Taming Her Beastly Mate
Chapter 55

“Mine.” The words spilled out from Jasper’s mouth as he stormed towards Terra. An overwhelming need of something he couldn’t understand drove him without thinking. Her hazel eyes captured him as her scent beckoned him closer. Her scent was like the most delicious b***d he had ever tasted. It made his insides roll in a frenzy, wanting to mark her… to taste her. She was his mate. She was his. But right before he could reach her, Aken pulled her back protectively. Which made Jasper halt. He glared at Aken with his possessive eyes. And for a moment . . . it appeared he was actually crazy enough to consider taking her from the deity in front of him.

Aken held his gaze on Jasper. “Wait.” His deep voice radiated with authority as he glared at Jasper. He waited until he saw the vampire’s eye color flashback to normal before he dropped his gaze from him. “Is this man your mate”? He had no problem with allowing her mate but he was giving her a moment to process what happened and what she wanted to do about it.

Terra’s hazel eyes looked at the brown eyes of the man in front of her. There was no denying what she felt. There was no denying the mate pull. His scent was a blend of cinnamon and leather, different from any other scent she had come across. It was a smell that was now hers. His blonde hair stood in a messy manner that she craved to touch. Her eyes were tracing over his lips as she felt a magnetic force pulling her to this man. But he was a stranger. A stranger who knew nothing about her. “Yes, he is my mate. But—” She stared at Jasper. “We have different allegiances.” She looked at the pure-blooded vampire man that stood behind him. She could recognize his scent. Her vampire b***d would know a high-ranking vampire when she met one. And she could tell the man in front of her was also a high-ranking vampire. “You follow the vampires. I have sworn my allegiance to Aken.”

“Terra.” Aken quirked a brow up at her. “Don’t hide behind excuses. Remember the talk you had with me. Not quite how one would speak to the one they pledge allegiance to…” If Terra didn’t want to take Jasper as a mate, that was fine. However, she wasn’t going to hide behind excuses.

Terra nodded her head. She understood Aken instantly, so she decided to just say what the deal breaker was. “My parents fought with the demons during the demon war. I am the daughter they left behind when they died. My mother was a pure-blooded vampire, and my father was the son of an original demon.” (Demon War: Rise of the Alpha)

“Do you remember their names?” Harley asked with now a piqued interest.

“Yes, my mother was Claire, and my father was Leoric.” Terra saw a few people stir uncomfortably.

Aba had his brows knitted together as he frowned. “Leoric… that name… I—” He didn’t have his memories from his first life. And some things were blurring even from his second, though for the most part, he remembers his existence as a bound servant. But this was a name he had heard before. A name he was told about. “Is that the same Leoric who was my half-brother?”

“It is,” Harley confirmed and nodded his head. “There was no other son of an original demon by the name of Leoric. So, I guess that makes her your niece.” Harley chuckled and could see the confused face of the young woman. “It’s a long story. One they can catch you up on later.”

“My name is Jasper. The prince of the vampires is my cousin. Yes, I am loyal to the vampires. That will never change. My family is there. You are not your parents and I won’t reject you because of what they did. Finding each other at this age is a gift. Let’s take some time to get to know each other.”

The man’s voice, although hoarse, was deep and calm. The timbre of his voice was one that made Terra want to listen. She reached up and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. As she tried to ignore the almost painful feeling inside of her. She thought back to the draw she had seen Aken had towards Alexis. He was always going to watch over her. As if he couldn’t live without seeing her. She wouldn’t lie to herself, she wanted that too. But she wasn’t just going to agree to it. She didn’t know anything about this man. Not enough to agree to give him her life. It was almost like Aken sensed this though, because his next words were in consideration of her.

“Why don’t you come back with us? During that time, you two can get better acquainted and can decide what you wish to do from there.” Aken winked down at Terra who gave him a faint smile in appreciation. He knew she would feel better not being surrounded by so many people immediately. She wasn’t used to this after all.

Jasper frowned and pursed his lips together. Lucy was heavily pregnant, and it didn’t sit right with him to leave her there along with Derek.

“Go,” Derek said in a commanding voice. “That’s an order.” He knew his cousin well enough that he would have to give him the push he needed.

Jasper turned to look at Derek. Their eyes met and a slight smile reached Derek’s lips.

‘Go, this is your fated mate we are talking about. We are completely safe here.’ Derek winked at Jasper. ‘Go and win her heart.’

Jasper nodded his head. Thank you. He turned back around and looked at Aken. “I accept.” His eyes then moved to the hazel eyes of Terra. The girl was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her dark hair spilled over her caramel shoulders. Her eyes were brown accented with little flecks of gold and green. They were mystifying and alluring. And right now, how she was biting her bottom l*p made Jasper squeeze his fingers together tightly. He needed to fight for self-control so that he could adjust to her pace. She wasn’t brought up the same way he was. He wanted to know everything about her.

Jasper wanted to accept the mate bond right away. He didn’t fear it. He wanted to cherish it and the beautiful mate in front of him. It didn’t matter to him if he didn’t know her. But things were different for him. He grew up with loving parents and in a safe environment. He hoped that in time Terra would learn to put her trust in him. However, he couldn’t ever see himself leaving the Vampire Kingdom. It was his home, and he knew this was something that they needed to work through.

