Chapter 9
*****
*Jayden’s POV*
“So, where are you off to?” Brent asked as he took a sip of his beer.
‘Don’t tell him.’
The first time Corey ever linked to me and that was what he said. It sounded like he was almost commanding or ordering me not to.
“The Peaks.” I completely ignored him and tried not to shiver when I heard his wolf growl angrily in my head.
He was definitely going to snap soon…
“The Apocalypse Peaks?” Brent asked, surprised. “Why?”
‘I’m not joking, Jayden. I swear to God…’ Corey’s voice popped into my mind again.
I glanced across the restaurant to see him in the corner with Sean who shook his head at me, silently telling me not to answer the question.
Last night, everyone had hung out in one of the hotel rooms and Corey mentioned the man he saw me with. At first, it resulted in everyone saying it was cool that I had met someone but then, after I explained how we met, they began to become suspicious. Even Kaden didn’t want me to meet him for breakfast, but Corey and Sean wanted to find out what he was up to.
Of course, it was stupid of me to think someone would just want to hang out with me, have breakfast with me.
I had not mentioned his age when I told the others about him, and the galaxy alpha and beta were quite surprised when they saw him.
I looked back at Brent. I hoped everyone was wrong, but the longer we sat there, the more it made no sense to me that he wanted to keep seeing me.
I knew I shouldn’t have told him where we were going, but Corey couldn’t tell me what to do. Especially without being polite about it. Did he think just because he was a Beta he could order everyone to do things?
“I’ve got family there,” I shrugged, tilting the straw into my mouth.
“Family? You Inferno wolves have a pretty weird family then.”
I stopped drinking my juice and looked at him.
“I didn’t tell you that…” I mumbled.
I could not remember having told him about which pack I was part of…
“Didn’t tell me what?” Brent asked.
“I told you.” Corey’s angry voice sounded from across the restaurant. ‘I told you he was using you,’ he linked to me again.
It made me feel somewhat cold.
I swallowed as I stared back at Brent. Right. “I didn’t tell you which pack I’m from.”
“Don’t be like that, Corey. He didn’t know,” I heard Sean hiss.
“He should have. I knew,” Corey replied.
“You told me, Jay,” Brent’s voice drew me back to our conversation and I shook my head slowly.
“No, I really don’t think I did.”
At that, he very meticulously described how I told him. Yesterday, when we left the restaurant, and I was still sipping on the soda he had bought me. I knew exactly what he was trying to do, so I nodded.
“Yeah… I remember now.”
He was clearly lying. The only reason he had described the moment so graphically was because he was trying to make me think that I remembered it, but I knew it never happened.
‘What? You told him?’ Corey linked me.
I ignored him because I was trying to understand why Brent knew about my pack.
“You never told me which pack you’re from,” I said.
“It’s Raven, not too far from here.” He smiled.
There was no pack called Raven anywhere near where we were. I knew because Corey and Trent had run through maps looking for every pack close to our route to the Peaks during the ride out, so we would not run into anyone’s territory without contacting them beforehand. There were no packs along the route. The nearest one was cities away.
“So, you’re travelling with friends, right? You mentioned Kaden… Izabella… Where are they?”
Now I knew without a doubt that he was lying. There was no way I mentioned them.
“I am travelling with friends, but I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I said, furrowing my brows in confusion.
‘Why did he specifically mention Kade and Izzy…?’ For once, Corey’s voice in my head was calm, normal. ‘He knows about her. He must be trying to get to her.’
Brent chuckled. “Don’t play dumb, Jay. You know who I’m talking about,” he said.
I bit the inside of my cheek but tried to hide my nervousness, as well as the fact that I was hurt because Corey had been right… and I should have known.
“You know what? I-I’ve been feeling really sick. My head’s a little… cloudy. Maybe that’s why I don’t know what you’re talking about? So, I’m going to go –” I got up, but he caught my wrist.
“Let me walk you to your room.” He smiled at me.
No. He lied. I didn’t trust him. Not that I trusted him all that much to begin with, I mean I only met the guy yesterday. I shivered at his smile. There was something about it…
‘Don’t let him walk with you,’ Corey linked to me.
Now I wanted to agree just so that I wouldn’t be obeying Corey. Damn it.
“Corey, trust me. Just do it,” Sean’s speaking drew my attention.
“Are you insane? I’m not telling him that.”
I glanced over at them again to see him and Sean seemingly linking to each other, Corey’s eyes narrowed as they spoke.
“Jayden?” Brent smiled at me, lifting his brows questioningly.
“Oh, no, thank you. You don’t have to. I can make it back myself,” I said, attempting to pull my wrist from his hand, but he only tightened his grip.
“I insist,” he said. He wasn’t going to give up.
“I –” I began, but a voice interrupted my thoughts.
‘Jayden… Sean says let him walk you.’
Corey didn’t sound happy about what Sean had said and since I did not hear Sean speak, I figured they had been linking to each other. Corey’s tone was probably just my imagination. My mind trying to make it seem like, for one second, he cared about me.
