Chapter 3

3

Jasper

F inishing my day's work at the ranch, I locked up after making sure the horses were all good. It had been a long day with one of the horses, Beast, who refused to go into his stall. Something was making these horses antsy, but I couldn't find anything that would spook them. It was sunset now, and I was more than ready to go home.

"Hey Jasper!" said a bright voice, and I saw Ruby's friend Carmen leaving the house.

"Hey, Carmen," I grunted as I fiddled with the tools on my work belt. The door to Beast's stall wasn't closing correctly, and I needed to fix a loose screw on the barn door.

"Did you hear about Ruby?" she asked.

The sound of her name stopped me in my tracks, and I turned to face her. "What about Ruby?"

"Oh, never mind," she said, suddenly realizing that I didn't know.

"Tell me," I urged her. I needed to know everything when it came to Ruby. "She's my friend, too."

"She's meeting with an alpha pack tonight," said Carmen. "I know you two like each other, so yeah…"

What the hell?

This came out of nowhere, and I wondered why Ruby didn't mention it to me at all. I knew that she would eventually meet a pack one day, but not this quickly.

"Why is she meeting them? What's the rush?"

"Well, she's an omega, and she needs a pack," said Carmen sarcastically. But then, in a more sympathetic voice, "Don't sweat it. She wasn't looking forward to it anyway."

"Did you just say she liked me?" I asked, my heart beating faster. She slapped a hand over her mouth, and her eyes went wide.

"Forget I said that. Oh my goodness, Ruby's going to kill me," she wailed as she quickly walked away from the ranch.

If Ruby really felt the same for me- that meant I needed to save her from this pack she was supposed to mate.

Abandoning the barn door, I swiftly strode over to her family's home and crept to the side of the house. From the window, I could see her talking to three alphas wearing suits. They were eating dinner around a table, and her face was pink as she giggled at whatever the alpha with the lame bun was whispering in her ear.

My jaw tensed as I watched her enjoying their company.

She looked beautiful tonight, glittering in her navy blue dress. Her long black hair shone tonight under the chandeliers. My heart clenched with a mixture of longing and jealousy as I watched her.

As if sensing my gaze, she looked up, and our eyes locked on one another. A hint of a blush crept up her face, a certain purity and innocence to it because I knew she had never been approached by alphas like this before. I had always protected her through high school, and now I couldn't stand watching her talk to these alphas.

I needed to let her go.

She needed a chance to move on and have an actual pack of her own. I didn't have a right to be possessive over her.

Ruby

My scent was overwhelming as I sat between Wayne and Davy. Squirming in my chair, I tried to make myself as small as possible so they wouldn't smell how aroused I was.

Wayne was rugged, with lines on his forehead and his long black hair tied into a bun. I couldn't look away from his rough features and how his lips had a slant to them. He was clean-shaven, and his alpha scent of rain was so calming that it made me want to snuggle in his chest and absorb him.

Davy, on my other side, smelled like tangerine, which added a nice sharp contrast to Wayne's smell on my left. I took a deep breath, inhaling, trying to be secretive about it.

"Are you okay, Ruby?" asked Wayne, looking at me. My face was hot, and I blamed it on the alpha pheromones all around me.

What the fuck was wrong with me today? I shouldn't even be entertaining the thought of being with a pack.

"Yes, I'm okay," I said, taking a bite of the baked fish. "I was just wondering if you'd like an omega who wanted to have a career in the future or start a business."

"Ruby," said my dad as he looked at me disapprovingly. Omegas were encouraged to stay at home, have babies, and take care of their packs.

That was life here on the Alpha Compound.

"Hmm, I don't mind that," said Wayne.

It was hard to believe that. Wayne was probably only saying this since he agreed to marry me years ago. I still didn't even know how that came about, and I wondered why my parents would agree with this. Did they even know who this alpha was?

"Continue getting to know each other," my dad announced, grabbing Julie's hand so they could give us some privacy.

"You can stay," I said weakly, trying to hold onto my anger to my family so I could resist the alphas .

"You should talk to them," my dad said, and they left me alone with the alphas in the dining room under the sparkling chandelier lights.

"So tell me, Ruby. What did you want to be when you grew up?" whispered Wayne, and I couldn't help but laugh. He was being silly, trying to disarm me, but I needed to be on guard.

I suddenly felt a pair of eyes watching me. Looking around, I noticed Jasper at the window, and goosebumps rose from my skin.

