When she was just a girl, she expected the world. But it flew away from her reach so she ran away in her sleep.

--Paradise; Coldplay

Jourdan (just imagine her with blue eyes)

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Jemcerson

"You're gay." She blurted

What the heck?!

Was she referring to me?

Me? Jemcerson Ace?

Me?

I have a couple of gay friends. I have nothing against them. I even know some who are alphas and betas in some packs. But let me get this straight, I am straight.

That sounded weird, but it's true. And what did I ever do to give her that notion? If my gay friends were here, they would probably laugh their asses off at the absurdity or cheer and tease me until I'm shuffling around with uneasiness.

I've been called a couple of things but gay? Oh this girl sure is something. Kathy is doubling over in laughter and Kyle fell off the bed, laughing his ass off.

He literally teetered sideways and fell on the floor. He's lying on his back right now, clutching his stomach, red faced and laughing like a fucking hyena while I'm sitting right here, dumbstruck and looking like an idiot. I regain my composure and clear my throat, making Cassandra look up.

And what I saw in her eyes made my irritation vanish.

Fear is evident in her blue eyes. All Aces have blue eyes. After Kathy and Kyle have finished their laughing trip, I stand up to show Cassandra what I meant about us Aces being special, but when I stood up to my full height, she whimpers and cowers away.

"Please don't hit me." She pleads in a whisper making Kathy, Kyle, Jourdan and I tense. The playful and fun atmosphere earlier is gone in an instant. I ball my hands into fists, furious. I can't believe an Ace had to go through something so traumatic that just standing to my full height would create such a reaction.

I know I'm intimidating. An alpha gives off this don't-mess-with-me-or-you're-toast aura. But I never ever had this kind of reaction from anyone I've met.

"Hey, I won't hurt you. This pack will never ever hurt you." I assure her, looking straight into her blue eyes that could hold me captive if I don't focus. "And we will never let anyone hurt you ever again, Cassandra." Kyle assures her, holding her hand.

I don't know why but I felt irritation and something else in my chest when Kyle held her hand. And when I caught her checking him out earlier, I felt really pissed off.

It's unreasonable.

And I felt subtle tingles when I held her hand, which is completely bizarre since she's not my mate. But why did I feel tingles? I shake my head and focus on explaining to her about us. "I'm going to show you why Aces are special.

"Kyle, do your thing." I order him, and he nods.

I look at Cassandra and she has a curious expression on her face as she stares at Kyle. I don't know why, but I feel oddly relieved that Kyle is already mated. "I need you to show me your wound." Kyle says gently.

"But you'll see my boobs."

She said it so innocently and timidly, making Kyle choke on air and I grip my seat tightly, trying hard not to imagine her boobs.

This is an important matter, Jemcerson. Focus. Do not think about her boobs.

Dang, this girl is making me fluster.

"We just want to show you why we're special." I explain to her.

She looks at me with piercing blue eyes. "You're special because you look at other people's boobs?" She asks, her eyebrows furrowing as she thinks.

All right, that is just incredibly adorable.

Kathy and Jourdan bursts laughing once more, and a few seconds later, Kyle joins in and I couldn't help the muffled chuckle that escaped my lips, shocking Kathy, Kyle and myself.

I don't chuckle.

Heck, I don't even smile.

This girl's only been awake for an hour and she already made me smile genuinely. "What's so funny?" She asks. "Nothing." Jourdan says with a smile, trying to contain her laughter. "Okay, let's just start with the basics." Kathy says enthusiastically, clapping her hands

"Aces are special kinds of werewolves, Cassandra. All Aces have blue eyes." She explains and Cassandra looks at each of our faces, staring directly at our eyes. When our gazes met, I felt like her eyes are capturing me, sucking my focus like a whirlpool.

She hesitantly looks at Kathy once more. "I have blue eyes." She states.

"Yes, you do." Jourdan interjects. And we also know how to tell if a werewolf is an Ace by looking at the back of their necks." Kathy goes on and turning around, scooping her hair up, revealing the crown-shaped birthmark with a red elegant "A" encrypted around it, indicating that she's full pledged into my pack.

"Now, what do you see at the back of Kathy's neck?" I ask her. "It's like a crown with an "A" surrounding it. . . It's beautiful." She says, whispering the last part of her sentence. I felt happiness swell inside my chest as I watch her admire an Ace's mark. Kyle got his phone and motioned for Cassandra to turn around and scoop her hair up.

She looks confused but obeyed anyway. Kyle took a picture of her neck and showed the picture to Cassandra. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "There's a crown!" She whispers.

"Yes." Kathy, Kyle, Jourdan and I say in unison. "If I have a crown birthmark, then. . ." She says, trailing off. "You're an Ace, Cassandra. You're special. Like us." I tell her sincerely. "I can't believe I have that birthmark all this time."

She looks at Kyle "But why does Kathy and have an A around the crown?" She asks.