“Okay,” I said.
Brent nodded placing some money on the table before we walked out.
‘Corey?’ I tried to link to him, but he was either ignoring me or we were out of range.
I didn’t know which one. Usually, I would say the first. Though, given the situation, I would choose the latter but then again, the situation wouldn’t make him suddenly care, so it would be the first again…
Brent still held onto my wrist with a softer grip as he led the way to the elevator. I felt uneasy as we stepped into the empty little room before the doors closed and he clicked a number to a floor that was higher than the one he knew I was on, and the one his room was on.
“Uh… You got the wrong –” I reached out to press the right floor, but he caught my wrist so now he held onto both of them.
I stepped back as he stepped in front of me, blocking the number keys and door. I tried tugging my wrists from his hands, my anxiety growing.
“Where is she, Jayden?” he asked.
Izabella? He had mentioned her. Corey was right. It had to be about her blood.
Somehow, Izabella’s blood could heal other wolves and make them stronger. It was something Inferno and Galaxy tried to keep very quiet about in order to prevent threats to her or our packs.
“W-who?” I asked, feigning confusion and trying to pretend to be calm despite feeling panicked that he was blocking the exit.
“You know exactly who I’m talking about. Now I know those two guys in the corner of the restaurant were your friends. Her mate and another friend? I know they’re going to come looking for you, so you should answer my question right now or I’m going to kill you,” he said.
I glanced up at the lights above the doors. Only the third floor and we were going up to the twenty-first. Maybe I could stall? I cried out when he slammed me into the mirror, his arm across my neck, pinning me against the glass.
“Answer the fucking question.”
I was frozen against the mirror unable to make a sound as terror washed over me.
“It’s a shame, I really thought you were handsome,” he said, running his finger across my jaw before his arm pressed further against my throat making it hard to breathe. “Where is Izabella, Jayden?” he asked.
“I-I don’t know who you’re ta-talking about –” I tried to move his arm to get in some air, but it was impossible with the weight of his body pinning me.
Tears were stinging my eyes from the position I was in. I hated feeling so damn helpless.
“Really?”
I coughed when his fist slammed into my stomach, the impact would have made me buckle over, but he shoved his arm further against my throat causing my eyes to feel like they were bulging.
“I-I can’t brea – P-please -” I needed air, and I needed space even more than that.
He was too close. I couldn’t move. He laughed.
“Come on, boy. Just give me the room number. I really don’t want to have to kill you. I’ve grown attached.”
My eyes were blurring, but I knew I wasn’t going to die, just keep choking.
I lifted my leg in a pathetic attempt to kick him, but he just shoved it away. Kicking my legs apart so it was harder to access any part of him that would be easy to harm.
Of course, I understood why Corey was pissed about finding out his mate was an Omega. I had always been weak, and I hated it. My pack was filled with some of the strongest wolves alive. Amarelo wolves in general were incredibly strong, and having always been surrounded by people so strong, it was impossible to ignore how different I was.
“It’s really sad, we could have been very good friends, Jay.”
I cringed as he brushed his lips against my jaw.
“Goodnight.”
I held my breath, bracing for pain and thinking he would rip my heart out, but a huge smash suddenly shook the floor under our feet.
The doors to the elevator had been smashed open. Brent’s arm instantly disappeared, and I fell onto my knees coughing and gasping for air. I felt someone grab my arm and shove me out of the elevator where I stumbled into someone else who steadied me.
“Corey! This place has cameras! Don’t fucking kill him!” I heard Sean hiss from right above me.
“They already saw us smash the doors open. What’s a little blood?” Corey sounded worse than he did when he was insulting me, he sounded downright murderous.
“Damn it, Corey!” I looked up and grimaced at the blood smeared everywhere in the elevator.
Corey hadn’t even shifted. Seeing Brent’s mutilated, blood-soaked body on the floor made me have to look away as bile rose into my throat. I shut my eyes trying to calm down and stop the tears that were burning in my eyes. I could still feel his arm on my throat, his body pinning me to the wall.
“Are you okay?” Sean asked me.
I nodded despite not feeling at all okay. I didn’t want to seem any more helpless. Especially knowing how much it pissed Corey off.
“Erik isn’t here!” Sean hissed. “How the fuck do you think we could make this disappear when we can’t delete the footage?!”
I paused at what Sean said. I could help. I spent most of my time in school in the computer labs. Every lunch break as well, and when I wasn’t writing at home, I was messing around with cybersecurity.
“I… Uh… I-I could hack into their computers…” I mumbled slowly. “And Trent and Kade could help me compel the humans to forget what they saw on tape,” I added.
I would have suggested that Izabella help too, but knew Sean wouldn’t want her helping even though she could use her eyes to get what she wanted as any other Amarelo-type wolf could.
I looked up hearing something shift and saw that Corey had stepped out of the elevator, blocking the view of the inside. He was covered in blood though, and his eyes had gone completely black.
