Chapter 52
The Afterburn
LUKE
TWO WEEKS AGO:
Alpha Kings Mansion: Conference Room
After Jessica leaves us in the alley, she disappears for two days.
She won’t answer her phone. No one knows where she is.
The media goes crazy, highlighting her on every news channel.
The paparazzi and reporters camp out in front of our home, Whitemore plantation, and our hotel in the city.
My parents, including Anders, practically climb the walls with worry.
Has she been captured or hurt physically?
I’m sure she harbors some emotional damage after the day she had. The twins keep trying to reach her. She won’t respond to their calls or those from the guards to whom she is especially close.
Sixes finally admits that she knows where she went and reassures everyone that she is fine.
On the morning of the third day, she finally responds to Jeremy’s text and tells him she’s on her way home. When she arrives, we all wait for her in the conference room. Before she can even sit at the table, both my parents, Anders, and the twins lay into her.
I sit quietly. She never once addresses what happened between her and me, and I won’t bring it up. Sometimes, our parents and family just don’t need to know. If she would talk to me, I hope to clarify my actions. I want to start over. But for now, other matters require our attention first.
Anders slams his fist on the table, drawing my attention back to the argument.
Jessica refuses to back down, even with sound reason.
Some part of me feels that she has every right to be upset.
So many secrets were kept from her, meant to protect her.
Even her becoming mated is designed to protect her.
She is so damned stubborn. She honestly believes she doesn’t need a mate.
Maybe she doesn’t.
She’s successful in her own right, independent, and able to protect herself. But she doesn’t understand that she needs a mate and the backing of his pack to protect her pack.
I glance over at my brothers, red-faced.
My mother looks on the verge of tears. My father’s jaw tenses as he grinds his teeth.
Everyone is wearing casual clothing, faded jeans and plain t-shirts.
But the intensity of the meeting makes it feel like we should have worn something more appropriate for business or war.
With palms planted on the table, Jessica stands, leaning forward, and mirrors Anders’s stance. Ice crystals form around his hands.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. “Jessica, knock it off!” I yell.
Somehow in the heat of this argument, I think they all forgot I was even sitting here.
Jessica is the last one to turn those clear, icy blue eyes on me.
Her oversized sweater slides down her shoulder. Wayward strands fall into her face.
A growl escapes her lips. Fuck it, so much for sweet talk. She always responds better when we fight anyway.
“Sit your fucking ass down, and listen,” I bark.
Her eyes narrow, and she sneers, “Fuck you! What makes you think I will listen to anything you have to say?!”
I lean over the table. “Stop acting like a brat and sit down!”
Thunder rumbles in the distance. “A brat? You think I’m acting like a brat!”
“As a matter of a fact, I do.” I clench my jaw.
“This is my life, Luke. I don’t need a man to help me lead a pack!”
“No one said you couldn’t. This is about laws and rules. This is about protecting you and your pack.”
“I can protect my pack. I can teach them how to protect themselves, if that’s what they need!”
“Yeah. Right. You’ll teach a bunch of geriatrics and pediatrics how to fight a war, if that’s what your stubborn ass brings to them.
You, out of all of us sitting here, know this pack.
Haven’t you taken a good look at them? There are no young adults, no warriors among them.
If an Alpha shows up with his pack and decides to take you out, what about them?
What about their lives and their families?
You would rather leave them vulnerable for your own selfish reasons? ”
Her spine softens, and she lowers her gaze.
She knows I’m right. This pack she acquired comprises elderly men and women, too old to learn how to fight, and the younger ones are just too young.
I never really understood why there were no teenagers or young adults in the pack.
I assumed they all left for school or jobs, but none of them returned.
Where are the young parents to the children?
She drops herself into her chair with an exasperated sigh.
She rubs her hands against the worn fabric of her jeans.
I can hardly suppress a chuckle at the sight of the chucks she’s wearing.
Between the twins and me, we must of have bought her numerous identical pairs of those shoes.
Because she simply won’t wear anything else.
Between her chucks and hoodies, she considers both to be her security blanket.
“He’s right, Jessica,” my mother agrees.
