The dinner wasn't as bad as Isaac thought it would be. Bella was silent throughout the meal but the conversation between Jasmine, Cassandra and himself continued to flow.
They stayed away from any serious topics, just gabbing about their lives and experiences.
Once Bella had finished eating and finished a single glass of wine she waited a few minutes then excused herself and left, presumably to shower and head to bed.
"Don't worry, she will warm up to you in no time." Jasmine said quietly with a mournful look toward her sister's room. "She is stubborn and abrasive at times but she is fiercely loyal to her friends. Not that either of us have many of those."
"I wanted to ask, what was it like growing up in the Ironclaw pack? I don't know a lot about them and obviously I'm not particularly familiar with pack dynamics but it sounds like things have been pretty hard on both of you." Isaac asked carefully.
Jasmine looked down at her wine and nodded, "It was hard at times. We were welcomed into the pack of course, they provided for and protected us but we were always somewhat on the outside of things socially. We attended gatherings and went on their pack runs under the full moon but we were always spectators in truth. There are a few girls around our age and some are close friends, but not many boys at all. The alpha made it very clear that we were off limits for mating until the Whitepaw packs' future was settled. Of course we couldn't be mated until we turned 18 anyway but it was like as soon as the alpha announced our status that we weren't worth their time even to get to know as friends. We were in limbo.
"Bella got close to one of the guys last year but I always got a weird vibe from him, then he just got more and more possessive and controlling over time. He was the Alpha's son though, so she kinda just went with it at first but when she decided to move on he got really aggressive. We were pretty happy to move here, if for no other reason than to get away from him, to be honest."
"Right... Well, that really sucks, but there's narcissists in any society I guess. My memories of pack life are pretty fuzzy given how young I was but I've always envisioned the pack as a big extended family, and that's what I want for Whitepaw if we go down that road.
We don't need to get into it now, but if you're okay with it I hope we can talk more about how the pack structure works later on." Isaac took a deep breath before continuing, "Cass and I have been talking a lot about the future for obvious reasons and while I do want to revive our pack, I don't want to force you and your sister into anything. As far as I'm concerned the choice is up to you and Bella. Once you get to know me, if you're willing to be my mates and join Cass and I as equals, then we would welcome your support. God knows I'll need the help." he finished with a chagrined smile.
Jasmine frowned minutely and shook her head. "Isaac, I barely know you and I can already say with some confidence that we could grow to be good friends, but I think you're misunderstanding how your role as Alpha works. There is noone equal to a pack's Alpha, except another pack's Alpha. And even then, there's a hierarchy depending on their pack's respective strengths and standing.
I appreciate you allowing Bella and I some time to get to know you and extending the choice to us on whether we mate, but regardless of what we choose we will always be subordinate to you."
The conversation petered off after that declaration. Zack helped the girls clear up after dinner and later in the privacy of their room he followed through on his promise to Cass. She muffled her moans with a pillow as he put in the work with his new favourite trick of shifting his tongue to war form. Afterwards they lay snuggled together, luxuriating in each other's presence and before long they drifted off to sleep.
The following days settled into a routine. They ate breakfast together with a silent Bella before she would depart, then Isaac would spend a few hours reviewing the pack holdings and maintenance with Jasmine before lunch. After lunch they would either run or swim and Isaac started teaching Cass some basic fighting techniques when she expressed interest.
Jasmine joined several of their sessions and showed herself to be a fast and canny fighter.
On the fourth day while sparring with Jasmine he came to the conclusion that while he was unlikely to lose a fight against her in either of his bipedal forms he would definitely have to shed some blood to beat her in warform. She was at least as fast as him, darting in and lashing out with piercing jabs and swipes, he could soak up the damage relatively easily but her warform claws would undoubtedly leave their mark.
On their third bout of the afternoon, with Cass watching from the grass nearby, he noticed a change in the breeze had carried a scent to him unexpectedly. His eyes darted to the tree line off to his right and he caught the barest glimpse of silvery gray fur disappearing amongst the foliage. His momentary loss of focus cost him, Jasmine darting in for a right hook that landed just beneath his left ear and had him backpedaling furiously on the defensive as she pressed on with a flurry of strikes to capitalize. Blow after blow snapped into his guard, a few sneaking through before he failed to check a kick to the thigh that felt like it deadened half his leg.
