The Heir

ten

JACE

Lion and I were sitting in my room. I was laying on my bed and he was sitting at my computer desk, shoving chips into his mouth. Mom was making pasta and homemade garlic bread downstairs and my stomach was growling from the smell.

"Who do you think it was?" Lion asked me.

We were talking about the unknown message I had gotten last night, the one that freaked out Mom. I had a feeling it had to do with the Hunters, something I mentioned to Dad and he took it into consideration.

"I honestly don't know. It wasn't really a threat. Whoever sent it was sending it to me to warn me. Whoever sent it knows were werewolves and was warning us about something. Dad and Uncle Brandon are working together to tighten security between the packs right now. There's also going to be a curfew set into place."

Lion sighed loudly. "A curfew? This is so annoying."

I nodded. I have a feeling this whole situation had to do with Isabella in some way. Since I met her, I feel like my life has gone to shit. She is with the hunter's so even though she's my mate, I can't trust her.

"Any word on Jamie?" Lion asked

I frowned. "No, why?"

His expression deflated. "Just asking. I know you are missing her, despite your differences in the past."

Something about his tone of voice had me thinking that he was missing her too. "I do miss her, every day. I don't want to be Alpha and you know that. I want to fight like you're going to do. I wish that she would come home because we need her... I need her, Li."

Before Lion could respond, my mom called for us to come downstairs because dinner was finally ready. We both stood and my phone buzzed in my pocket. "Hey, you head on downstairs. I'm going to use the bathroom first."

Lion nodded and went downstairs to the kitchen where my family was at. I took my phone out of my pocket and stared at the message, my heart sinking a little bit

Unknown Number:

I really wish you didn't get your dad involved because know we know who you are.

***

After dinner, Lion went back to his pack. My dad and mom went out on a run together and so it was just me and my siblings left in the house. Lily was upstairs playing with her dolls and Ben was also upstairs playing Minecraft. I was chilling downstairs watching Netflix in the living room when something flew through the window of the room. I looked over and saw a circular object rolling in the kitchen. My wolf went onto high alert and I jumped up from the couch.

The circular object was blinking red and I've watched a lot of crime shows to know that a fucking bomb was just thrown into my house. I looked over and saw a timer was counting down from one minute. I ran up the steps and went into Ben's room.

"Get out of the house right now! Don't ask me any questions and jump out the window! Now Ben!"

I was screaming at him and his eyes were wide with shock and fear. I opened the window frantically and almost threw him out the window until Lily's voice stopped me.

"Jace what's going on?" Lily asked me and I pushed her toward the window.

"Lily go with Ben and signal the alarm."

Lily's face turned pale, knowing the alarm was never a good sign. In my head, I knew that we only had about fifteen seconds.

"Ben fucking take her now! Get out of this house!"

Ben grabbed Lily and they both jumped out the window. I wasn't too worried since we were on the second floor and we are also werewolves. Ben had turned a couple of months ago so I knew that he would stick the landing, even with Lily in his arms. The only thought in my head was to get them out of the house and far enough that the bomb going off wouldn't hit them or affect them in any way.

I watched as they both began to run toward the middle of the pack, where the alarm was. Just as I was about to jump over the ledge of the window, a loud bang went off beneath me and I was thrown from the second floor. I tried to steady myself and stop myself from faceplanting on the ground beneath me but I wasn't able to. I hit the ground face first and everything went black.

***

It was bright when I opened my eyes. My head was pounding a mile a minute and I felt like I had eaten rocks. My mouth was extremely dry and I also felt like I was going to puke. I looked to the side of me and saw my mom asleep on the couch and my dad pacing the room. He was on the phone with someone and whispering frantically into it, probably hoping that I wouldn't wake up.

"Dad?" I asked and he turned toward me and dropped his phone.

"Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?" He asked me, shielding me from the bright light.

"A little sore? Are Ben and Lily fine?"

"Because of you, yes. Our house is not okay. We'll be staying in one of the vacant houses for now. What happened back there?"

I closed my eyes, trying to remember any scents or if I had saw anyone. "I was sitting on the couch and something round was thrown through the window. At first, I thought it was one of the kids playing baseball or something but then it was beeping and there were wires all over it. I ran upstairs and basically threw Ben and Lily out the window and told them to signal the alarms. When I was sure everyone was out, I was about to jump but I guess I didn't time it right and the bomb went off, throwing me out the window."

Dad nodded and grabbed my hand. He smiled softly. "I'm just glad that you guys are okay. I don't care about the house. Houses can be fixed and are temporary. You guys aren't. When I heard the alarm going off in the distant, I thought of every bad thing imaginable. I'm just really proud of you, son."

Mom woke up and sprinted over to me, showering me with kisses and blankets. "Oh, my baby, I'm so happy you're okay."

Dad wrapped an arm around mom and mom held my hand. I laid back further into the hospital bed. "Are we even at our pack right now?

Dad chuckled. "No, we're at Uncle Brandon's. I just wanted to get you guys out and make sure the pack was safe. Everyone's a little shaken up but everything and everyone will be okay. Ben and Lily are sleeping and I'm keeping them home from school tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll talk more about this. I just want you to get some rest and heal up. Your wolf is healing, but slowly. This is all new to him so he's trying his best."

I nodded and closed my eyes for a tiny bit, hoping that sleep would come. It didn't. "Do you guys have any leads on who did this?" I asked mom and dad.

"No, not yet. I'm investigating the area tomorrow to look for any footprints or scents. I don't want you worrying about it, though. We got this covered."

Before I was about to tell him that I might possibly have a lead, a nurse came into the room with a phone in her hand. "Jace, there's someone on the phone for you?"

I sat up in the bed and took the phone from the nurse's hands, confused as to who it could be. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jace."

"Jamie?"

Hi sorry this is late.