We stood feet from each other. The space between us seemed to sizzle with electricity that we both tried to steadfastly ignore. The expression on Jackson's face looked pained and I was sure mine was a mirror of the same.

My mind and emotions were in complete chaos. I was trying to reason the situation out, but my wolf was howling. She didn't care that he was Merphate, only that he was sent to us by the Goddess.

I knew how wrong it was, but I wanted to close the gap between us as well. I wanted to go to Jackson and feel his lips on mine again - his skin on my skin. Everything in me was rejoicing - I had found my mate and he was perfect. But my mind, my mind was in turmoil as I tried to find a way out of the situation we were in.

I couldn't betray my whole pack for him. Could I? I mentally shook my head. I had been raised with the pack. My father was alpha, for Goddess sake. Mate or no mate, he would never accept or let me go with the Alpha of the Merphate pack, not after all that they had done.

How could Jackson want me after all my pack had done? It was an impossible situation.

I glanced over at Jackson inadvertently, almost without thinking. He looked as torn as I did. His eyes met mine and my body pulled towards him so instinctively that I couldn't help but take a step towards him before I managed to stop myself. He noticed, of course. He was likely watching me just as I was watching him.

"We can't do this." He whispered, his voice barely louder than a breath.

My heart, which had been beating erratically until then, stopped dead. I know that the hurt was evident on my face, but I couldn't help it. I was irrational, hurt and horribly emotional - despite knowing our impossible circumstances. My wolf had heard our mate reject us and the pain was amplified double and I just couldn't take it.

"Don't you want me?" I managed to choke out.

The gap between us was filled instantly and I felt Jackson's arms encircle me. I couldn't help but breathe his scent in deeply and hug him back just as ferociously.

"Don't you ever think that," he growled into my hair. "There is nothing I want more in this world."

I relished in him before I pulled back slightly, only enough so I could look him in the face.

"If I take you with me your father will consider it an act of war, whether we are mates or not," he said, his brow furrowed. "We are in a tense truce right now, which is a welcome break for most of my pack members and their families. I don't want to do anything that is going to disrupt the rare peace that they have."

I nodded slightly. Jackson was a good Alpha to put the welfare of his pack in front of his own. That was what any good Alpha would do. I knew that. It still broke my heart into pieces.

"Will you ever come for me?" I asked.

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

I closed my eyes and buried my face in his chest, holding back the tears that threatened to escape. I had only just met him, but I knew that I never wanted to be parted from him. At this point, I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to see him again.
"Maybe my father will let me go so long as I am happy," I said, but counted against it.

"If you think that then you do not know your father as well as I do," he growled deeply, causing his chest to rumble.

My heart breaking and I pressed myself into him further. When would be the next time Jackson would be able to hold me like this again? When would I be able to even see him again? I almost wished I hadn't met him, at least then it wouldn't be so painful to be parted from him. There had to be a way for us to at least speak to each other while we were so distanced.

"Give me your cell phone number," I said suddenly, breaking the spell that seemed to have been cast over us since meeting.

"What?" He asked, startled.

"Give me your cell phone number and then at least we can call each other - or even text each other. I'll text you."

I pulled my cell out of bust of my chest, where it had been securely stashed away until now. Jackson's highbrows shot up as he watched and the tense moment we were having seemed to flush away.

"A girl who knows what she wants. I like that." He smirked. "Will you send me naughty pictures?"

I flushed red and punched him on the arm.

"Don't be a pervert. Give me your number."

He recited the number and I plugged him in as a contact. I sent him a text immediately. He reached into his coat and withdrew a his phone when it went off.

"Romy?" He asked, looking at the name I had texted him.

"It is a lot shorter to say and text than Rosemarie," I said. "I have been trying to force people to call me it since I can remember."

"And do they call you Romy?"

"Only the pups," I sighed.

My parents and the older members of the pack always insisted on calling me Rosemarie, which irritated me to no end. Apparently, it was more formal and lady-like. Per normal, all of my requests were ignored.

"Romy it is then."

"One down, only a whole pack left to convince," I smiled up at him lightly.

He smiled back down at me and ran his hands through my hair sadly.

"I have to go soon. I don't want anyone to find me here. I've stayed longer than I should have already."

"How did you get into the party anyway?" I asked. "It was by invite only and I can guarantee that you didn't get one."

"That's my little secret," he said and winked.

"You're really full of yourself, aren't you?"

"It just comes natural," he smirked and ran one of his hands through his hair.

"Promise me that you will text me tomorrow."

"I promise," he replied and put his large hands on my waist, pulling me close to him once more.

I didn't wait for an invitation before I had my lips planted on his again. I didn't care that I was kissing the enemy. All I knew was that I was kissing Jackson, my mate and I was thoroughly enjoying it. It didn't take long before his hands started to roam and his kisses made their way down to my collarbone and throat. I clutched at his shoulders in ecstasy. It was amazing how the simplest of touches from him could elicit the greatest reactions from me - it felt like I was on fire.

Jackson stiffened and pulled away from me. When I opened my mouth to argue he placed a finger to my lips and pointed to his ear, indicating for me to listen.

"I smell him this way," one of my pack members said to another in the house as they made their way towards us.

"I have to go," Jackson whispered to me. "They can't find me here. If it was just one of my pack members that had party crashed it would be different, but they can't find me."

"I understand."

