The Unlikely Mate

Chapter 31

Jennifer could hear William's slow and deliberate steps coming down the stairs behind her. She felt like his control over her limbs was weakening, and that Lennox must be very close, and the closer he got the stronger she felt. She pulled herself up onto her knees, trying to shake off the disorientation form being shoved down the stairs, and began to crawl toward the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" William mocked her efforts, slowly walking up toward her as she continued to crawl away. "We're in the middle of nowhere, and the only ones here are worthless wolves too afraid to do anything unless specifically told to, by me. You're alone here."

"You're wrong" Jennifer responded with confidence, now beginning to be able to stand as she was reaching the front door.

"I want you to know" William continued, paying no attention to her response. "I really am very impressed with you. Very few have ever even bothered trying to stand up to me, and you're really doing a remarkable job of fighting my control. This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Enjoy it while it lasts!" Jennifer said to him with a smirk, and then she ran out the front door, straight at the truck that was quickly skidding into the driveway. She reached the truck right as it stopped, and Jackson and Lennox both jumped out of the vehicle.

A surprised and frustrated William grunted and snarled. Jackson was still a little under his control, but not as much as he would have liked. He was able to keep him moving very slowly, struggling with every step, but he seemed to have very little control of Jennifer any more, and no control over the hunter, but that didn't really concern him. He would never be afraid of a human.

Jennifer ran up to Lennox and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back until she pulled away.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him with a fierce intensity in her eyes.

"What do you mean, I, of course... yes, I trust you!" he stammered.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way" she said to him, kissed him again quickly and then before anyone else knew what was happening, her teeth came out and she bit down on his neck.

Lennox yelled when Jennifer's teeth punctured his skin, but his cry was soon silenced as the pain shifted from intense pain to something completely different he wouldn't have been able to describe. Jennifer could feel the mate bond pulsing between them, and she quickly released her bite and licked the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"Jennifer!" Jackson shouted in confusion, "What are you doing?" But Jennifer couldn't hear him, her hearbeat being the only thing she could hear, as it pounded in her ears. Lennox sat there, leaning up against the truck where Jennifer had lowered him when she had released her bite. He looked dazed and in shock. Jennifer leaned her head up against Lennox's hoping she hadn't hurt him more than necessary in marking him, pushing her emotions toward him to see if he was ok.

In that moment, it was like the world melted away. It was just Jennifer and Lennox, staring into each other's eyes, surround by a euphoric sensation that seemed to be lighting their sense on fire. She could feel his thoughts and he could feel hers. Her power was beginning to course through his veins, and likewise she could feel his strength filling her from the inside.

Suddenly, as if being awoken from a dream, Jennifer felt the brunt force of William's hands grab her and throw her to the side. She rolled on the ground, but immediately popped up to her feet, very aware that he no longer had any hold or control over her. She was completely free of him, and felt stronger and more powerful than she ever had before.

William bent down to grab Lennox by the collar and yanked him to his feet, but was caught completely off guard with Lennox punched him with a force far greater than a human should have been able to produce, and William went flying backward.

Jennifer didn't waste a second and ran at William who was getting back up on his feet. She lunged at him, shifting in mid-air, knocking him to the ground again, and landing on his chest in wolf form. William knocked her off of him, and used that moment to also shift and within the blink of an eye, they were both in wolf form, squaring off and ready to fight.

They jumped at each other and fought hard, kicking and biting. They were both taking chunks of each other's flesh with each bite, hair and skin being bitten off with every attack. Lennox watched, but with each move, he concentrated on pushing his thoughts toward her. Every angle, every move, and every strategy of the enemy he pushed into Jennifer's mind. For her, it was almost as though she had an extra sense, and an extra visual of what was going on. She could see the fight from her own eyes, from in the midst of it, but she could also feel and see what Lennox was seeing, and the two were working together to take advantage of every mistake or slip-up that William made.

Jackson was soon able to break free from the hold William had, as William's concentration was being fully diverted to the fight he was in. He no longer had the capacity to exert any control over Jackson, who first rushed to Lennox to see if he was ok. He looked almost as if he was in a trance, much like when werewolves are communicating through their mind-link. He looked at the bite marks on Lennox's neck and was shocked at how quickly they were healing for being on a human.

Jackson then turned his attention toward the fighting wolves, making his plan for how best to assist Jennifer. As he was about to move forward, he felt Lennox grab his arm.

"Don't" Lennox said softly, his eyes still focused on what was going on in front of them.

"What?" Jackson said, looking sharply at Lennox in confusion. "She needs help!"

"No, she doesn't" Lennox replied. "She wants you stay here."

Jackson looked at Lennox in disbelief, but somehow knew he needed to follow Lennox's instruction. For whatever reason, in some way that Jackson couldn't make sense of, he could tell that there was an obvious connection between Lennox and Jennifer, and he recognized that it was smarter not to interfere.

Jennifer continued her methodical attack of William, seeing and reacting to his attacks just before he reached her. He was getting more and more frustrated, and continued to try to control her movements, but each time he tried to, it actually caused him physical pain. Almost as if there was a barrier around her mind, protecting her from him.

After a few minutes of this he finally recognized that the hunter was somehow involved in Jennifer's blocking of his efforts, and as they fought he began to work his way toward the area where Lennox and Jackson were standing. William made a lunge at Jennifer that she braced for, but he changed his direction midway and instead made a move toward Lennox.

William's speed launched him quickly at Lennox, landing on top of him and taking him immediately to the ground. But Lennox was fighting like no human William had ever come across. His strikes and blows landed like those of a seasoned and well-trained warrior. He was fighting like Jennifer.

A shocked William fell back after a hard blow to the face, and looked in shock between Jennifer and Lennox, trying to understand what was going on, and it started to make sense to him, just before he felt a knife stick into his chest. He could feel immediately that it was silver, and began to quickly shift in order to use his hands to take it out, but by the time he had shifted, Jennifer was above him, and quickly sank her teeth into his human neck, biting and tearing at the flesh.