The Scarlet Hunter

Chapter 49-3

The view out the window was expansive. Isla looked over the tops of unfamiliar trees, reaching back to the gray of the horizon. She had always thought this was the front of the house, but it turned out to be the rear. A clearing surrounded the estate with a sudden transition into a thick forest.

From the window, she couldn't see much of the building itself. It was oddly familiar to Dark Moon's packhouse, but she couldn't place why. Probably because it was the only other mansion she had been in.

The window had a functional latch and could slide over. If there had been a screen in there at one time, it was long gone. Probably because it fuzzed out the view. Isla would have to open the window before Jackson took her the night of the full moon. There wouldn't be enough time to escape if she had to open the window after the bond took hold. She would most likely change her mind or be stopped by Jackson with the delay.

"I can tell when you're plotting, and I don't appreciate it." A low voice came from behind her. Being limited to human senses was catching Isla off guard. She didn't hear, smell, or sense him staring at her.

"I'm not plotting anything more than our mating on the windowsill." Isla turned around, hiding behind her half-truth.

His eyes bounced across her, searching, but also, he was contemplating something else. Something Isla couldn't pick up on. "You can't feel it yet, but with my magic circling within you, I can sense certain things." His slow walk ended a foot away from her, wrapping his hands around her back and behind her head. He squinted and peered down at her. "You're planning an escape."

Isla's eyes flashed large with surprise.

Jackson guided Isla across the room by the hand on her lower back. "I don't understand why you would plan an escape like this. Before my magic was in you, sure. But now?"

He lowered himself onto the sitting chair, pulling her onto his lap.

"I'm not planning an escape, Alpha Jackson." Isla's voice was trembling. Her heart was racing. Jackson was too calm for what he was saying. "I was imagining going for a run through the trees, but not to escape. It has been so long since I've shifted."

He sighed and remained relaxed, leaning her against his chest. "I know you were trying to please me when we first got together, but you didn't want to be here." Jackson reached down and pulled her legs up to her chest, her feet flat on his thighs, and he caressed her lower legs with his thumbs, running his fingers up and down her shins. He leaned his head back, encouraging her to relax against him in her comfy little ball.

The warmth from his body played delightfully with her face, lulling her into a calm. The deep vibrations of a large masculine chest filled her with a false comfort. She fell into the solace of his magic, wrapping around her, betraying her as it soothed her.

"You are feeling it, and it's only going to get stronger." He hugged her tight, making her feel secure. "This is going to happen, precious."

Jackson's arms were around her, his fingers were laced together around her shins. His magic was surrounding her, telling her that everything was fine. She should feel content. She wanted to feel safe.

But something was wrong.

"We are so close." His hands broke from each other and wrapped around her leg, rubbing it by rotating side to side. Isla stiffened. His magic was no longer pacifying her.

"Alpha Jackson, what's wrong?" Dread sprang up like a darkness in her core and spread throughout.

"I won't jeopardize what we have." His grip bore down on her leg. She tried to stay relaxed and limp, but his grip only got tighter. His arms caged her in like they were steel bars. His superhuman strength wasn't budging when she pushed back on him with all her own strength, deciding that staying placid wasn't going to give her any relief.

"Please, Alpha Jackson, you're hurting me."

"It's only temporary, precious." His grip was pushing her leg as if bowing it out. "What we will have will be forever."

Isla's leg bent into an unnatural form before she heard the crack of her tibia snapping, even through her cries. The pain took her breath away, and she forced her breathing through her gritted teeth, watching helplessly as his hands roamed from her broken leg to her solid one.

Her cries fell on deaf and disinterested ears as he gripped her healthy leg, tightening. "Shhhh, it's for the best," he cooed into her ear. She breathed deeper and heavier, bracing herself, and when she heard the snap this time, it felt like more than her leg broke.

Her chest caved in as she fell forward onto her knees held up by her thighs and his hands, her painful shins hanging down to her bare and now useless feet. She choked out sobs for the hundredth time since being with him these two and half weeks.

"You won't leave me precious. You can't leave me." Jackson shared with her even-toned. He dragged his face along her red and swollen one, transferring her sweat and tears onto his own skin.

She panted her way through the never-ending pain and sorrow of her existence. Even if she was planning to escape, he wanted to be her mate. He was treating her like this, and he was supposed to be her mate.

Has Isla been betrayed by the Moon Goddess and the mate bond she bestowed on her wolves? Was Jackson just evil? With his cold demeanor, he caused not only some of the worst pain she's ever felt to radiate through her but also the loss of her mobility. He broke her.

She continued to sob as he carried her to the bed, laying her down. Crying because of him and what he had done to her had become so common that she wondered how she would ever have survived with him. She won't have to worry about that, though. She has just a week left to live.

Jackson laid behind her, rubbing up and down on her arms. He spoke softly to her, talking her through the pain. His magic that stirred in her settled and, like him, soothed her.

Bond and die. Bond and die. You will use the mate bond to save Alec and Dark Moon. Committing every waking minute to chanting her new mantra to herself, she laid there and forced her subconscious to embrace what will be the grand finale to her life.