Hmm, was all he let out in agreement. My wolf’s bitterness aside, he was a little bit of an old-fashioned dude – for not wanting the help of a vampire in doing some house cleaning chores could only be the result of his still old-fashioned ways. There was a time when blood flowed freely, when werewolves bared their teeth at the simple sniff of a vampire’s scent, when vampires showed their fangs at the merest provocation and sometimes for no reason at all, when witches tried to remain neutral but always ended up involved in some way or form... but that era had ended and it was all thanks to The Troublemaker.
As I held Jasmine’s lax body in my arms, bridal style, I concluded that the past didn’t matter all that much really. I could only hope she learnt something from all she had watched tonight for only the present should be of importance to her.
“As you can see, justice was made,” I heard Blake talk to the now free vampire, “I don’t want you to hold a grudge against werewolves. Look at what his grudge did to this man,” I had to admit I sometimes envied how nonchalant he could sound and how unnervingly unfazed he always appeared to be, “Alcohol can’t get you drunk but it sure can help you loosen up a bit. Drink, party, feed, cry and then carry on with your life. Whenever you get angry at the fates that made you meet on this day this particular angry wolf, remember the execution you’ve just witnessed. If it doesn’t help much, come find me. I’ll be happy to help you vent out your frustrations.”
The woman had nodded to each and every piece of advice while tears flowed down her cheeks. A throaty “thank you” was her sole goodbye before she swooshed out of the forest, Blake’s contact information safely tucked in the pocket of her pants.
“Did he have a mate, family or a good friend that’ll miss him?” Blake could be unbelievably thorough, nobody could accuse him of the contrary, that was for sure.
“Yes, me,” Michael, the werewolf who had been standing next to the alpha and the beta, bit out, choking on his words, sorrow and anger mixing in his dark pools of brown, “He was my best friend.”
“Well then, would you like to take your anger out on me?”
“I’m fine,” was the terse response. With the way he said it, the look in his eyes and the stiffness of his body, it was safe to say he wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Aren’t you angry I killed your best friend? Aren’t you angry I made him suffer more than what was necessary? Had I ripped his heart out, it would have been much quicker, yet I chose to burn him alive...”
“Stop it!” The werewolf growled, gripping his hair tightly, his eyes blackening briefly.
“Michael!” Kyle admonished in a sad tone of his own.
“Just come at me,” Blake taunted, flicking his right hand in a goading manner, “I’ll take it easy on you. I’ll only block and dodge your attacks.”
A few angry growls later, Michael changed, only to break into a run in the opposite direction, disappearing into the lushest part of the forest.
“Ah, pride!” Blake sighed in a knowing tone.
“What were you trying to accomplish anyways?” Andrew’s annoyance-coated words couldn’t have been more foolish if he tried.
“He’ll want to fight someone sooner or later,” was the only response he got before Blake turned and walked slowly towards me.
Just as he approached, Jasmine mumbled a few unintelligible words before coming to.
“Well, hello there,” was his teasing greeting. His white teeth were showing and all trace of the cold executioner from earlier was gone. One could almost believe it was not the same man... only it was.
In the meantime, I asked the most obvious question, “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” always the adorable one, Jasmine was blushing furiously while averting her eyes. “You can put me down now.”
I complied and received a small “thank you”. She was being unusually – albeit understandingly – shy and it was so cute I wanted to kiss her senseless.
Now’s not the time, I inwardly scolded myself before winking at her.
“I’m not used to such...” she trailed off, not knowing how to describe what had transpired without offending Blake or making light of the situation.
“I understand,” he shifted his eyes to hers before continuing in quite the same flat tone, “I don’t want to be the big scary wolf here – no pun intended – but know that if you mess up, it won’t be pretty.”
I turned to stone and started imagining the worst while regretting at the same time the idea of bringing her here. My heart thumped loudly in my ears and my breathing quickened for a short while before I regained countenance. My wolf, on the other hand, was still raging and I had to block him out so I could hear the rest of the conversation.
“I know,” she sounded calmer than me and that, to say the truth, helped me loosen up a little bit, “it’s just a little bit hard to get used to all the power.”
“Well, the greater the power, the harder it is to control but you have to make it happen. I’d hate to have to come for you,” his gaze shifted to my face as he finished, and I immediately understood the double entendre. He’d have to come for us both since his executing her, no matter if she had deserved or not, would probably result in my snapping – and thus my getting killed too.
“You won’t have to.” He smiled at her confident response, bid us goodbye, and then was on to his nonchalant way.
Chapter 31
This Is It
“Set spells are risk-free,” I saw my father’s eyes
