You know that saying, be careful what you wish for? Well, it ran over and shredded Jason's ass to pieces. He should have been happy that Lexi was his mate. He had a crush on her for years, but reality had a way of bitch-slapping you back down to earth. Lexi would never be his. His brother had already won her over, and judging by the furrowed eyebrows and tightened lips, she wasn't happy about their union one bit. Hell, the look she gave him told him she wanted to bury him deep in the woods where nobody could ever find his body.

Whipping her blonde hair behind her back, Lexi stole a quick glance at her girlfriend, Vallery. They were mind-linking each other. No doubt bitching about Jason being her mate. She was a dark-skinned girl with beautiful gray eyes and curly brown hair. Both of them gathered up their school bags and walked over to Jason. As they cat-walked their way down the hall, curious heads followed them along the way. Great, another confrontation. Didn't he already fill his quota for the month?

Jason opened his locker and retrieved his history books before slamming his locker shut. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself for what was going to happen next. Jason was under no illusion; he wasn't going to enjoy what was about to spill out of Lexi's pretty little mouth. She could be vicious if she wanted to be.

"Jason, what's happening?" Mallory asked through their mind-link.

Jason bashed his forehead against his locker. "Take a guess."

Mallory gasped and said, "Oh, Goddess, not her!"

Jason turned around and came face-to-face with Lexi's scowl. Wow! Wasn't she pretty a second ago?

Lexi clucked her tongue and said, "You got to be kidding me!" Her irritated voice ran down the hall, catching the high-school students' attention. "Out of all the wolves in your pack I had to be mated to you."

Her words should have struck Jason hard, but strangely they didn't. Even Oz didn't whimper at her rejection.

"Oz? Are you alright?"

Oz grumbled and said, "Yeah, I'm here. Got distracted for a minute."

"By what?"

"Lexi's wolf has shut me out." Anger laced his words. "The bitch is just like her master. Pompous and dumb as shit."

Jason's snickering angered Lexi. "Are you even listening to me, mutt?" Several laughs rang out in the crowd which had gathered in the hallway.

"Actually, no. You're not as captivating as you think you are," Jason hit back. "Is there something you wanted or should we get this carnival parade started?"

Lexi's face lit up in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Aren't you planning on rejecting me?" Jason asked while adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "Well, if you are, then get it over with. I have to get to class."

Lexi's mouth bobbed open and closed for a few seconds before she recovered. "Is that what you want?"

He didn't get her. Moments before she called him a mutt and treated him like crap. Now she was staring at him with a stunned look on her face. She really needed to make up her mind. For years Jason wanted her as his mate. He even daydreamed about her in the sauciest ways possible that would have condemned the soul of a nun who dared to peek at them. But his crush evaporated with the rising of the sun.

"It doesn't matter what I want, Lexi." Jason cleared his throat. "We both know you're so attached to my brother that I'll never be good enough for you."

"You've got that right, brother," a voice echoed from the back of the crowd. The crowd dispersed, allowing Quinton and his four stooges to take center stage. "It's comforting to see you're not diluted into thinking that she'll ever love you. She's mine." Quinton reached over and yanked Lexi into his embrace. She giggled.

He planted a soppy kiss on her, making Jason gag on his spit. Instead of being angry that his brother was making out with his mate, right in front of him, the opposite happened. A wave of elation ripped through his body. It freed him of her. Not even the bond with his mate could make him angry, which was weird. The mate pull was there, the itch to touch, to hold, and to kiss her. But his mind wanted nothing to do with it.

"I'm so over this bitch," Oz growled.

Jason grinned and said, "Me too. We don't need a mate like her. We'll choose a mate of our own, one who would love us unconditionally."

Quinton and Lexi continued their kissing session in front of the entire crowd while the throng watched Jason to see what he was about to do.

"Can you believe this piece of skank?" Mallory told me through the link. "I'm sorry, Jason. I know you looked forward to meeting your mate... you don't deserve to see this."

Jason glanced over at Mallory while she glared holes into Quinton's and Lexi's skulls. But he gently stroked her shoulder, smiling. "Don't worry, I'm not bothered in the least."

Let's get this over with. Jason stepped up to them and coughed. Lexi and Quinton broke from their kiss with grins on their faces, no doubt happy to rub their relationship in his face.

"I only have a few words to say and then I'll leave you two to whore around as much as you want," Jason told them without a touch of emotion in his voice. His lack of emotion pissed off the crowd. "I, Jason Brooks, reject you, Lexi—"

"Hold your tongue, boy!" a booming voice ripped out. The crowd flinched in unison.

Shortly after, Jason and Lexi's fathers walked up to them. Jason's father, however, used a walking stick to do so. His father, it seemed, was still recovering from the beating he received. A flutter of pride flew around Jason's chest at the sight.

