Chapter 25

~Jennifer (Jenny)~

Lewis Capaldi's Someone you loved, blared from my car's stereo, as I drove roughly across the streets of L.A. Sad songs, especially the ones that dealt with heartbreak and unrequited love, had slowly manifested into becoming my everyday companion.

I liked Alistair. No, I loved him.

For me, there had only been Alistair. I didn’t want any other guy, I didn’t even need them. For his sake, I had abandoned my pack, so that he wasn’t demoted to being an Omega. The day my parents died, I had sneaked off to see him and his human family, and I hadn’t been there when they had closed their eyes. When my brother was banished from his pack years ago, I turned my back on him, still because Alistair felt it was the right thing to do.

I did all I could to please him, and make him happy, even when it displeased me. He was my first love, and I had been in love with him for over twenty years. I remember vividly that he was also the guy I lost my virginity to.

Anytime he took me in his arms, it didn’t feel like he loved me; it only felt like he wanted me, and at the time, him wanting me was more than enough. At the same time, he cared about me. He always knew when something was wrong with me, and he always came to my aid.

When I had informed him of my intention to live in the human world, he had taken out money from his trust fund, and rented an apartment on my behalf without asking any questions. Asides that, it was all thanks to him that I pursued an education, and got a degree in Business management. His mother never liked me, but I didn’t mind, because I didn’t even need her to like me; I just wanted him to.

I had imagined having a grand wedding with him, and having two kids, who looked exactly like him, and I was sure that was going to happen, because even if he didn’t love me, I was the closest person to him, and he wasn’t interested in other girls, including the ones his mother forced him to go on a blind date with.

Alistair didn’t like people, especially girls, throwing themselves at him. He said such behaviour made him feel disgusted, and said that any woman who did that had little or no self respect for herself. It was for this reason I had kept my feelings in the dark. I didn’t want to make myself look cheap, and I didn’t want him to lose the respect he had for me.

To me, it was pointless for me to tell him about how I felt. I was already aware that he didn’t feel the same way about me, and I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. Either way, I was not bothered about him knowing if I liked him or not, because I had no doubt in my mind that he was still going to be mine at the end of the day, when we walked down the Isle together...Well, that was until Eliana showed up.

I had never been in support of Alistair’s revenge, but I was still on his side, and asked him to do what he thought was right. It was as if my instincts had been telling me all along that the revenge was bad news, because if he hadn’t gone along with it, there’d be no Eliana to come in between both of us.

It had all started out as a ploy to carry out his vengeance on Eliana’s parents for the death of his parents. However, he had ended up falling for her impeccable charm and sweetness, which I knew was all an act, as a matter of fact. Nobody on earth could be that nice and sweet, and unlike Garrett and Alistair, I wasn’t ever going to be deceived by her sweet nature.

As soon as she came into Alistair’s life, slowly, he had begun to slip from my grasp. If I hadn’t pretended to be now cool with his relationship with Eliana, I’d have lost him completely. I decided to stop acting like a jealous ex-lover, and decided to act strategically. Neither Alistair nor stupid Eliana were going to see what was coming to them.

I had been at a loss as to how to break Alistair and Eliana apart, but like the universe always did, I was presented with a rare opportunity, when Eliana asked the Beast of Vengeance for information as regards to her friend, Sam. With the way she had sounded, as a fellow girl, I could tell that Sam was not just a friend to her, and unlike the one-sided sexual love I had with Alistair, I knew that they had shared something more.

Pulling over in the parking lot of a coffee shop, I scoffed, realising that Eliana, Alistair, and my annoying brother, had actually thought I had meant well, by racking my brain in order to find Sam. I never liked to involve myself in anything that didn’t benefit me, except I was doing it for Alistair; and now that my plan had worked, and Sam was around, it was only a matter of time before things went back to how they used to be.

I unfastened my seatbelt, and picking up my big red leather handbag from the passenger seat, I stepped out of my Mercedes Benz, after which I slammed the door, and locked it. I had reached out directly to Sam via his email address, and recognising me as one of Eliana’s supposed friends, who had rescued him, he had agreed to meet with me, although I had strictly told him that the meeting was confidential, and he was not supposed to inform anyone about it, which he had promised to adhere to.

I had on a red blazer jacket, a white shirt, and a black skirt, which was touched my knees, and wore black flat shoes. I was coming straight from the office, where I worked with Alistair as his Personal Assistant, and most of the time, I looked corporate and smart.

To be honest, that was the ideal woman I had thought Alistair wanted. I had changed myself to suit his own taste, and I had never quite imagined from the way he sounded, that his type was going to be a typical princess, who lived in a mansion, and wore dresses. It probably wasn’t just about him having a particular type he wanted, it was just about me.

There was something he probably just did not like about me. Maybe I was too pale, or too tall, or it probably was because my eyes were way too green, but it definitely couldn’t be the fact that my hair was blonde. Everyone loved blondies. It couldn’t just be about how I looked. Or was it that he wasn’t interested in being with a werewolf? Alistair liked trying out things that weren’t usual, so, maybe that was the problem. The problem was that I wasn’t human.

Sam was sitting in one corner, having latte. He sensed that I was around, and looked up from his phone, waving at me.

I forced a smile, and walked towards him, after which I sat on the chair opposite him, and dropped my handbag on the table.

