The Defiant Mate

chapter 5

Jay-la POV

It had taken all her courage to call; she had already decided to call Beta Jackson’s number. Not the packhouse number. She just couldn’t bare talking to him at this point. It had been six long years, and she could still see, in her mind's eye, the anger in his eyes. Feel the order, he’d driven into her. Pain tinged her chest, and she rubbed it absently, trying to make it go away.

She had spent the day staring at the number, it was almost 5pm. The deadline was approaching. Tony and Lauren had agreed to take the triplets for a few days while she went away on a business trip. ‘Thank the Goddess for them,’ she sent a blessing to the Goddess for them. They may be human, but they were a Goddess sent gift to her, as far as she was concerned.

Sitting in her office chair, she dialed Jackson’s number from the bottom of the letter. Jackson’s smooth soft voice practically purred down the line at her, calm and collected, not a care in the world it seemed. She knew differently, having grown up with him, that was just how he portrayed himself.

The anger and rage she heard from Alpha Nathan as he yelled out an order; she had never thought he would ever be capable of directing towards her. ‘Send the worst of the worst.’ fear had streaked through her right to the core of her being.

Kora whimpered at this too, a fearful gasp escaped her lips and she disconnected the line instantly. Stared down at her mobile phone in horror, as every fiber in her body screamed at her to run, and run now, and never look back. Kora did not argue with her at all.

He was still so angry with her, so much anger, that it felt more like he completely, utterly hated her. How could he, after their life-long friendship and love affair, just ignore 20 years of friendship and turn on her so easily?

Just one slap and that was it, everything they’d shared, gone just like that. For him, only his Luna mattered. Not his friendships, or not the one with her anyway.

She stared at her phone as it rang. She saw the number, knew it was Jackson and hit the reject call button. Jay-la stood and balled her fists, she was nothing to him after everything; just nothing. She slammed her fist down onto the phone with all her wolf strength, and the phone shattered and shards went flying everywhere. ‘Time to go,’ she muttered more to herself than anything. She picked up her briefcase and headed home.

She would tell her pups they were going on vacation and get on the first flight out of the country. They all had passports, had been overseas a few times on vacation, Singapore was nice and one hardly ever saw wolves there. That could be an option. She would have to find a place that was more suited to Kora, this time.

She had suffered a lot not being able to shift so much, due to living in the city all the time and staying away from anything within the Wolfen Society, and rogue territory was out of the question to run in. That was too dangerous, no matter how fast Kora was, it was not a risk either of them were willing to take, as it could leave their pups as orphans in the human world.

It was a long drive home from the office, over an hour, now that she had moved further away. The commute meant dealing with peak hour traffic. The only thing in her favour right this minute, was that she was on the other side of the country from him, her Alpha. So it would give her time to pack and get away, at least 10 to 12 hours, he’d have to book his men on a flight and organize transport.

Jay-la would be long gone by then, this was it, no going back now. She would have to completely sever ties with the pack this time, but she would wait to do it until they were at the airport. Too many scents for him to track at an airport and once she went rogue, he would no longer be able to track that particular scent that belonged to his pack, a scent that even now he could use to track her.

‘It’s going to hurt us’

‘I know, but what else can we do...the worst of the worst Kora. That means the men coming, whoever he sends can do whatever they want to us, with no repercussions.’

She felt Kora shudder with disgust herself, ‘I’ll kill anyone that thinks they can touch us Jay-la.’

‘I know we’ll try, but…’ they both knew they would be out numbered, and though she had trained all her life and still did once a week. The men that would be coming would likely be twice her size, and train every day. They would have a sick sadistic side, where pain was what they enjoyed inflicting. Her fighting back would only incite them even more.

Jay-la parked her car outside the front of the building, instead of in the secure car park. She was only going to be home long enough to pack each of them a suitcase and grab their passports; an hour tops, hopefully even less than that.

She got out of the car, lost in her thoughts of getting away. Where to go? Once she was a rogue, there was no turning back, so choosing a place that had no wolves was probably the best idea. So, a country that had no natural wolf population would be best. Other shifter's wouldn’t bother her, as long as she was of no threat to them.

