The Real Us (A world of werewolves series)

Chapter 16: Revenge

“So now wha—“ I didn’t get to finish the sentence as Jason pulled me against his chest, nearly suffocating me to death.

“Sorry. I’ve just really missed you,” he breathed as he pulled back, holding my face in his hands and smiling down at me like I were his world.

“And what about Claire?” I asked him, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head against his chest, so I could listen to the steady beat of his heart.

It felt so natural to be here with Jason, like soul mates as I snuggled deeply into his chest and breathed in his familiar scent, masculinity, protection, home to me and the first time I had truly felt safe and relaxed since that awful day.

“I’ll go tell her now.” He went to leave the room, but I grabbed his arm before he could.

“You want me to go with you?” “No, this is something I should do alone. She at least deserves that.”

“What she deserves is a good hard slap after the trick her and Marie pulled on me. Speaking of Marie, where is she? I haven’t seen her lately.”

Jason met my eyes. What I saw in his was a dangerous and almost quiet wildness lurking inside, the wolf looking back at me. I tried not to shrink back from that look.

“I’ve dealt with her, Josie. She won’t be leaving her room for at least a few months.”

His voice was dangerously calm, like the quiet before the storm. The wolf in that torture room flashed into my mind, and I suddenly didn’t want to know anymore. Shivering and not from the cold, I let go of his arm so that he could leave.

As much as Jason scared me sometimes, I admit I was still very much like a child and couldn’t resist seeing what he’d say to Claire, so quietly creeping out the room I went and knelt outside his bedroom door where I could hear them both talking.

“Claire, I’m sorry, but I’ve made up my mind. You knew I was in love with Josie, and now that she’s having my child I can’t just carry on trying to ignore my feelings for her.”

I could hear Claire sobbing as she spoke. “But I thought you loved me too. If you want a baby, I can give you one. I know I wasn’t the nicest of people, but I am loyal to you Jason!” she screamed the last part with such hurt in her voice I almost wanted to cry with her.

“I know darling, honestly I do, but how can I be truly loyal in return if my heart is for someone else?” he whispered gently.

My heart melted at that, and I even let happy tears fill my eyes, but I was conflicted with guilt too because I knew that heartache so well and the cruel blow it dealt when you knew there was nothing more you could possibly do and yet, you still hoped, tried.

“I’m so sorry, but just know that I did and still do care a lot about you. I’m just not the mate you’re looking for.”

After a few minutes, Jason opened the door and found me on my knees with my ear where the door had just been. I looked up at him, smiling sheepishly.

“Hi,” I whispered, feeling stupid.

With raised eyebrows, he answered, “Eavesdropping? I normally punish people when they don’t behave, so you, naughty wolf, are very lucky that I love you.”

He helped me to my feet, grinning and kissed me lightly on the forehead before leading me away to let Claire grieve.

“So if I want to do naughty things, you won’t ever stop me?” I asked cheekily as he closed the door to my room.

I hadn’t been there in a while and realised that I had actually missed it in here, the deep warm plum and pink calming me.

“There are other ways to punish you little wolf,” he whispered, pulling me in against him, gently kissing my neck and sending goose bumps down my body.

I pushed him back a little too hard and he stumbled-thankfully- onto my bed looking confused.

“I’m so sorry, it’s not that I didn’t like it, it’s just when you said little wolf...that’s what he called me,” I whispered, and looked down at my feet shamefully as I remembered what they’d done to me all over again.

His face softened as he stood up, and he came over, wrapping me in a hug. “I’m so sorry darling. I didn’t mean to. I’m really sorry.”

Resting his hands on my shoulders, he looked in my eyes and gently said, “If you would just tell me where it was, I could sort this whole thing out. I know it won’t change what’s happened to you, but if it saves other women from going through it, then we will be helping people as well as protecting our pack, please Josie, just tell me where it was.”

I had delayed from telling them because I knew that was what Angelo wanted, for me to tell them and send the pack right into whatever ambush he had set up. I knew there must be some trap.

Angelo was just another werewolf like the rest of us, he knew he wouldn’t have a hope against Jason without some backup plan, but if, like Jason had said, it could help others, then I wanted to try and very reluctantly told Jason how I had got back, what it looked like and which way.

He thanked me and kissed me hard, leaving me giddy and breathless as he raced out to tell Blaze.

The whole pack was told about the new information and next thing I knew we were all on our way over there, with me leading the way and not at all looking forward to going back to that place.

