Sunny covered her mouth, her eyes widening.
I wasn't surprised by her shocked reaction.
"Oh no," she gasped. She kept repeating the same words for the next few minutes after the truth had been revealed. I told her everything from the beginning—how I became enraged, how the anger had led Jace and me into the forest and how the forest had become the venue of the discovery. She kept touching the scar I had from getting beaten by Jace.
"He has to know," she suddenly said.
"No," I pulled her closer to me. "Promise me you won't say a thing to anyone! Promise me right now, Sunny!"
"But—"
"Now!" I said.
"Jordan, you know that this is wrong! Hiding from a mate is wrong, Jordan! Our pack has never had this kind of an offense before! Some alphas even punish the wolves who commit this offense. When a mate hides, it can lead to death! I thought you knew better," she said.
Suddenly my head was filled with the story my mom had told me about Grandma Stella. I didn't think she was punished—probably because she was a girl. A female hiding from her male mate happens occasionally—their souls weren't strong enough to combat all of the sudden emotional changes. But when a male werewolf was found hiding from his mate, he was seen as a coward forever.
But this was different. My mate was a guy who'd ruined my life. I wasn't hiding from him out of fear.
Is it?
But you should never be involved in hiding someone's mate. A mate bond could drive a werewolf to madness—that's why those who couldn't sense their mates died. Apart from silver bullets, losing ability to be with a mate could kill a werewolf—how sick.
"It's all right," I said. "Nothing's happening to him, Sunny. I need you to keep quiet for now, okay? When I'm ready, I'll tell him myself. I want him to know from me."
"You have to be ready as soon as possible, Jordan," she said.
"Yeah, I know. Plus he looks fine to me. I'm hiding from him and I don't think he's going crazy from it. Maybe—"
I knew I was wrong—I guess that's why I paused. I couldn't say it because something was happening to Jace. He'd already sensed me, although he thought I was a girl.
"No, Jordan. Jace told me how he couldn't get together with Heather because he didn't feel anything towards her or all the other girls. He doesn't feel like he used to. He knows you're here, Jordan. I'm scared."
I sighed because there was nothing I could say. She was right. The mate bond was changing how Jace and I felt about things now.
I didn't know how to act. Jeff had told me once that he had an uncle who had a male mate. Maybe I should ask for the uncle's number so I could ask him for advice? No, Jeff would question me repeatedly on why I wanted the number and then Jace would know and things would occur in a way I didn't favor. Then maybe I should consider asking help from the online werewolf community—Hey I'm Jordan from a pack in DC and I'm sixteen.I was just wondering, how do I break it to a male mate that I'm his mate? Do male/male mates react similarly to female/male mates? That was just bullshit.
But Jace didn't look that bad. He was playing video games in front of me. I was behind him, sitting on the floor, a few feet away.
Callan, who was also playing the game, looked fully spirited and enthusiastic as he pressed on the game console. Jace, however, had a blank expression on his face. His eyes were filled with confusion. He looked like he was trying to figure something out, sweat dribbling down his head. The room wasn't that warm, in fact I was in a heavy sweatshirt and I was all dry.
Bang!
Jace threw the game console in front of him. His eyes were bloodshot when he looked at his lap. Everyone was shocked and turned to look at him. He was breathing in and out hard, his hands clenching again and again.
Then he screamed out of pain.
"AARGH!" he shrieked.
"Jace, what's going on?" Nathan went to him. Everyone froze. I started to shiver out of anxiety. I didn't like what was happening.
I started to move when Jace turned his head and stood on his feet. He was shaking so much I was sure he was going to trip.
That's when he paced a few steps backwards and said, "My mate's here."
The boys turned around, looking. "Who?"
"Sunny," he shouted. "Is there someone downstairs in the hall?"
"No!" Sunny started to shiver. "We're the only ones here! There's nobody downstairs—"
"NO, SUNNY! She's in your house! My mate's somewhere—"
Jace tripped, with his back on the floor. He squeezed his shaved head over and over like he was going crazy. "She's here!" he said. "Please, I need her."
"I'll go get my father," Rick said as he started to stand up.
Holy shit. I didn't like the idea of Rick's father, the Alpha, butting into this matter. I felt like I would be in trouble.
"I need her, Nate. Get her. Find her! She's somewhere—"
"Fuck, dude," Nathan groaned. "There's no other girl, than Sunny, in this house! What are you talking about?"
