Sparks (Shadows Prequel)

James Ember.

I don't think I've seen a person with delight in their eyes. Not the delight you get when you receive a gift, get ice cream, or someone hands you something for free.  

No.  

This was pure delight shining in James warm, beautiful brown eyes. 

Too bad I had to reject him.  

It was the first solution my mind had come up. I had to reject him before he rejects me. It would make it less painful. For me, anyways. Right?  

But for now, I'd let him bandage my hand up.  

I gave no reaction to show that I was his mate and he looked confused. But only for a moment. 

All his attention was quickly diverted to my bleeding hand. He looked pained for a brief second. Then he set to work.  

He grabbed the tweezers and plucked out every piece of glass. I winced so many times and he stopped with a concerned look when I did. It was sweet. But I had to toss those thoughts away if I was ever going to reject him.  

When he finally pulled out the final piece of glass, my skin started to very slowly heal itself. James took a roll of bandages and wrapped my hand securely with it after applying some ointment. By the time he was done, the bandage was more like a fingerless glove on my hand. How the heck did he do that?  

"Well, thanks for the help guys! I'm just gonna go to my room now...I'll see you in the morning!" I darted out of the living room with the speed of a cheetah and instead of going to my room, I searched for Jax. It took a while, but I finally got a catch of his scent and followed it into his office.  

He had a really nice office. Persian rugs decorated the floor, a fire place was off to the side, a desk in the middle, and file cabinets against the wall. Neat.  

I ignored Jax's annoyed look and went on. "Jax. I'm afraid I can't stay in your pack." 

He let out a long sigh, set down the pen in his hand and leaned back in his chair. "Why not?"  

I couldn't tell him about my mate situation. "Because...because I'm claustrophobic."  

He looked downright amused. "Do you have any idea how big this house is?" This was no house. It was a freaking mansion. "You are not claustrophobic."  

Okay, fine. Time to lay it on thick. I let tears well in my eyes. "Jax. You don't understand. I have to get out of here. I don't have long to live. I'm going to die and I want to venture through as much as I can before I leave this world. I can't do that if you keep me trapped here." 

I swear, the look on his face made me think he believed me! But then he smiled that stupid smile.  

"Nice try. Next excuse. Make it quick, too." 

"I have a rare disease." I tried.  

"No, you don't." 

"I'm a danger to this pack." 

"Yeah, right." 

"I'm a violent person. You can't trust me." 

"I know that." 

"I'm a spy from another pack and I've been sent here to be your father." 

"Get the hell out of my office." 

"No, wait! Sorry. I was thinking Star Wars. I'm not here to be your father. I'm here to assassinate you." 

"Lissa. Get out." He ground out and went back to his paperwork.