“We would never ask you to consider Alpha Agnus’s decree if it wasn’t for your safety and the safety of your pack,” my father adds, rubbing his temples.
“I don’t want to be mated,” Jessica whispers.
Anders slowly takes his seat. “We know that, but your pack is too small. There are only a couple of hundred shifters in total, not enough to build a small army, not enough to protect you from what’s coming.”
Jessica leans her forehead on her clasped hands.
I recline in my seat and rest one hand on the table.
Maybe I can change her perspective by making it appear like a business transaction.
“There is one solution,” I offer. Everyone around the table turns toward me.
My eyes remain on Jessica. “If you mate me, we can combine our packs. The Emerald Pack will include the Emerald Guards. This will solve—”
“Are you out of your fucking mind!” she roars, flying out of her seat. A torrent of wind whips her hair, and a clap of thunder erupts above our heads. The twins duck, sneaking peeks at the ceiling. “I would rather mate with that sexist asshole from Territory Two than mate you!”
My father stands. “Enough!” The veins at his temples pop out. “There isn’t another option, Jessica!”
“There is always another option!” she growls.
“You are already a part of this pack, a part of the guards. This makes sense! Whatever your reasons are, you must put them aside and—”
“No! I will not mate with Luke! Not. Now. Not. Ever!”
My heart deflates. Does she hate me so much that she’s willing to mate with a man she has no memory of, a man who could possibly be involved in her attack all those years ago?
We still don’t have all the answers, or at least I don’t.
Anger and jealousy burn in the back of my throat.
I stand to reply when my father holds up his hand.
“Jessica, if you will not accept this proposal, then you will mate with the Territory Two Alpha. I have the contract on my desk. He couriered it over yesterday.”
Her face scrunches, as if in pain, and her eyes shine with unshed tears. “No!”
“Then you will accept Luke’s proposal.”
“No, I will not be his second mate!”
I close my eyes briefly. She still doesn’t know the truth. She hasn’t read any of my letters.
“You don’t have a choice!”
She glares at my father defiantly, tipping her chin slightly. “I have choices. Everyone has a choice.” She turns her icy blue eyes toward me, piercing my heart.
I didn’t have a choice. I wish she knew that.
“I’m giving you two choices, Jessica. Now, choose!” My father’s roar should scare anyone, but Jessica shifts her heated stare back to him.
“No!”
He straightens his spine, his Alpha energy building, forcing everyone out of their seats to step back, including myself.
Jessica holds her stance. “No!” she answers in a low tone, balling her fists at her sides.
“Choose!” The command is harsh. He pushes his power further. I have never seen my father do this before. I heard of it, but I have never bore the brunt of such power.
Her face cringes, and a single tear trails down her cheek. I want to stop him, but an invisible force keeps me rooted in place. The twins take another step back. My mother starts to object, and he raises a hand to stop her. She drops her chin and bows.
“Choose!” His roar shakes our surroundings.
Jessica lifts her chin higher, and perspiration beads on her upper lip and at her hairline. “No!”
My father fists his hands. “Jessica, you will be mated, and you will choose either Luke or the Territory Two Alpha!” More energy bursts from him.
My body trembles wanting to fall to my knees.
I hate that she’s being forced to decide.
At the same time, I hope she chooses me.
I close my eyes, waiting for her answer.
The air shifts. I look at her through my lashes, not able to lift my head from the pressure of my father’s influence.
Jessica’s eyes and her posture change. Her facial features and hands relax.
A touch of red flashes deep within her irises, and a different energy emanates from her body, swirling around her, pushing back on my father’s own Alpha powers.
My father’s eyes widen. Wind billows her long white-blonde locks around her, and she begins to levitate.
“No.” Her voice echoes in the room. Her body rises, her power pushing harder against my father’s. We all fall to our knees, bowing our heads. The air crackles from their collective energy.
My father falls into his chair.
“If I must choose a mate, it will be on my terms. My. Choice.” The last word reverberates against the walls, layering her voice.
My father’s head lowers, but he doesn’t submit easily. “But you will mate.”
“Yes,” she concedes.
He nods, and at the same time, their powers retract. We all take a breath of relief. I slowly get to my feet, helping one of my brothers to stand.