Jason scoffed at his father's intrusion. He may be the Alpha of the pack, but he had no right to interfere with the relationship between two mates. Jason had the right to reject Lexi, even if he had to suffer for it. A penalty for rejecting one's mate was crippling pain and losing the chance of getting a second-chance mate. Jason couldn't give a fuck. He didn't need the Moon Goddess' help to find someone to love. She already fucked up with Lexi.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah! I, Jason Brooks—" Jason's mouth clamped shut, as if someone had chained his jaw shut.

Mallory rushed up to Jason and cupped his head. "What's wrong, Jason?"

A high-pitched laugh caught their attention. A red-headed woman appeared from behind the Alpha's back. She wore a tightly woven black robe with knee-high boots. Amina! The wicked bitch of the pack. Oh wait, the witch.

Mallory glared at Amina and said, "What the fuck did you do to him, you cauldron humping bitch!"

Before Amina could fire off her own comeback, the Alpha blew his fuse. "Enough! Keep quiet, Mallory. This has nothing to do with you."

Jason wanted to speak and put his father in his place, but the witches' spell prevented him from doing so. He, however, rushed up to his father and grabbed him by the throat. His father tried to hit him with the walking stick, but Jason caught it.

"Jason, that's enough. Let me go!" His father wheezed. But Jason couldn't care less. How dare he bring in a filthy whore of a witch into their affairs!

Before Jason could suffocate his father, Quinton, with the help of his lackeys, pried him off his father. They barely kept him back.

His father recovered his voice and said, "Calm down, Jason." He rubbed his throat. "If you don't, I'll have to use harsher measures."

Jason wasn't having it. He drove his left elbow into Justin's throat, kneed Steven in his joystick, hit Nick in the face with his forehead and then ended with his right fist. This broke his brother's nose again. All four landed on the floor while Finny backed away before Jason could get his hands on him.

"Amina! End this!" His father shouted at the witch. Jason rushed up to her, but with a wave of her hand, she flung him into the wall. With the wind knocked out of him, Jason staggered to his feet. He wasn't done yet.

"My, my, my... you're a strong one," Amina snickered. "Let's play some more." Amina snapped her fingers, breaking both of Jason's legs.

A strangled howl ripped out of Jason's chest. He fell to the floor. He tried to move his legs, but they didn't respond. Choking down several sobs, Jason fought against the overwhelming pain that ebbed throughout his lower extremities.

"I told you to disable him, not cripple him!" His father shouted out.

The witch walked up to Jason and smiled. "Oh, come on, Alpha. He's not permanently damaged. He'll be fine in a day or two."

Jason wanted nothing more than to jump up and rip the bitch limb-from-limb, but he couldn't. He could barely move without crying out in agony. Jason rolled over onto his belly and dragged his body until he sat up against the lockers. His legs were bent in opposite directions. The sight of his legs made his stomach churn.

Jason stared up at his father with so much hate, he regretted not killing his father when he had his neck in his claws. Using a fucking witch was the most cowardly thing a werewolf could do. He wanted to shout at his father, cuss him out with every curse word at his disposal, but he couldn't.

"Mallory, don't!" Jason cried out when he saw Mallory lunge at the witch, but his words came too late. Amina electrocuted her. Mallory crumbled to the floor.

Jason, seeing his best friend hurt, sent him into a frenzy. His eyes turned from golden to red, while his bones began to snap and reform. With every break the pain soared up a notch but he didn't care, he'd endure the pain as long as he ripped the lot of them to shreds.

"Amina! Knock him out before he goes on a rampage! He'll kill everyone in his path!" Jason's father yelled.

The students began bolting for the exits as Jason transformed into his wolf form.

The transformation did its job at healing his legs as Jason had hoped, although they still hurt every time his paw hit the floor. At six feet tall, Jason's wolf was one of the biggest in the werewolf kingdom. Oz was black with gray paws and had golden eyes.

Eyeing his father, brother, and the four idiots, his gaze rested on the witch who stood over his best friend. Mallory's heart still beat, but weakly. Did she really try to kill her? Jason's hackles rose. He pawed his claws into the linoleum floors, ripping up the floor. He only had one goal in mind—kill the bitch!

He snarled and then launched, catching the witch by surprise. Before she could accurately aim her spell, he ducked. A fireball missed him by inches and blasted into the lockers at the end of the hallway. He clamped down on the witches' shoulder. A crack snapped out, accompanied by a shriek. The witches' blood filled his mouth, fueling his rage. Jason continued his assault. He flung her down the hallway until she came crashing down into the row of lockers.

Paw after paw, Jason prowled up to Amina, licking the blood off his maw. Her eyes grew wider as he approached her. The thing about magic was that the witch needed perfect concentration to cast spells and at that moment she had a hard time doing just that. Fear permeated the air, luring Jason forward. He was determined to rip her head clean off her body and enjoy doing it.

Just as Jason's teeth found her jugular, an eye-watering pain flashed across his skull. His vision started fading with the strength in his legs. He fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was his brother holding a bloody fire extinguisher in his hands.

"Sweet dreams, little brother."