The evening had gone from iffy to terrible to downright heartbreaking. His first meeting in his new role had taken a turn. Their new Alpha seemed to have held a vendetta against Jaymus, most likely because he had a close relationship with the old Alpha.<i>What did that matter now anyway?</i>Of course, it did cause Jaymus to have his ideals more in line with Ben but was that such a terrible thing? This whole day would never have happened if Ben was still Alpha.<br/><br/>Of course, then on his first attempt to go out and have some fun, his Luna got<i>attacked</i>. If there was anything that would turn Jaymus off fun forever, it was that.<i>His Luna almost died.</i>He would never pull that shit again. It didn't matter, though. His Alpha didn't trust him and his Luna was hurt. Any reputation Jaymus had from earning this job had gone out the window.<br/><br/>What hurt the most was how much his mate seemed to be hurting by this situation. He didn't understand much of what had happened. The fear of his Alpha at that moment had kept him in his wolf form where he was safer, but he had a feeling that even in human form he would not have understood what was going on and no information would have been willingly given to him...and why would it? He had pushed his mate away and for what reason? He didn't<i>reject</i>Preston. He wouldn't ever... As much as he didn't want to admit it, the feelings he had for Preston grew stronger and he only pushed him away because he wasn't ready to be a 'mated' wolf yet.<br/><br/>That seemed silly now, in the wake of what seemed to be something much more serious.<br/><br/>The fingers in his fur felt good and he tilted his head to lick at his mate's hand. Their eyes met for a moment but then Preston let him out of the room and walked off. Jaymus watched him for a moment and wasn't sure if he should follow but after a moment, he padded his way to Preston's door. He shifted and stood outside the door, ready to knock. He should talk to Preston, right? They could figure something out. Even if Jaymus hadn't been a great mate so far, he could still be of some help, right?<br/><br/>The crashing on the other side of the door said otherwise. Jaymus didn't know what he could do for Preston when he was angry like that. He took a step back, uncertain, and paced up and down the hallway instead. He should really go and see his Luna, but the knowledge that Cyrus would be with her was enough for Jaymus to keep his distance. She'd be okay and Cyrus would be...violent if he saw Jaymus. The Gamma was sure of it.<br/><br/>As he was about to pace back to the door, it opened and the Beta ran out. Jaymus' eyes were wide as he watched the man shift into the large wolf and disappear into the woods. Jaymus paused only a moment before he shifted and took off after him. He would not make this mistake twice. Nobody important to him would be out in those woods alone again.<br/><br/>His paws hit the ground hard. He was smaller than most but because of that, he could move<i>fast.</i>He caught the scent and locked onto it. He was catching up fast and soon saw the grey shadow against the darkening sky. He bounded forward in an attempt to cut him off but instead misjudged his steps and ran right into the tree in front of Preston. He slumped to the ground, dazed, and shook his head to try and clear it before he sneezed.<i>Damn it.</i>