Everyone pressed around Jace but me. Nathan had Jace's head on his lap. His eyes were shut and his tears smeared all over his face. He let out a wheeze as he struggled with the internal pain he was having, and I could only watch from afar.
After a while, Sunny joined him, too. No one seemed to notice me. I could run.
"But my mate is here. I can feel it."
Jace started to sound weak. He was blacking out. My heart was beating so fast and I was breathing too rapidly. I had to go before Alpha Dan arrived. Things would be bad now.
"Jace, I—I—"
Sunny was trying to say something and I wouldn't let her. She was going to tell him his mate was here.
I ran to her and squeezed her arm as a warning.
"It's okay," I said. Then I realized that was a stupid thing to say. Nothing was okay. I was scared people would notice there was something fishy going on with me.
"Jordan," Sunny cried, "please."
"Sunny," I groaned.
Jace's breathing became hard again. "My mate's here! Fuck, I can smell her! Really, my mate's here!"
"What's going on?" a deep voice said from behind us.
I turned around and noticed Alpha Dan standing beside Rick. He sped toward the crowd and came to check on Jace.
When Rick joined the circle again, I started to make my move. Everyone had their attention on Jace.
Your mate is dying, Jordan.
I sneaked to the stairway, walked downstairs and tiptoed out of the house.
* * * *
"Sweetheart, are you okay?"
Jace is screaming. I'm running away. I'm in my bed and trying to hide my head under the covers, wishing I could shrink away to nothingness so I won't have to face this horrible life of being a werewolf who has a mate that he hates—
I opened my eyes as soon as I hear my mother's voice. I could feel the back of her cool hand on my forehead. Her eyes were filled with worry.
I pulled myself up and leaned against the headboard. Every part of my body ached with pain. My head was the worst. I couldn't believe what happened yesterday. It wasn't a nightmare. I was really at Sunny's house and Jace went mad.
Jace. Is he still alive now?
"You're not well," she said.
"I'm fine, Mom," I lied.
"Why are you here?" she asked. "You were supposed to be at Sunny's place with your brother. Your brother called me at midnight asking me if you were home. I had to wake up to check on you."
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"Well, if you feel better now, go clean up. We have to go to the Alpha's house."
"WHAT?" I screamed accidentally. "But—why?"
They're tracking you down, Jordan. You're dead. The whole pack will see you as a coward soon.
"Something happened to Jace. He's tied to a mate bond. The Alpha had to bring him to the hospital because things were getting bad. He's just been released from the E.R. this morning, the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. So the Alpha wants to see if there really is a mate hiding among us."
I was swinging around in anxiety and I accidentally knocked my digital clock off the bedside table. I gasped when it smashed to pieces.
Mom shot me a look of confusion. "Jordan, are you sure you're really okay?"
"Yeah, nothing ... I'm just surprised," I lied.
"Come on. Clean up, sweetheart. Then come eat your breakfast."
I brushed my teeth so hard that my gums bled. I kept swaying around and all type of things flew to the ground. I had to rearrange bottles of shampoos and shower creams back to the shelves since I had scattered everything.
"Jordan, are you okay? What are you doing?" Mom shouted.
"I'm okay!" I said.
I cleaned myself up and dressed myself in a white T-shirt and track-bottomed trousers. As I descended the stairs, I heard a cry.
It was Lisa, Jace's mother.
She was all over my mother on the couch, crying.
"Sarah," Lisa tried to stop her tears, "the girl has to come out of hiding. I have no idea who she might be."
"It's okay, Liz. Dan knows what to do. I know he's smart enough for this," Mom responded.
I ate the pancakes my mom made but I didn't taste a thing.
Dad was sitting across from them, thinking hard. He hadn't said a word since I came downstairs. He usually greeted me if he saw me, but I was nothing but a ghost at the moment.
"What is it, sweetheart?" my mother asked him.
"Nothing," he said. "It's weird. I'm wondering who this hiding mate is. Why would a girl hide from that kid? I thought those young girls would die to be his mate."
My chest felt heavy. I couldn't do this anymore.
I couldn't finish the breakfast. I ran to the kitchen to sooth my beating heart and threw out the unfinished pancakes. I paced back and forth in the main hall and sat silently on a couch facing a muted TV show.
"Good morning, Jeffrey," my father said. "What are you doing?"
Fuck. Jeff's here.
"Um, Dan wants all of us to be at his house now. The whole pack is gathering there. I'm patrolling around the neighborhood to check if anyone is hiding."
