Cognitive Dissonance

Chapter 4-Hangout with Jack

For some reason, I woke up at 4 AM on Sunday, and no matter how hard I tried to go back to sleep, I couldn't. Eventually, I gave up and decided to go for a run.

When I exited my house, I saw the pack grounds were desolate. It made sense because who would be up this early in the morning? I started jogging towards the forest when I saw Jack exiting his house too.

He seemed to be heading towards the forest for a jog, too, so I called him over. After spending the entirety of my Saturday with Jack, I realized I didn't know much about him, even though our dad's were best friends. Jack's dad was not only the alpha but also the mayor of Lakewood. So, besides Beta business, my dad often had to discuss sheriff stuff with Jack's father.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" Jack inquired.

"I couldn't sleep. I think my wolf is anxious since my birthday is coming up next week."

"Are you excited to meet your mate?"

"I guess...." I faltered. To be honest, I wasn't excited, but I didn't want to tell Jack that. Issac whined in my mind at my response. He was still holding onto the hope that I would change my mind.

"You don't seem very excited," Jack stated, seeming somewhat amused by my deflective answer.

"I am. I'm just tired."

"Okay," Jack finally conceded, giving me a curious look. I could tell he wanted to ask more but knew that I wouldn't give him any more information.

After a few minutes of awkward silence walking into the woods, Jack finally starts talking again.

"I really hope I get to meet my mate soon."

"Your birthday was back in July. Right?" I ask.

"Yeah," Jack replied, crestfallen and distraught. It was blatantly apparent that he wanted to meet his mate as soon as possible.

"I'm sure you will get to meet them soon," I consoled hesitantly. I'm terrible at comforting people and I never know what to say.

"Thanks," Jack replied with a half-smile.

"Race you?" I suggest trying to distract him.

"What does the winner get?" Jack asked, seemingly back to his usual self.

"Bragging rights?" I shrug, unsure of what to offer as a prize.

"How about the winner gets to ask the loser to do anything they want? Obviously, it can't be illegal or something like that, and the loser can't refuse."

"Okay. You're on," I reply and start running.

"Hey, that's not fair; you cheated!" Jack sprinted after me.

"The early bird gets the worm," I quipped back, laughing.

Even though I got a head start, Jack still ended up winning. To be fair, he did train twenty-four-seven, and I had been slacking on training lately.

After catching my breath, I headed up to Jack to ask him what he wanted from me.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied, tapping his index finger on his chin in thought. "I'll ask you for the favor sometime in the future," Jack smirked. Internally, I groaned. I could only think of all the awful things Jack might make me do. What made it worse was the fact that it could be sprung on me at any moment.

But all I do in response is say, 'fair enough'. Since it was already 7 AM at that point, we decided to head back towards the pack.

When we enter the pack lands, Jack turns to me. "Do you want to come over to my house and maybe watch a movie? I feel like I barely know anything about you, and you will be my future beta."