Jason must have sensed my nervousness because he held on to my hand reassuringly as we all walked on in silence, just the sound of the rain as it hit the pavement softly, so much for the bloody summer.

We finally made it there, and I stopped before entering, my heart racing as I remembered the last time I had been here.

The others nearly stumbled into me when I didn’t move. Jason stood beside me and sniffed the air. “Someone’s inside there,” he whispered to us.

“Shall we go in?” asked Sarah. A pretty brunette, very tall and slim.

Jason nodded and led the way, still gripping my hand tightly. I think he was afraid I might try to run.

Jason had tried to fight me out of it when Blaze had asked gently as he could whether I could pretend to want to join them. It would give the others time to get a good look at the place, the people and what our best shots were rather than just jump out and cause chaos like wild animals and risk being killed.

With reassurance from Jason, Blaze and Sam, I took a deep breath and stepped into the cold, darkly lit room.

Angelo looked up, surprised. Werewolves only had extra strong senses when they mentally shifted to the wolf’s mind, we became more wolf-like after a while, but we still had to focus and become completely wolf in our mind to use our heightened senses, so he wouldn’t have smelt us there.

The only person who didn’t need to shift mentally back and forth was Jason.

“What are you doing here?” Angelo walked over and beamed at me as though we were long-lost friends.

“I thought about what you said, and well...I’d like to join your pack, if that’s alright?” I asked meekly, not daring to meet his eyes.

“Really, and why would that be? You’ve been gone long enough to tell your pack about us, so why suddenly come running back?”

Crap, he was more clever than arrogant. A brilliant thought came into my mind and even if it made me sick to the stomach, it was better than having him find out our plan.

“It’s because of this,” I lifted my top up so he could see my small swollen tummy; too repulsed to actually say ‘it’s yours’ out loud.

“I’m pregnant, and I can’t stop thinking about you even if I know I shouldn’t.”

He looked at me and my tummy, gobsmacked for a second and then smiled as if all his Christmases had come at once.

“Ahh my little wolf come here, of course you can join my pack,” he said, wrapping me into a huge hug and kissing both my cheeks.

I tried my best to resist the urge to run from him or retch on his black shiny shoes and instead forced my arms around his waist.

He took it as an invitation and pressed himself against me. I could already feel that he was half excited down there and thought how lovely it would be to gnaw it off.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the rest of his pack came out and joined us, which proved that they had indeed planned a trap for my own pack in case I decided to come back with them.

Either he had been using his senses and smelt me, or he had heard me coming and had them hide. I had no idea.

Thinking that I had wanted to join them, they no longer thought they needed to hide in waiting, how very wrong they were.

Blaze was the first to emerge from the dark shadows of this place, running straight for the guy who I remembered throwing me onto the bed and ripping my bottoms off.

Blaze didn’t slow down as he slammed his fist hard into his shocked face. The guy collapsed with blood gushing from his broken nose and started to gag. He was unconscious, I realised, but his body was still fighting against whatever he was choking on.

I had never seen Blaze so much as raise his voice, so to say I was shocked to see his anger was an understatement. The rest of Angelo’s pack surrounded him, thinking it was just the two of us while Angelo stalked over to him, fury in his eyes.

I crept over to the choking wolf, and seeing that he was choking on his own blood, I rolled him onto his side and watched almost regretfully as the blood flowed freely from his lips onto the concrete, no longer blocking his airways.

I wouldn’t mind seeing him dead, but I wasn’t so sure the police would agree, I didnt know if the wolves had a way of covering dead bodies or not.

Angelo squared up to Blaze and tried to stare him down. Blaze stared back coldly, as though he could do it all day. I could see that Angelo was getting angrier by the minute, he curled his fist tightly by his side and started raising it up for a blow to Blaze’s face.

He hadn’t even gotten as close as Blaze’s nose before Jason was suddenly in front of him, hand wrapped round his fist and squeezing until there was a sound like knuckles being cracked.

Angelo suddenly cried out and fell to his knees.

He looked up at Jason, shocked and angry. I think it was the first time he had actually been this close up to him. He looked fascinated by Jason’s yellow almost golden eyes while Jason stared back down into Angelo’s face like a predator taking his time to think about where he would start.

About this time, the rest of Angelo’s pack came running at Jason. Trying to protect their Alpha, one of them smacked him hard in the face, drawing blood... that was a very bad thing to do. Jason barely flinched.

