Wolf under an oak tree.

Elana and I sat on the floor staring into space until she spoke again. “I should have guessed that you must have been the rightful owner the day I saw you,” Elana mumbled, which pricked my interest.

“What are you talking about?”

“The day I met you, I felt this strange yet familiar aura around you, and at first, I taught maybe my conscience is playing a trick on me again, but I am wrong. You have the same aura that Grandma had,” she said, and I realized that Jace’s mother also said the same thing to me when we first met.

“So, what am I capable of doing?” I asked Elana, and she looked at me with a faraway glance before looking at the floor again.

“You can heal yourself, and anyone and you have the strength and speed of a werewolf, more precisely an Alpha. And you can also show someone’s future, but apart from that, you will be gifted with a special power which will be unique to you.” Elana explained, and I realized that I have already seen that I can heal anyone and myself, but I still have to try out the rest.

“Thank you so much, Elana. When I first healed Beatrice, I taught that I have officially turned into a complete freak.” I told her, and she shook her head and crawled over to where I was seated, and pulled me into a hug.

“Everyone is different, Iris. And anyone who looks at you differently just doesn't understand your worth. So ignore them.” she said, and I nodded my head.

“Woah! I didn't know that we are having a party at our house today, darling.” Mike asked us, and we quickly broke away from each other and got up from the floor.

“So, is this a pity party or a fun one?” he asked Elana while he took a seat on the barstool, Elana shook her head before she went over to prepare some coffee for Mike, and I took my seat again, and started sipping my cold coffee.

Ew! Cold black coffee tastes horrible.

“This is like a daily dose of insight that Iris and I share every day, and today we had a bit too much of it.” Elana joked, and Mike shook his head, when Elana placed his coffee in front of him, he pulled her by the waist and placed a chaste kiss on the lips before letting her go, and my heart ached at seeing them and remembering the short period that I spend with Jace.

“So, Iris, I thought you would be at Jace's house today,” Mike asked me casually, and I gave him a puzzled look.

“Wait, didn't he tell you?” Mike asked me astonished, and now Elana also gave me a curious glance, and I shook my head.

“What is happening today?” I asked him, and he cleared his throat and looked at Elanam but she shook her head and send a pointed look at him, and after a pregnant silence, Mike finally spoke.

“Jace is turning 28 today. Every year, it's like a ritual that his family and friends have breakfast together, so I thought that since you are his mate, he would have invited you...” Mike didn't finish his sentence, and I didn't want to hear the rest either. My eyes started to water, and my lips trembled before I abruptly got up from my place and marched my way out with Mike and Elana right behind me.

“Iris! Iris, wait!” Mike grabbed ahold of my hand and stopped me from getting into my car, and I couldn't hide my tears from him anymore.

“I know that Jace has a reason as to why he didn't call us for breakfast, but I seriously doubt that he would have not called you, Iris. I think something is going wrong somewhere.” Mike tried to console me, but my heart was burning, and it was beating at an inhuman rate.

“He fucking doesn't like me! That is the reason!” I yelled at Mike, and he looked at me astonished, while Elana ran towards me.

“That is not true, Iris. He is your mate, and he loves you beyond anything, and he can not change that because that is in his nature.” Mike tried to explain, but I shook my head.

“He only used me for his sick games, Mike, I saw it with my own eyes, he has someone else, and I was just stupid enough to believe that he truly loved me,” I told him, and Elana came towards me and shook her head.

“Iris, I know Jace, even though he has a bit of an anger issue, but he will never do that to his true mate. I mean, I think you have had a misunderstanding, and I know that it is totally reasonable since he has not marked you yet, you are bound to feel insecure. But...” I cut her speech short and opened my car door and leaned over to the passenger seat and took my handbag out, and searched for the pictures, once I found them, I handed the photographs to Elana and stepped a few feet away from them. While Elana and Mike looked at the photographs, I looked around to distract my mind.

“What the hell is going on! I will fucking kill him, and I don't care if he is my alpha or not.” Mike yelled in anger, and I looked at him to see that he had crushed a few photos.

“That is not the only thing. The woman that Jace was with, had the mating mark like what Elana has.” this made both of them look at me.

“Maybe she already has a mate, and she is just messing with you,” Mike suggested, and I know that he is trying everything he can to come to a reasonable conclusion.

“It had ‘J’ and ‘E’ as the initials. So what do you think I should believe, huh?”

“I don't even know what to say right now, Iris,” Mike said, and he was scratching his beard, thinking of a way, while Elana had a suspicious look on her face.

“What is the woman’s name? And is she from this pack?” Elana asked me.

“I don't know what her name is, but I guess she is from this pack because I saw her in the packhouse and a few other places, too,” I replied, and Elana took hold of my hand and dragged me back to Mike’s house, and we went upstairs, and she opened her bedroom and went in.