Josie POV
The creaking of the cell door has my head snapping up to see Alpha Jamie walk into the cell I was stuffed in. Melana said we would be safe here but the moment we stepped over the pack border after Ace banished us we had been dragged to the cells and separated.
“Where is my sister?” I ask, looking at the man that had ruined her life from the moment we left the facility. Recruiting kids to run his drugs on the street, he was as low as they come, Melana never stood a chance when he took us in. Only to send us off to Ace’s pack a year later as a spy, under the excuse he didn’t want mutations breeding with his pack.
“You don’t ask questions mutt, now get up and follow me” He growls and I get off the concrete floor. My back cracked as I stood up. I had no idea how long I had been stuck down here, but the tightness of my muscles meant I had been here for at least a few hours already. Walking up the steps I step outside of the bunker. Alpha Jamie shoves me toward the packhouse and I nearly stumble.
“Get moving, she should have let you die, it would have saved all this Drama” Alpha Jamie snaps at me. I feel my stomach sink. He was right, this was my fault. My sister is the only reason I am still alive. I walk toward the Packhouse keeping my head down when I pick up my sister’s scent, making me move quicker as I step inside. The polished floorboard making my sneakers squeak.
Turning into the living room, I see my sister sitting in the armchair by the fireplace, her lip was split but already healing and she had a huge black eye. Tears brim in my eyes at the sight of her, knowing it was all my fault. I rush to her side and she opens her arms up instantly embracing me in a hug and checking me over.
This was my fault, she is hurting because of me. I put my trust in the wrong person. I thought I could trust him, how was I supposed to know he was going to keep Alpha Jamie’s shipment for himself. He said he would do the job, he is my mate. I had no reason to think he would do that to me. Mates were supposed to love us, clearly that was a lie.
“Both fucking useless, you were supposed to convince Ace to hand that land over not fall in love with him, is that why you rejected him Melana? I will fucking kill him is that what you want?” Alpha Jamie snaps at her. Melana shakes her head.
“No, no please. You know that’s not why, I don’t know what you expected. I told you Lucy was their mate, leave him out of it we can work something out. I will get you your money back” She begs him with tears rolling down her cheeks. Alpha Jamie laughs cruelly.
“You got 500k Melana, the deal was you would convince Ace to sign that land over or I would kill your sister. So since I don’t own that piece of land looks like it’s going to cost you your sister” He says, taking a threatening step toward me. Melana jumps to her feet shoving me behind her and onto the armchair behind her. Alpha Jamie punches her and I scream as blood spurts from her nose and he grabs her hair.
“Stand down, Melana, we had a deal but I am open to negotiations” Alpha Jamie growls at her.
“She was meant to have nothing to do with this, keep her out of it. I told you not to involve her, if it is anyone’s fault, it is yours for putting your shipment in a 17 year old girl’s hands. There is no way she could move that amount in a fucking school” Melana snaps at him. Despite bleeding and being in pain she still fought for me, still defended me fiercely.
“I will get the money, I will speak to Ace-” Melana says but Alpha Jamie laughs in her face before shoving her backwards onto me, her entire body shaking, blood drenching the front of her shirt.
“You haven’t heard, there is a bounty for both your heads after your little school incident”
“What school incident?” I ask confused. Alpha Jamie walks into the office attached to the living room and I look at Melana but she is just as clueless as me. Alpha Jamie returned with my phone and a handful of papers. He tosses them on my lap, my phone lights up and I see the photo of Lucy and I at a football game 3 years ago pop up on the screen.
I look at the papers and my stomach drops. “What did you do?” I gasp shocked when I see the photos of Lucy running from the classroom after he tried to rape her.
“I made sure both of you are as good as dead” He laughs. Melana rips the papers out of my hand. “I… what did you do Jamie, this isn’t funny, how” Melana says and I see the hurt on her face, it matched mine when I took them.
I was devastated when I took them, but also pissed off the mate bond making me blind to what I was truly seeing. I hated calling her names when I saw her last, hated what we did and so did Melana. She always knew about Lucy, Ace told her as soon as he found out she was his mate, but Melana still fell in love with him, but she knew she had a mate out there for herself too.