"All right," my dad said. "Let's go, ladies. Liz, we're going to find this future daughter-in-law of yours!"
"Jordan."
Jeff squeezed my shoulder and I jumped in shock. I looked at him and tried to calm down.
"Where were you yesterday?" he asked. "Dan wants to ask you a few questions."
"What—why? Why me?" I said, probably a little too fast.
"No, he'd grilled all of us with the same thing. I know you won't know anything about Jace's mate, but he insists on seeing all of us. I don't know why. Do you want me to walk with you?"
"No, it's okay. Thanks Jeff."
I walked outside quickly, avoiding eye contact with everyone. I felt like everyone's eyes were tracking every inch of me as I move. I tried to convince myself that I would be fine, but clearly nothing would be. Jace Andrews was being tortured by a tie between us because he couldn't sense me, the boy who owned the other half of his soul. There was nothing left that could surprise me. Death was approaching.
Everyone from the pack walked into the Alpha's empty, gigantic green lawn. In La Cove, the Alpha lived in The Main House built by our late former Alpha, Raoul Sanchez. It was a gigantic house located in the heart of the neighborhood, exactly equidistant from all other houses in La Cove.
My heart thudded faster. I started to feel sick—I was feeling so nauseous I felt like I would vomit up all the breakfast I had.
I arrived earlier than my parents. When the other six boys noticed me, they gestured for me to come over, but I only smiled at them. I continued walking, searching for Sunny.
Dan's gigantic lawn was extremely crowded. I had to push through groups of people to find her. She might have said something when Dan interrogated them. But I knew she wouldn't say anything; Sunny was not the one to break promises.
I spotted her standing alone in a small, empty corner in the lawn, trying to avoid eye contact as much as she could with everyone in the gathering.
"Sunny."
She looked stunned at my presence. Tears glittered in her eyes.
She pulled me closer to her as she said, "Jordan! Jordan, you are in trouble, you have to act now!"
I lost the ability to respond.
"Jordan, listen to me," she continued. "Dan is mad. He's literally interrogating all of the teen girls in the pack. You remember Sheila, Jace's last wolf date? She'd been grilled by the Alpha with an abundant of questions. He's going to find out about you, Jordan, he's going to—"
"Fuck, you're not helping at all, Sunny."
She wouldn't listen.
"I warned you, Jordan. I knew this would happen. I knew it."
"I know." That was all I could say.
I turned around and all eyes were on us. Sunny was behaving too suspicious. Since she had been crying so much, everyone would start to think she was the one. I tried to pull her away from the crowd and calm her down.
"The boys are roaming the woods, Jordan," Sunny added. "They're trying to find this nonexistent girl they think is hiding from Jace. I don't care how, but you have to go to your mate today, if you want to save him. He's bad, Jordan. He's bad."
I really wanted to scream at Sunny. She didn't need to remind me of anything. I knew it was all my fault.
Then a loud shriek erupted in the air.
"AARGHHHH!"
A few feet away from here, a group of boys were swarming Jace as they walked out of the house. I gasped when I finally saw my mate—Jace had turned into a monster, possessed by some unknown entity that made him lose his mind. His grizzly face glittered under the sun; his eyes were puffy and scarlet. Everyone on the lawn turned to look at him.
And I could only stand here because I was a coward.
"Let me go," Jace screamed. He struggled hard to untangle his arms from the hands that held him in place. The other six boys ran up to him. I tried hard to not look suspicious, I really did.
"Jace, calm down," I heard one of the boys say to him.
I hadn't realized how far this had gone. It was me who everyone should blame. But strangely, there wasn't a thought in my mind about running to Jace and telling him I was his mate now.
Jace shouted in pain again, his voice reflecting his agony into the air. He pushed the boys and they stumbled backwards. He walked in a reckless motion like he wanted to attack everyone in the lawn.
Dan forcefully held Jace's hand to prevent any further movement. Jace attempted a harsh move and the Alpha pinned him to the ground.
Everyone gasped. I was surprised to see this side of Dan. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.
"Gain control, Jace!" Dan screamed. A group of tall boys blocked my view. I moved a few feet closer to the scene—at least there was enough curiosity in my mind to keep me from fainting.
The Alpha of our pack pulled Jace's hand so hard that he stood again on his feet. Everyone backed away, afraid to be attacked by someone who was well-known as the future Alpha of the pack.
Jace's body trembled as he looked at his feet, his chest moving outward and inward, again and again in great speed.
