Melana POV
We watched Jacob and Ace from the shadows making sure we remained far enough away where they couldn’t pick up our scent. We needed to find a way to get across the borders without being noticed as we sat amongst the trees, high up in the branches out of sight. Ace and Jacob had been patrolling the river all night. This damn river caused so many problems for us, yet not as many as that bloody demon my sister was mates with.
Watching Ace though, it killed me and gave me doubts about what we were doing. If only I had come to him when Josie got in trouble we could have avoided this mess, if only Ace was my mate instead of Satish, Alpha Jamie would have nothing to use over me, Josie would still be at school tucked safely away and never would have got involved in this mess.
Looking at Josie where she was perched next to me on the branch she seemed stuck in her own head. So much pain behind her eyes and I know she was struggling the most. Lucy was her best friend for years and I was the one person that caused a rift between them or so I thought. I was angry when I found out she kept the knowledge of her own mate from me. If I had known he was a teacher and demon I would have kept a closer eye on her, maybe even pulled her from that damn school.
Leaning back on the tree trunk I watched her, something had changed within her, gone was the sweet girl she used to be. Now she was bitter and angry and broken.
“So Mr Tanner huh?” I ask her, trying to get a reaction out of her.
“Hmm” is all she answers, her eyes darkening slightly, I could see the conflict in her eyes, yet she hardly spoke of him when I had asked, maybe it was what he did to Lucy? I wasn’t sure but she kept him a secret until he got locked up, only then we she said she had something on Lucy and offered to help did I find out about him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask her.
“He was a teacher, he could have gotten in trouble” She answers.
“That’s bullshit and you know it, he is your mate, he may have been told to steer clear of you until you finished school but no one would have stopped you both being together since you are fated mates” I tell her and she chews her lip.
“It’s not that simple” She says with a sigh.
“How isn’t it Josie, he is your mate is he not?”
“He didn’t want me, Demons don’t have mates Melana” She says and my brows pinch in confusion.
“So he rejected you?” I ask her, feeling sick to my stomach.
“No!” She says before shifting over to me to sit next to me and lean on the trunk.
“Well he must have wanted to be with you” I tell her thinking of my own mate. He was locked up god knows where and out of reach. The last time I saw him was to reject him but he refused to accept my rejection. I know I have put him through pain over the years, I know he has felt the things I have done and that sickened me and also confused me because I don’t understand how I was still able to feel the way I do about Ace.
“He wanted Lucy,” Josie whispers, shutting her eyes.
“That’s why you hate her?” I ask her.
“I don’t hate her, I …. I don’t know Mel. It’s hard to explain. Lucy was my friend but every time I see her, I remember how he wanted her over his mate, he wanted Lucy and not me. It was different with her, the others he wasn’t so obsessed with”
“What do you mean the others Josie?” She places her head in her hands.
“I didn’t think, I just thought once he got them out of his system he would come back to me, choose me. But then he asked me about Lucy”
“What are you talking about, Josie?” I ask her, did Mr Tanner try rape other girls too?
“Did he try that shit with others?” I ask when she doesn’t answer.
“No, yes, I don’t know exactly. He just asked me to bring them to his office, that is all I did, said once he got them out of his system he would be with me so I did what he asked, but then he asked about Lucy and I got angry because he promised” I stare at her appalled by her words.
“Josie, please tell me you had nothing to do with luring those girls to him” She looks away guiltily and I know she did, how could she do that to another woman?
“You let your mate rape them?” I ask, disgusted by her.
“He may not have, I didn’t stick around to see, but he wiped their memories, he wanted to do the same with Lucy”
“How many? And how could you Josie?” I ask standing up and walking along the branch needing to put some distance betweens us.
“Don’t judge me Melana, you can’t talk, look at what you are doing to your mate?”
“That’s fucking different and you know it, I have no choice here” I spit at her.
“Whatever, you knew Ace had a mate, knew you had one!” She growls.
“I didn’t believe him though he was fucking drunk and it was years ago on his birthday, he mentioned it once and never again, it wasn’t until she came back that I realised he meant it, its not like they both shouted she was their maate from the fucking rooftops”
“Yeah but what about your mate, at least I didn’t reject mine, Ace always said nothing more would come between you, he told you he was waiting for his mate, he made that damn clear when you first got involved with each other but you still rejected your mate?”
“Don’t try turn this back on me, what you did was worse, you lured his fucking victims to him and let him rape them, but hey no harm done right because erased their memories” I spit at her disgusted she was my sister, disgusted I had thrown everything away for her only to find out she was just like her despicable mate.
“He said he couldn’t help it, that the urges were to strong and once he got them out of his system he would stop and come back to me”
” You are not defending him right now, what is wrong with you? Are you really that stupid Josie, he used you, used you to get to them”
“You think I don’t know that now” She yells and we both freeze gazing out the branches to see if anyone heard her. Ace and Jacob were further up the river now thankfully out of hearing range with the wind blowing in our direction.
“I threatened to tell, I told him no more and…” She looks away without finishing.
“That’s why he sold you out isn’t it, you told him to stop and he stole the shipment” I groan, it all makes some much fucking sense.
“I didn’t think he would do that, I didn’t think he would cross me like that, he said once he had Lucy he would give it back and we could be together, we were going to run away leave everything behind”
“So you sold out your best friend”
“What no, I tried to help. I was going back for her but I knew no one would believe me so I took the pictures, but I was going to intervene, I wanted to help her but”
“But what?”
“You have no idea how hard it is to go against your mate, Melana. When I saw her with him it enraged me. I felt betrayed because he didn’t want me, he wanted my friend, it’s always Lucy everyone wants, always her side they choose even my mate chose her over me” She says, tears streaking down her face.
“So you were going to walk away because you were jealous of her, jealous your bastard mate wanted to rape her” I snarl at her.
“It’s not my fault, and she fought back, she got away so no harm done. I can’t help how the bond makes me feel, I know what he did was wrong but it was like she was the one that betrayed me for making him want her over me,”
“I can’t believe you, mum would have been disgusted with you, we were nearly free Josie, I was nearly free, then you had to fuck things up by trusting that leech and handing shit over to him. This is exactly why I told you to stay off Jamie’s radar, you just had to get involved” I tell her.
“I wanted to help, Mel. Do you know how hard it is knowing I am completely dependent on you, how hard it is knowing you were caught up with him because you promised mum to watch over me” She says.
“And that was my choice, you never should have got involved, now we are both trapped”
Josie hangs her head and rubs her eyes.
“I’m starting to think we should have walked away” I whisper to her.
“What about your mate?”
“I don’t know Josie, Okay I don’t know. We dug ourselves a fucking huge ass hole and I don’t know. I don’t know how to get us out of this, not without losing everything” I admit.
“Wait, I think they are going,” Josie says, looking out at Ace and Jacob. My heart pinches at the sight of him leaving when he stops sniffing the air and I realise the wind’s direction changed, could he pick up our scents from way back here?