When she found him, Alpha Jamie used him as a tool against her, forcing her to do his bidding and get information from Ace. It caused major problems and so he wouldn’t suffer. She rejected him but he refused her rejection and said he knew why she was doing it and he wouldn’t accept her rejection even if the bond was severed already.
What we weren’t expecting was for Mr Tanner, who is my mate, to run off with a shipment of drugs I had in a storage locker that Alpha Jamie gave to me to sell around school and in Avalon city. Melana was going to walk away and leave it at that when Lucy turned 18. But once Alpha Jamie found out my mate stole his drugs and I couldn’t get them back, he told Melana to convince Ace to hand that stupid block of land over.
She almost had him convinced too but then Lucy came home early. She was so close to freedom, and she would have got her mate back from the bastard and everything would have been fine but Lucy came home early. I don’t blame her after what Nathan did to her, but it was really shitty timing.
“I have my ways and I had a heap of flyers made, decorated that school for her, now you have the entire city looking for you girls, you are as good as dead, unless-” He laughs but Melana cuts his words off.
“You fucking sick bastard, how could you do that to her, she has nothing to do with this” Melana screams at him. He growls at her but she doesn’t back down.
“I will go to them and tell them it was you, you sick fuck, Josie isn’t taking the blame for this”
“Is that so, don’t forget where your mate is, Melana. I will kill him, do you want to see your precious mate die because of that little bitch?” He asks, pointing at me. Melana looks over her shoulder at me and hangs her head, she was caught between me and her mate. We were in this situation because of a debt I owed. Alpha Jamie whistles loudly and two men walk in. I shrink back recognizing them to be the guards from the cells.
“So I have another deal for you, do this one job successfully and I will set you both free including your mate” He offers and Melana’s shoulders slump. I grip her arm and shake my head at her. “It’s fine Melana, I did this” I tell her accepting my death, if it means she would be free I would happily accept my death.
“So which is it Melana, Josie or one last job?” Alpha Jamie asks her.
“Don’t do it” I whisper to her clutching her face in my hands, pleading with her to let me go.
“I won’t lose you, you’re all I have and I promised mum I would keep you safe Jose” She says. I go to protest but she grabs my face in her hands.
“I won’t lose you, this life has taken enough from me, I won’t let it take you too” She says before letting go and turning to Jamie. I hated this man, hated him more than anything on this earth, hated him as much as I hated my mate for what he did to Lucy.
“What is the job?” Melana asks, standing up.
“I want Lucy, you bring her to me and I will get you both out of the City and free of this place”
“What do you want Lucy for?” I demand.
“As a bargaining tool” He answers simply.
“For some fucking land” I scream outraged. He steps forward and the two guards do too but Melana blocks him and he smirks before chuckling at her actions. My sister would throw herself in front of a bullet for me. Alpha or not she would fight back even if it meant her death.
“Not just the land, I want Ryker to give me his son”
“But he is a kid” I tell him.
“He won’t be for long, and I want his son, promised to Emily when she turns 18” Alpha Jamie says with a shrug.
“Emily, is 6” Melana says. I was shocked Alpha Jamie could so easily marry his daughter off. The thought sickened me. Take her choice away before she even understood what it meant.
“What about her mate, she won’t want to be married off, she will want to be with her mate” I tell him.
“I will take care of any mate she has,” He says with a shrug.
“Don’t do it Melana” I tell her and even she isn’t sure about this idea. It was one thing kidnapping the Alpha King’s stepdaughter another to then threaten him with her and demand his son.
“Exactly how do you plan on getting him to agree to this, he will just back out and refuse to marry your daughter when he is older”
“Not if they are blood bound” Alpha Jamie says. My face scrunches up having never heard that term before.
“I only need his son’s blood, I won’t be here forever and I need to ensure she is taken care of, she isn’t made for this business, and unfortunately I don’t have any sons to pass it on to, this will ensure her future”
“You’re sick, it will never work and Ryker will never agree to this” Melana says.
“Ryker doesn’t need to agree, only his son does. It will work, I have a witch that will ensure it, they will be tied to each other and my daughter will be the next Queen of Alpha’s”