JASMINE'S POV

“I now declare you husband and wife.” The priest announced with a solemn look on his face.

I looked at the man in front of me through the white veil covering my face, slightly disgusted.

He was the man my parents chose for me to marry to ensure peace in both of our territories. The marriage didn't make sense to me, but my father told me I would understand with time.

The only thing I understood about my husband was that he was wealthy and had an affluent lifestyle.

Before this, I had a boyfriend I deeply cared about. His name was Armin, and he was my mate, but unfortunately, things turned out like this, I had to marry someone else.

“Uhm,” The priest coughed, “You may kiss the bride.”

The man in front of me let out a sly smile and stretched his hands towards me to remove the veil.

“Idiot,” I muttered under my breath and felt eyes staring at me.

I was a fool to think I could whisper any bad words. The entire congregation was werewolves.

Which meant their hearing was extraordinary. So I had already made a wrong impression on my in-laws. Now I was scared of facing them.

The veil fell off my face, and I was met with a look as astonishing as the gods. He let out an innocent smile and gently grazed my lips with his mouth. Then he pulled away, leaving me in a daze.

I clenched my fists while he smiled at my pain as we turned to face the congregation.

I could see the look of disapproval boldly written on the face of my in-laws.

“Behave yourself.” I heard my dad say through the mind link.

I cringed and glared at him as soon as I spotted him in the crowd of people.

My husband grasped my hand and pulled me away from the altar while the crowd applauded like crazy.

I faced my glaring in-laws and glared back. It was their fault.

My husband's mom, Becky, gave me a pleading gaze which I ignored as I was led outside.

The SUV parked in front of us, and my husband motioned for me to get inside first. I sighed and got in first, glancing at a familiar betrayed through the glass window.

“Hey Luke,” I acknowledged.

Luke let out a pained gaze, and my husband got in the car and closed the door. Immediately, Luke started driving.

“ARRRRMINNNNNNNN!” I yelled and pulled on his ears. “You little piece of shit!”

“Baby! I'm sorry,” He cried as I got on his lap and started pulling on his hair and ears— whenever my fingers reached.

“No wonder you didn't seem too concerned when I told you my parents were setting me up with some guy called Armin Dean Hunter! You even lied to me that your name was Armin Phillips! You are a fraud! You lying, mate!”

Armin sighed. “I didn't entirely lie to you, feisty. My grandma named me Phillip.”

“I don't give a fuck!” My eyes were beginning to get blurry with tears, and it made me even angrier, but I didn't want Armin to see my tears. The bitch didn't deserve it.

I got off his lap and focused on the driving bastard instead. I pulled on his ears and relished his pain as he cried aloud.

“I didn't mean to deceive you, Jas! Armin told me not to tell you anything. Armin, save me, boo!”

“Fuck you guys!” I yelled.

“You can fuck Armin for all I care, don't drag me into this.”

“You bitch!” I cursed before looking at Armin, “You refused to pick up my calls and everything, so I decided to marry someone else only to realize that I'm going to marry my worst enemy, you. Isn't that messed up?!”

“Baby,” Armin grabbed me by the waist and pulled me down onto his lap before tightly holding me. “It's more complicated than that. Please hear me out first.”

“Yeah. You know how proper Armin is. He wouldn't do anything stupid without a legit reason.” Luke said, rubbing his now red ears.

I tried to wiggle out of Armin's lap, but he wouldn't let me go.

“You can get mad at me later. Right now, I need you to listen.” Armin said through our mind link. He had blocked me from being able to hear him or contact him, but now I could listen to him.

I wanted to curse at him at first, but when I heard his pleading voice in my head, I decided otherwise.

“Do you remember when you got attacked six months ago?”

It was lame. Six months ago, on a Sunday, I got attacked by a gang on my way to meet Armin, but I couldn't leave safely if I didn't kill them all, so I lost the clue.

“Why are you bringing that up? I wasn't hurt, so I'm not concerned.”

“I was concerned. If something bad had happened to you..” I twirled on Armin's lap and looked him in the eye.

