The Unlikely Mate

Chapter 26

"Jackson, can we please talk" Jennifer was the first to speak.

"I've been trying to talk to you all morning, why have you been blocking me?" Jackson responded.

"I haven't been, I've been trying to get through to you" Jennifer said with confusion. "I even asked Evelyn to let you know I wanted to talk to you."

Jackson frowned, realizing that it had now been several hours since he had heard from Evelyn, and that she had never conveyed any message to him from Jennifer.

Everyone's attention was immediately diverted to Lennox, who without warning had started to charge at William.

"You!!" Lennox shouted in a rage, "it was you, you were there, you were laughing, it was you!"

Jennifer stood there in a stunned silence, watching as Lennox ran straight toward William. Jackson tried to move, but wasn't able to. It was as though he was frozen in his spot. William grinned maliciously as he waited for Lennox to reach him. William simply reached out his hand and lifted Lennox up by the throat as if he weighted no more than a feather, easily squeezing and quickly blocking Lennox's blood flow.

Jennifer quickly regained her composure and lunged at a surprised William who wasn't expecting her attack. In the blink of an eye, she had tackled William to the ground, causing him to release his grip on Lennox, who fell to his knees coughing and trying to breathe. Jackson remained frozen where he stood.

"What the hell?" William sputtered, as he shoved Jennifer away and scrambled to his feet. "Why are you protecting this hunter?"

"That's not really your concern" Jennifer snarled back, as she allowed her nails to elongate, her wolf coming closer and closer to the surface.

"I wish we could have just resolved this on our own" William said to her. "If you had just come with me quietly, we could have avoided all this. We could have been happy, run our own pack, traveled the world, yadda yadda"

"I had no intention of ever being your tag-along" Jennifer snapped back at him.

"Yes you did, until this human showed up. I can't figure out what you see in him. You know he's a hunter, right? He's killed our kind. What do you see in him?" William continued his patronizing inquisition.

"You were just a diversion" Jennifer snarled at William, who was slowly inching closer to Lennox.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance" William then said to Lennox, who was slowly getting back onto his feet.

Jennifer looked between the two of them confused, slowly piecing together their shared history as they spoke.

"Your lady love was quite a dish" William said with an evil grin. "She was strong too, fought for life, although it didn't last long."

"I will kill you" Lennox said, "If it's the last thing I do."

"How cliché" William said impatiently. "Here's the deal, Jennifer you come with me, and I'll leave this filthy human to his own devices. We'll live our lives and move on. If you don't, I'll kill him now, kill Jackson so he can't go running off to tattle to your Alpha Dante, and then I'll still take you with me. What'll it be?"

"Over my dead body" Jennifer retorted, "how's that for a cliché?"

"Always having to do things the hard way. Maybe that's what I like about you" William said with a smug grin, as he let his own nails being to grow, as he prepared for a fight. He then quickly lunged at Lennox, landing a perfect hit to the side of his head, knocking him unconscious in a heap on the ground.

"I'll tell you what," Jennifer growled, slowly moving closer to William, "I'll kill you quickly if you surrender now, or I'll let him do it however he sees fit?" Jennifer said, indicating Lennox as the one she would let kill William.

Jennifer and William each took a swipe at the other, essentially measuring the other one up, trying to determine what kind of fight they were about to get into. They circled around a bit, taking swings and landing a few blows. Both still mostly in human form, but letting their wolves participate in the control.

"What do you see in this fool? Why him?" William asked as they continued their preliminary dance.

"Why not? At least he's not out killing innocent people in the woods" Jennifer replied. "Why did you go after him in the first place? Why go after his fiancée?"

"My dear," William said with a sigh, "When you've been around as long as I have, you've got to branch out and find new ways to occupy your time. I was assigned to check in on these local wolves because they were causing a ruckus, and it turns out they had a pretty good thing going."

Just then, as he was talking, Jennifer landed a heavy blow to William's face, knocking him to the ground.

"Ow, bitch!" he said, as he rolled over his back and quickly stood to his feet again, Jennifer letting a small grin tug at the side of her mouth. It didn't stay long, because William quickly retaliated by dropping low again, and sweeping his leg into Jennifer's knocking her feet out from under her, dropping her to the ground. Jennifer didn't stay down for long, quickly doing a kip-up to get back to her feet, not allowing William to get the upper hand while she was down, and they once again resumed their stances defensive stances.

"So what was this great thing going on here that you had to be a part of that involved taking innocent lives?" Jennifer asked.

"That's just it!" William said, "Taking innocent lives. There's a rush, a thrill to it that I never would have seen or understood before coming here. And it's all about getting away with it. Leaving a survivor makes it that much sweeter. I can't explain it, you'll have to see for yourself."

"You are so twisted!" Jennifer said with horror, "how has the Council stood for this?"

"They're a bunch of fools. So worried about our cover, if you say the right things you can do whatever you want. I've been at this a long time, it's amazing what you can do after being alive so long. Take your buddy Jackson, for instance. He can't move because I've been poising him all day. Ever since he's been with me, I've been polluting his mind with mine, blocking his mind-link and now freezing his muscle function. It took me decades to develop, but it's a pretty hand capability, to be able to make your enemies complaint. And you're next!"