"That's because she's fully pledged to Alpha Jemcerson's pack." Kyle explains. I silently watch her reaction. She toys with the hem of her hospital gown before looking up under her lashes and stares at us. "So, you're not going to kill me?" She asks me, sounding hopeful and slightly breathless.

I smile. "No, we won't." I answer, my voice ringing with sincerity and finality and she sighs in relief. "So, what makes Aces special?" She asks. "Aces have extraordinary abilities." I tell her. "Really? What kind of abilities?" She asks curiously.

"Kyle will show you." I tell her, looking at Kyle. "Show us the wound." Kyle tells her. She looks at Kathy and she assures Cassandra.

So hesitantly, she slid her robe of and I couldn't help but look away. I might lose control and pounce on her. I'm still a man and this girl has been flustering me. I couldn't help it. I took a peek. And her face is filled with pain and hurt, which is so confusing to me.

"She thinks you looked away becauseyou find her disgusting." My wolf tells me.

I internally panic as I look at her face. "You're beautiful." I say to her, making her head snap towards me. "All Aces are beautiful. You just need some nourishment and you'll be as beautiful as Kathy and the rest." I tell her. There's still uncertainty looming in her blue orbs. "It's true, Cassandra." I assure her. She nods and gives me a shy smile.

She looks at her wound and Kyle places his hand an inch above her wound and closes his eyes, and after a few seconds, a bluish grey smoke came from his hand and her wound started closing and healing. Cassandra gasped as she stared at her chest, wide-eyed.

After about a minute, the healing process finally ended and Cassandra stared at her chest, still shocked. She look up and started spluttering, pointing a finger at Kyle.

"You- y- you have powers?" She asks, her face still has that mindblown expression.

Kyle chuckles. "Yup." He says.

"Woaah. You guys can heal?" She asks.

I smile. "No. not all of us. Each of us has unique abilities. Kyle's is the ability to heal." I explain to her. She quirks an eyebrow. "I don't have an ability." She whispers dejectedly. "You have a hidden ability Cassandra, but you could only use them when you're mated." Kathy says. "You're mated?" She asks Kyle.

He smiles and nods, and she blushes, embarrassed that she was checking him out. Then her face became really sad. "I guess I'll never know what my abilities are." She says sadly, her shoulders slumping and tears pooling in her eyes.

"Why?"

"My mate rejected me." She whispers, making all of usgasp and my fists instantly clench as I think about the bastard. Kyle and Kathy also looks furious. "You're abilities will emerge if you mate with someone you truly love and if that someone loves you back." I explain to her.

"Really? It doesn't have to be my real mate?" She asks, sounding hopeful. "Yeah." I answer her. "My true mate died last year, and we never had a chance to mate. I didn't have the ability to heal that time since I was still a virgin that time." Kyle says, remembering that fatal day, and my heart tightens as I think about my mate who was killed by a car crash.

But I fell inlove with another she-wolf whose mate also died." He continued. "Oh." Cassandra says, smiling but then her smile is wiped from her face, replaced by another hurt look.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"Nobody will ever love me." She whispers sadly, her lips quivering and this time, the tears started flowing from her eyes.

"Oh dear, don't ever think that. You are beautiful and kind, anyone who thinks the opposite is crazy." Jourdan assures her. Cassandra just nods and I look at Kyle. He's also mad. He's mad and I'm furious. If I could see those bastards who hurt her, I am going to -" I cut myself off as Cassandra speaks.

"Why are Aces special?" She asks. Kyle and Kathy turn to look at me as Cassandra pulls her robe up, obstructing my marvelous view. "Wait, so those who doesn't have an ability are still virgins?" She asks

"Most of my pack members are still virgins. They wait for their mates. I don't know but they somehow know when their mates die and after a period of time, they eventually fall inlove with someone else, and an Ace." I explain to her.

"You mean, an Ace has to mate with an Ace?" She asks. "Not really. But most of the time, an Ace falls inlove with another Ace but not everyone. Kathy's older brother's mate is a normal werewolf." I explain further. "How did you have abilities?" She asks.

"Long ago, two werewolf best friends fell in love with witches, and when they mated, they created a special being of werewolves, the Aces. The two best friends then acquired their abilities and found out three other werewolf and witch couple. The five pairs were the only werewolf and witch couples ever and their descendants are us Aces." I explain to her as she looks at me with awe.

"I have witch blood?" She asks breathlessly and Kathy, Kyle, Jourdan and I nod our heads.

"Cool."

She says, making us chuckle.

"Can I join the pack?" She asks. "Of course." I tell her and she beams happily at Kathy. "Rest first and then Kathy will just wake you up to help you get ready for your welcome party and the pledging." I tell her. "Yes Alpha Jemcerson." She tells me, lying down and closing her eyes. We all exit the room. Kathy faces me and gives me an approving look.

"That girl is special." She says before walking off.

And I absolutely agree with her.

She's special alright.