Somewhere out of the way, somewhere small, somewhere with a nice forest for Kora and her children, when they grew up and could shift and run freely. She could use her degree to get a job. Contract law was always in demand, if she couldn’t pick up divorce law, and seeing as she spoke three languages, any of those countries would be good. So, even if not law, she could get a translator job with a corporation; that would be an advantage.

The cloth that covered her mouth, as suddenly as the fierce grip around her waist, as she was yanked backwards against a hard body startled her. So lost in her thoughts was she, that she hadn’t seen, heard or smelled anything, out of the ordinary. The sharp intake of her breath when she’d been startled, meant the chloroform had been in haled deeply, making her fuzzy around the edges of her vision. Kora snarled instantly in her mind, and as her claws were ripping from Jay-la’s fingertips readying to fight, there was a sharp sting to the left side of her neck, and burning like fire started flooding through her into her veins. “No,” she tried to scream, but already the darkness was rushing at her, enveloping her. Her worst fear was now coming true, her last thought before the darkness claimed her completely, ‘my babies, I’m sorry.’

…

Her eyes were still heavy, she was so tired, and trying to open her eyes felt like the hardest thing in the world to do. It took several minutes before she could hold them open and focus on her surroundings. She appeared to be laying down on her right side, barely able to move, she could feel her arms bound behind her, ‘Kora’ she tried reaching for her wolf, got nothing, couldn’t feel her at all, couldn’t even sense her the tiniest bit.

Drugged with wolf-bane, no access to her wolf and the burning sensation coming from her wrists meant silver cuffs, she was now as helpless as a human. There was no help for her at this point in time. She took a deep breath, tried to take in the situation. She was laying on what appeared to be the floor of a moving van. She was still wearing her clothes and there was no pain between her legs to say she had been assaulted while unconscious. Thank the goddess for that; not that she wanted to be awake for it. But how long she had been out, a few hours, the night, 24 hours or more, she had no idea.

The triplets had been with their nanny. How long would she wait to call the police and report her missing? Would she stay with the children the whole time or leave them? To many, what if’s. Don’t think about it, Suzzy is a great nanny. We pay her well, treat her with respect, and she loves the triplets, she’ll stay with them. Jay-la told herself to try and keep herself calm. She had to remain calm. It was a must to survive and find an opportunity to get away.

It was the middle of the week, if she didn't come home and then didn't show up for work, someone would call the police and report her missing. The human police might not have much influence in Wolfen Society, but wolves still had to placate them occasionally.

A foot touched her chest and pushed her onto her back. “Ah you’re awake I see,” a gravelly male voice came to her, amusement lacing every word “What did you do, I wonder,” he chuckled at her.

Jay-la stared up at him, it was dark inside the van, but she had no idea if it was dark outside or if the van was designed this way so no one could see in. She was only wearing a skirt and blouse, nothing that this wolf would have trouble removing to have his way with her. Her only defence now was her brains and her stiletto’s.

“ Please,” she whispered, “I have children.” She was hoping to appeal to his family nature. Wolves were naturally paternal creatures, their mates and offspring meant everything to them, they would die without a thought to protect them. “Three children, please let me go.”

He frowned down at her for a full minute, then shrugged “sorry, paid already.” His voice sounded devoid of emotion all of a sudden, as though he had to cut himself off from his emotions, to ignore her pleas.

“They’re just 5, and no dad.” Jay-la pleaded with him,

Again, he frowned, and his eyes were just staring down at her. He was troubled and she knew it, it was working. Then he shrugged “not my problem lady.” though he had appeared to be concerned, maybe he just wasn’t, or the money was too good to pass up.

Jay-la struggled into a sitting position. He just watched her wearily, she appeared of no real threat, still no wolf and for how long she had no idea. Bound with silver handcuffs, meant till they took them off probably, so until she reached her destination in all likelihood. She may look helpless and have no wolf, but her father was a high-ranking worrier and he had trained her since she was five years old. Always worried that his precious princess would come to harm, and he had wanted to make sure she could defend herself, trained her every day without wolf, till Kora had come out at 16; so if this man wanted a fight she was going to give him one.

This was the day her dad had warned her about, the day he had drilled her for. She would do what her father taught her to do, fight and never give up, ignore the pain best you can and fight with every tool you have, whether it be whit, charm, seduction or even a tiny sliver of wood; anything at all, you just had to throw them off guard, to get the advantage.

