PJ was my nickname, which was short for “Perfect Jasmine.” My classmates came up with it years ago as a taunt for being a religious, straitlaced, perfect student. Lucy was the only person I tolerated using it. I found her use of the nickname a bit ironic considering she was the perfect one, being so magazine gorgeous with a charming and sociable personality to match.
Luke came back with red plastic cups filled to the brim and handed one to each of us. Lucy stared at me, beckoning me with her head to take a sip. I sighed and tipped my cup back. I wasn’t a big drinker, but Lucy always convinced me to at parties. Before long, a large group of friends from school had joined us, and everyone was starting to let loose. I was thankful for the buzz that came on as it helped distract me from how awkward I felt in Luke’s presence.
The late-August full moon was glowing above the lake, making the water sparkle. At least a hundred werewolves from our pack had come to say goodbye to Luke and a few of his fellow warriors who would be leaving on a mission the next day. It was a mix of older high schoolers, such as Lucy and me, and young warriors who trained and patrolled with Luke and his friends. Our pack was a community of about forty-five hundred werewolves located deep in the woods of northern Vermont, where humans didn’t normally venture, a heavily forested area surrounded by mountains.
As the party progressed, people began jumping into the water, some coming out of the woods shifted into their wolf form. Lucy and the others ran toward the shoreline to join everyone in the festivities. Because my ankle still wasn’t 100 percent, I decided to hang back and chill out on a blanket by the bonfire. Getting comfortable, I pulled my long, dark hair into a ponytail and stretched my toned legs out in front of me.
A red cup appeared over my left shoulder. I could smell his cologne. I glanced over my shoulder at him and smiled sheepishly.
“Jasmine, you’ve been nursing the same quarter of a cup all night,” Luke said as he gently shook the cup for me to take it.
My mouth agape, I took the cup and replied, “No, I haven’t!”
He laughed. “I know, I’m just kidding.” He sat down on the blanket next to me. “I saw the way you wobbled over here.” Damn, he smelled so good. It was almost intoxicating—a musky, sensual fragrance.
“Oh, stop!” I said, “I’m having a rough day.” I stared down at my ankle that was still a little swollen and flinched at the sight of it.
Clearly noticing the look on my face, Luke asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.”
He pressed. “Tell me.”
“It’s not a big deal. I think I fractured my ankle earlier, but it’s almost healed now.”
“Which one?” he asked, looking down my bare legs. The shorts I’d worn suddenly felt much more revealing and inviting than previously. “Oh, never mind, I see it. It looks pretty swollen.” He moved down the blanket to get a closer look and gently touched my ankle, his touch more intimate than it normally would have been. A soothing sensation radiated from his hand. “If it doesn’t feel better by tomorrow, definitely drop by the clinic to have it looked at.” He slid back up the blanket to sit down next to me and looked at me seriously. “Anyway, the reason I came over is to talk about what happened earlier today in the woods.”
My face burned, recalling vividly what had happened earlier that day, trying my best not to visualize it while he was right in front of me, thankfully clothed!
Luke continued, “Don’t feel bad about it. I’m not embarrassed, and I didn’t say anything to Lucy.” He put his hand on my knee, shaking it a little and then retracting. I felt the soothing sensation again as he touched me.
“Thanks, I didn’t say anything to Lucy either,” I replied, relieved that we were mutually agreeing to just forget about it. His scent filled my nose. Trying to decipher the fragrance, I could almost sense notes of cedarwood and maybe amber. For the past few months, I’d noticed that he’d been wearing the most divine cologne.
“We’re always taking our clothes off to shift during warrior training, so I’m used to it by now.” He gave me a reassuring smile. While it was true that nudity wasn’t a taboo in werewolf culture, there were still more timid ones, like me, that preferred to shift away from others.
Desperate to change the topic of conversation, I asked, “How do you feel about becoming the beta soon?”
Luke relaxed and spread his long legs out on the blanket, leaning back on his hands. “I mean, I’ve been training for the job forever, so it just feels natural at this point. I was supposed to take title from my dad after graduating from high school last year. But because of the whole battle and everything that happened, it’s been put off until the alpha heir gets back from college in a couple years, and we’ll both succeed our fathers then.”
We all remembered the battle that happened three years ago. Our pack, the Midnight Maple Pack, had been called in to defend our ally in Quebec, the Lune Nordique Pack, against one of their enemies, the Bois Sombre Pack, who had waged war on them. The battle lasted at least a week, and we lost many of our warriors. Our pack was still affected by the loss, as it had happened so recently, and many people’s children, mates, and parents had never returned.
Luke continued, “I was too young to go to battle back then, but the Bois Sombre Pack is still a threat, so that’s why I’m heading up north with some of the other guys to keep an eye on things for now. I’m actually pretty surprised my dad was okay with this party happening tonight with everything going on.”
“Do you think they might attack us?”
Luke considered my question, looking out into the distance, appearing as if he were deep in thought, and finally replied, “We shouldn’t worry about that tonight. Let’s talk about something less heavy! Like, how long did it take you to put up all these decorations? They look great!”
“Thanks,” I replied, relaxing into the conversation, and feeling hopeful that things wouldn’t be awkward between us. “It took us a few hours. It was all Lucy’s vision—I just followed her directions. She’s great at throwing parties. I’m really more of a nerd and normally prefer to be at home with a good book.”
“I’m kind of a nerd too, to be honest.” He gave a coy smile. “What’re you currently reading?”
“I just started a book calledThe Disasters. It’s really good so far!”
“You’re into sci-fi?” Luke raised his eyebrows at me. “I read that book a few months ago. I didn’t think you were into that kind of stuff.”
“Yeah, I really enjoy sci-fi,” I replied.
“Cool!” He smiled. “I never admit this to anyone, but I actually love my name because ofStar Wars. I grew up watching it with my dad, and I used to pretend I was Luke Skywalker as a kid.” He chuckled. “Okay, I told you something embarrassing about me. Now you have to tell me something about you.”