sarah,” Harrison said, his voice trembling.

“Harry, there’s nothing to talk about, okay? It’s my fault that we’re not together anymore. I’m happy for you and Sarah. You deserve to be happy.”

I didn’t give him time to answer as I opened the back door and entered the house. Once again, I walked away from Harrison with tears in my eyes.