“Terra, Jasper is family to me. I grew up with him. He is like another one of my cousins. I can attest that while he can be annoying, he is a good guy.” Alexis listened to Jasper snort.

“Hey, I am not annoying. How can you call me annoying when there is Justice and Aiden around?!” Jasper grinned as he listened to the chuckles from the other men. His eyes were back to looking at Terra. “Would you feel comfortable enough taking a walk with me? I promise I won’t bite… unless you ask.”

Terra raised a brow at him. Her mate had a lot of confidence in himself. Well, it would take more than confidence to impress her. She was raised by Mr. Confidence himself. “I’m not a dog. I don’t need to be walked.” She looked around and spotted a nice area where the tree’s created a cool shadow canopy. She looked up at Aken and said, “I’ll be over there waiting. Let me know when we are leaving.”

Jasper watched her walk away, admiring the way her h**s swayed. He wanted to follow her and drag her off somewhere private. Let her feel how the mate bond connected them. But instead, she brushed him off. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He had never been turned down before.

Aken couldn’t help but smirk and quietly laugh. She was headstrong and doing things on her terms. He watched Terra sit down in the grass and then turned to look back at Jasper.

“Well?” Aken said in a harsh whisper.

“Well, what?” Jasper hissed back. He was still trying to pick his crumbled self off the ground.

“Idiot.” Alexis clicked her tongue. “Go sit by her.”

Jasper stared at Alexis confused. “But she said—”

“You want a formal invitation?” Micah chuckled at how dense Jasper was. He was used to women throwing themselves at him. A woman playing hard to get was uncharted territory. A woman who happened to be his mate.

“Oh…OH— You think—” Jasper glanced over at Terra and his lips curled upwards. He then made his way over towards Terra. He thought she was shooting him down. Here she was giving him a chance to talk alone but on her terms. Okay, he could roll with this. Not that he had another choice.

Alexis smiled and turned her gaze away from them. She hoped that everything would work out for the two of them. She didn’t know Terra well but from what she could tell she was a nice young woman. She didn’t think highly of herself. Of course, then you had Jasper who thought too highly of himself. They were probably a perfect pair to help even each other out.

“Alexis! You are back.” Raine cheered out as she ran over with Ryker in tow.

“What were YOU two doing?” Justice asked with a smirk.

“Sleeping.” Ryker shrugged innocently.

“Sleeping? Uh-huh. Sure.” Justice scoffed and Ryker grinned widely.

“We were sleeping… only because we didn’t sleep at all last night.” Ryker’s smile quickly vanished as he heard the snort from Cody not far away from him. “It’s hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place.” He cleared his throat and listened to Justice’s snicker.

“Now that Raine is here it is catch up time!” Destiny grinned. “We all four have mates now. Lucy and I are about to pop. I want to hear about everything.”

“Hey what about the snowball fight?” Aiden asked with a grin. “You wouldn’t be afraid, would you?”

Alexis laughed. “Afraid? Alright, you asked for it.” She looked over at a flat grassy area below the patio they were standing on. With a wave of her wrist, the area turned white with thick fluffy snow. “You know… this isn’t a battle you can win.”

“I have no shame in ganging up on her to bring her down.” Justice rolled his shoulders cracking them.

“Well to be fair about this…” Rhea spoke up clearly enjoying herself. “Alexis you can’t summon more snow. No one can use their magic. And I am joining in on the fun too.”

“Of course you are.” Cody snorted folding his arms over his chest.

“What’s the matter, Cody? You afraid of getting embarrassed?” Wyatt smirked as he cracked in knuckles in front of him.

“If Wyatt is joining in then I am too!” Jason chuckled as he felt his excitement begin to rise. No matter how old they were they were still big kids at heart.

“I think I need to make the playing field bigger.” Alexis giggled as the white spread more. One of the things she loved about her family was their fun nature. They were tough and fierce when they needed to be. But they also knew when to have fun.

“I’ll be by your side, my fairy. I’ll protect you.” Levi rubbed Rhea’s shoulders and looked up to see green eyes drilling into him. He leaned his head down and lightly peck her lips. “Whether you want me to or not.” He mumbled against her lips.

Aken chuckled. “Well of course if you are joining in on this I will also be joining.”

Blue pinned against green in a fierce stare down. They might all be family but right now it was war. Mother against daughter, father against son, cousins against cousins— all competitive and not willing to show mercy to the other.

“Aba, are you coming? Just remember don’t eat the yellow snow.” Justice flashed his pearly white grin as the young half-demon rolled his eyes.

“No thanks. I’m staying with Lucy.”

Justice shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself. I understand. I mean you are so young and little. It would be a massacre.”

“Reverse psychology won’t work on me. Idi.ot.” Aba sat down next to Lucy quite content to sit this one out. He wasn’t a big fan of snow.

Aken walked next to Alexis and scooped her into his side. “You know… we have to win this right? I can’t lose to the blue— your father.” He cleared his throat and winked down at her.

“I don’t plan on losing. Snow is my element after all.” Alexis felt him tug her to a stop as he spun her in his arms. He bent his head down and kissed her forehead gently.

“Alright my love. Let’s defend your honor.”