Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
S o I went back to my house, slipping in while it was still dark. My mother woke me up. "Do you know where Curtis is?" she asked, her voice a mixture of worry and anger.
I shook my head, unable to bring myself to tell her the truth. She didn't need to know what happened, or that I had been involved.
"Did Curtis do anything to you? He was acting so strange after his conversation with Nathan. Your admirer.” Her voice twisted on those last few words. “He and a couple of his friends left right after that…”
I hated that she was asking not to protect me, but because she suspected me.
"No." I didn't trust her with any secret of mine. I'd tried to tell her a dozen times Curtis was a threat. The last, most horrible threat could stay my secret.
She kept asking and then eventually gave up, convinced I was clueless about what had happened.
Later that day, I could hear the rumble of Jacob Longroad’s voice in the living room. The alpha was talking to my mother about Curtis's disappearance.
"He settled down when you came along, but before that, he was a rolling stone. I wouldn't worry just yet. He loves you, he'll come back."
My mother let out a thin sob, and my lips pressed together tightly. The memory of Curtis's blank gaze staring into the afterlife above the red, jagged remnants of his throat rose into my mind.
Someone tapped on the glass. I spun to see Nathan grinning at me through the window.
I crossed to him and opened the window to hiss, "What are you doing here?"
"I thought you'd want to know I was all right. You were worried about me last night."
God, Nathan remembered I'd been out in the woods last night. I’d hoped he’d been too badly hurt to remember he'd seen me with Curtis. My lips parted, and he said, "Yeah. Don't worry, Amelia. I'll always take care of you."
I pressed my lips together tightly.
"And you and I are going to rule the pack soon," he said, taking my hand in his. "Then no one will be able to touch us.”
I swallowed. I had to get out of here before this maniac revealed what I'd done with Brennan. For now, I let him hold my hand, though I couldn’t bring myself to wrap my fingers around his.
"Are you okay?" I asked, remembering how genuinely worried about him I'd been the night before.
"Fine. Nothing really hurts me." He squeezed my hand. "I'm going to challenge my father tonight. You need to come watch. I'll be better with you there."
I'd had my fill of violence for a lifetime already. "Please don't, Nathan. What if you get hurt?"
"I'll be fine. I'm fighting for you, for us."
I couldn't say anything to that. I just needed him to stop staring at me so intensely, as if he was going to lunge at me again for another miserable kiss.
Then he added, "Amelia, I need you there. You're my mate, you're my only friend, and you will be my wife when I’m alpha."
He was so delusion, but I didn’t want anyone else to die—not Nathan and not Jacob Longroad. "Please don't do this, Nathan. You're going to get yourself killed."
"Come watch me," he said. "Please."
I let out a shuddering breath. "Okay. I'll come."
He squeezed my hand again. "Thanks. I’ll meet you in the backyard just before sunset. We’ll go to this full moon together."
* * *
That evening, Nathan took my hand and walked with me to the pack meeting. I realized, too late, that it looked like I was at his side to challenge Jacob.
Jacob gave us a sad, resigned look, as if he already knew what was coming, even before Nathan turned to face his father.
“I’m here to challenge you for alpha,” Nathan said calmly.
There were murmurs from the pack, but I didn’t think anyone was really surprised. My mother watched the two of us with an expression I couldn’t read. I was glad Aiden and Rose were both too young to be here, too young to see this.
Watching Nathan fight Jacob was like watching a train wreck. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. He blocked all of Jacob's strikes, and it seemed as if he held back his own blows. As if he was playing with the alpha.
His father clearly thought so too, and he grew increasingly frustrated.He'd raise a hand to strike and Nathan would just back away. He did it over and over again.
Jacob grew impatient and lunged at him. Satisfaction flashed over Nathan’s face as he leapt to meet his father. My stomach turned. Nathan had been baiting him the whole time.
Nathan immediately started hitting him, locking up with his father and delivering a series of punishing blows. Jacob was big, but Nathan was faster and had a more deadly aim. His hits left his father gasping and bleeding.
When Jacob staggered, Nathan lifted him up and slammed him down on the ground, then let him go and climbed off. Jacob gasped for breath and rose, staying bent over. His eyes looked glassy. Jacob's hands were shaking as he covered his face.
Nathan helped his father to his feet, then turned to face the pack, holding his arms wide open as if to embrace the entire pack. "I'm alpha.”
Then Nathan pointed to me. “And this is my mate.”
I could feel all of them staring at me like a weight pressing me down into the grave. I raised my chin.
Nathan's voice rose in the silent silence. "Is there anyone who wants to challenge me?"
There was no answer. Nathan swelled with pride, then took my hand and walked to Jacob.
"I’m going to marry her at the next full moon,” Nathan told him.
“The next full moon?” My head swam. That was only a month away. “Nathan…”
Jacob looked up, but his eyes weren't focused on me or Nathan. He was looking at something else. I twisted, but there was just a blur of movement slipping into the forest.
Brennan.
It was deadly dangerous for him to enter our pack territory.
Jacob's gaze met mine, and I held my breath.
"You can't marry her," Jacob began. "She's not your mate."
He didn't even finish speaking before Nathan leapt forward. He grabbed Jacob's jaw and snapped his neck.
His father crumpled to his feet.
The pack went deadly silent in shock.
Alphas and their challengers usually fought to the death. But in our pack, we always knew a challenge could end with bloodshed, but more often, it ended with banishment. It had looked as if Jacob and Nathan would transfer power over death. I stared in shock at the alpha’s colossal body sprawled across the ground.
"No one will stop me from having Amelia," Nathan ground out, looking every bit the deranged madman he had in the forest. He looked around for another challenger, but no one said anything.
Nathan grabbed my wrist and raised both our hands together in a symbol of victory.
After a long, tense moment, the pack broke out in cheering.