“She told me very clearly that she was bought by some man. He gave her family money because they were poor and sent her to an all-girls school for that last three years. I know that this is true because we used to go to the same high school together before she disappeared after tenth grade. What am I supposed to think of that? She told me herself that this happened to her. Are you calling her a liar? Or me?”
Jamie shook her head and said that she wasn't.
“Then what’s your explanation?”
“I am not calling anyone anything, Dustin. I am trying to get my head around all of this. You have to understand that I have never heard of this before. I have used the same recruiter this whole time and I’ve been in business ten years. There's no way he is going around buying people.”
“You said he, so there's only one of them?”
“Well, one main one that I've used most of the time. There have been a few that came in other ways, but I never used them for matches. I usually spend a little bit of time with the girls but Jasmine was kind of a rush job. That was because of your rush if I remember right.”
He agreed. “Yes, my brother was trying to take my title. It had to be done quickly.”
“And that's what I'm here for. I'm not here to buy children and sell them off to the highest bidder later. Jasmine never told me that she was sold or that's how she came to be in my presence. How was I supposed to know?”
He didn't have an answer, but Dustin was still reserving the right to not believe her.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
Jamie shrugged. “I don't really know. Why does anything have to be done?”
“Because I can't be married to a woman that was paid to be with me. My clan would never accept it. And I can't accept it.”
“I could find you another bride, Dustin. All you have to do is say the word. I can understand how this can be upsetting to you. I'm sorry for the difficulty that this has brought to you. I can make it right.”
He waved her off because Dustin didn't think that Jamie got it at all. He didn’t want another bride. He really didn't even care what his clan thought of him. It was what he thought of himself. As much as Dustin would have wanted to keep things going as they were, he knew that there was no way he could accept a wife like that. No way that he could act like he hadn’t heard it.
“Yeah, but what am I supposed to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I fell in love with her, Jamie. That's what I mean. How the hell am I supposed to go on now, knowing that she was sold? Then again, how can I lose her?”
She looked at him with pity, and Dustin didn't want to see it. He wasn't sure what he wanted out of Jamie, but all of the tension and anger that he wanted to unleash on her was still inside of him. Jamie hadn't deceived him. She was being honest and truthful; he could read her mind. She was afraid of him a little bit, but that didn't bother Dustin too much. She should have been afraid of him, because if he were a man with less control, Jamie would not be left standing.
He left before he could fantasize about that ending. It was easy for him to imagine it, and that would take away the stress and the anger in the strife that he was feeling at the moment. Then he would be able to think straight.
Dustin cursed on his way out and sat in his car for a moment, hitting the dashboard and the steering wheel as hard as he could. Nothing was going to change the devastating emptiness that was taking hold inside of him. At one point, it had been filled with love and new possibilities, hope that he hadn't felt before. All of that had changed in an instant. And his brother, his damn brother Dalton, was the one that brought it all to the forefront.
The worst part was going home to her. He tried to make his way there, but his feet kept taking him further and further away. When his feet weren't moving fast enough, then he went to flight, and before he knew it, he was across the country. Only then was he able to stop and breathe fully. It was like he had finally expended the energy that had been bottled up inside of him. Now it was all gone, and he dragged himself back home with a dread inside of him. He knew what he had to do, even though it was killing him just to think about it. It had to be done.
Chapter Eighteen
“I was wondering when you were going to get back. I don’t like when we aren’t getting along.”
Jasmine had watched her husband tiptoe into the bedroom like he was going to keep her from waking up. She had not gone to sleep. Instead, she had waited up for him all night. There had been a few moments where she had nodded off, but Jasmine was wide awake now. As soon as she had heard the board in the hallway creak, she knew the time had come.
“Why are you still awake?” His words harsh.
“Why are you out so late?”
“I had things to attend to.”
Dustin snapped at her, and Jasmine could see that he was still moody. It wasn't her fault, but he was certainly taking it out on her.
“I'm sorry that you found out that way, but it's not like there was anything I could do about it. I don't know why you're mad at me about it.”
“I'm not mad at you. I just don't know what to do. This is a situation I never thought I’d find myself in. I don’t know what to do about it.”
She looked at him, puzzled. “Do? There is nothing to do. That all happened years ago, and even though it really sucked at the time, I don't regret it now. It brought me to you.”
He looked at her exasperated and a little incredulous. “How could you even say that? How could you not hate me?”
She smiled and tried to move towards him. Jasmine just wanted to wrap her arms around him and remind Dustin that everything that she felt for him was real. She didn't want to be the only one that was in love. Why did it matter how they had met? All that mattered to her now was that they were together, and she was finally happy for the first time in pretty much forever.
“We can't stay together like this.”
