Liam

I watch in amusement as Jasmine scoffs down the sliders I made in her coma-like state. She doesn't stop to wipe the side of her mouth, which is smeared with sauce. I find myself intrigued by her. This woman came out of nowhere and knocked me off my feet with her strength and beauty.

She bared her soul to me on the first day we met and I had debated over telling her about being my mate, unsure of how she would take it. Witches are not exactly known for being the nicest of supernaturals. Because of their ability to breed so easy and pass their powers on, it tends to give them a feeling of entitlement they don't deserve.

This beautiful woman, however, is nothing like them. She showed such kindness and selflessness when she helped us protect Benji's pack. I hoped she would do the same for mine, but I won't pressure her to.

Her life already seems like it’s been filled with a rollercoaster of emotions from what Benji has told me. If I had known she was his mate, I would have steered clear.

But the moment she stepped out of that car, and her scent crossed the small space separating us, I knew.

She smelled like honeysuckle and her namesake, the jasmine flower. It drew me in deep and when I saw her run from the pack house with tears in her eyes, I was torn between ripping Benji to shreds for hurting my mate and running after her to comfort her. My wolf gave me no choice, however, shifting in a split second and chasing after her.

No matter how much Benji taunts me about it, I won't admit to him I had no control over my wolf that day. Even while I sat there listening to her and offering her the comfort she needed, I had no control over my actions. It was all my wolf.

After Benji arrived, I had taken off and forced myself to shift back. Amidst the pain of a forced shift, my wolf mourned the loss of her, even though she was just on the other side of pack lands.

From that moment on, I refused to shift, running through my options. I didn't know what kind of history Benji and Jasmine had, but Benji is my best friend. I was concerned about upsetting him, especially if there were still lingering emotions between them.

But Benji stayed out of the way, choosing to keep watch over her from a distance. It wasn't until I watched her with one of the young pups, that I knew I would die if I didn't stake my claim. She was beauty and kindness incarnate and I needed to know her, and to give her the chance to get to know me.

Little did I know at the time, the mate Benji had told me about for years was in fact Jasmine.

As I watch her finish the last of the sliders, I feel for the choice she has to make. Benji automatically wanted her to choose between the two of us. After all a pack couldn't share an Alpha female, but could we find a way?

We're already dying out, so why not combine our packs and live together? Benji can't really complain about sharing our mate when we've shared women before. This would just be a little more long term and more meaningful for both of us.

Jasmine moves around the room in a daze, moving to the bathroom and leaving the door open as she relieves herself. What a girl, I smile wistfully. Not many girls have that kind of blasé attitude about going to the bathroom, choosing to turn taps on to drown out their own noise, but nope, she just leaves the door open for all to hear.

While I know she's in some kind of magic coma, I still worry how much longer it’ll be until she snaps out of it. It’s already been four days and I'm not sure how much longer I can take.

She walks back to her bed and climbs under the covers, leaving yet another empty plate piled next the bed. I like to wait until she finishes and is back in bed before I clean up after her but sometimes, I run out of time and don’t get a chance. My Beta has been riding my ass, desperate for answers regarding the witches.

I wait until she's settled in the bed. Her eyes close as she lets sleep or whatever it is take her back under. My hand twitches with the need to clean her up so I grab a cloth from her bathroom, dousing it in warm water, then go out to wipe the mess from her face.

Once I'm satisfied, I throw the towel in the hamper and stack the dirty dishes that were scattered around the bed, carrying them out and back to the kitchen.

Benji smirks as I pass the table where he’s sitting and I hold back my growl. He doesn't bother to feed her or make sure she has water, no that's all on me. Instead, he just stares at Jasmine like a lovesick pup, while I clean her up, cook her three meals a day, and keep replacing her water bottles with fresh ones. Hell, if I could shower her without it crossing over the edge of creepy territory, I would.

"She still out?" he asks as I move to the sink, placing the dishes on the counter. I begin to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.

"Yes, she's still in the coma, or whatever you call it."

He nods, returning his focus to the paper in front of him. I growl, slamming a dish into the sink and watching it shatter before turning my ire on him.

"That's our mate in there! Our mate! Why are you acting like this is nothing?! What if she never snaps out of this and we lose the only mate either of us will ever have?!" I growl at him, my voice dropping dangerously low the angrier my wolf gets.

He sets the newspaper down with a sigh and lifts his gaze to me. "I'm not worried because I know witches go into this kind of coma often. It all depends on the extent of the spell, of course, but she should only be out a day or two more. To be honest, I didn't know the spell she did was strong enough to cause this kind of reaction."

My shoulders slump in relief at the new information and I hang my head in shame at my reaction. My mother used to always say I had a tendency to overreact, but having Jasmine around me makes me feel like I'm a teenager in love for the first time and it’s making me feel out of control.

"I'm sorry, Benji. I don't know what it is, but she's in my head, man. I never knew the mate bond could be this strong. How you stayed away from her for nine years is beyond me," I say, shaking my head in complete shock and admiration.

I know I would have claimed her, regardless of her age. The fact he showed such restraint brings a new level of respect to my fellow Alpha and friend.

"Oh, trust me, it was not without its challenges. Seeing her do such innocent things like bend over and pick up her bag, or suck on the end of a pencil as she studied? It drove me crazy." He shivers and I feel my cock twitch at the image.

Yep, we need to have a serious talk before this gets out of control and we end up fighting to claim her.

"Benji, how would you feel if Jasmine was claimed by both of us?"

He freezes midway through picking up his paper again, lowering it slowly back to the table. "You mean, like we used to do back in the day? I thought you didn't want that anymore," he questions with careful eyes.

