Chapter 64: An Alpha’s Bite

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: An Alpha’s Bite

Shawn’s eyes narrowed. "Or maybe she’ll be terrified and run for the hills. Have you actually thought about that part?"

Jason said nothing.

"Jason, our existence isn’t a romantic plot point. It’s a secret." Shawn continued. "And once you tell her, there is no taking it back. Iris has lived her entire life believing that humans and werewolves exist in separate worlds...in the world of fantasy. You can’t simply open that door and decide later that you wish you’d kept it closed."

"I know."

"Do you?" Shawn leaned forward, resting his forearms against the back of his seat. "Dude, If she panics and tells the wrong person, you know what that could mean. Our existence isn’t something we can afford to have exposed."

"Iris won’t do that."

"You don’t know that."

"I do." Jason finally turned toward him. "She’s not that kind of person, Shawn. You know her. She’s compassionate. She doesn’t hurt people simply because she’s angry. Even after everything I did to her, she hasn’t gone around telling everyone what happened between us."

A hint of a smile touching his lips. "She has a heart that sees the best in people, even when they don’t deserve it. She won’t betray me."

Shawn looked away, he knew Jason had a point, but that didn’t mean he liked the idea.

"Have you thought this through man?" Finn asked him. "Once you tell her, there’s no going back on that."

"Yes I have. And besides, Vanessa already knows about our kind, which we still don’t know how she knows, but she does. If Vanessa can know we exist, why can’t Iris? At least Iris loves me. At least she’ll keep the secret out of something better than whatever’s in it for Vanessa

"Fine," Shawn allowed. "But if you do get back together with Iris — what about Vanessa? She bears your mark, Jason. You know she’s not letting go of that. You know what the mark means."

"Jason’s eyes hardened like cooling metal. "I don’t care about the mark on Vanessa

"You might not care." Finn leaned forward again, voice flattening. "But the rest of the pack cares, the council cares, because they know. So let’s play it out. Let’s say Iris forgives you. She accepts the truth and agrees to take you back. Where exactly does Vanessa fit into that happy ending? Where does Iris fit? There can only be one Luna Jason. Not two."

Jason’s fingers drummed against the steering wheel, once, twice — the only tell that the words had landed anywhere at all. Then he turned."Vanessa doesn’t fit into anything."

Finn gave him a skeptical look. "That’s easier to say than it is to make happen."

"I love Iris....not Vanessa. You’ve all said it yourselves — Vanessa bears my mark, and still I feel nothing for her. Nothing." He dragged a hand through his hair, blonde strands catching the light, pulling free and springing back.

"Don’t you get it? There is never going to be anything real between me and her. None of you understand that, and I can’t make you understand it, because you’ve all never truly loved someone yet, the way I love Iris."

"Jason, nobody’s questioning whether you have feelings for Iris." Shawn’s tone gentled. "But Vanessa bears your mark. Whether you intended it or not — and we all know you didn’t — the mark means something in our world."

"It means something to everyone except me." His voice cracked low. "That’s what none of you understand. I look at Vanessa and I feel nothing.... nothing at all. No pull. No need to protect her. No hunger to be near her. No sense that something inside me has finally come home and stopped pacing."

His eyes darkened, and for a moment he wasn’t in the car at all; he was somewhere else, some hallway, some memory. "But with Iris..."He stopped.

Finn and Shawn exchanged a glance.

"With Iris, everything is different," he went on, quieter now, almost to himself. "I don’t need a damned mark to be crazy about her. I was crazy about her when she was just a girl in a library who couldn’t reach the top shelf and refused to ask anyone for help."

Shawn’s expression softened slightly, and Finn actually huffed a small laugh. Then Shawn’s face sobered. "But the council won’t see it that way."

"They can think whatever they want."

"That’s not how the council works." Shawn leaned back. "Your family carries too much influence for them to simply ignore this. You’re the Alpha heir of the SilverClaw Pack. You’re a Montgomery. You can’t just discard a marked female without consequences. Your father has spent thirty years protecting the family’s position, and the moment Vanessa’s mark appeared, the council started asking questions. The werewolf committee knows about her — that mark is her advantage, her shield, her whole claim. Iris will not be accepted."

"Not if she bears my mark as well." Jason said and both boys went absolutely still.

"What?" they said, almost in unison

"Dude you can’t be serious right now." Finn’s voice came out flat with disbelief.

"I am completely serious. And that is exactly what I planned to do."

Finn stared at him as though he’d grown a second head. "Jason. Think about what you’re saying. You’re talking about deliberately marking a second woman when Vanessa already carries your mark. That’s not just a gesture, that’s a declaration. Marks don’t come off. You’d be announcing to the entire pack, in the only language they can’t argue with, that you’ve chosen two humans over any wolf."

"I’ve thought about it."

"No, you haven’t." Shawn’s voice became more urgent. "Your father is already furious about Vanessa. The council is watching your family because of her. If you mark Iris, you’re not just creating another problem. You’re putting her directly in the middle of something she doesn’t even understand. Is that what love looks like to you?"

"I’ll deal with my father."

"And the council?"

"I’ll deal with them too."

Finn shook his head slowly. "You’re seriously willing to risk all of that. The family’s standing. Your father’s whole life’s work. For a human girl who might take one look at your fur and run."

Jason looked down at his hands, broad and scarred at the knuckles, wrapped around a wheel worth more than most people’s cars, and for a moment he seemed very young and very tired.

"If you loved someone the way I love Iris," he said, "would you let her go?"