"They will know someone from my pack was here and that you were here. Run to your room as fast as you can and, as much as it pains me to say this, you have to wash my scent from you. You can't be in any way, shape or form associated with the Merphate Pack. Your father will go insane." Jackson said seriously as he picked up his mask from the ground. "As long as you no longer smell like me, they can assume that you and I were out here at different times. They don't know my scent specifically like yours, so they can't trace it directly back to me."

I nodded. I never believed that my father would harm me, but who knows what he would do if he found out that the Merphate pack had been near me. He hated them for as long as I can remember.

Jackson leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before telling me to run.

I wanted to go with him, every fibre in being was screaming at me to take his hand and let him lead me anywhere. Instead, I turned on my heels and ran from my centre of gravity. I ran until I reached my room and closed the door firmly.

Breathing heavily, I stripped out of my beautiful gown and ran a bath in my private bathroom. I filled it with bath salts and balms, hoping it would mask any scent that lingered. I sprayed air freshener around my bedroom, which wouldn't seem strange since I did it so frequently (scent of wet dog and all). I took a deep breath of my dress, inhaling Jackson once more and hoping that would be enough before I emerged myself and my gorgeous dress in the bathwater - erasing any trace that would tell my father that Jackson Merphate was my mate.

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The next morning my alarm woke me early, so that I could retrieve the sopping dress that I had hung outside on my balcony the night before. Luckily, it was fully dried when I pulled it down and smelled of only me and fresh air. I hung it back in the closet with my other dresses. I found my cell phone and quickly checked for messages, only to find none. It was silly to even look, considering the time.

Jackson was actually probably already up though and doing pack business. That is, so long as he hadn't been caught last night.

I instantly put the thought out of my mind as soon as it had came. If Father had caught the Alpha of the Merphate pack, regardless of the hour the whole pack would have known about it. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and sat down at my vanity to begin my morning ritual. I had just finished applying what little make-up I wore and picked up my brush to begin brushing my hair when my bedroom door was forced open.

I was so shocked I barely had time to make a noise when I jumped off of the stool in front of the mirror. There stood the pack Beta, Gary, my mother who looked a bit affright, and my father who was seething.

"You shouldn't just knock open a young woman's door like that," my mother said. "Who knows what she could have been doing-"

"Exactly," my father nearly snarled back before he and Gary entered my room, followed by Mother.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"Oh honey, last night some members of the Merphate pack were here," Mother said gently.

I didn't have to act surprised, because I was. I had thought that Jackson had come here on his own. But then again, he was Alpha and it would be very stupid to have let him come on his own into the enemy grounds. But it made me question what exactly they were doing here in the first place.

"Well, is everyone alright?" I asked.

"No one was harmed," my mother said. "We think it may have just been some of their younger members trying to party crash."

"Well, that's a relief." I said, still playing as innocent as I could manage. "But what has that got to do with Father and Gary barging into my room this early in the morning?"

"We traced one of them out to the garden last night." Gary said.

"And?" I demanded, hearing the tone of accusation in his voice.

"And the only other scent in the garden was yours, Rosemarie," my father barked out.

"Well, I certainly wasn't with anyone outside in the gardens," I said. "When I was out there it was completely deserted."

"And why were you in the gardens to begin with?"

"The party was really hot and crowded. I wasn't feeling well so I decided to go to the gardens, which I knew would be empty, and cool off a bit. After a while I knew that the fresh air wasn't helping so I came back to my room and went to bed."

Gary was sniffing around my room like a hound dog, which was making me very uncomfortable (not to mention nervous) but I tried to ignore it and act calm while my father interrogated me.

"Where is the dress?"

"I beg your pardon?" I asked.

"The dress you were wearing last night, bring it to me," my father ordered.

I tried to steady my heartbeat and breathing as I walked over to my closet and pulled the dress out, passing it to my father. He and Gary began sniffing it like animals, which I would have considered hilarious in a different situation. In the end, my father passed it back to me completely wrinkled.

"See?" My mother insisted. "I told you that she wouldn't have had anything to do with it. She has a good head on her shoulders."

"I am sorry, Rosemarie," my father said and smiled at me. "You know we were only trying to protect you."

I nodded and watched them leave after inviting me down for breakfast. Funny, it hadn't felt like they had been worried about protecting me when they were interrogating me like a common criminal - even though now I felt like one. I pushed the thoughts from my mind and gripped the cell phone in my pocket tight. Maybe Jackson was right. Maybe he did know my father better than I did.

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I stayed in my room all day. It wasn't because I was pouting due to my father's search that morning, which I let them believe. No, it was because I wanted to be by myself when I received the text from Jackson. It didn't stop me from accepting the apologetic flowers and chocolate that my father had sent up to me though.

It was about mid-afternoon when my cell finally went off. I had been staring at it in anticipation for so long that the sudden movement and sound startled me almost enough to scream. I laughed a little at my silliness and picked up the phone swiftly and clicked on the text message.

How is your day going, beautiful?

I smiled and clutched my phone tightly. I hesitated seeing the name "Jackson" though. I was worried what would happen if someone just picked up my phone and went through it. Something I thought was impossible until my father barged in to my room this morning.

I tried thinking of a clever name but they were all too pre-teen sounding. So, smiling to myself, I changed his name to Romeo - after another pair of star-crossed lovers - but these ones won't be taking their lives. If I learned anything from studying Shakespeare, it was how to avoid tragedy.

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