07

JACKSON HALE

I walked into my large house with Cayden following me shortly behind. He put his phone in his sweats before entering my house. At the doorway, we slipped off our shoes and pushed them nicely against the wall. My toes wiggled in my socks on the hardwood floor.

"Sweetie?" My mother called from the kitchen. A chicken scent trailing to my nose and my mouth watered. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Ma!" I answered. "Cayden too."

"Oh, great!" She exclaimed. "Come to the kitchen!"

Both of us walked towards my Ma and her cooking. The smell got stronger as we got closer. The first thing I saw was my younger sister, Claire, on the computer with a frustrated face. I loved it when she did that, she always stuck out her tongue subconsciously. It was a bad habit she used to concentrate. Claire is in middle school, in 8th grade, but she is the most mature person I've ever met.

"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw." She grumbled under her breath. Cayden chuckled behind me.

"What now?" I asked. She hated electronics because it never agrees with her.

"This fucking computer isn't taking my password!" She exclaimed.

"Language!" My Ma scolded.

"Sorry, Ma." She apologized, still looking at the computer screen.

I sighed and grabbed the computer from her, she groaned as I put in her password. It accepted it and let me in. I turned to Claire who was staring behind me. I nudged her shoulder with mine and she snapped her head to me.

"It hates me." She complained.

"Yes, it does," I tell her. I looked at Ma, still leaning on the counter.

"How was your first full day of school?" Ma asked as she cooked more.

"Humans are weird," Cayden answered behind me.

"You guys are lucky. I wish I could've gone with the high school." Claire said sadly.

"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten held back," I tell her playfully but she just glares at me.

"That was third grade and I'm sorry but y'all didn't teach me to read until the teacher demanded that you do." She said.

"I liked your third-grade teacher," Ma commented. "She looked out for you guys. She didn't care if we were an Alpha family. She would put us in our place when it came to our kids. Still respected us though."

"She was a mermaid." I also commented.

"Maybe that's why I had a crush on her." Cayden joked. Claire started coughing loudly and I shot her a weird look.

"She was a beautiful creature. Explains a lot." Ma said ignoring Claire's little outburst.

"Jackson met a girl," Cayden said behind me and turned to him to shoot a glare but he purposely tried to not look my way.

"Mate?" My Ma questioned as she stopped what she was doing.

"No." I lied and Ma relaxed. "She's human."

"That's nice but don't get too attached. Your mate is still out there." Ma said cheerfully. "What's her name?"

"Spencer," I told her.

"Huh- humans have weird names for their girls." She commented and pulled the pan from the oven.

"You think anyone has been mated to a human?" My sister asked curiously. My palms started to get clam-y and my breathing deepened.

"Not that I heard of. It's impossible. Plus the Alpha gets power from his pack. Adding a human would weaken it. We were made to mate to werewolves and only werewolves." Ma explained.

"There have been werewolves who were mated to vampires," Cayden adds.

Claire answers quickly. "Vampires aren't weak." She smiled at my friend.

"Imma head up to my room." I suddenly say wanting to leave this conversation.

"Okay, come down in an hour. Dinner will be ready." Ma told me. I nodded to her and grabbed Cayden's hand pulling him up with me.

We walked through the hallway on the second floor until we found my room. Both of us walked in tiredly and I collapsed on my bed. Cayden chuckled at gently laid down next to me. His eyes stared at me for a bit longer than necessary. He only did this when he had something on his mind.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly. Cayden sighed and threw his head back on my pillow. Looking up at the ceiling he gave one last sigh before turning to me.

"The school has a big football team and I'd like to try out." He confessed.

"I mean, that's fine as long as you keep your abilities to a minimum," I told him.

"What the- of course, I would. I'm not stupid." He complained.

"Sure you're not." I joked. Cayden hit my arm making me chuckle from amusement.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and opened it to the home screen, then to Instagram. I went to the search bar and typed in Spencer's name. Several options popped up and I looked at the profile pictures to decide which one is which. Finally, I found her.

Her Instagram was sort of trendy. A lot of pictures of her but with different people in different beautiful places. These people I recognized, something from their culture that we used all the time. Even some of them are supernatural. She had a ton of followers, close to a million, and more likes on one picture than all of my photos combined together.

"Maybe you should join too," Cayden comments as he is distracted by his own phone.

I looked at Spencer's pictures again and felt the need to impress her even more. "Sure." I agreed eagerly.

I closed the app after I followed her. I immediately went to the internet and typed in her name there. What popped up blew my mind. Articles that portray a lot. Spencer Murdock; Daughter of ex-CEO Nicholas Murdock. And more information about her family and social life with online friends. Even a couple of articles on her mother's passing. When I read them I felt my heart immediately break. I couldn't believe anyone would do that to someone.

"Tryouts are this Friday. Apparently, they train all year but football season is only four months." Cayden informs me and I nod at him mindlessly. Deciding that I shouldn't be digging into my mate's life, I turn off my phone and put it next to me.

Grabbing a pillow from above me, I pull it under my head and close my eyes for a quick nap. It wasn't long before my phone buzzed and I went to get it. I pulled it in front of my face.

@spencerhale followed you back

I smiled to myself but it quickly faded away when a text message came in. I read it with the pull to roll my eyes out of my head.

Stacy: needing u rlly bad rn

[picture of Stacy, topless with her perky boobs protruding from her chest. Her strawberry blonde hair all around her and half of her face is showing. She's biting her full pink bottom lip holding back whatever pleasure she is giving herself. Freckles are scattered all over her pale body. At the bottom of the picture, her hands are in her blue floral underwear, and with no doubt, it gets me hard.]

I groaned from annoyance and slight arousal. I opened up the text and messaged her back.

Jackson: no can do

Lame, I know but I didn't want to be rude about it.

Stacy: oh come on jackson

Stacy: come over and I'll show you some new things I learned

[read: 4:24pm]

Claire below