“Good afternoon,” I said.

“Good afternoon...Jennifer, right?” He asked, in a sexy masculine voice.

“Yes. You can call me Jenny though,” I replied.

He shook his head, in declination. “No. I’d rather go with Jennifer,” He said.

“Funny enough, that’s what Eliana calls me as well. She calls me by my full name,” I told him, seizing the opportunity to bring Eliana into the discussion.

“Oh, she does? Well, I’m not surprised. We’ve always behaved in the same manner,” He said.

“Wow. That’s interesting. So, you guys have a lot in common. No wonder you were the perfect couple,” I said.

“What?” He asked, in immediate surprise, nearly choking on his latte.

“Weren’t you a couple? Eliana told me you were her first love. Was it a one-sided love? I’m sorry, maybe I misunderstood things,” I replied.

A smile appeared on his face. “It’s nothing to be sorry about. I guess you could say we were a couple. I mean, we got matching t-shirts, went on dates, had sex, and did some other things couples do. It’s just that we never made things official, and I only got to know she felt the same way I did about her on the day we were attacked. She told me she loved me, and I’m guessing she did that, because she thought she’d never get a chance to say it again,” He explained.

I wore a sympathetic look on my face. “That’s so touching. Anyways, you have her back, and she has all the chances in the world to tell you that she loves you,” I said.

“Nah, that’s not going to happen. She’s with Alistair now, and I think he’s a great guy. I’m happy for both of them,” He said.

I scoffed. “So, you don’t love her anymore? Is that it?” I asked.

He seemed confused, as to what he should say. “I have always loved Eliana since we were kids, and that’s never going to change,” He said.

A mischievous smile played around my lips. “So, shouldn’t you be trying to get her back, since you love her?”

“No, I shouldn’t. She seems happy with Alistair, and I can’t jeopardise her happiness for my own selfish reasons,” He said.

“What if I told you that your reasons weren’t selfish?” I asked.

“What are you trying to say?” He retorted.

“Eliana was in a mess after you and your friends left her. She got into college late, because she couldn’t seem to move on early. She never moved on from you either. She had only just began to consider moving on a month ago. She met Alistair just five weeks ago. Do you really think she’d be happier with someone she just met, instead of someone she’s be in love with all her life?” I asked.

I watched him clench his fists tightly, as he seemed to be taking in what I had said. “You’ve still not told me what you’re trying to say,” He finally said.

“Well, what I am trying to say is that Eliana still loves you. I’m a woman, I’d know. That’s why I said you won’t be taking her back for selfish reasons. You’d be doing her a favour. First of all, she’s not sure if you still love her, and also, she doesn’t want to hurt Alistair, but we both know that it’s best for her to be with the person she really loves,” I said.

“So, you’re telling me to just walk up to Eliana, and say that I want her to be mine, and I still love her? Is that what you’re trying to say?, because if it is, then, you’re not making sense,” He told me.

I heaved a sigh. “Of course not. You’d have to warm up to her like old times again, and remind her of how things were between you guys, before that tragic incident occurred. She’s using Alistair to move on, but show her that she doesn’t need to move on from you. First loves actually never die; people just tend to deceive themselves that they don’t feel the same way about their first loves anymore,” I told him.

“You’re right, Jennifer. However, I’d like to know why you’re telling me this. What do you hope to achieve from breaking up Alistair and Eliana?” He asked.

I gave a sly smile. “Alistair,” I said.

“Alistair?”

“Yes, Alistair. Just as Eliana was yours first, Alistair was mine first,” I said.

He seemed to finally understand where I was coming from. “So, in exchange for getting me back with Eliana, you hope to get Alistair back, is that it?” He asked.

I nodded my head, in the affirmative. “Exactly. We’ve both lost people who are dear to us, and if we work together, we’d get them back. Don’t you agree?” I asked.

“You know, when I was transformed into a wolf, I kept thinking of Eliana. I wondered if she survived, and if she did, what she was doing with her life, and even wondered if she had gotten married with kids. When I saw her again, I just wanted to hug her for twenty-four good hours, and start off our discussion, saying something like: ‘About what you said that night, do you still feel that way about me, because I do’.

“However, after seeing her with Alistair, I just felt that I should let her go, because it doesn’t matter if she’s with me, all that matters is if she’s happy. People say you truly love someone if you can let them go for their own good, but Jennifer, you’re right. When you love someone, you should fight to get them back. You should only let go, if you’ve done all you could possibly do within your human capacity, and they don’t still want you,” He concluded.

“Now, that’s the spirit,” I said, with a broad smile plastered on my face.

He returned the smile. “So, this is the reason you called me here,” He said.

I nodded, positively. “Of course. Are you mad?” I asked, still smiling.

He shook his head. “No, I’m actually glad. Thank you for letting me be a part of the plan to break up Alistair and Eliana. Something tells me it wouldn’t even take that long,” Sam said.

“I have that feeling as well,” I said.

Surprisingly, things had gone on even better than I had anticipated. With Sam on my side, we would be able to tear apart Alistair and Eliana in no time. Alistair would misunderstand her, and she’d run crying to the arms of Sam. Feeling betrayed, Alistair was going to turn to me, the only one he should have trusted.

That was exactly how things were supposed to be, and I’d make sure all the pieces fell into place, and I got back everything that was rightfully mine.