Chapter 22

I was jolted awake by the sounds of crashes and screaming. I immediately looked around for Jackson, but he was nowhere to be seen. I sat and tried to listen to see what was happening before trying to jump to action.

“All pack warriors get to the perimeter now!” I heard Jackson and his dad yell out.

Getting dressed as fast as I could, I ran downstairs to see what was happening. I pushed my way through a huge crowd trying to find Jackson or Christian. After what seemed like forever, I finally saw both of them talking to the Alpha. They seemed to be in intense conversation when I made my way up to them. They obviously didn’t notice me with everything happening, adding the fact I couldn’t make my presence known vocally.

“We can’t just let them onto the property. That would be giving them the upper hand,” Jackson said.

“How? This is your land, right? You know the terrane.” Christian responded.

“Yes, but so does Jillian. She was born and raised here. It’s safe to assume that she told her followers everything they need to know about the land.” The Alpha explained.

When I finally reached them I tapped Jackson on the shoulder with a look of confusion on my face.

“What’s happening?” I asked when he turned to me.

“Oh thank god, you’re okay! Jillian is attacking. We don’t know why or what she's after.” He explained.

“Has she made any demands?” I asked.

“Just one.” Christian answered.

“Christian, it’s not happening.” Jackson said angrily.

“That’s not your decision to make.”

I clapped my hands to get their attention once more, demanding an answer.

“She says she’ll call off the attack if you come out and talk to her alone.”

“Then what are we waiting for!?” I signed back with urgency.

“Leana, we are not going to ask you to risk your life like that.” The Alpha said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“You aren’t asking me to do anything. Besides even if you were, I'd still do it.” I signed. “Now where am I to meet her?”

As I made my way outside to the field to meet Jillian, I was overwhelmed by the sounds of different battles going on around me. Once I saw her by the tree line, leaning up against them so casually, I felt my heart in my throat. I caught her attention quickly, since she seemed to be looking out to see if I would actually show. As soon as she saw me, she called out to her followers to stop what they were doing.

“Ah Leana, I was wondering if little Jackson would allow you to come here.” She said with a smirk on her face.

“What do you want Jillian?” I asked her once I got about ten feet away.

“Aw, why the distance? Do you not trust me?” She asked with a mock pout.

I rolled my eyes before asking again, “What do you want Jillian?”

“Well what I want is to know what is so special about you? I mean I was Jackson's best friend our whole lives; and when I decided it was time to finally confess my feelings, he rejected me. '' She started.

“I’m sorry that happened, but what does that have to do with me?”

“He said he was waiting for his mate. After I ran, I got to thinking that his mate had to be pretty damn special, if he rejected me. So imagine my surprise when I find out that his mate is you, a sad, useless, mute little orphan.”

“We don’t choose our mates, so why are you trying to punish him for something out of his control?”

She let out a barking laugh, “I’m not punishing him, you moron.” She exclaimed, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

“Then what do you call all this?” I asked gesturing to the carnage around us.

“I’m trying to save him. He’s supposed to become a powerful Alpha, and how is he supposed to do that when you don’t even fight back against bullies?”

Seeing the shock on my face her smirk grew into a wicked smile.

“That’s right, I’ve been watching you. Well not you per say, I’ve been watching Jackson ever since I left. Waiting until he met his mate.”

“Why?” I asked as I listened to the blood rush in my ears.

“You see, if his mate was super strong and powerful, I would have left him alone, but he got stuck with you.”

“You’re lying.” I signed. “No matter who his mate was, you wouldn’t have done anything differently. You became so obsessed with him after your own mate died, nothing could have stopped you from trying to take his love by force.”

“You think you have everything figured out, don't you sweetie.” She said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Well I bet even you didn’t see this coming.”

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my neck and the world around me started to fade out. The last thing I saw was Jillian's evil smile before I was waking up chained to the floor of a cage. As my head cleared, panic filled every fiber of my being. I had absolutely no idea where I was, and I had no idea if everyone was alright. Jillian wouldn’t continue to attack after she had me, right? There would be no point. I tried to calm my racing heart as I tried to collect my thoughts. The only thing I could do to calm down was continue to tell myself that Jackson was going to come for me.

So that's what I repeated to myself over and over and over again. Jackson was going to come for me.