“I can take care of myself. You know that. I was trained to fend for myself.”

“I don't want you to have to encounter assassins that it becomes a daily basis, my love.” He said, cupping the side of my cheek.

I removed his hand from my face and looked into his icy gray, cold eyes swirling with deep emotions.

“What does that have to do with you cutting me off?”

“A certain someone in the council found out about you. I have a notorious reputation. He fears I'll become soft and lose my wits if I end up with my mate. You.”

I rolled my eyes at that.

“So he took advantage of the ongoing crisis and chose three potentially good women for the pack and me. You made it to the list.”

“Of course.” I flipped my hair. “I'm both smart and pretty.”

“You were the least liked on the list,” Armin said before bursting into laughter.

I smacked Armin's chest and rolled away from his lap.

“You're talking about when the council made a meeting on the most appropriate bride for you, right?” Luke butted in.

“Yeah!”

“Your dad constantly looked for ways to eliminate her from the list. He says she's too loud, uncouth, and aggressive for you.”

“What do you know, idiot!”

“He wasn't too wrong, though. Just now, you bullied your husband and me.” Luke said.

Annoyed, I tugged on Armin's arm. “Arminnn, Luke is bullying me. Are you just going to sit there and do nothing?” I said in the cutest voice I could muster.

Armin and Luke burst into laughter.

“Bro, you got yourself a monster instead of a wife.” Luke teased.

“Don't worry. I want the monster. Also, don't bully my wife from now on. If I catch you slipping even a little bit.”

I grinned and placed my hand around Armin's neck before continuing our conversation through the mind link.

Luke only scoffed.

“So you blocked me to take advantage of the situation and bring us together long-term. Staying away from me would make the situation easier. That means the council member that tried to harm me did not recognize me fully. If not, he wouldn't let you marry me.”

“Exactly. If I had contacted you, he would've caught a whiff that we were together.”

“How did you convince everyone to let us marry? Even my dad was adamant about getting us together.”

“I'll tell you later. Right now, I want my kiss. The one at the altar doesn't count. It was too brief.”

I grinned and leaned in...

“NO!! DON'T KISS!” Luke warned. “We'll soon get into the temporary residence. You guys can do whatever you want there. Just not in front of me.”

Armin lifted my chin and captured my lips in a slow, soft-moving kiss.

“I love you,” I admitted in my head.

“And I love you too, Jasmine. I'm sorry I made you worried about us. I won't let it happen again, I promise.”

I kissed him passionately until I couldn't breathe, then I pulled away from his lips and hugged him tightly, just liking the warmth I got from being near him.

“I didn't contact you for three months. I'll make it up to you, I promise,” Armin said through the mind link, and I felt the car move in another direction.

The smell of peaches and leaves filled my nose and three distinctive scents.

“I lifted my head from Armin's chest to look outside the window only to see that it was like an estate filled with trees.

“Did you invite three people here? Their scents keep getting stronger.” I said and looked at the mansion that stood out behind the tall trees.

“Yes, I smell them too. Who are they, Luke?”

“House help.”

“Did you confirm their identities?” Armin asked.

“Yes. There's no problem.”

I grinned and rested my head on Armin's chest. I was feeling giddy and excited for no reason. His presence at this time made me feel like a little girl.

Maybe it's because we were apart for a long time, or I longed to reconnect with him through art again.

Armin and I had been together for a year and a few months. Apart from his friend, Luke, his mom and younger brother knew about us.

At least his mom, Becky, liked me, so getting along with the others shouldn't be too much a hassle.

It was unreal that I could get married to my mate so quickly. I watched Armin as his gray eyes dully drifted to space. He was probably conversing with someone through the mind link because he looked deep in thought.

I smiled at how good he looked and ran my hands through his body, breathing in his cologne.

His pack was unlike others and was located in a quite damp and cold area, so he was pretty pale and smelt fresh for an extended period.

Unsatisfied, I climbed into his lap and nuzzled my nose into the base of his chest.

“Why are you so clingy?” Armin commented, his question sounding more like a statement.

“I missed you.” I simply said.