JARED'S POV
Anna's Father had practically confirmed that he had taken my mate, but, it had been almost an hour now, and he still hadn't uttered a word other than a few spiteful comments.
I was growing increasingly angry, having to leave to take myself outside for a breather so I didn't rip the man's throat out. He was our best bet at finding Anna, and as much as I wanted to kill him, I knew it wasn't the time for that.
I had my head in my hands, hearing the sound of the front door opening up causing my head to snap up. Dean was looking at me with a frown, his dark brows pulled together in frustration as he grumbled to himself.
"How's he looking?" I muttered.
"All bloody," Dean responded, and I internally cringed. Although the man inside the house deserved a painful and torturous death for his treatment of Anna, the thought of it made my stomach churn. I never liked the idea of taking a life, but I knew that it had to be done sometimes. Anna's Father deserved it anyway.
"I don't think he's going to break," I said, slowly losing hope. This man was practically laughing at us, even when Dean delivered a few brutal punches to him. Anna's Father simply spat out his blood and continued staring at us with arched brows. He wasn't fazed, or at least, he didn't show it besides a few head turns away from us as well as some curse words.
"He will," Dean reassured me, turning his head to see Dylan stroll out of the house too. He also looked at me with pity, and I cursed to myself as I began to wheel my way back inside.
I was going to get him to talk. One way or another.
Anna's Father's eyes slithered to me as I entered the house, Gia glaring at him with balled fists with Clara and Matthew on either side of her, both doing the same thing.
"Are you here for a go?" he taunted, wiping his mouth with his hand as more blood dribbled from his busted lip. It looked painful, but the man didn't even flinch. I had a feeling it had something to do with him being so drunk. Alcohol helped with pain, distracting the brain and dulling signals.
"Where's my mate?" I demanded as I wheeled myself closer to him, getting in his face and shaking my head. My hands were balled into fists by my side, and I ground my teeth together as I attempted to stop myself from killing him right there and then.
"Where's Amelia?" questioned Gia as she growled, baring her teeth, causing Anna's Father to flinch the tiniest bit. It appeared he was at least a little nerved by us, but he was playing it cool. He didn't want to show any weakness and wanted us to believe that we weren't a threat to him.
It was all a facade though. He was secretly shitting himself. I could tell.
"You're working together," I stated. "So where are they?"
Anna's Father shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she's dead? Amelia may have killed-"
I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, growling in his face, Gia and Dean having to grab me and pull me back. They didn't want to me kill our only lead, but he was testing me. The thought of Anna dying caused my heart to tighten to the point where I felt like it had stopped pumping blood around my body. I felt sick to my stomach.
"Do we need to up the anti a little bit?" suggested Dean. "Because that can most definitely be arranged."
"Gia, Clara," I muttered, addressing them. "You might need to leave. This is about to get ugly and it's not going to be pretty."
They glared at me, and I shrugged, wanting to give them a way out. I wouldn't have minded if they wanted to go ahead and leave for their own sanity. Torturing someone wasn't for everyone. Just because they cared about me, didn't mean they had to stick around and get involved with someone's death. Especially if it was going to effect them in the long run.
ANNA'S POV
My Father still hadn't returned, and it had been almost an hour. Amelia was currently tapping away at her phone as she simultaneously stared at a map, studying it and muttering to herself.
She was trying to work out a good route to take us to keep the wolves from finding us. No doubt Jared's pack had alerted surrounding ones that I was missing, and they were probably on the look out for Amelia.
I was hoping my father leaving would give my mother and I a good chance to escape, but that wasn't the case. Amelia was watching us like a hawk, and there was no way we were going to get out of here. I just had to hope that somebody had managed to locate my father and question him. Even a sighting from a human would help.
I tilted my head back and stared up at the ceiling, groaning. This caught Amelia's attention, and she cocked her head at me.
"I don't get it, you know?" she spoke, narrowing her eyes at me.
I shrugged as I returned the gaze. I didn't know what she was talking about.
"We're completely different," Amelia stated, causing me to arch my brow at her. "I'm tall and blonde. You're short and brunette. I'm strong willed and confident and you're timid and weak. I'm a wolf, and you're a fucking human!"
Amelia's tone quickly became venomous as she threw the map to the ground, moving towards me.
"Jared broke the bond between us, and you just appeared out of nowhere. Without the bond having been broken, you would have just walked right by him and not even looked in his direction when he came to pick up Sophia. You wouldn't have anything drawing you to him. I can't understand why the Moon Goddess would choose you of all people. She must have been pretty desperate."
Amelia's words didn't hurt me. I knew that she was an angry and jealous individual. She wanted to make me feel like crap, and I wasn't going to let her. Jared and I belonged together. I could tell that them being bonded was a mistake. He would have never gone for somebody like her. She was too unpredictable and smart mouthed for her own good and I could tell she would never treat Jared the way he deserved.
"Why do you even care about Jared?" I spoke. "You left for years, and then you just decide to come back out of the blue? I know you said that Dylan and Clara wouldn't allow you into the territory, but you could have found a way to meet Jared with ease. You could have messaged him or found him when he left the pack grounds."
"That's a ridiculous question," Amelia grunted. "I care about Jared because he's my mate. We have a bond- a connection."
I had to hold back my laughter. A bond? A connection? Yeah. Right.
"Anna, please," mumbled my Mother from beside me. She wanted me to be quiet and keep my mouth shut, afraid of of what Amelia was going to do to me if I said anything too risky. I was struggling to hold my tongue though. I wanted to question Amelia on why she believed she was entitled to Jared when she left him for so long.
"Why did you leave in the first place? You said you weren't ready, but how did you get the courage to leave if you care about Jared so much?" I pressed.
Amelia remained quiet for around one minute and I thought she wasn't going to reply until she opened up her mouth. "I thought I didn't want him. I didn't want to be tied down, but I didn't think some human bitch was going to show up and claim him as her own."
I narrowed my eyes at her, chewing on the inside of my cheek. "He's chosen who he wants, Amelia." My voice was quiet, and my Mother inhaled sharply as she took in what I had said. I instantly regretted it, and Amelia stalked towards me before slapping me around the face harshly.
My saliva tasted metallic, and I cursed under my breath as I rubbed at my throbbing face. It was a shock, and I pushed myself up against the wall away from Amelia as she tried to control her breathing.
"Jared has not made his final decision. He doesn't know what he wants," Amelia claimed, and my chest tightened at her words. Jared would never choose her over me, would he? He wouldn't leave me to be with her. Their bond had been severed, and he claimed he felt nothing for Amelia.
However, nobody knew much about the severing of bonds. Would the bond return if Jared accepted Amelia as his mate? I wasn't sure and I definitely didn't want to find out. I wouldn't be able to handle the heartbreak.
"It would be clever for you to remember that I once meant everything to Jared, and he can feel that way about me again," Amelia told me. "So, let the best woman win."
•••
Well you're not the best woman Amelia.
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