His blond hair was indistinguishable, and his dark blue eyes were intense as he saw me interacting with the alphas. My face started to heat up, and my heart thumped. I swallowed my drink nervously, wondering what he was thinking.

Tearing my gaze away from him, I turned my attention back to Wayne, Davy, and Rufus. If they saw Jasper, they would kill him. Alphas were highly territorial of their omegas, and I was promised to Wayne.

As the evening drew on, I looked back at the window to see that Jasper was gone. I started to feel upset about that, wondering if he knew there wasn't a chance now. I could hardly breathe from anxiety after seeing him gone like that.

He probably hated me now.

Our attraction for each other was unspoken, but it was there. I knew it for sure now after seeing the look in Jasper's eyes as he watched me through the glass.

"I don't even know anymore," I groaned over the phone to Carmen, kicking off my heels and collapsing onto the bed. It had been a hell of a day, and my thoughts were all over the place. "Wayne and his pack are... solid. They smell good too, for what it's worth."

"Do you find them attractive?" Carmen asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

"Davy's definitely the most attractive," I admitted. "The rest of them? Very alpha. Strong, assertive… all that."

Carmen let out a low whistle. "Ooh, Jasper's not going to take this well."

"I know," I sighed. "But I need to make my own choices. I'm tired of feeling like I'm stuck between what he wants and what I need."

"I get it," Carmen said softly. "It's exhausting when you can't take control of your own life. I thought Tyler and I had a future until he rejected me."

"Jasper was literally staring at me the entire time I was with the pack," I said, still unsettled by the intensity of his gaze over dinner. Just thinking about it made my stomach knot up.

"Oh no," Carmen said, and I could tell immediately she was hiding something.

I sat up quickly, the weight of the day catching up to me. "What did you do?" I demanded, gripping the phone tighter as the room's darkness pressed in.

"I…I told Jasper you had feelings for him," she confessed, her voice dropping to a whisper.

I groaned, sinking back into the pillows. "That was supposed to stay between us, Carmen. Seriously?"

"It just slipped out, I swear."

I rubbed my forehead, frustration bubbling up. "What do I do now?" I asked, more out of resignation than anger. The thought of confronting Jasper made my pulse quicken, but at least the weight of keeping it a secret was off my shoulders.

"Talk to him," Carmen urged. "He clearly likes you too, or he wouldn't have been so possessive. Staring at you like that? He was probably feeling threatened by the other guys."

I exhaled deeply. She was right—we needed to have a conversation, one way or another.

"I need closure... or something," I muttered, conflicted. "He doesn't even have a pack, and my dad already hates him."

"Yeah, you're in a tough spot," Carmen said sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

After ending the call, I lay there for a few moments, my mind racing. Jasper was still hanging around the ranch last I checked, and it wasn't too late to go see him.

The night air was crisp as I walked towards the ranch. I was still wearing my dress and heels since I didn't want to get all cozy for bed and then come out here. Apprehension swirled within me as I thought about this impending conversation. I had no idea if I was going to confess my feelings or tell him that I would be with a pack at long last.

Jasper was gathering his tools at the foot of one of the barn doors. I stood about ten feet away, my heart pounding hard as I watched him. His tattooed arms flexed as he picked up the screwdriver and dumped it into the toolbox. It was as if he knew I was there when he suddenly straightened up and spun around.

Oh god . What the fuck did I get myself into? I couldn't move, and I could hardly breathe as we stood facing each other.

He started walking towards me, and my breathing came out in short gasps. In three short strides, he covered the distance between us.

We were standing inches from each other, and I had to crane my neck to look at him. My face was burning, and I didn't know what to say.

"Hey," I squeaked out.

Without a word, he leaned down, and my heart was now pounding out of my chest. I couldn't believe that he was going to kiss me.

He paused, and I could feel his hot breath caressing my skin as he waited for my response. I wanted it, too. And so I lifted my head ever so slightly, and our lips met.

Oh my god .

His sea scent was wonderful as it surrounded me. He placed his hand on the back of my neck as our kiss deepened. Our lips moved in rhythm under the moonlight. I had dreamt of this for years, and it was finally happening.

But I was so conflicted.

Pulling away, I broke the kiss, and he watched me silently for my reaction.

"Jasper," I whispered.

"I always wanted to kiss you," he said, not breaking eye contact for even a minute. I started to feel self-conscious, so I looked at the hay on the ground instead.

"Me too," I admitted, and he grasped my small hands in his strong, callused ones.

"Run away with me, Ruby."