No Escape

Chapter Forty-Two

Jacks? Lily called out to him again. He could feel how much pain she was in and he would give anything to take it away.

Almost there, he told her. Please, just hold on. He had been orchestrating a clean up of the aftermath from Nikolas' attack on the pack when Lily fist mindlinked him. He had thought that everything was finally over; that they had finally won and could live in peace. But his father apparently had a different idea.

I love you, she said. No, no!! Jackson pushed himself to go faster and he could feel how close he was. He was so lost in his panic and refusal to lose his mate so soon, he hadn't even registered what she had said.

He heard his father speak, "my son will be better off without you."

He couldn't take it anymore, his wolf growled and leapt on top him. Jackson knocked him to the ground and began clawing away at him in a blind rage, only stopping when he heard his mate whimpering.

He looked over to her, heart breaking at seeing her stuck halfway through her first shift. Dylan, come take my father to the cells. He mindlinked him, knowing that his Beta wasn't far behind him. Mom? Please, Lily needs your help. Jackson asked of her, he wasn't sure if she would be willing to do it. His mom had stood up for his mate, but only once. The rest of the time Jackson worried that she had blamed Lily for what was happening with his father.

I'm on my way, she said to him.

Once Jackson's father and Dylan were gone, Jackson made his way over to his mate. He began crying at the state of her. It certainly wasn't the worst he had seen her, but the first shift was the most painful one and it wasn't meant to last this long. Only five minutes at most. He knew her being stuck like this was torturing her. To add on top of that, the claw marks on her back. His father must have had something to do with all of that. He had to have attacked her from behind and thrown her off guard for her to let something like this happen.

His mother showed up a few minutes later, the sight in front of her momentarily stopped her in her tracks. Nora took in her surroundings: Erin was dead on the ground, Weston was nowhere in sight, and her son was on the ground next to his mate in tears. She could tell he just wanted to hold her, but wouldn't touch her so he didn't cause her anymore pain. Lily had bones broken and mis-formed in several places; she looked like a wolf stuck halfway through shifting.

"I think dad commanded her to stop shifting. Please, help her," Jackson begged her.

Nora nodded knowing what it was like to see your mate in pain. She walked up to Lily and gently placed her hand on her forehead, "Be relieved of the Alpha's command."

Jackson's body released its tension as he watched Lily's form finish her shift. For a few seconds he observed her blonde wolf, before her body forced itself to shift back. She was still passed out, but her body was healing right now. He placed his shirt over her body, gently picked her up, and kissed her forehead before running to the pack doctor.

Mandy was waiting for them when he got there. "She should be healing faster than she usually does, but my dad forced to stop in the middle of her shift."

"Okay, I'll make sure she's taken care of." Mandy said.

Jackson placed her on the gurney faced down. Mandy looked at him funny before Jackson growled lowly and she looked down in submission, "she was attacked from behind. She has claw marks down her back."

Mandy nodded, then pushed the gurney towards one of the hospital rooms. Jackson followed and refused to leave Lily's side. He promised to stay out of the way as the medical personnel worked, but he wasn't leaving her alone; not this time.

As they cleared out, Mandy made it clear that Lily needed her rest before she followed behind them. Jackson took a moment to collect himself and go over the events that had just transpired.

Jackson, Adrienne, and members of the pack who were working with them followed at a distance behind his mate, who led them to the Southwest border. They stayed far enough away so they couldn't be sensed. Lily left her mindlink open and showed Jackson what was happening. He wanted to barge in there and kill Nikolas right then, but if he did that, there was no guarantee that Charlotte would be safe. So he had stayed put.

Jackson loathed the thoughts that Lily had been having, thinking that she would never see Charlotte again, but he knew she didn't think about things realistically or positively. When Charlotte came running towards the group of them, Jackson had Adrienne follow and make sure she got back safely and saw the pack doctor. Before he could even think to follow Lily's scent, Nikolas and a group of about 50 rogues were attacking.

He and his pack quickly took care of them. Though they were smaller in number the pack wolves were stronger and smarter than the rogues. Jackson wasted no time in taking Nikolas down. Their fight was tense but Jackson got the upper hand and was finally able to kill him, ending the reign of torture Nikolas had held over his mate.

When Lily's voice rang in his head telling him that she was in trouble and that his dad was the cause of it, he almost lost it. He immediately took off knowing that Dylan wasn't far behind him.

Jackson gasped as he remembered what Lily had last said to him, she loves me. Doubt of the truth in her words ran through his mind. She thought she was going to die, he assumed that was why she had said it. She probably didn't even mean it.

"I did," a gravelly voice said. "I did mean it." Jackson looked towards his mate lying in the hospital bed. He could tell she was exhausted, she barely had her eyes open. "Don't you even for a second doubt that."

Lily squeezed his hand that was holding onto hers. His grasp was so tight, her fingers were starting to go numb. But that didn't matter to her. She just thought about all the times Jackson had been there for her and helped her; all the things they'd been through, good and bad, and tried to project them into his head. She made sure he could feel the love she had felt for him. There was so much of it, she felt as if her heart might explode.

It's funny... she knew now that she was so in love with him that it almost hurt but a few days ago, she wasn't even sure how she had felt about Jackson. She knew that she was happy with him and that was all that had mattered to her then, but she had been wrong to think that way.

"I love you, Jacks."

~

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