The Unlikely Mate

Chapter 30

Jennifer was left alone for several minutes, and the longer she was alone, the more control she was able to gain over her limbs. She continued to feel the emotions she seemed to be able to share with Lennox, and was relieved when his fear and anxiety was replaced soon after with relief and calm. She was also able to feel that he was communicating with Jackson. She still had no mind-link options with anyone, so somehow that was still completely being blocked, but for some reason William's affect seemed unable to interfere with her connection with Lennox. If anything, it seemed as though Lennox's connection to her was giving her strength to fight through the controlling effect and she was feeling stronger by the second.

Jennifer had actually forced herself into a seated position, with some effort, and was about to stand when she could hear footsteps coming back down the hallway. She laid back down how she had been, and pretended as though she hadn't been able to move, waiting for whoever was coming to enter. She took deep breaths trying to remain calm, and maintain whatever connection with Lennox she had that had helped her fight William's control.

William entered the room and walked toward Jennifer, a scowl on his face.

"Well, your hunter love is dead, so is Jackson. You might as well make the decision to accept your fate" William lied to Jennifer.

"Hardly" she snapped back. "Lie to yourself all you want, but I know he's alive, and Jackson too."

"You can't possibly know that" William snapped back at her.

"Am I wrong?" she replied smugly.

William just growled at her as he paced back and forth. Jennifer watched him, continuing to gather her strength, waiting for the right moment to make her move. William walked over toward her, right up to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. He began to lean over her, gently stroking the side of her face with his fingertips.

"I was hoping for another night like the last one we spent together" he whispered into her ear.

"That was a mistake" she said back, shuddering at his touch.

"One I won't mind making frequently" he said to her. "Maybe I'll mark you right here, right now. It'll make things much easier for me, although a little less fun" he seemed to be talking to himself. As he spoke, he moved his face to the side of Jennifer's neck, gently nibbling along the way.

He then propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Jennifer thoughtfully.

"It's been a long time since I've marked anyone. Do you want to know a secret?" he seemed to be amused by his own conversation, even though Jennifer wasn't giving much in the way of responses.

"I've actually marked several women" he confessed to her. "Including that little hussy your hunter friend got so upset about. For me," he continued with a nonchalance that made Jennifer sick to her stomach, "it's all about the power. I love the power I have, and when it comes to humans, there's nothing better. When I mark a human woman, I can feel her feelings, her emotions and can even push my own will through her. They're so compliant once I've marked them. But because they're human, and can't mark me back and there's no real bond, it doesn't hurt me at all when I kill them."

"It's been over 40 years since I marked a she-wolf. My mate" Jennifer looked at him surprised/ "Yeah, I know I told you she died. Well, I wasn't lying about that, she did. She felt I was out of control. Can you believe that?" he said mockingly and laughing to himself. "After she threatened me if I didn't stop living my life the way I wanted, I knew I needed to get rid of her. It wasn't easy. I actually had to have one of my guys do it for me. I killed him immediately, of course. Had to keep up appearances. Also, killing him eased the pain of the bond being destroyed. It was awful though, and I can tell you know what I'm talking about," he continued his conversation completely oblivious to Jennifer. "From our conversation at dinner, I could tell you knew what it felt like to lose a mate."

William then suddenly looked at Jennifer with a cheerful grin. "Which is why I'm not worried about marking you now. I know I won't have some well-intentioned mate coming after you any time soon trying to interfere. So, shall we?" he asked, and he began to lean in again, this time with his fangs protruding.

Jennifer knew she had to act now, before it was too late. As his head was close, she used every ounce of strength she could muster and head-butted him right in the chin, making him bite his own tongue, followed by a string of profanities as he fell back grabbing his face in his hands.

Jennifer pushed herself up and grabbed the knife from around her neck, and then proceeded to stab at William several times. It was a small knife, and the wounds were shallow, but were having an effect. The silver was weakening him and the wounds were hurting him, but Jennifer was quickly losing her ability to move, again falling succumbing to William's control.

Even with the wounds, William was able to quickly fight off the weakened Jennifer and he threw her across the room. Silver hurt, but he was old enough and powerful enough that a couple of little stabs weren't enough to stop him.

"Nice try, Sweetie" he snarled at her, approaching her huddled heap on the floor. "But you're going to pay for that!"

William reached down and picked her up with one hand, his fingers wrapped around her throat and he began to squeeze. Jennifer could feel the dizziness coming on, but she could also once again feel Lennox. He was getting closer, she could tell. She knew he must be coming to help, which meant that Jackson was probably with him. She could feel Lennox pushing through emotions toward her, telling her to hold on and fight, that he was coming.

Feeling the support from Lennox, Jennifer felt renewed strength and awareness, and she kicked William between the legs as hard as she could. He howled and dropped her immediately, doubling over in pain. Jennifer coughed and gasped for air, but knew she had to move quickly and she half-crawled and half pulled herself away from William's grasp.

She moved away and headed for the door, quickly slipping through the doorway and down the hallway, toward the stairs to go down. Just as she reached the top, William had caught up with her and gave her a hard shove, sending her viciously down the stairs, hitting every limb on every step, and she crumpled in a heap at the bottom, barely still conscious.