Turning slowly, he looked at the wolf who had dared hit him and growled low and menacingly.

Jason started walking slowly over to him, never taking his eyes from the now terrified wolf that had begun backing away slowly, eyes not looking directly into Jason’s.

The rest of Angelo’s pack were wary of Jason, each trying to encourage the other to attack first. Angelo on the other hand must have been mad. Dusting himself off, he got up and walked over to Jason.

Seeing that Jason was completely taking by the wolf in that moment Angelo backed away and p-shifted faster than anyone I had ever seen into a gorgeous white wolf, he lunged at Jason, jaws going for his throat.

I screamed, and before I knew it, I had grabbed the wolf by the scruff of his neck and thrown him sideways.

I cried out in pain to the feel of his claws scratching across my stomach before he landed in a heap on the floor.

Jason turned his head to look at me and seeing blood seep through my top, he came running over.

Before he could reach me, Angelo jumped at me, knocking me to the floor, snarling and snapping into my face, dribble, and spittle around mouth and fangs.

Terrified I didn’t dare move, this is it, I thought, I’m going to die by the one animal I had always loved.

Instead I was saved by it, as Jason’s golden wolf form charged into Angelo, knocking him off me and sending them both tumbling to the floor together.

By this time, the rest of our pack and Angelo’s were fighting one another, total chaos, but all I could do was watch the two wolves fighting in front of me, snapping and biting at one another.

Angelo bit into Jason’s side and tore at it as though it were a rag doll. My heart almost bled as Jason’s yelp pierced my skull, he was bleeding heavily on his hind leg, the flesh almost hanging off him, but one glance at me and my bleeding belly, he was up and charging for Angelo whose mouth was dripping with Jason’s blood and other things.

Jason grabbed Angelo’s throat with his jaws, knocking him onto his back so that he was forced to be in a submissive position, without any hesitation, Jason tore at his throat with his fangs.

It was not like in the movies where they tear it out quick and easy, no, this was slow and agonisingly painful for Angelo as Jason tore and pulled at his throat before finally coming away with a huge chunk in his mouth, stringy, bloody and just plain ugly.

As Angelo lay there bleeding to death, I almost felt sorry for him. That feeling didn’t last long as he forced himself up on to shaky legs and lunged for me again.

I could see it all in slow motion, and there was no way Jason would make it in time before he tore my own throat out. Angelo sprang up into the air, Jaws wide open ready for me, and suddenly collapsed dead on to the floor inches from my feet.

I just stood there looking down at him with shock and trying to get my breath back from the terror of it all. Jason changed back and ran over to hold me, pulling me away from the wolf’s body and leading me to join the rest of the pack.

Angelo’s pack had run out as soon as they saw him killed. Lifting my top up Jason looked at the scratches. Three claw marks ran across my stomach, deeply showing flesh that shouldn’t be seen on the outside.

Jason rushed me straight out of that place, leaving the rest to clean the mess up. We had to walk all the way back to the forest where his car was, and he carried me like a baby, refusing to let me walk, saying that it would make me bleed more when I tried to argue.

Arriving at the hospital, Jason lied, saying that I had been attacked by our friend’s dog.

The nurse looked at us suspiciously with Jason limping from where he’d been torn at, but she didn’t comment and led us down to a waiting room.

“Why aren’t you bleeding or in more pain?” I whispered to Jason when we sat down.

“Because I shifted back to human. It stopped the blood loss, not so much the pain, but I can’t be seen as weak. I’ll have to shift a few more times to heal properly, but right now all I care about is you and our baby,” he answered, taking my hand in his. “Miss Josie Reynolds?” asked the nurse.

I stood up too fast and winced, feeling like I was being ripped at all over again. “You ok darling?” Jason came and took my arm and gently led me into the bright room. I could see the nurse trying to hide her shock as she began to clean me up and put stitches in.

I suddenly burst into tears, feeling embarrassed at my outburst, but not being able to stop as I realised I had probably just lost the baby.

Jason tried to soothe me as well as my wolf, and eventually, I calmed down enough for the nurse to finish her job.

We left the hospital, two very happy parents to be. The nurse had done a scan and been surprised to find the baby totally fine and healthy.

I could see that she wanted to ask about the claw marks, but Jason was so relieved that our baby was unharmed he had given the nurse a huge hug, lifting her of the ground and leaving her giggling and blushing furiously.