Melana POV
Josie glances at her watch, “I think the shift change is about to happen” She says before she suddenly starts climbing down. I reluctantly followed, grabbing the bag on my way down that was hanging from a branch. When we get to the ground we hide in shrubs looking at the bridge. The patrols have been tighter than ever and we needed to get across to set the plans in motion but we also needed to be smart. If anyone was alerted to us stepping across we would find ourselves in deep shit.
“Ok once the new shift patrol takes over, you take out one, I will take out the other” Josie says pulling the dart guns out.
“That will give us 6 hours before the next shift comes on and we can drag them out of sight” Josie tells me and I nod. We watched the patrols talk, Ace was speaking with them along with Jacob when he turned looking in our direction. We manage to duck down out of sight before he spots us.
After about 20 minutes of them stuffing around, we retrieve the darts pulling them out when my fingers suddenly start burning, making me drop the dart. I look at my fingers before sniffing them as Josie goes to grab one out and I stop her.
“What?” She asks.
“These aren’t tranquilisers” I tell her, wondering how we hadn’t noticed before. Pulling my phone out, I hold the dart under the screen light instantly recognising the contents to be wolfsbane and Josie gasps.
“But he said we only had to knock them out,” Josie says, horrified. I looked out to see Ace had left and two new warriors had taken over patrol. I recognised both of them, one of them was Floyde, he was one of their Beta’s. The other was Floyde’s son, Nathaniel, we were the same age and I went to school with him for a bit.
Nausea welled inside me at what we were expected to do, knowing shooting them with these darts could kill them. I had had a fair amount of run-ins with Floyde over the years but that didn’t mean I wanted him dead.
Josie takes aim, and my heart hammers in my chest, would she really do it? Would she really kill someone, yet as I watched her finger move to the trigger, I knew she would. I would do anything for her, she is family. But to destroy another’s family, the thought sickened me.
I put my hand on the barrel, ripping it down toward the ground.
“What are you doing?” She hisses at me.
“You really want that on your conscience, another thing to taint you?” I ask her.
“We don’t have a choice”
“Yes we do, no. We will find another way” I tell her.
“What other way? We need to get across, what about your mate?” Josie asks and tears burn my eyes at the thought of what I have already put him through, what Alpha Jamie would do to him.
“No, it’s not right”
“Nothing about this right” Josie snaps.
“You’re right, but I’m not a murderer”
“Then I will do it” Josie says and I look at her.
“What no, no we will scope out somewhere else, follow the river. No one needs to die Josie ” I tell her.
“You don’t know they will die, they have hybrid’s for Alpha’s, you know that gives the pack members extra abilities”
“So what, just because it might don’t mean it won’t kill them” I tell her, yanking the gun from her hands as she goes to raise it.
“Get it together Melana, we have to do this” She snaps, I shake my head wondering what the fuck has become of her, she used to be the one telling me not to do stupid shit but now she was willing to kill someone?
“We go back without Lucy, you are signing both our death warrants”
“Hours ago you were the one begging me not to agree to Jamie’s terms and to walk away, you wanted to help Lucy and warn her” I tell her.
“We are so close, so fucking close Melana. We get this done, and bring her back here, you get your mate, then we are free” She says.
“No, what has got into you?” I ask, confused by her actions. Mine have been solely based on her and my mate but Josie was only begging a few hours ago for me to not agree with Alpha Jamie and to let him kill her, saying she wouldn’t hurt Lucy anymore, practically begging me not to go through with it. She goes quiet before trying to take the gun back from my hands. What happened in the fews hours in the cells that she had a change of heart?
“No!” I tell her and she growls at me but my hand whips out and I slap her face. She seemed shocked for a second, tears brimming in her eyes when her face twisted in anger and she tackled me, trying to wrestle the gun from my grip.
“I wont fucking lose him again” She snarls, her fist connecting with the side of my face while I tried to make sense of what she said. I shove her off only for her to attack again but I side step kicking out the side of her knee making her scream. I quickly drop on her, covering her mouth and muffling the sound. Looking out toward the warriors I could see their heads whipping from side to side. Shit! They heard her. Josie was thrashing on the ground underneath me trying to shove me off.
“What did he promise you, what the fuck did he offer you Josie?” I ask pinning her down.
She growls at me and bites into my hand making me jerk it back.
“You may not have the balls to do it, but I fucking will now get off me” She spits at me.
“No, we aren’t doing this. I will take the punishment, I accept my fate but I won’t kill someone, not for my mistakes” I tell her. She snarls at me, glaring daggers before trying to toss me off her again.
“He did, didn’t he? He offered you something, what did the Alpha offer Josie?” I ask her. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and look back between the shrubs to see them pacing up and down the river looking for the person responsible for the scream.