I don't blame him. During the last relationship we were in together, I fell in love with the girl, but it turned out we’d slept with her best friend and her ploy all along was to tear us apart. All because Melinda, one of our shared girls got involved with us and didn’t know the score. We were always upfront about our dealings. We wanted a woman to share us but it was usually for a limited time only, maybe a few weeks to a month. When we separated again, the relationship, if you could even call it that, was over.

After all that went down, both Delia and Melinda were banished from our packs never to be seen again.

That was before he met Jasmine and before we both went our separate ways. We were brought back together only out of necessity.

"It’s not the same. Delia was after revenge for her friend who thought we had more to offer. Jasmine," I sigh wistfully. "There's something about her that just tells me she's it for us, and if we make her fight over us like a girl choosing her favourite toy, then it’s possible neither of us will end up with her. Do you really want that? To lose her because we made her choose?"

He looks down at the floor in contemplation and I know my words are getting through to him. Benji is usually the softer of the two of us but I need him to understand how serious I am about trying to make this work.

After a few moments, he meets my eyes. "Okay, we can try, but on one condition. We keep the air clean between us. If there's any jealousy, we talk about it. We don't let it build to the point we end up resenting each other."

I nod and he rises from his seat, coming towards me slowly. His intentions are clear and he presses his lips against mine. My cock twitches in response and I fight back the growl that rises in my throat, knowing if I give any encouragement, it will be more than just a kiss we share.

He looks at me with such a serious expression. "Just in case Jasmine isn't okay with us being together, I wanted one last kiss."

I watch him walk away and try to calm my raging heart. I’ve missed the soft touch of his lips on mine, and if I'm being brutally honest, a large part of me hopes Jasmine will have no problem with us together because I’ve really missed him.

I sigh and turn back to the dishes, knowing I need to get these done before I make dinner for Jasmine. I may also need to vacuum her room to clean up the crumbs that have fallen on the floor during her food breaks.

Hopefully soon, I'll be making food for her when she’s awake and able to enjoy it properly.

Benji

"It’s been eleven goddamn days, Benji! No one should be asleep this long!"

Liam has been growing more agitated with each day that passes without Jazzy waking. I run a hand through my hair in frustration. "Go call your witch then, and see if she has any ideas, but from what I've heard, this sleep is perfectly normal. It’s a way for her energy to be restored."

"I don't care. She can't keep going like this. She eats and drinks, yes, but that's it. She barely even gets up to relieve herself. Josh said she doesn't even attempt to clean herself off before climbing back into bed. We had to change her sheets two days ago while she stayed in that state because she got spaghetti sauce everywhere."

I chuckle at the reminder. Josh had told me he had to change the sheets while Liam cradled Jasmine in his arms.

I wave him away and watch as he calls Neira, Sabine's sister. Sabine was a previous woman he dated before she decided to leave him for her job. He’s always been on good terms with her sister, so now he’s calling her to get her advice.

My body tingles as I watch him and my wolf goes immediately on alert. That tingle was not normal.

Liam turns, ending his call with a furrowed look on his face. "Did you feel that?" he asks, putting his phone on the dresser inside Jazzy's room.

I nod, feeling the tingle run through me again. "Maybe it’s the boundary? We should go check it out just to be sure," I suggest, looking down at Jasmine as she sleeps. I brush a lock of stray hair behind her ear, watching as she breathes deeply in her sleep. She has never looked so precious to me and I have been kicking myself every day that she's been lying here that I didn't go back to find her sooner.

All I had wanted was to give her space. I knew the revelation that I was a wolf wouldn't have gone down well, but the moment her palm connected with my cheek, I knew I had made a grave mistake. When she told me what her mother did, I found myself growing angrier by the second. It took all my self control to keep my emotions in check. If I ever see her dreadful mother again, I will make sure she is brought to justice for her actions and for trying to keep us apart.

I press a quick kiss to Jazzy's forehead before leaving the room, in search of Josh. I find him on the front porch, his arms leaning on the railing as he looks out at the light of a new day as the sun starts to rise.

"Josh, I need to go check the perimeter and need you to do something for me."

"Is it to go inside and protect Jasmine with my life? Because I already volunteered for that job when I met her." He laughs and my heart swells at the loyalty my Beta has.

"Yes please, just until I get back. I know she's safe here but I can't help the fear that there is something out there that will take her from me again," I admit. Then Liam walks out the front door, after obviously giving her his own goodbye.

The whole time she's remained unconscious, one of us has been by her side almost constantly, for fear of leaving her unprotected. Even though we both know just how safe she is in the pack house, our instincts have driven us mad and our wolves are waiting for the moment she'll wake so they can shift and reassure themselves that she is in fact fine.

"Let’s go check this out quickly. I don't want to be gone from her too long," Liam says, his voice low with anxiety.

"Awwwww isn't this sweet? The two big Alpha males have been reduced to a gooey mess. I hope you know I plan to tell Jasmine everything that you two lovesick fools have done," Josh gloats with a smirk on his face.

We both shake our heads and walk away from him. Josh chuckles and walks back inside the house.

Liam and I strip down before shifting. We take off at a run to the spot we're being drawn to and are met with a sight we can't believe. A few of my wolves are being attacked on the outside of the barrier by a witch with the same black eyes and purple flames.

As we cross the barrier to help our people, three people step out from the trees, dispatching of the witch with no trouble. As we go to check on each of my wolves, I get a good view of the three newcomers. It looks like the Order has decided to stop by. Maybe now I can finally get some real answers.