“Why didn’t you tell us where you were?” Jared spat as soon as he closed the door to the car.
We’d spent the entire night guarding Jen’s house. It was time to go to sleep. I’d been up for over twenty-four hours. There was nothing I could say that wouldn’t make Jared angry. In his eyes, I committed a major sin. I was truly going to pay for my insolence. It was worth every kiss. But I wasn’t about to break that news. “What was I supposed to do? We were talking. She would have found it odd. We’re supposedly three independent grown men. You know how humans are about needing to pretend to not need anyone.” Living in a tribe or group was considered weird these days. It’s funny how thousands of years of tradition could be pushed out by modern culture.
“What happened?”
The look on his face was pure murder. The bastard was jealous. Good. I spent my whole life listening to him spill the juicy details. He could writhe in agony for all I care. “We talked. She was feeling lonely. It wasn’t a big deal. Just being a shoulder to cry on. Friend zoned schmuck that she can complain about her ex-husband too. Tim fucked her up something major. What’s your damage? You act like you caught us fucking or something.”
“You better not have.” Jared snarled.
“I mean, would it have been so bad. Theoretically, she’s supposed to be all of our mate. Right? Isn’t that how it works?” I couldn’t resist adding some snot to my voice. As usual Jared was taking the rules to the extreme. He acted like he was different, but then he followed the Council’s letters to the book. It was almost as if he believed in the Draconian rule placed on us. The same system that forced us to be hidden, gave him his powers, so it made sense that he didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand me. Because I stood between him and complete submission. Jared shoved me hard enough to knock me back a few feet. He didn’t ever take competition well.
“She’s mine. And by default, that means she is going to be a mate to the both of you. But don’t mistake who all the women here belong to. Me. I’m the alpha. Not you. I’m the one in charge. Not you. Spend time with Jen alone again and I’ll send you straight back to the woodlands.”
I loved his idle threats. He wasn’t going to send me anywhere. Because I was sick and tired of living under his rule. I’d given my whole life to this stupid pack. All Jared had done was make us piles of money and enemies. The world would be a worse place for all the things we did. Why would we bring a child into that environment? How could we mate and propagate the species when we couldn’t even agree on what was good and what was bad? I always looked at humans like lower forms of life, but the only good I saw in the world these days was from a human being. Jared was corrupted by power. He had some good qualities when he was a kid, but now he was completely losing it. He was becoming more and more like Tim by the day. And only Frank and I had the power to stop him. And Frank was sold on loyalty. It was the only currency he knew. It was up to me to overthrow my own brother. I could only hope that her love was worth it.
Chapter 24
Jennifer
My mother’s face was red and puffy from crying. No matter how old you get, you can’t escape the guilt of childhood. “If you can’t get it together, I’m going to have to put them somewhere else. This is the situation. I can’t fix it if I have to worry about them. Should I be worried?” Her softness still surprised me. This was not the mother I remembered. Was it all a front?
She wiped the tears from underneath her eyes and smiled weakly. “I’m together. I’ve survived this long without falling apart. But it pains me to see you go through this.”
“It pains me too. Imagine how I feel. He was my first love. And now I wish he would die.”
“Don’t talk like that. It might just happen.” She glanced at the girls playing quietly on the floor. They never acted this good unless their grandmother was around to watch them. With me they are heathens of the highest order.
“Would that be the worst thing in the world?”
Mom put her hand on mine. “No. It wouldn’t. But I don’t like the idea of you wishing something terrible. Sure, he was a prick. But you can’t let him change you.”
“He didn’t change me. They did.” I nodded towards the girls. “Is change so bad?”
“Of course, not love. It’s just I don’t want to see you be bitter or vengeful.”
“Enough of the pious routine. He beat me. Abused me. I’m not going to listen to this preaching forgiveness. He needs to go.”
Mom sighed. “If only it were that easy.”
“Maybe it is.”
Mom glanced at me sideways. Her grunt signaled complete disapproval. Which I guess is to be expected. I was thinking about killing my ex-husband after all. “What if there was a way for him to get taken care of? What if I could make sure that he would never harm me or the girls again?”
“In a perfect world, there would be an option to delete. But it’s not a perfect world. And everything you gain comes with consequences. If I believed there was a way for you to erase him from the planet without doing some damage to yourself, believe me I would take it. But there isn’t.”
Maybe she’s right. Getting my freedom seemed too good to be true. Tim owned me forever. Whether I liked it or not.
Chapter 25
Frank
Wes needed to be careful. The only reason why he wasn’t lying in a hospital bed was because he was Jared’s twin brother. And I wasn’t sure that would keep him out of the hospital long. A fight was coming, and I could smell it. I called Wes again. Voicemail. What the hell was he up to? He’s disobeying a direct order. “Another glass.” I knocked twice on the table.
“Sure thing boss.” Vin poured me a glass.
“I need as many bodies as you can get. Things are going to get real, soon.” I pushed a piece of paper towards him. On it, I wrote the amount of cash he would get for delivering. I knew he agreed as soon as his eyebrows raised.
“I’ll see you Monday night like usual.”