Mrs. Roston watched Jasper leave at the door while Zalina stood behind him. After Jasper's car was getting further away, Zalina saw her mother, who was still standing.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
Mrs. Roston turned and asked. "Zalina, how did you meet him again? Did you purposely look for him after we got home from the hospital?"
"Yes," Zalina said honestly, without shame.
"Why did you meet him?"
Zalina then entered the house, followed by her mother's footsteps behind her curiously.
"There's something you don't know, Mom. Jasper Blackmore is different. When he touched my hand, I didn't see anything from him."
Mrs. Roston jumped up, dumbfounded by her daughter's words. "Really? Why?"
Zalina sank into the chair before explaining to Mrs. Roston.
"Before I met Jasper at the hospital, we met him twice a year ago. That's when I knew he was different. And after finding out his identity, I purposely looked for him. I'm sure Jasper is the one who will help remove this cursed hand ."
"How? He's Mr. Blackmore, after all. Is he going to help you?" Mrs. Roston studied her daughter curiously.
"At first, he refused, but for some reason, he suddenly agreed to my request. Jasper didn't think of me as a strange girl at all. When he found out about my hand's ability, he didn't seem surprised either.
Mrs. Roston frowned as she looked at Zalina. "Honey, could he be the prince who will free the curse? Just like in the fairy tales."
Zalina chuckled at her mother's words, and she knew her mother was joking. But when she remembered the vibe she felt when she was with Jasper this afternoon, it made her laughter fades. The image of Jasper as he reached out from the horse was precisely like princes often did.
"But I'm inquisitive about Jasper, who's different from the others."
Zalina no longer responded to her mother's words, she chose to go into the bedroom, and Mrs. Roston continued to enjoy the cup of coffee she had prepared earlier.
"Mom, was Mrs. Nora here, or did she call you?" Zalina asked, half-screaming from inside her bedroom.
"Madam, Nora? Nothing. Weren't you with her today?"
"Yes, but we separated in the hospital," said Zalina. After that, Zalina and her mother did not discuss Mrs. Nora further.
Jasper stopped the car somewhere dark and lonely. He sat, not moving but with full vigilance. After a while, he then opened the car door and walked a few steps from his car.
Jasper's blue eyes turned cold. In front of him stood a man dressed in all black who had blocked and appeared in front of Zalina.
"We've been too close. I thought you had gone to another part of the world," said Jasper.
The man in black smiled a grin. His hair and coat fluttered in the wind. His eyes, which were initially gray, turned coppery yellow.
"That's because you follow me wherever I go," replied the man in all black.
Jasper glared at the man because what he said was true. For hundreds of years, he never stopped to watch over the man.
"What's your name, Marc? Arden? Tolliver or Jasper? I don't know what to call you." The man asked sarcastically.
"Turns out we've been watching each other all this time. I'm embarrassed that you know so much more about my life."
The copper-eyed man suddenly moved. In an instant, he was standing right beside Jasper. He looked at Jasper with a murderous look.
"Why did you approach the girl? Did you make her come to you on purpose?"
"No," Jasper replied.
"Don't go near her! You know only death can end the curse. Zalina will bear the curse for the rest of her life."
Jasper's lips thinned, turning to face his interlocutor through narrowed eyes.
"And you, why appear in front of Zalina? She hurts so much every time she sees you," Jasper asked.
The man's copper eyes flashed. He moved quickly by grabbing Jasper's neck and pushing him toward the car.
"But she won't die just because she saw me. And you only gave her false hope and pushed her to death," he said.
Jasper fought back by grabbing the man's hands to loosen the grip on his neck. Not because he was in pain but because Jasper had no pain. Selfish is what makes him have to do it. He didn't want to look weak because he thought his position was better than that creature.
With one movement, Jasper changed their position until he was at the top to make the car window shatter.
"You don't know anything about this stuff. All you know is to make trouble and keep making trouble," Jasper pressed.
The man didn't want to lose, pushing back Jasper's body quite far. Jasper's shoes left a reasonably deep imprint on the ground, forming two straight lines. They stopped when Jasper's back hit a large tree, it was sure that the trunk had cracked even though it didn't fall.
"Trouble? Oh, I haven't caused trouble in a long time. Whatever happened to them, I'm just silent in regret. However, why did you approach her this time and act like a hero? If she knew who you are, she wouldn't have come close. So stay away from Zalina! Let her live her life the way she should." The man spoke warningly.
Jasper's big hands, clenched into fists, slowly loosened. He had realized something quite painful. The fact that he has crossed the line by meeting Zalina so that the girl knows that he is a different human being.
Now Jasper realized there was a strong desire he had never felt before. The desire to always be near the girl was so strong. Zalina's scent began to become an addiction for him which he must always inhale.
"I don't want to. I don't want to walk away from Zalina!" Jasper said firmly. He knew his words would make the creature even angrier.
"What?"
"I will not stay away from Zalina."
"Are you aware of what you said?"
Jasper replied again. "Yes, very aware. I want the girl, Simon."
It turned out that the man arguing with Jasper was Simon, a werewolf who had lived for four hundred years.