Owen glared at me, clearly not caring. Heat burned in my cheeks, and I dropped my gaze to the ground. The feelings of rebellion that had allowed me to snap back at Renz were gone. The satisfaction and peace I’d found in the forest fizzled away.
There was no way this was going to work. Not when Owen hated me this much.
Chapter 7 - Owen
“I’d say I can’t believe you would do this, but it’s just what I expected from you,” I grumbled as we headed back to the house. Jace had brought the lukewarm celebration to a close once people started asking after Jasmine and Renz.
Jasmine was quiet, her shoulders hunched inward. Her dress, which I had ordered in a rush, was stained on the back from the forest. It was just the sort of disrespectful behavior I expected from her. Why should she care about all the hard work we put into this when she could just run off and try to seduce Renz?
I expected this from him, too, but I was less concerned about him. He did this sort of thing all the time, taking off and having fuck all consideration for the rest of us. Jasmine merely played on that weakness to try to legitimize her behavior. I had to nip this in the bud before she thought she could do whatever she wanted.
Just because the Goddess said we had to marry didn’t mean I was going to let an omega, and this omega in particular, have free rein.
“You do realize that this looks bad for us?” I continued as we got to the house. We stepped inside, and Jasmine started for the stairs. I strode forward and stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “No. You don’t just run away. This celebration was meant to put you in front of the pack and show them that you aren’t going to disrupt things. Instead, you running off like that will only make the pack dislike you more. And now we have to clean up your mess.”
Jasmine didn’t look at me, falling back a step.
“Lay off,” Renz said as he stepped up next to her. “It was my idea. She was the one who said we should stay, and I convinced her to leave with me. You’re blowing things out of proportion.”
“If you’re worried about what it looks like for unity, we’ll just have to be seen with her in public more,” Killian said. “Since we’re married now, it will be better to spend time together and learn how to get along, anyway. We have a lot of stuff to move past if we’re going to make this work.”
I hated the way he said it, as though I didn’t want to make this work. Of course I wanted it to work! The Goddess gave us a command, and it was for the good of the pack. I didn’t want Jasmine to screw it up.
To screw us over, the way her grandmother…
“You will give a public apology,” I said, pointing at Jasmine. “You’ll apologize to the pack and tell them that you were overwhelmed by the responsibility, and that you don’t understand why the Goddess would pick someone like you for this role. If you’re humble enough, maybe they’ll overlook it all. And you’re a good liar, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for you.”
Jasmine let out a slow breath and lifted her eyes for the first time. They were hard, defiant, and it made my wolf growl low in my chest. Muscles tightened in my belly. I’d never seen her like that before. She always played the downcast omega to a T.
Was she about to show her true colors?
“May I go to bed now?” she asked flatly.
I hated the way she said it, as though I was being some unreasonable dictator for trying to keep the pack together. “You haven’t even admitted what you did!”
“I went for a walk through the forest with Renz.”
Jace stepped in, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Hey. We can talk about this more in the morning. She was with Renz, and you know that it’s like him to disappear. Barely anyone noticed, and it’s not something that we need to make a big stink over. If anyone asks, we just say she had a headache, and Renz brought her home.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So now we’re supposed to lie to the pack for her?”’
“If you don’t like it, we can discuss it more in the morning,” Jace said firmly. “It’s been a long day, we’re all tired, and continuing this discussion isn’t productive. We can set some time aside tomorrow to talk about your concerns, without Jasmine here.”
She remained stiff, her eyes flashing briefly to Jace. I couldn’t read her expression, but I thought she seemed pissed that he was suggesting that we talk about her when she wasn’t there.
There was something about her that was making them lose their heads. I nodded once. “Talking without her around to manipulate you three would be a good idea, after all.”
“How am I manipulating anyone?” Jasmine demanded.
I glared at her. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Renz nudged her side. “Want me to punch him for you?”
Jace and Killian both gave him unimpressed looks. I turned my glare straight on him. So, she claimed she wasn’t manipulating him, yet he was resorting to physical violence?
And of course, Jasmine smirked when he said it. She looked at him with gooey eyes. No wonder he was turning on me when she looked at him like that! Her face softened, her full,red lips curving into a smile. Her dark hair caught shimmering highlights, and the dress…the dress cupped her breasts so perfectly, the round tops of them so pillowy I’d bet they’d feel like clouds beneath my fingers.
“That won’t be necessary,” she said softly. “I just want to go to my room. I’m tired.”