The van started to slow down, the man glanced away from her and she took the opportunity to push herself up onto her knees and then force herself to her feet using the van wall for balance and assistance. When he looked back at her, Jay-la shoved herself off the wall with one foot and slammed her body into his, catching him off guard completely; just like father taught her. She heard his head hit the other wall of the van, with a c***k so loud she had probably caused him a concussion, a growl elicited from his wolf as she struggled to pull herself back onto her feet away from him, but she lost her balance and fell backwards.

He was up quickly and yelling “What the f**k,” as he reached for her, she kicked him hard with both feet and felt one of her stiletto heels sink into his flesh with a sickening sucking sound, right into his abdomen. Her foot was suddenly wet with warm liquid, his blood was running down her foot from the wound she’d inflicted on him. The scream of pain that came from him, told her it had dug deep. Thank the Goddess, she wore 4-inch heels all the time.

Her foot and heel of her shoe were yanked from his body, the blood was running freely from his shirt. The van came to a sudden stop as he was trying to reach out and grab her again, but the sudden stopping made him fall. Jay-la pulled up a knee to protect herself from his weight as he fell on top of her. She gasped, he was heavy. The man pushed himself up, cursing “b***h, look what you did to me.” he snarled at her, grabbing her with his wolfen strength, both hands around her waist as he yanked her up off the floor.

“What the hell happened?” another man's voice came from the front of the van.

“Bloody she-wolf attacked me.” he snapped, pain in his voice as he turned her around away from him, not wanting to risk another attack. Jay-la could feel that her blouse was also now wet with his blood, there was an uncomfortable stickiness on the heel of her right foot and down into the ball of her foot as the blood pooled in her shoe. She could smell it too now that she was held tightly against him, the back of her blouse was becoming wet with his blood, his wound had yet to heal, though she doubted it would be too long before his wolf started to heal him.

He had a tight grip on her now, more weary of her than before. The door to the side of the van opened, and another man appeared before her, tall and lean, all muscle. He was wearing non-descript clothing, blue jeans and a plain blue tee-shirt, his dark brown eyes took in the scene, his wolf at the forefront ready to assist. She could see the slight green glow behind the brown of his eyes, it was ready to take control if she was too much of a handful.

Jay-la wasn’t all that big, 5 foot 7, small of frame but fit, and right now probably looked small and fragile, useless to him. She watched him, carefully trying to assess how much trouble she was in. She tried to look defenceless and helpless at the same time. His wolf must not have thought much of her as it retreated, leaving his human counterpart to deal with her, a smile on his face “Come here pretty one. We’re almost at your destination. Be good now.”

Jay-la pushed herself back against the wolf, already holding onto her as though she didn’t want him touching her. Shaking her head, “Don’t touch me,” she hissed, bracing herself to attack him.

“Come now, you’re too pretty to mess up.” he leaned into the van to grab her.

Jay-la snapped her right foot up and out at him. He didn’t expect it and the heel of her stiletto landed as she had expected it too, sinking deep into his neck. His eyes went wide in shock and he pulled himself away from her, the heel coming free. He clutched at his neck as the blood started to pour out of him, his life was ebbing away from him, she had not missed her mark. The heel of her stiletto had sliced right through his carotid artery. Nothing could save him now, bar a Goddess-gifted miracle.

The man holding onto her swore so violently in her ear and the loudness actually hurt her ears. She was suddenly and abruptly shoved out of the van with no regard for the fact that she could not help herself or stop her fall; she couldn’t even brace herself for impact. She hit the gravel road outside the van face first, and all she could do was turn her face to the side.

The gravel road ripped into her face, tearing at her skin, all the way from her temple to her chin, the pain was excruciating. She felt more pain ripping through her shoulder and hip, her chest was screaming as she felt her body slide along the gravel road. Tears were spilling from her eyes from the pain, and she could barely draw breath from the sudden impact on the ground. She lay there helpless and in too much pain to move to try and get away.