"Right now we are seeing one of the worst consequences of when a mate hides their own mate!" Dan shouted as he turned to us, his voice echoed across the lawn. Everyone became quiet.
"In some packs, this issue is an offense . . . a crime! This has never happened before—I've never expected to see this dilemma today! Some of you may have forgotten the deadly consequences for such behavior! The impact has almost killed Jace, a young hope for our pack!"
Dan had his eyes trained on us. Relief flooded in my chest when he missed mine.
Jace was looking around with his head down. His shoulders hunched; he looked extremely fragile like a glass that would shatter with slightest touch.
"Let ... go!" Jace shrieked. His voice boomed across the lawn. He continued struggling to free his arm from Dan's grip.
"I don't care how . . . but you have to come out from the crowd now! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! We don't care who are you and what you think will happen after this. You have to step out courageously and come to your mate now. If you decide to ignore your cowardice, this is going to become the biggest mistake you'll regret doing for the rest of your life."
My temples ached, my heart raced and my legs shivered. It was painful. I tried to breathe in and out to stabilize myself.
There's no use for that now, Jordan.
"Please!" Jace cried as his knees touched the ground. "Please! I know you're out there. Please don't do this to me! Please!"
There were tears in my eyes. I blinked and wiped them away.
"I'm going to call you once more. Mate of Jace Andrews, please be fair and save him! You are the other half of his soul! He can't find his other half with any other wolf. It has to be you. You're the only one! He's already seen you in his nightmares and you're the only remedy to stop his pain!"
A great number of boys, Jeff in the lead, emerged out of the forest from the backyard fence. They were breathing hard. Jeff wiped the trickle of sweat off his head as he walked toward the Alpha of our pack.
"No one's in the forest, Dan," he said. "We shifted and we can't sense anyone."
"God," Dan groaned. He pressed his head hard and let out an odd scream. Jace was still on his knees—his tears continued sliding down his face, almost forcing the truth out of me.
"Just come out here, you cowardly bitch!"
The scream from nowhere sparked chaos. Everyone continued the war cry—shrieking, cursing, bellowing and blaming the nonexistent girl, as Sunny would say. A group of girls from the other side of the crowd were bursting out in tears. The muscles of my face tightened. My eyes were getting more and more watery.
A shout was heard out of nowhere.
"Just go to him, Sunny."
Everyone turned to where the voice came from.
Christina.
From what I knew about her, she was one of the girls who'd dated Jace. Her face was full of pure hatred. She tied her hair into a pony-tail and approached Sunny in a menacing walk, crossing her arms over her chest.
I started to walk towards her. I tried to stop Christina but I was too late when she started speaking again.
In fact, she amplified her voice as she faced Dan.
"I saw her, Dan. She won't stop crying. She's also escaped your interrogation. It must be her."
I was afraid of what might happen: Jace would make an abrupt move and attack Sunny. But he remained where he was.
Around us were a million pairs of eyes burning with rage, disappointment, and curiosity. It was a scary sight.
"Ms. West, please come here," Dan said sternly.
"No," I whispered as I gripped her arm.
"Let me go, Jordan," she replied.
"But—"
"I said let me go!"
With that being said, I knew I was left with no options. I freed her arm from my grip.
But she wasn't Jace's mate. She couldn't do anything. What was she thinking? Sacrificing herself wouldn't solve this shit. I knew she must have known that.
Sunny shivered as she approached Dan. His humongous figure made Sunny looked as tiny as an ant.
Jace stayed where he was, studying Sunny cautiously. He knew it wasn't her.
"Sunny, tell us the truth. Are you the one who bears the other half of Jace Andrews's soul?" Dan shouted.
"No Dan, I'm not," she said clearly. Her words were a statement of truth, strong and believable.
"Are you sure, Miss West?" the Alpha pushed on.
She didn't answer him. Instead, she approached Jace in a sluggish walk, and it only took her a few steps to face my mate.
"I know you know I'm not the one," she screamed at him. "Tell them, Jace! Am I the one you're looking for?"
"Sunny, please," I could hear him respond.
Sunny planted a kiss on Jace's wet cheek. He gripped her hand hard. Dan kept his sight on them, confused.
Then Sunny stared straight at me.
I knew what was coming.
Fuck.
A group of huge guys formed a wall behind me and I knew I had no chance to run.
"I'm sorry Jordan, but you have to come out here and tell your mate the truth."