Chapter 39: THE ABUSER'S RETURN

Joyce's POV

David Jesse stood in Dalton's office, like he owned it.

I had seen photos of him before. Emma Vane had kept one hidden in her diary. The pages Rachel showed me were stained with tears and desperate prayers to the Moon Goddess. But seeing him in person made my stomach turn.

He looked normal. That was the worst part. Dark hair, kind eyes, a smile that probably fooled everyone until it was too late. Emma's diary described that smile. How it could make her feel loved one moment and worthless the next.

"You look surprised to see me," David said. He walked around the room, touching things. "Did Victoria not tell you who was coming?"

Dalton tried to stand and collapsed back into the chair. His face had gone white, and I knew it was not just the silver poisoning. "You have no right to be here. Not after what you did to her."

"To Emma?" David's voice stayed pleasant. "I loved her. It was not my fault she could not handle the intensity of a true mate bond."

"You tortured her." The words came out before I could stop them. "Rachel showed me Emma's real suicide note. The one Vane hid from everyone. Emma did not die because of the mate bond. She died trying to escape you."

I could still hear Rachel's voice from that night at the warehouse, breaking as she read from the letter she had kept hidden for two years.

Rachel had wept then, showing me a photo of Emma, Vane’s daughter. Emma had been twenty in the picture. Dark hair like her father's, but with soft eyes that held too much sadness for someone so young. She wore a turtleneck that probably hid bruises.

"Sarah came to me three weeks before she died, because she had lost her mother at a very tender age", Rachel had whispered. "Begged me to help her reject David. But I told her the bond was sacred. That she needed to work through the difficulties. I did not know he was beating her. She hid it so well. When she jumped from that bridge, Vane found the note. But instead of going after David, he blamed the bond itself. He rewrote her suicide note to say the bond drove her insane."

David kept his pleasant expression, but something cold flashed in his eyes. "Emma was too emotional. She took everything too seriously."

"She was twenty years old, and you broke her." Victoria's voice was deadly quiet. "You convinced her that your abuse was normal, and used the mate bond as permission to control every aspect of her life."

"I disciplined my mate when she stepped out of line. That is an Alpha's right."

"You are not an Alpha," Dalton said, each word precise despite his weakened state. "You are Beta-ranked in Crescent Falls. You had no authority over her except what you stole through fear."

David shrugged. "Call it what you want. Emma chose death over me. That is on her, not on me."

The casual cruelty of it stole my breath. This was why Vane had become a monster. Not because the mate bond was evil, but because he had watched his daughter die and then twisted her truth into a lie that justified his revenge.

“You should be hiding and not proudly talking about how your wickedness cost a girl her life”

David smiled. "Emma talked about Dalton constantly. How she had met him at the Summer Treaty Gathering when she was seventeen. How he had been kind to her when her father was angry. How she knew they were meant to be together." His smile widened. "She wrote him letters, you know. Twenty-three of them. Never sent a single one. After she died, I burned them all."

Dalton's hands were shaking. "I never knew her until I saw her picture. I spoke to her for maybe ten minutes total, about pack politics. She was just a kid."

"She was your destiny, according to her diary. When she heard you had rejected your mate, she thought it was fate. She spent her last year believing that if she could just escape me, if she could just get to Pine Ridge, you would save her. She died with your name on her lips and hope in her heart."

The room went silent.

"And you let her believe that lie," Victoria said. "You knew she was fantasising about escape, about Dalton, and you used it to hurt her more."

"I told her the truth. That Dalton would never want damaged goods. That no one escapes their mate bond, not really. The Moon Goddess would not allow it." David pulled the vial from his jacket. "Sarah proved me right when she jumped off that bridge."

"Get out," Dalton said, clenching his teeth.

"That is no way to treat the man who can save your life." David walked to the window and looked out at Main Street.

"State your business and leave," Victoria said

"I have the antidote for silver poisoning. But I want something in return." David turned from the window. "The Moonstone Collar."