Not that she had the time, she felt herself get pulled up by her hair, off the ground, a scream ripped from her and she thought she was about to be scalped. Then her whole body was slammed up against the outside of the van and two hands were around her neck and squeezing the life out of her. A third man had appeared and was trying to kill her, her feet were off the ground with the force he was shoving her up and strangling her. She tried to kick him, but he was too close to do any real damage.

“That’s my brother you b***h, I’ll kill you.” he screamed at her, spittle spraying all over her face.

Jay-la had nothing to defend herself, still had her hands bound by silver cuffs behind her, he was using his body to block her kicking, and her lack of oxygen was quickly sapping her of strength. She'd had the wind knocked out of her upon hitting the ground and now she couldn’t draw breath at all as this man was trying to strangle her to death.

Then the man was suddenly gone from her, her body dropped to the ground, she was unable to support herself, and her knees buckled under her own weight, as she landed on the ground. A fight had started not far away. She could hear it, desperate to draw breath, darkness tinging her vision again, she struggled to stay awake, to push herself up on to her feet, her lungs burned, her entire body ached and pain filled her every move.

Her eyes moved sluggishly to the fighting men, one seemed vaguely familiar to her. She could hear yelling “I told you, no harm to her.”

“My brother is dead, she killed him” the other was yelling back.

Jay-la turned her head as she leaned on the van, finally drawing breath into her lungs properly. The man on the ground was indeed dead, and the one from inside the back of the van with her, was sitting cradling the lifeless body. She didn’t really care, those bastards had drugged her, taken her against her will, leaving her precious babies alone and unprotected. Dragging another breath into her lungs, Jay-la took the opportunity, while everyone was distracted, to turn and run, down the road away from the van, away from the wolves.

Surely she could flag down a passing car. In her state, someone would stop and help her, covered in blood, multiple injuries and bound. No human would not stop and help a female in such a bloodied and disheveled state.

It was only a few minutes before she was smashed into the ground yet again, pain upon pain, as she took more injuries to her already damaged skin. Her knees had taken some of this fall. She could feel pain coursing through them. Two wolves pulled her up off the ground onto her feet and started pulling her back the way she had come. She tried to kick out at them but was in too much pain.

They were also bigger and stronger and just kept moving forward, her eyes lifted to the road ahead and fear embedded into her every fiber; she was home. She could see past the van to the big black gates that indicated the front entrance to the Blood Moon Pack. The van had stopped a good 300 meters away due to her sudden fighting in the back. The left side of the gate was open, the right still closed, but she could easily recognize the red circle on the closed half of the gate which represented the Blood Moon. What the pack was named after.

Her struggles renewed but were to no avail, as they just gripped an arm each, tighter and tighter and marched her up the road toward the half-open gate and the waiting car she could now see on the other side of the gate. The back door was open and waiting for her.

She noted that the sounds of fighting had stopped, back by the van that had brought her here, tears were still spilling from her eyes, the pain was too much, and then there was her fear of being home, fear of what was to come, if this was just the beginning of it. She didn’t want to think about the pain that was still to come to her, or how it was to be dealt out, or by whom. A sob escaped her, she knew who it would be, and her heart burned with pain at the thought of it.

Would she ever see her children again?

A hand fell on her left elbow and the two men holding her let go instantly. “Nice to see you again, Jay-la” she heard Beta Jackson’s voice wash over her in a soft gentle tone. “I’ll take her from her boys.” He then walked her up the road towards the gate and waiting car. She did not fight him, he had once been one of her closest friends; not anymore. But she could not fight him, there was only one or two people in the Blood Moon Pack that could take him down, one on one, and she was not one of them.

Her whole face hurt, her knees were on the verge of buckling under her from the pain, but on she walked, she was covered in wounds, and she did not have Kora to heal her or help ease her pain. She had to simply endure it for as long as they saw fit.

He was staring down at her, she could feel his eyes on her, she kept her eyes lowered to the ground, what could she say to this man to make him let her go, and betray his Alpha, his best friend. Nothing, and she knew it, so she said nothing, just let those silent tears fall down her bloodied and ruined face, she must look utterly miserable, which was exactly how she felt.

She heard him sigh as they got to the car. He put her inside and slid in next to her, then ordered the driver to go straight to the packhouse.

Her fate was now sealed, she could only pray to the Goddess to protect her babies from harm. She sent up the prayer with all the love she had for them, her babies.