Jasmine looked at him strangely, and she asked him what he was talking about. Dread was already seeping into her.
“I'm saying that I can't stay married to you knowing that you were sold when you were a child. What sort of person would that make me if I did?”
Jasmine couldn't believe the conversation that they were having. Jasmine didn't know what to say, and she was so afraid she was going to cry that she didn't say anything at all.
“Please don't look at me like that.”
“I just don't understand. Why don't you want me? After everything that happened between us, now nothing?”
Jasmine couldn't even get it all out because her voice was cracking and she didn't want to embarrass herself any further. How could she have been so wrong?
He started to move towards her, probably to hold her and make her feel better about it, but Jasmine didn’t want to feel better. She didn’t think she could. She was too enraged to really think about anything else. How could he do that to her? How could he be so cruel?
“So now you want to divorce? I'm pretty sure that I heard from several people that your kind doesn't do that sort of thing.”
He told her that it would be something other than the clean-cut divorce that she was used to. “It can be done, even if it is a little more complicated.”
“You want to divorce me that badly?”
“I just can't be married to you. I'm sorry. I don't want to be with somebody that was sold to me like a slave. I just can’t.”
Jasmine wanted to tell him that she loved him and she didn't care what happened in the past. It was only what mattered then that she cared about. Him and her and then being together. Jasmine didn't say that, though, because from the way he was acting, she was just going to embarrass herself. Obviously, he did not feel the same way about her as she did about him.
“So that's it? You just send me on my way?”
How could she just walk away? How was she supposed to explain to her family that she had been sent away?
This was the worst, she thought to herself. Surely, it coul
dn't get any worse than this.
“Well, I'm not going to argue with you. If that's what you want, then that's what you want. I don't understand where all of this is coming from. I had accepted how I came to be here a long time ago. I thought that our time together had changed things. I guess not, though. I was completely wrong about you, and now I have nothing but regrets.”
He tried to pull her into his arms, but she didn't want the familiar feel of him on her. It would have just hurt too much. She was already dying inside, and just a tiny touch would have sent her over the edge. Couldn't he see that he was killing her right now, breaking her heart into a million pieces that would never be found again?
“Just leave me be, please. If you want me to go, I'll leave.”
“I don't want you to go, Jasmine, but I can't live with you. I can't be with a woman that doesn't want to be with me.”
“You're not listening. I do want to be with you.”
He shook his head and insisted that it wasn't the case.
“How could you want to be with me when you didn't have a choice?”
She could see that there was no point in talking to him, so Jasmine just asked for some space.
“Just give me some time to pack and I will be out of here. I guess I don't really have that much, though. Just give me a few minutes and I will be out of your hair for good.”
He told her that he would get the car ready for her and Jasmine felt her heart fall into her stomach. It was really happening. She was hoping that he would come to his senses and realize that he was making a huge mistake, but if anything, he seemed even more determined than before.
Jasmine watched him leave, and she smiled back at him when he looked. It was just for a moment; there was hope that started to form in her chest, but then it was gone. He turned away, and that was that.
Chapter Nineteen
It was Dustin's first night without his wife and it was probably one of the longest ones that he had experienced in a very long time. He tossed and turned, wishing she were next to him and being so used to her heat and form that he ended up having to hug a pillow, but it wasn't good enough. Nothing would replace the hot-blooded woman that had been there not too long before. As much as he wished the things had been different, he knew he had done the right thing.
Dustin kept repeating that to himself all day the next day. It was the only way he was going to be able to stop himself from going to find her. He knew that finding her was going to do him no good. She was lost to him. Wherever she ended up, Dustin was sure was that she was no longer his. He didn't know all of the legalities of it yet, but they were no longer together, that's all that really mattered to him.
Dalton was the first to notice that Jasmine was no longer at the mansion. Dalton came by unannounced like he always did, and he seemed a lot more smug than usual. As much as Dustin wanted to tell him to go away, he was still part of the clan, and he started the conversation, saying that he wanted to speak about their people. Of course, Dustin had to listen to that.
It wasn’t important, though. Dalton was mainly there to gloat and ask questions that he already knew the answer to. Dustin could have done without that.
“Where is that beautiful bride of yours, brother?”
“I figured you would know.”
“Know what?”
“That we split up. That was, of course, why you told me that information about her.”
“No, I told you because I thought you would want to know. You know, you being a man of principle and all.”
He smiled, but it wasn’t of joy. It was ironic and short.
“Yes, well, I wish I had a lot less principle. It would probably be a lot easier to sleep at night. You seem to do quite well with it.”
His brother agreed. “I actually do. I find my conscious is crystal clear. How is yours doing?”
“My conscience is clear. I didn't know that was how Jasmine came to be here, and it has now been rectified. I certainly don't want a woman that doesn't want me.”
