The Boundary Line

Chapter 24

RECAP//

Tahlia bit her lip and looked straight at me. Her eyes were shining and there was a shadow of fear cast over her face like an obscured moon.

"I thought I didn't have a mate," she murmured quietly and turned her eyes to Jake.

A sense of deja vu enveloped me like a cold blanket. Tristan had told me the exact same thing...

"What?" This time it was Jake who spoke. His voice cracked at the end and he moved towards her. "What do you mean? That's impossible."

We all watched as the girl frantically shook her head to the side, her shoulder length brown hair whipping her red cheeks. She tentatively took a step away from us. "I'm sorry," she whispered and with that, she bolted away from us.
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Chapter 24

       Conveniently for Jake's mate, there was a forest right by the mall.

I watched, stunned, as the back of the girl disappeared into the thick mass of trees. It was silent for a few seconds before a growl erupted from behind me. I turned, only to see Jake sprint past me and follow after his mate.

No one stopped him.

"What's her name?" I asked, my eyes still trained on the forest. Something about this whole situation just wasn't right... and it wasn't the fact that the girl was marked by another male who wasn't her mate. It was the fact that this girl believed she didn't have a mate.

"Her name's Taliah."

I glanced over my shoulder to look at the Beta. His face was set into a stony expression, but I could see the fire burning bright in his eyes, eyes that were fixed on the forest where Jake and Taliah had gone.

It was silent.

And it was awkward.

Noah, Aria, Tristan, myself and the Beta whose name I still didn't know, stood in the car park. I really did not have a clue as to what was going to happen next.

"You can't keep Jake from Taliah," Aria spoke up, her eyes drilling into the Beta. "Now that they have found each other, your mark on her will slowly fade until it's completely gone."

The Beta remained silent, his eyes staring off into the distance. I took the time to study his features. He was handsome, without a doubt. He was on the buff side, but was tall with short brown hair and he had misty blue eyes. His skin had a light tan and as I looked more closely, I noticed a long scar running down the side of his neck then under his shirt.

"Layden," Tristan spoke, grabbing attention of the Beta. So, that's what his name was...

"Return with us back to my Pack," he offered stiffly. "It's closer and you can wait there until...Taliah returns", Tristan's dark eyes slide over to me.

"Luce, you're still apart of your old Pack, you can mind-link Jake since he's in close range and tell him to come back to our Pack".

Three words that Tristan had just spoke to me, made my heartbeat spike: Luce and our Pack.

I nodded, my mouth quirking in a small smile. "Okay."

After what felt like forever with Jake blocking me out, he finally opened his mind-link to me. I told him what was going on and to return to Tristan's Pack once he was done.

I decided to ride back home with Aria and Noah, leaving Tristan and Layden to have some privacy. Tristan's words not mine.

In the back if my mind I somehow knew Tristan wanted to discuss the fact with Beta Layden about how Taliah (Jakes mate) thought she didn't have a mate.

My stomach churned with uneasiness at the whole situation. Something was up.

"This whole situation seems a bit off," Noah said, his attention on the road as he drove.

"A bit?" Aria asked incredulously, turning her head in the passenger seat to look at her mate. "This whole situation is more than a bit off! It's fücking fishy and I think there's a whole lot more story behind it all. It doesn't make sense."

"I know, hopefully Tristan can get more information out of Laydon. I think he thinks that something's up too," Noah replied, his hand moving to rest on Arias thigh.

I turned my head and looked out the window. Blurs of green rushed past, the forest fading into one. I was certain that the fact Tristan and Taliah both thought they didn't have a mate was not coincidental. My wolf stirred, and I could tell she agreed.

"I hope Jake's alright," I said from the back, my mind drifting to moments earlier and how shattered he looked. "I couldn't ever imagine being in his situation."

Aria and Noah nodded in agreement, and I noticed how Noah tensed at the thought.

We were all quiet on the trip home, music playing softly in the background as we got lot in our thoughts. My body tensed slightly as Noah drove up the drive way to Tristan's house.

I jumped out as soon as the truck stopped moving and made a beeline for the front door. Tristan and Layton were already here, I noticed, as I glided past Tristan's truck.

Aria was right on my heels as I paced quickly through the door, past the kitchen and into the living room.

"Luce, I'm nervous," Ari whispered from beside me.

"Me too," I murmured as I laid my eyes on my mate across the room. Tristan looked up as we entered, his dark eyes glancing at me. I smiled slightly at him and he nodded before I moved my attention to the other male in the room.

Layton was sitting on the sofa, his shoulders tense as he clutched his head in his hands. "I don't understand, Tahlia told me she didn't have a mate," he muttered harshly. "I thought the same as you all did, 'it's impossible not to have a mate' but she convinced me and..." Layton trailed off, his eyes looking sunken as he looked up at us.

"I've really fucked up, haven't I?" He snarled and stood up.

"Yes, you have!" Aria growled right behind me. "Who does that? Marking another wo-"

"Aria stop," a loud and familiar voice demanded from behind us all. I turned and saw Jake and a still frightened looking Tahlia standing behind us.

I didn't think any of this would turn out well at all.