Jane |18+| ✔️

10. The time she began to loathe Me

Silas

It's just after six when I pull up to my cottage, just as Jane's scent morphs to an all-new high when I step out of her car. Goddess, I can't get enough of her sinful lure. Closing the door, I move around the front as Baen comes up from the backyard. "Hey. Sorry I haven't checked in..." my voice trails off as I gauge my closest friend. "Is she okay?"

He shakes his head. "Jane hasn't spoken a word since you left her. She refuses to eat or move, for that matter. She's been sitting on the dock, staring off into space. I've tried contacting you—"

"I was tending to business," meaning my mind link was barricaded, needing to keep it open to all the conversations flowing through my packmates. "And I kind of destroyed my phone earlier," I add before moving past him. "Thanks for taking care of—"

"Let her go, Si." He lays a hand on my bicep, stopping me. A big no, no—regardless of friendship. He drops it immediately when I snarl my dislike. "This place is no good for a human like her." Again, with this. My nostrils flare, filling with honey, peaches and sunshine – Jane's unique scent that fills me with vitality every time I scent her.

"Goodnight, Baen."

"Si—" he tries again.

"Goodnight." I turn and move toward the little one, unknowing what to say or do when I see her. This is all new for me. This sense of responsibility to care on this calibre seems farfetched, considering I run a pack of nearly ten thousand spread over several territories spanning the northern lands from coast to coast.

I know how to delegate without dictating. Getting the job done without repeating myself is my forte. I know how to inspire loyalty and contentment in my people without offering false hope or promises. In times of need, I'm brash and compassionate in others. I was born to lead—not love.

"I just want to be left alone." I huff as I trek closer with a smug smile plastered across my face.

"At least you're talking again," I tease, knowing I'll get nothing in return. Clearing the stone steps embedded into the side of the cliff, I cross the flagstone patio, which overlooks Minnow Lake. It's my private watering hole—much like my home. No others reside within a twenty-kilometre radius. Slowing my treads, I cautiously step down the level stone steps that lead to the massive deck and boathouse.

The breeze is refreshing the closer I get, engulfing me in Jane's scent even further. The loons are playing off in the distance as the sky slowly shifts to twilight. "Who read them?" My sullen stance moves toward the only door near Jane to fetch her a blanket I keep stowed in the tiny dwelling housing my jetboat.

"Just me," I answer after a moment. Laying the Hudson Bay woollen covering over her shoulders, she stiffens for only an instant before pulling it closer around her. The tiny action has me sighing with relief. "It's standard protocol..." she mockingly laughs, turning to look at me with those dewy honey browns of hers.

Humans are fortunate that way – their markups are all so different and unique. From the shades of their eyes to the shapes and sizes of their bodies. Their hair colour, texture and distinctive markings – like Jane's breathtaking smile that lights up a room when it's freely given. Or her freckles – so potent covering her face like a million stars – reflective of her sheer and utter rareness and unmatched beauty.

Whereas shifters all have the same green-hued eyes unless you are of Alpha decent – which are typically a dull blue. Our females are all the same height and build—when reaching puberty, and the men, depending on the level of rank and bloodline – dictate their size. The only thing that differs slightly is our facial features, skin tones and hair follicles. Essentially, we are viewed as perfect in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I always thought we pale in comparison to the organic mutations that make humans distinctive and interesting.