“Answer me” I tell her, gripping her shirt and slamming her down on the dirt again. She laughs and I suddenly don’t recognise my own sister anymore, she was unhinged, she wasn’t the girl she was when she came home on break last time.
“One last job Melana, then I can get him back, Lucy will be out of the picture and I will get him back”
“Who?” when it suddenly clicks.
“No, you can’t be serious. Your mate, how the fuck could you want him back after what he did?” I screech at her.
“Once Lucy is gone, after what she did to him, he will want me back, we could finally be together, he will see that” She says and I am stunned, did she really think he wants her. The man is sick, fucked in the head. How could she claim to be Lucy’s friend but also go through with this for her stupid rapist mate.
“You’re disgusting, it’s not Lucy Josie, it’s your mate. He doesn’t want you, why can’t you see that? No, I am telling Ace. This has gone on too long. I never should have let it get this out of hand. Jamie kills me, then so be it, but I am not killing anyone and I am not helping you get that monster out” I tell her, shoving her back and standing.
I would hand myself in, walk over the bridge and hand myself in. Hearing a clicking noise, I freeze as I go to pick up the tranquiliser gun.
“I can’t let you do that?” Josie says and I turn to face her, she had the other gun pointed directly at me.
“I am your sister,” I tell her appalled that she would even threaten me after everything I have done for her.
“But he is my mate, Jamie’s witch will get him out for me, he promised he would. I am not losing everything because of that slut” She yelled too loudly and I hoped to see Floyde but they had run off down the river.
“You have lost it Josie, this isn’t you”
“You may not be willing to help your mate, but I won’t lose mine”
“He doesn’t want you!” I scream at her.
“He does, he fucking does want me, I just need to get rid of her first. She is the problem” Josie spits at me, the hatred in her eyes, her manic behaviour nothing made sense. One minute she wants to be friends with Lucy, the next she wants her dead.
“Josie stop, think about this for a second”
“I am thinking about it, Melana” She says, reaching down and grabbing the cuffs out of the front pocket of her bag that were intended for Lucy.
“Put them on,” She says.
“No!”
“Put them on or I will fucking shoot Melana” She says, but I shake my head. She growls before smacking herself in the side of the head with her palm.
“You, why are you making me do this,” before she starts rambling and I slowly start to reach down for my gun when she spins back around.
“Put them on Melana”
“I can’t do that Josie, something is wrong with you, can’t you see how wrong this is?” I tell her when she shoots me in the leg. I look down at the dart sticking out of my leg before pulling it out. I gasp, the wolfsbane spreading through my system and I stumble forward gasping for breath. My veins felt like they had been set on fire, my blood boiling and my throat felt like it was swelling shut. Josie shrieks racing to me.
“I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry” She gushes, patting my face.
“You are alright, I will get help”
“Get floyde” I choke out and she drops my head on the ground from her lap.
“What no, no Mel. I will get the Alpha” I shake my head and she glares at me.
“Leave Josie, just go and be free of him. Forget your mate, forget everyone” I tell her but she growls, pulling her phone out and dialling a number. I was slipping out of consciousness, the wolfsbane burning like acid and I knew I just needed to ride it out. Wait for it to subside or get to a blood source.
I don’t know how long passed but I woke to voices. I tried to force my eyes open, feet coming into view.
“Well hasn’t this been an interesting change in events” Alpha Jamie voice says reaching my ears.
“Good girl Josie, I knew you wouldn’t betray me, now what do we do with you?” I hear him say.
“Just don’t kill her, I will get the job done, just don’t hurt her” Josie says, and I growl at her.
“Well looks like we have to go to plan B or is it or D I don’t know but you keep on fucking up” Alpha Jamie says.
“I just need a little more time, a bit more time and I will have it done. I just need to find a way to get across” Silence falls but I could cut the tension with a knife.
“What about your person on the inside, maybe he can get me in” Josie asks.
“They aren’t one of their members, he would have no reason to be over this side” he pauses for a second.
“But maybe he could get you in, further up the river on his territory” He muses,
“His house isn’t far from the river there and they wouldn’t expect you to breach from Ryker’s Side, it may work I will call him”
I feel hands grip me, before I am chucked over someone’s shoulder.
“So how far up do I need to go and is it anyone I know?” Josie asks, determined to get her mate back. Why she would want that piece of shit back is beyond me.
“I am not sure, you didn’t go to school with him, maybe”
“Okay what’s their name?”
“Mitchell, he is part of Ryker’s pack, he is the one that put the pictures up in the school for me”
“Yeah I know him, he was friends with Lucy” Josie says, and I couldn’t help but think how unlucky with friendships Lucy was.
“Put her in the cells” I hear him say before the person carrying me starts walking and their voices start to fade away, now I just needed a way to warn Ace and pray he doesn’t kill my sister.