Chapter 3: Goodnight
970 Words
Chapter 3
Jacob's POV
My face must’ve gone numb after the third punch. I can barely see a thing. Gurgles of blood flush down my nose, staining my flannel and forcing the room into an even more discomforting bout of silence.
Only the pauses between his powerful punches give me the chance to catch my breath.
“Reject her, Jacob!” Nathan's voice returns, but I give him the same answer as last time.
“You're gonna have to try a lot harder than—”
Another punch breaks the words in my mouth, forcing out even more blood.
He lets go of my hair and I fall flat on my face, forcing myself to breathe like the blood hasn't already clogged up my lungs.
“I'm not going to stop until I get what I want. You of all people should know that.”
“Oh, put it on a f*****g t-shirt. I couldn't care less” I mouth, literally having to force the words to roll down my tongue.
And no, I'm not doing this for Anna. I couldn't care less what happened to—
Right in the middle of my monologue, I hear her wail, and my adrenaline shoots to its max.
“Anna?!” I instinctively raise my head, but someone steps on it, forcing me to watch only out the corner of my eyes.
“I told you… I'm not gonna stop until I get what I want” Nathan's reverbating voice echoes, right before he holds Anna up by her hair.
“Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing!?”
“Do you think she can take a hit as good as you? I don't” he turns his gaze. “But hey, I could be wrong, right?” He forces a rye smile and it disappears soon after. “Reject her.”
“You've gone mad or something, huh?” I squirm underneath the person forcing my head down. “You wouldn't dare—”
Right before my eyes, his bloodied hands wind up a powerful punch headed straight for her.
He won't do it. I know Nathan. He would never. Right? Right. He'd—
“Stop!” I yell, and his fist pauses right before her face.
The breeze from its force alone perks up a couple strands of her hair. If that punch had connected…
“Just stop… okay. Stop”
“You're throwing me off balance, Jake” he whines. “Now I have to wind up another—”
“Don't. I'll reject her, okay? I'll… reject her.”
“Oh?” He glances back. Actually looking… shocked.
Letting go of her hair, he turns to fully face me.
“You gonna get your goon off me or what?”
“Your mouth still works in that position, does it not?” He replies. “Go ahead, reject her.”
I can't even struggle. My grunts and squirms are futile. I'm beat.
The ringing in my ears dissapears when I shift my gaze to Anna. Knelt and silent, her head's bent, denying me one last glance.
What do I care anyway? It's not like I have feelings for her.
We were going to reject each other eventually. Why have I even been stubborn all this time?
With gentle breaths, I stable myself, and the heavy words slowly glide down my mouth.
“I, Jacob Arc, Alpha of the Red Horn Pack, reject you, Anna Holt.”
I roll my eyes in attempt to downplay the emotion, only to hear the most gut-wrenching scream erupt from Anna's position.
“Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
Her anguish is raw, never once has the room been consumed in such discomforting silence before now.
“The mate bond” I mutter to myself.
So that's how powerful it is. Did… did I put her through this exact same thing every time I cheated?
My reflection is cut short by Nathan’s voice.
“That's enough” he yanks Anna by the arm, forcing her lamentations to halt. “It’s not complete until you do it as well. You just saw the extent I'm willing to reach to get what I want. Don't make this drag on any longer by refusing. I'll just beat the both of you to a pulp until—”
“I…" she stables herself with calm breaths, "...Anna Holt, accept your rejection.”
Her words travel so fast, I'm not sure what splits through me first, the shock or the overwhelming pain from the completely severing the mate bond.
My lungs crush against my ribs, and blitzing pain sears through my soul, choking me from the inside-out.
I try coughing, but gurgles of blood replace the oxygen that was meant to flood out.
“That was quick” Nathan mutters just before Anna’s eyes roll back and she falls to the floor, unconscious.
“Anna!?”
I barely comprehend the swing of things, when a resonance hits my chest, and my vision dims almost immediately.
“Pick her up, would you?” Nathan gestures to a pack member. “Oh, and for anyone who wants to play superhero, this is not the time” his attention temporarily darts in the direction of the other Alphas around the table.
“This… isn't… over” I mouth.
“Heh?” He looks at me out the corner of his eyes. “You're not unconscious yet?”
“I'm gonna find you. And I'm gonna kill you. Every last one of you! With my bare hands, Nathan! With my hands hands!”
“Levi, finish him off”
The foot that's been pressed against my head the entire time pushes off, just to generate a force powerful enough to knock my lights out as it comes pummeling straight back down.
“Goodnight Jacob.”
- Writer