He reacted instinctively at that point, as she stepped across to hook his leg and trip him he pivoted and grappled her tripping leg, toppling her onto her back with his whole weight following her down. The breath whooshed out of her in a gasp as she landed flat on her back under him with a thump.
She gasped for air as he scrambled to get his hands under him and lift his weight off her chest, he knelt on hands and knees over her as she recovered with her eyes closed. With her breath starting to return she opened her eyes and locked her gaze on his, he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing there in her eyes. There was a fierce glint of course, she might be struggling for breath but the fight was far from taken out of her, but there was also respect and dare he say it some affection in her gaze. They'd hardly known each other a handful of days but his heart raced at their closeness as he looked into her eyes, her chest slicked with a sheen of sweat rising and falling with her heavy breaths. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and her eyes flicked down to his lips for a moment before recapturing his gaze. Her scent tickled his nose, sweet woody notes and something warm and spicy, such an attractive bouquet.
"You okay Jaz? I didn't hear anything crack but that was a pretty hefty impact." he asked quietly.
"Yes, I'm fine, though I'll likely have a few bruises. Jaz?" she smiled questioningly.
"Mmm is that okay? If you don't like it I'll keep calling you Jasmine." he grinned at her cheekily.
"I like it." she broke out into the first full grin he'd seen on her face and it was blindingly beautiful to him. He stood first, then took her hand to help her up.
"Pretty sure your sister was watching us, I caught her scent when the wind changed, that's why I was distracted when you landed that hook. Nice strike by the way. You're damn fast." he chuckled.
"I was faster than basically everyone in Ironclaw, one of the few things they allowed us to fully participate in was sparring and training. If you ever fight Bella, be mindful. She's as fast as I am and she fights dirty." she finished with a wink, and reached a hand out to pat his shoulder affectionately.
"Good to know." Isaac nodded.
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That night after dinner Jasmine was laying in bed reading a book when there was a soft knock on her door. She called for her visitor to come in and Bella quietly slunk into the room, Jasmine put the book on her bedside table and patted the bed next to her for Bella to join her.
Once they were curled up on their sides facing each other, heads together on the same pillow the way they had always done since they were children whenever they wanted to talk quietly in private while the rest of the house slept, Jasmine waited patiently for Bella to speak. It took quite a while before Bella opened up.
"I'm scared, Jasmine. Aerin treated me like shit, all he wanted was a submissive bitch to breed him pups in the end, I'm scared Isaac is more of the same. Just wants pups to kick start the Whitepaw pack from scratch." she almost whimpered.
Jasmine took her sister's hand in hers and held it tightly. "Bell, you've barely spoken two sentences to Zack in the four days he's been here. You have to give him a chance. Talk to him, and start with an apology. I get it, it's scary, but nothing he or Cass have said gives me any indication he's like Aerin at all. Quite the opposite in fact; he wants us to have a choice.
He seems like a good man, smart and funny with a good sense of humour... He's quite 'human' but he's strong too." She paused a moment before continuing, "He said you were watching us spar today, what did you think?"
"He's faster than you but he holds himself back. He shrugged off your hits like they were nothing, only other time I've seen that is against the older Beta's in Ironclaw. I don't want to admit it but he's stronger than I was expecting. But that's not enough Jasmine! I was so rude to his fiancee and he didn't say anything, what kind of Alpha lets an insult like that slide by them without a word?"
"A patient one sister. An understanding one who knows the kind of pain we've been through growing up and especially since mother passed. Though perhaps there was some human naivety at play as well. Just give him a chance, please?" Jasmine said as she pressed her forehead against her sisters'.
"Fine, fine. I'll try to talk to him. Maybe not tomorrow, but I will. Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" Unshed tears filled Bella's eyes as she begged her older sister for permission to stay.
"Of course you can. Sleep well." both were asleep in minutes.
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The wind roared in Isaacs ears as he raced through the woods, he bounded over tree roots and rocks, splashed through a small babbling brook and ducked under low branches and shrubs.
A few more days had passed and he'd taken several opportunities to go for solo runs circling the pack lands, they weren't patrols exactly but he definitely felt the need to consider their future security, and used that time to explore and get familiar with the terrain.
He'd been running for a while today, exactly how long he wasn't sure as he'd surrendered to the exhilaration of the movement some time ago, the sensation of the wind in his fur and the dirt under paw as he ran was meditative and he slipped into a trance where thought was a thing of the past. Only the movement, the smells, the lightning fast instinctive reactions to his changing surroundings were present in his mind.
