Chapter 16 - Jade
I tossed and turned all night, getting little sleep.
I ended up slipping out of bed and walking into Ilsa’s room, and watched her sleep.
I took in each breath, brushing her hair back as she slept like an angel.
I felt relieved but scared of what the future held.
I knew that Brandon would protect us. I knew he would never let anything bad happen to Ilsa, but what if he wasn’t able to keep us safe, as he had said?
What if something happened when he wasn’t around?
I don’t know how long I sat there staring at her before I got up and went downstairs for coffee. I found Brandon was already at the Island working on a mug. He flipped through some papers, his eyes glued to them. I wasn’t even sure he noticed me entering the kitchen.
“Morning.”
His eyes snapped up, and I could see he hadn’t slept any better than I had. It made my stomach dip. “Is there more?”
He nodded, and I slipped past him toward the coffee pot. I poured myself a mug and sat down next to him. Neither of us spoke as he flipped through his paper, my fingers tight on my mug. I tapped my finger on the mug and glanced at his papers.
“What’s that?”
“Just some strategist to discuss with the guys.”
I nodded and looked back at my mug. The house was quiet, too quiet.
“You look tired.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “You should look at yourself.”
He gave me a half smile. “I didn’t sleep well. Can I safely say you didn’t either?”
I shook my head. “Yeah, you can.”
He pulled his papers together. “I was just going to start some breakfast. Did you want some?”
I wasn’t hungry, but I knew I should eat. I nodded and watched as he cooked. Ilsa was up half an hour later, and I listened as she told us about her day at daycare. She spent most of her time once more coloring and painting. Ilsa was certainly a little artist. We had her artwork all over the house.
“What’s your plan today?” Brandon asked, his eyes flicking between Ilsa and me. I had no work today and wasn’t planning on taking Ilsa to daycare. I had thought of spending some time with Nora today to see how she was doing since yesterday.
I had given her a quick call to see if she was okay when I got home with Ilsa, but we both said little. I could tell she was shaken up, though.
“I was thinking of going to Nora’s, but I don’t think Ilsa would have a good time. Nora normally has a pool, but she recently took it down.”
“I could always take her.”
My eyebrows went up. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but he hadn’t really spent a lot of time one-on-one with Ilsa yet.
“Doing what exactly?”
“I can take her to my parents or with me while I run some errands. That is, if you’re okay with it.”
I nodded. I would never refuse him from having time with Ilsa. We glanced at her. She was staring at the TV in the living room, her eyes glued to the cartoon. She had an empty cereal bowl in her hands.
“Are you sure? I can always bring her with me.”
Brandon shook his head. “I would love to take her. We can bond.”
I got dressed and left the house half an hour later. I headed straight over to Nora’s house. I knocked on the door, and she came answering, looking as exhausted as I felt.
“You look like shit,” she said, pulling her door open. I stepped inside and rolled my eyes. “You should look in a mirror.”
I slipped my shoes off, and we walked into her living room. Nora had a very exotic taste. Her room was filled with bright purples, pinks, and blues. She had suncatchers in her windows, dripping the rooms in different shades of light.
I could smell sage as I walked in, spotting she had been in the middle of drying lavender and mint. She had incense lit in the corner as she curled up onto the couch. I knew she had tea in her mug rather than coffee.
“How are you doing?” I asked, sliding into her leather chair in the corner closest to her window.
She shook her head. “Hard to believe, but can’t deny what Brandon said, considering we saw that…thing.”
She took a sip of her tea. “How are you doing? What happened after?”
When the man shifted, and we fumbled out of the bench, Nora and I took off for it back to the training ground. But I had stopped, suddenly realizing I couldn’t just leave Brandon to fend for himself.
“Jade! What are you doing?”
“I have to go back.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you crazy! No! You can’t!”
“I can’t just leave him out there by himself.”
“Jade, you can’t shift! You have no magic. You can’t help him.”
“I have to try!”
I shook the thought off and rubbed my fingers together. “We ended up in a bunker for a while before we finally made it back to the training ground.”
She raised a single eyebrow at me. “A bunker? Where the hell did you find a bunker?”
I nodded. “I guess they made it to monitor outside the town.”
Nora looked a little surprised. She pulled her legs closer, readjusting herself on the couch. “I feel there is something you’re not sharing.”
I thought about what happened in the bunker and how his lips felt against me.
I felt a rush of heat roll over me, my face growing hot as I remembered how hard I came when he was in me.
I remembered how he stared at me, his eyes looking at me while I lay bare.
I hadn’t been embarrassed like I thought I would. If anything, I wanted him to see me.
“Your face is getting red.”
“I umm…” I chewed on my cheek, and Nora smirked.
“What happened?”
“We may have…slept together.”
Her mouth dropped. “Oh my god! What, are you serious? I thought you said you didn’t even like him.”
“I don’t.”
“You clearly do, otherwise you wouldn’t have slept with him.”
I shook my head. “It just happened.”
Nora snorted. “Oh god. It’s me, Jade. You can be honest. You like him… don’t you?”
I looked away, unsure of what I was feeling. Every time I thought I was figuring it out, that I could finally see through the fog, something made it worse. It was never black and white.
“I don’t know. I want to believe him and trust him, but how can I? He left once. How do I know he won’t again? With everything going on, how can I know what’s real and what isn’t part of his job?” I sighed. “I just…I don’t know what to believe.”
Nora gave me a sympathetic expression. “I think you can trust him. He seems like he wants what’s best for the pack.”
