No Escape

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lily was on cloud nine as she walked to the pack house, fingers entangled with Jackson's. When she was with him, she felt like she was where she was meant to be, like she belonged. It was an unusual feeling, but it also felt right and she welcomed it.

The feeling, however, was short lived when they arrived to see the pack house in complete disarray. There was furniture thrown all over the place, broken glass on the ground, and yelling coming from upstairs. There wasn't one pack member in sight as the two of them made their way to what they assumed was the source of this chaos. It was a strange thing for Lily to see; there was always someone roaming around.

When they arrived at the Alpha's office, they heard a loud crashing sound and cursing from Jackson's fathers mouth. Jackson didn't bother with knocking as he made his way into the office with Lily in tow. His father was seething from behind his desk as his mother and Beta James stood in front of him. More glass was scattered across the floor and there was a dent in the wall from where a lamp had collided with it before breaking.

For a moment time seemed to stop, Jackson's father was breathing heavily as his eyes changed color from black to their normal hazel color; he and his wolf fighting for control. He looked toward his son and his whore of a mate and his anger increased tenfold. He growled as he took the sight of the two of them, holding hands, in.

"You," he practically growled again as he pointed an accusatory finger at the girl. Jackson noticed Lily's whole body tensed and he pushed her behind him as he glared at his father. "This is all your fault!"

The Alpha's voice was deeper, rougher than it normally was. If Lily hadn't known they were werewolves, she would have figured it was because he was so unreasonably angry with her. "If my son had never have met you - if you weren't his mate - none of this would be happening! First you take my son and daughter from me and now you're taking my wife and pack too?!!"

"Watch it, father." Jackson said. He was on edge, unsure of what his father might do next. He'd never seen him like this, never seen him this enraged. What is going on? He mindlinked the Beta.

We told him that we think he should step down as Alpha. Before things get any worse. If the pack finds out what he said... Jackson didn't need to know anymore, if the pack found out how his father had been acting it would cause an uproar, there would be riots. No one would trust anyone in his family again.

"I might be the reason why Nikolas is coming back around, but I refuse to let you accuse me for you destroying your relationship with your family and the pack."

Jackson squeezed Lily's hand and looked towards her, "Lil, please..." don't make this any worse. He felt bad for asking this of her, but it would only cause more trouble.

"No Jackson. I'm tired of holding my tongue. It's not fair! He judges me based off my reaction to the shitty things that have happened in my life without any kind of empathy for what I went through. I'm not going to just sit back and take his insults and false accusations anymore, and it's fucked up that you're asking me to!"

Lily wasn't sure when or how she had grown this backbone; telling people how she felt and not letting them walk all over her? She felt like a completely different person. It felt right.

Jackson was shocked that she had spoken to him like that. He could sense his mates frustration at the situation, but didn't realize he was part of it or that he was asking her of so much. The things his father had said about her were totally fucked up and asking her not to defend herself just because it was better or easier to ignore it was wrong. Especially when he made these comments in front of pack members. He decided he wouldn't stop her anymore. The pack needed to see that she could be the strong Luna that they deserved.

"Oh, boohoo the little human girl was used and abused. How very sad that she couldn't stand up for herself back then. You know son, I wonder how many there were before you. I wonder if she even knows."

Jackson let out a growl at the thought, but it wasn't directed toward his mate. No, it was directed at his father. How dare he say something like that?! About anyone?! Before he even had the chance to speak up, Lily had done it for him.

"You're right. I don't know, but that doesn't really matter, does it? Considering that it was for my own survival. I'm not going to stand here and explain myself to you when you can't even respect me enough to look at me when I'm talking," Lily said frustrated that he didn't have the decency to acknowledge her.

The Alpha male had been staring at his mate, Nora. The heartbroken look on her face almost had him changing his mind about his opinions of his son's human mate. But he couldn't; how could a human ever understand pack life and pack needs? How could she ever defend the pack if there was ever an attack; she was too weak to defend herself when it came to her own life! It wasn't right. How could the moon goddess curse his son like that?!

Nora had tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. She couldn't stand to let Weston tear their family apart anymore. He was in the wrong here and he refused to open his eyes and his mind to see that this human girl was the light of their son's life. He couldn't see how much she had been learning due to his fear that everything he worked so hard for would come crumbling down because someone different from them would be standing by their son's side.

It pained her to stand by James' side and ask him to step down; she knew his love for the pack and how much it meant to him. But if they ever found out what he had said earlier about Nikolas, or that he wasn't even trying to stop this threat, the pack would revolt. That couldn't happen, not after all the hard work they had put in to build it up stronger than they ever had been. They had done their part, it was time to let Jackson do his.

Alpha Weston's gaze turned into a glare as he looked towards the human, "respect you?!" He laughed, such a hearty, sarcastic laugh, "what have you done to show me that I should respect you? We didn't even know who you were until Adrienne disappeared. Ever since you came to stay with us, which for some reason I have so kindly allowed to continue happening, our whole world has been turned around! Nothing but drama and stress! Why should I respect you at all?!"

This time Jackson spoke before Lily could. Every time his father spoke, negative things about his mate spewed from his mouth and it was infuriating. "How are you so fucking blind?? Can you not tell that she's worked so hard to prove that she can do what's best for the pack?! To protect the pack?!" He looked towards his mate; proud that she was still doing what was right, proud that she stood up for herself and was able to make him realize he was in the wrong. There was no question about his feelings for her, she meant more to him than his own life and he would protect her until the day he died, "Do you really care for your family so little?! How can you not see that she's the best thing that's ever happened to me? Can you not see how happy I am with her here?"

Once again his fathers laugher disturbed the entire room, "oh, I can't believe this; it's worse than I thought! You've fallen in love with the whore!!"

Lily gasped at his words. It wasn't Weston calling her a whore that caused the reaction, she'd been called that plenty of times before. Jackson was in love with her?? When did that happen?! And how?

Before she could ponder on it anymore, there was a deep growl that came from Jackson's throat. What surprised her was that it wasn't like she had heard before, it was almost a roar coming from him as a human. She looked towards him, wide-eyed.

The Jackson she knew was no longer in front of her. His eyes were no longer the calming shade of green, instead they were a soulless black; his body was tense, ready to pounce. Jackson looked like he was ready to kill.

~~~

Shit just got real...