“So, you got rid of her, truly?”
Dustin looked a little surprised. “Of course, I did. What else could I do?”
“Well, at least you didn’t really bed her then. I bet if you had, you wouldn’t be able to toss her to the side so quickly. Not even I’m that cold.”
“We were together, and I don't know what or where you got your information about that, but you are definitely wrong about that, brother. She was truly my wife. We were together many times.”
The last part might have been a bit of an exaggeration. They had been together several times that one blissful night that they had before he realized the truth.
If he were a better man, Dustin would have wished that she had never been sold. He couldn’t truly want that, though. Then it would mean that he would have never met her at all.
His decision to get rid of her had not fixed anything. It had just ruined his life in all ways. His brother prancing around, rubbing it in his face, just made it all seem worse.
“And you actually loved her?”
The smile on his brother's face made him hesitate for just a moment, but what did it matter if he knew the truth or not? He had left her; she was probably the only person that he had ever loved, and for some reason, he thought that maybe Dalton would feel a little guilty for taking away something so precious from him. He didn't feel guilty, though; instead, he laughed, and Dustin looked at him crossly.
“What the hell is so funny?”
“I just can't imagine. You finally find the girl that you want to spend the rest of your life with and you give her up just like that? Because of, what, some sort of decency that nobody else cares about? The funny thing with you is I don't have to do anything to get my revenge. Your own bullshit moral code will do it for me.”
Dustin didn't have to tell his brother to leave. He left rather quickly after they started having words. Dustin didn't think that his brother was intimidated; it was actually probably the opposite.
Dustin kicked through the table next to him. The energy was back, and he knew he had to do something. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to lose it. Maybe that's exactly what his brother wanted. If he couldn't run the clan, then maybe the clan would finally accept a new leader. Dustin didn't even care about it, though. His mind was still full of loving Jasmine and losing her. How was he supposed to go on like none of it ever mattered? How was he supposed to go on at all?
Dustin swore to Jasmine that he would leave her be, and he had kept his word, to a point. He’d checked on her almost every night since she’d left. He never got to see her for more than a few minutes. She would go into her bedroom after taking a shower, and he would catch of glimpse of her nude body before she would put a robe on and turn off the lights. It was only for a few moments, but in the past few weeks, it was one of the only things that Dustin had found worth his time.
No one knew that he went to see Jasmine and Dustin wanted to keep it that way. He certainly didn't want her to know that he was checking on her, but he couldn't help himself.
The problem with the current status was that Dustin was miserable. He couldn't focus on what he was supposed to focus on. He was leading a dragonkin clan with hundreds of members, but he couldn't be bothered with any of it. Dalton ended up taking over a lot of the responsibilities, which had been the whole reason that he had gotten married. It was to keep Dalton from destroying everything that his father had fought so hard to make for themselves.
Then there was a problem with his father and the murderer. He knew that somebody had killed his dad, but he was no closer to finding the person. The last one to see their father alive was Dalton, and he had a pretty tight alibi for the night in question. None of it made any sense, and Dustin was no closer to figuring out who had done it. It seemed like his whole life was a failure at that point. He had married wrong and now had to live his life alone. Even if he found someone he wanted to be with, there was no divorce in the shifter clans. There was no way to do it without disho
noring them both.
Dustin waited by her window for as long as he could. She usually was out of the shower by then, and although there was probably something to be said in the fact that he knew her schedule so well, Dustin ignored it. He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that was telling him he was doing everything wrong. Dustin didn't want to think that way. Seeing Jasmine was the only part of his day that he actually looked forward to.
When she finally came out, he started to relax almost immediately. She was just as breathtakingly beautiful as she always had been, but something was different. He was not sure what it was, because in a moment, she was turning the light off and leaving him in darkness. Dustin didn't know how to change the current situation, but he knew that he needed to. He wasn't going to be able to go on much longer the way he was going.
Chapter Twenty
Dalton could see that his brother was losing his shit, and he was doing everything in his ability to push it further. He asked him several times about Jasmine and was still surprised that somehow, she was the reason for all of it. Dalton could see that she was beautiful, but he did not understand why Dustin was letting everything go to crap because of it. He didn't seem to care about anything. He let things pile up, the mansion was a wreck, and he had run out every cleaner and cook that could come to the place.
When he got to his brother’s house, he looked around and decided that it wouldn't be long until Dustin was out of the picture altogether. He had done so much to ensure that he would become the alpha, and he was going to get it by default anyway. The whole time, all the worry and all of the energy that he had wasted, was for nothing. His brother was going to lose it all on his own.
Alpha Shifter Bride Service: (A Paranormal Romance Series) Page 8