I made a face. “That’s part of his job. I don’t want to just be part of his job.”
She shook her head. “Not entirely. His father didn’t care less about the woman and their ability to protect themself.
He was clear that he thought women should be at home and that they were more useful bearing children rather than standing as equals with men.
Brandon doesn’t view things the same way.
He wants everyone to know how to protect themselves, and he wants the pack to do their best.” Nora took a sip from her mug.
“He could have been a crappy leader, and he could have just taught the men, but he didn’t.
He wanted change, and I think you can trust that. ”
I knew she had a point. Things had been changing. The women were growing more open, and the pack felt like it was slowly starting to become a place that didn’t feel like a prison. It was good.
“How about we go out?” she asked. “The fresh air might help.”
I decided there was no harm in the idea. We headed outside and started walking around the neighborhood. I could see that some guys were doing patrols around the neighborhood, and it helped relax my nerves a little.
“So, tell me about the sex.”
Her questions caught me off guard, and I looked at her with wide eyes. “What?”
“I need some details. It’s Brandon. The man looks like he was handcrafted by a woman, so please tell me the sex was good.”
I blushed, and she elbowed me. “So, it was. You’re blushing.”
“Of course it was good.”
She smirked. “I’ve heard there are a lot of men out there that don’t know how we work, so I’m glad he does. Would be a shame.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was a one-time thing.”
Nora wiggled her eyebrows. “So you say, but I can see that isn’t true.”
“Why is that?”
Nora interlocked her arm with mine. “Because he’s your mate.”
In a normal world, that would mean so much, but it didn’t for me. I wasn’t a full shifter, so having a mate didn’t mean as much. It was understandable if your mate didn’t want you.
“I’m part witch, so that doesn’t matter.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t care about that.”
“And you know this how? Have you had a conversation with him?”
She shook her head. “No, but I’m not blind. I see the way he looks at you and Ilsa. You guys are important to him. Blood doesn’t matter.”
We paused as we heard a couple of guys walking toward us. I knew instantly that it was Nick and Ryan. Two of the biggest assholes in Belrose. Ryan was a year older than I, and Nick was two years younger than I.
“Well, if it isn’t the two weakest members of the pack.”
Nora stiffened next to me, and I scowled. “What do you guys want?”
Ryan smirked, smug. “Still trying to fool the Alpha into being with you? As if your blood mixed child wasn’t bad enough.”
My hands curled into fists. “Watch your mouth.”
Nick stepped closer to me, his shadow draping over me. “You think because you took a couple of training courses, you're part of the pack now, Jade?”
“No, but I think the Alpha wouldn’t like to hear you speaking of his child like that.”
Nick hovered closer, her teeth bared at me. “What are you going to do, Jade? You can’t shift. You’re a witch, and that didn’t even give you powers. You’re just a nobody that’s taking up space. Why don’t you do us all a favor, find a hybrid and become its next meal?”
“Back off, Nick,” Nora growled, but it did nothing. He still stood there smug like he won. There was nothing I could do because he was right. I had no powers, and I couldn’t shift.
Suddenly, a loud alarm went off, and we all looked up at the sky, confused. “Is that the tornado sirens?” Nora asked, looking at me.
I nodded, but it was a clear day with no clouds in the sky. Ryan looked at Nick. “What is that for?”
But before we could even fully understand what the noise was, there was the sound of screaming to our left.
We all turned, and my eyes widened as I spotted a hybrid coming right at us.
It was about the same size as the one that Brandon and I had encountered.
Its mouth hung open with blood running down it.
Blood was splattered all over its body, telling me it’s already taken a victim or two.
“Oh god,” Nora said next to me, her hands instantly grabbing mine, ready to move us.
But it was too late. It was going to be on us in seconds.
. It was fast, and Nora and I fumbled backward as it charged at the guys.
I screamed as it shoved Nick hard onto the ground.
He didn’t even have a moment to shift before its mouth opened, and it screamed.
The noise was like a wild animal, and a second later, its mouth snapped around Nick’s neck and shoulder.
He ripped his throat apart, and Ryan yelled next to me.
“Jade!” Nora screamed, tugging at me to move, but I couldn’t look away. Nick was still screaming, but his voice suddenly stopped. The hybrid ripped him apart, and blood and organs splattered the pavement. Just one moment ago, he was whole, and in a blink, he was shredded.
The hybrid turned its head toward us, its dark black eyes narrowing on us. Ryan and Jade were now both yelling at me. “We need to run!”
I knew we wouldn’t get far. I’d seen how fast they were. We couldn’t fight either.
I felt fear grip me, suddenly aware that I was going to die. Brandon was going to be at home, and someone would call him to report what had happened. He wouldn’t even be able to see me because of how messy the scene was going to look.
“Jade! Snap out of it!” Nora yanked hard on my shoulder, and I felt a tingling sensation in my fingers. The hybrid moved, standing at its full height. It screeched loudly before it charged at us.
“Jade!”
I felt like I suddenly couldn’t breathe. My entire hand felt like it was falling asleep as I stared at the monster running at us. I felt the sensation travel through my entire body, and a voice spoke softly to me.
Raise your hands and let it go free.
I raised my hands, and suddenly, I watched as flames shot out of my hands straight at the hybrid. It screamed as the fire aimed right at it. It jumped back and roared even louder, but I shot more fire at it, taking a few steps toward it.
I felt another surge hit me, and I moved forward, pushing the monster back. I kept forcing my power forward, needing to protect.