Chapter Fifty-Two - Mason

Jessica sat across from me at the dining table. She seemed completely lost in her thoughts. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but Jacob called a meeting with a plan—finally.

We needed something set in stone between us. The guessing game was growing tired amongst us. The lycans couldn’t continue to destroy Slade Springs and our wolves stay sane. It didn’t take much for a wolf to go crazy. Not being able to shift and an inability to fight enemies would do it.

Jacob sat down next to me as the pack all took their seats. I felt Jessica’s nerves from across the table. She nibbled on her bottom lip as Jacob cleared his throat.

Had she found something in the diary? By the look on her face, I assumed she had.

“Mason happened upon one of our old classmates at work today. He’s been marked by a lycan. However, he has no memory of it.”

“He could be lying,” Aaron said, turning his baseball hat around backward. “Would a lycan truly admit to being a lycan? I wouldn't."

I shook my head. “You should have seen the look on his face. He had no idea. My wolf believed him. I believed him. He was in total shock."

“That means there could be far more than we planned for,” Stan said. “That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not,” Jacob said, leaning back in his chair. “The festival is coming tomorrow. I don’t like the idea of the entire town coming together, ya know. It’s an easy way for the town to get turned swiftly. We have to stay on top of this. I told Mason and Jessica they could go. It’ll make the pack look uninterested in the event if they go. We will stand guard close by. Mason and Jessica can keep an eye out while attending. It’s our best chance of getting the lycans together.”

Seth tossed his hands into the air. “You expect me to believe that going to this festival is a good idea? If the lycan’s attack the town, we’ll have to shift…”

“Do you have another suggestion?” Jacob asked, his eyes hard. “I don’t want to jeopardize our pack, but I also want to keep our town safe. Our families live here. This is our job. Our home. If we have to shift to save the town, so be it.”

The table grew quiet. I felt the tension building between all of us. It wasn’t uncommon to have different opinions, but it didn’t bring us closer together like it should. It wedged space between us that we couldn’t afford. A pack needed to be tightly formed, no cracks or spaces.

There felt like a giant space recently. Ever since Jessica's wolf attempted to attack me.

Liam cleared his throat as he shoved his fingers into his hair. “What are we going to do about the people that have been turned? Kill them? Are we going to bury half the town tomorrow?”

Jacob’s face told us yes.

I understood the need to eliminate the problem. Killing the town’s people didn’t seem beneficial. “If we shift in front of the town, I don’t

see them forgiving us for killing townspeople even if they are lycans. Even if we save them,” I said.

Jacob rubbed his face with his palm. “We have no other choice. If we let them live, they will make more lycans.”

I closed my eyes, momentarily ignoring the mess unfolding in front of us. Jessica’s feelings surged me, and I pried my eyes open to look at her.

She wanted to say something.

“Say it,” I said.

The pack looked at me, following my line of sight to Jessica. “What?” she asked.

“Say what you’re thinking,” I encouraged her.

She cleared her throat, giving me a heated look of embarrassment before leaning forward. “My wolf seems to think there is a way to change them.”

Jacob lifted both brows at her. The alpha being told anything he doesn’t already know felt odd. How would Jessica’s wolf know anything that he didn’t?

“Oh, does she?” Jacob asked.

I could hear the hurt in his voice. It was a weakness of Jacob’s because he’d never been challenged before.

“Well, please tell,” he said, gesturing toward her.

Jessica’s eyes turned golden, her wolf skimming the surface. I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or a bad idea. “She thinks there is an elixir they can drink to change them back.”

Aaron snickered, which made my wolf angry. I growled lowly at him. Aaron put his palms up in surrender. “Sorry,” he mouthed.

Jacob’s cocky smile rubbed me the wrong way. “Well, where is this elixir then? Why haven’t we known about it before?”

Jessica’s brows furrowed. “She says it’s in our books.”

Jacob stared at her for a long while. “I’ve read those books back and forth, Jessica. Don’t you think I would have stumbled across it before now?”

Silence enveloped the room. My fingers twitched against my thighs in anticipation of what she would say. “She says it’s there, you just didn’t look hard enough.”

Jacob stood up swiftly, and I matched him. I dared him with my gaze to put one finger on her. “Don’t,” I warned.

His gaze settled on mine. The alpha in him didn’t want to back down. The mate inside of me wouldn’t.

Jessica swallowed and stood slowly. “OK. Let’s see the books then. I don’t know what she’s talking about, obviously. I’ve never seen these books, but she seems to know something I don’t.”

Stan sat quietly in his chair with a confused look on his face. He had no idea how Jessica’s wolf knew anything. Why would she? She was new to the pack. She was new, period.

Jacob walked toward the doorway and looked over his shoulder. “Come on then. Let’s go see what she’s talking about.”

The pack stood up, filing out of the kitchen behind Jacob while Jessica stopped next to me. “I don’t know what she’s talking about,” she mumbled. “I think Jacob is pissed at me.”

I curved my knuckles along her jawline. “It’s not your fault. Remember, I will always keep you safe. Even if it means standing up to my alpha. We should at least see if she knows something we don’t.”

Jessica nodded, her blue eyes scorching mine. “My grandmother knew about the wolves, and could hear their mind link.”

I stopped, dropping my hand to her shoulder. “You’re sure?”

“I’m positive,” she said. “It was in her diary. I didn’t get to read anymore because of the meeting. I—I don’t know what that means. Do you?”

“We should ask Jacob.”

Jessica reached out and grabbed my forearm. “No, I don’t want to tell him until I know everything for sure. What if it’s something bad?”

I couldn’t think of what it could be. “Ok. I’ll wait until you’re ready to tell him.”

“We’re waiting!” Seth yelled from the top of the stairs.

I offered Jessica my hand. She intertwined our fingers and walked with me toward the library. A surge of energy coursed through me at her touch.

She seemed different.

Her wolf was present and strong.

Something told me there was much more to Jessica’s bloodline than we knew.

I just hoped it all settled well with Jacob. He was our alpha. An alpha didn’t like to be challenged, and my gut feeling told me that Jessica’s wolf wanted to challenge him.

Her wolf wanted him to step down.