“Calm down, Corey,” Sean hissed.
I realised that Corey had not said a word yet when a low, drawn-out, dangerous growl sounded from him as he glared at Sean. Sean’s arm slid from my shoulders, and he took a step away from me.
“Okay. Calm down.”
The darkness in Corey’s eyes quickly faded back to blue and, for a moment, he looked confused as his gaze shifted from Sean to me. He then seemed to realise he was covered in blood and looked into the elevator without stepping out of my line of sight. When he looked back at Sean after glancing into the elevator, the darkness seemed to be edging back into his irises and he shut his eyes for a second, taking a breath.
“Get Trent and Kaden, tell them where we are.”
“Alright. Jayden, come –”
“I-I’ll stay here. In case anyone walks into… this. I’ll try to compel them.”
“Good thinking.” He nodded before disappearing as he ran off.
I rubbed my throat still feeling the weight on it and shaken. Corey’s eyes opened and ran over me for a second. I dropped my hand from my throat trying to make it look like it didn’t bother me too much.
“Are you okay?” The question was laced with a light growl that made me wonder who was asking.
It was odd, I felt completely at ease near Corey at the moment despite the daze he seemed to be in.
I nodded. He studied me for a few more seconds before closing his eyes again as he sighed.
—–
*Corey’s POV*
“What was that?” Sean asked from where he sat on his bed.
He was done packing while I was still trying to pack my clothing properly, which I wasn’t very good at considering that I couldn’t fit half my things into the bag they had so neatly been shoved into back home. I had put nothing extra into it, so why couldn’t it close?
“What was what?” I frowned at the mess in my bag.
Maybe I could convince Hayley to pack it, she was very neat and tidy.
“You know what. You went too far, Corey,” he said.
“He wanted Izzy,” I muttered.
“That’s not why you killed him though, is it? You killed him because of Jayden. You saw him holding Jay –” he was saying.
“Shut up,” I cut him off. “I don’t give a fuck about Jayden,” I muttered, but there was doubt in the words. I wanted to say something snarky about showing up later that I knew would piss him off, but found myself getting angry at just the thought that Jayden could have been further hurt.
“Yeah? You don’t care? Really? Contrary to popular belief, I know you, Corey. I know you better than you think. I know you killed him becau –”
“Shut the fuck up, Sean,” I cut him off, shooting a glare at him. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t let him go in the first place! You know he’s an Omega. You knew once they left, he would get hurt – I don’t care about him! I just think your judgement was fucking stupid and if he had gotten hurt, it would have ruined the alliance between us and Inferno. Maybe think things through next time before you decide to pull rank, ‘Alpha’!”
I hated so much that I had followed his instructions when we were linking in the restaurant. I knew it was a bad idea to let Jayden go with that guy in the first place, but Sean insisted he had a plan and then pulled his ‘I’m Alpha, I know what I’m doing. We can catch him,’ shit.
Sean glared at me.
“Brent was willing to follow him out of the restaurant, we needed an empty place to confront him, and I knew you wouldn’t let Jayden get hurt.”
“Basing your plan on that logic makes it even more ridiculous. Why do you think we’re on this fucking trip?!”
Yes, he turned out to be right, but the fact that he was willing to rely on that, to risk Jayden’s safety like that was fucking ludicrous.
I wanted to ask what he would have done if my mate craze had not taken over or if we had not happened to get those doors open on the right floor, but I was done talking to him. Just remembering the moment the elevator doors opened was making my head heat again, my blood pump and hands shake.
I returned to packing, basically just slamming clothing into random places hoping to distract myself.
I knew what he said was true despite wanting to deny it. I hadn’t killed Brent because of Izabella, I had every intention of capturing him and questioning him so we could find out why he was after her, how he found out about her.
It wasn’t my intention to kill him, but seeing the way he had held Jayden, I lost it.
There was something about how terrified Jayden looked as Brent pinned him. It didn’t compare to the way he looked at me. I had never seen anyone so scared. He looked and felt absolutely terrified, and I just lost control.
I would be lying if I said I regretted killing Brent, because I did not at all. I couldn’t bring myself to feel even the tiniest bit of remorse for my actions and would do it again.
There was a heavy fear in my chest. I hated the emotion, but it was there more than I had felt it before.
Because it wasn’t just a part of me that lost it, it wasn’t just my wolf even though I wanted to blame it on him. I completely lost it. And for what? The guy I swore I hated!
I did hate him! But then why would I kill someone for him? We weren’t even friends.
I didn’t understand the feelings I got when he was close to me. I wanted to hate him so badly, but slowly more of me was beginning to want to protect him, to hold onto him. I never wanted him to be as afraid as he seemed in that elevator again.
I had to get rid of the mate bond. I needed to fix it quickly, we needed to get to the Apocalypse Peaks and meet the witch as fast as possible.
“Guys, we gotta go.”
I looked to the door as Trent stepped in, ignoring Sean who was still glaring at me.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
*****
Thank you for reading 🙂
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