The room went silent except for Dalton's laboured breathing.

"No," Dalton said.

"Then you die. Simple as that." David pulled a small vial from his jacket and held it up to the light. "One dose can clear the silver from your bloodstream in six hours.”

"Why do you want the Collar?" I asked.

"To sever my bond with Emma's memory. Apparently, the Collar has that ability if you know the right ritual." He pocketed the vial. "I am tired of the nightmares."

My hands shook. "You do not deserve peace."

"Well, I deserve sleep." David sat in Dalton's chair like he belonged there.

Victoria moved so fast I barely saw it. She had David by the throat and lifted him out of the chair.

"Say her name again," Victoria said. "I dare you."

Taylor pulled Victoria back. "Not worth it."

David straightened his collar and smiled. "The antidote is yours if you give me the Collar; otherwise, your Alpha dies, and Vane blows up your town anyway."

Dalton managed to stand this time. He gripped the desk so hard his knuckles went white. "I would rather die than give you that Collar."

David headed for the door. "Good luck with the bombs."

"Wait." The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

Everyone looked at me.

"I will give you the Collar," I said. "After we stop Vane."

"Joyce, no," Dalton said.

David stopped walking. "What makes you think I will wait?"

"Because Vane hates you, and you know him very well."

David turned around slowly. He set the vial on the desk. "You swear to give me the Collar after Vane is stopped. If you break that oath, I take your bond with Dalton, permanently.”

Dalton reached for me. "Joyce, do not."

But he was dying. The silver was spreading, and we had less than twelve hours.

I thought about the four thousand people in Pine Ridge who would die if the bombs went off tomorrow.

"Deal." I shook David's hand.

"Smart choice."

Dalton's legs gave out. He hit the floor hard, and Dr Reeves dropped beside him with her medical bag.

"Get him to medical now," she said.

Taylor and Victoria lifted Dalton between them. He kept trying to look back at me, but his eyes were closing.

"What did you do?" he whispered.

"I saved you."

They carried him out. Dr Reeves followed with monitors and IV bags.

David tossed me the vial. "One dose every two hours until dawn. By then, he will be strong enough to stand."

"Why are you really here?" I caught the vial. "You could steal the Collar anytime. Why make a deal?"

"Because watching Dalton suffer is more satisfying than any Collar." David walked to the door.

"You are sick."

David looked back at me. "You are making the same mistake she did by believing Dalton is worth the wait."

He left before I could answer.

I stood alone in the office. Outside, someone was singing carols.

Taylor sent a text.

"Dalton is stable. The antidote is working fast. Dr Reeves says his vitals are improving."

"Good."

"What did you promise David?"

"Nothing I was not willing to lose."

I walked to the medical wing. Dalton was in a bed with tubes in his arms.

"When can he move?"

"Four hours." She looked at me. "The Moonstone Collar keeps the pack bonds strong during rejection trauma. If David takes it and severs those bonds, it could break pack unity across every territory."

"Then we do not let him take it."

"You promised, Joyce.”

Dalton's eyes opened. He looked at me, and I saw the anger there.

"You had no right," he said.

"You were dying."

"Then let me die.. It would be better than this."

"Leave us," Dalton told Dr Reeves.

She hesitated, then walked out.

We were alone except for the beep of monitors.

"You do not get to be angry," I said. "I did what I had to do."

"You bargained away our bond."

"You’re already considering rejecting me, remember?"

"David will use the Collar to hurt people."

I stood. "You have four hours to recover, and we have eleven bombs to find."

I headed for the door.

"Joyce."

I stopped but did not turn around.

"I would have chosen death," Dalton said.

"I know. That is why I did not ask."

I left and walked outside.

My phone rang. Victoria.

"The library just exploded," she said. "There were people inside."

I ran. My boots slipped on the ice, but I did not stop. I could see smoke rising.