The Heir (29 page)

Thinking that he might be in the backyard,
she made her way around the house and froze upon the sight in front
of her.

"You had no right to tell her." Nick
growled.

Kate pouted. "I'm sorry, but are you going to
deny that the only reason you chose her was for her status? Tell me
you love her. Tell me you weren't just using her. Tell me you
didn't move here just to get to her. Tell me that you care about
her, not about her inheritance and that to prove it, you would turn
it all down."

Jessica held her breath, hoping Nick said
something.

But he said nothing. And Jessica realized
that she would be holding her breath until the end of time. Minutes
ago she thought her heart had been broken.

Finding out about his deception was nothing
compared to finding out that he really didn't love her. That he
cared nothing for her, only for her supposed inheritance.

She didn't realize she made a sound until
Nick whirled around. "Jessica!"

Kate smirked and crossed her arms
triumphantly at the sight of all the color leeching from Jessica’s
face. "You heard it from his lips," she told her smugly then
corrected herself "...or didn't in this case."

"Get out of here Kate." Nick growled without
taking his eyes off Jessica.

Jessica saw Kate smile like the cat that had
eaten the cream and slowly Jessica’s sorrow made way for anger.
Kate walked past her, head held high like a queen, without a word
the look of triumph on her face said it all.

Jessica hadn't realized there was any more
room for hate within her, but there was.

"Kate?"

Kate stopped and turned around to face her
with a malicious smile and a glitter of hate in her eyes. "No need
to say thanks."

"I wasn't."

Once again, Jessica caught her by surprise.
Before anyone had any idea of what she was thinking Jessica
performed a roundhouse kick that landed squarely on Kate’s chest
and sent her flying back and down to the ground.

Jessica quickly regained her balance and
looked down at the stunned and fuming Kate. "I still think you’re a
bitch and next time, don’t do me any favors."

Kate got up and snarled and Jessica took up
her defense stance when she saw Kate’s hands turning into
claws.

"You’ll pay for that you mutt!" Kate shrieked
as she charged towards her.

Jessica braced herself but it was
unnecessary.

Matt, Christian and Axel materialized in
front of her as if out of nowhere and they pushed her back into
Nick’s arms. His warmth and scent enveloped her and she had to
fight with everything she had in her to keep herself from melting
into him. She became like a wild cat.

"The mighty heir.” Kate spat out the word.
“Needs protection from me?" Kate asked as her teeth began
elongate.

Her taunt sent Jessica over the edge.

"I don’t need anyone’s protection," Jessica
snarled and fought to get out of Nick's embrace. She clawed at his
arms and when he picked her up to bodily move her she kicked her
feet in the air. "Let me go! I'll give her a reason for plastic
surgery! She needs a new nose!"

"Get out of here Kate! Matt!” Nick yelled.
“Get her out of here!"

Matt moved to do Nicks bidding even as
Jessica kept flinging insults at Kate.

"Let her stay! I'll do the world a favor and
neuter her!"

Nick grunted when one of Jessica’s
uncontrolled kicks landed on his chin. "Jessica, stop!"

"I’ll do her a favor," Jessica sneered,
completely ignoring Nick. "I’ll rearrange her face and she won’t
have to shift to look like a dog!"

It proved difficult for anyone within hearing
distance to keep a straight face and Kate noticed it. She saw the
laughter lurking in everyone’s face, everyone except Nick. He only
had eyes for the mutt.

She hated them all for it.

One day they would all pay she vowed as Matt
dragged her away.

Along with Kate’s departure, Jessica’s need
for violence also left her body. She felt drained. She felt drained
and unfortunately for her, it wasn't over. Earlier she remembered
thinking that she was on cloud nine and never getting off but she
didn't take into account that someone would push her off.

"Nick, let me go."

Nick did the opposite, he held on tighter. "I
can't not until you promise that you will let me explain."

Jessica nodded even though she was doing no
such thing. Nick let his hands drop reluctantly. Jessica felt
bereft without his touch and she resented herself for it.

Why couldn't she be like him? She asked
herself. Why couldn't she be cold and uncaring? Do what needed to
be done without involving her feelings?

Jessica took a deep breath but it didn't fill
her lungs. She felt like she was suffocating. Felt like something
inside of her was breaking.

Lies it had all been lies.

Every caress, every smile, every sweet word,
it had all been lies.

She couldn't take it. She couldn't do this.
She couldn't look at him anymore. She shook her head and told him
so as she took a step away from him.

Nick tried to stop her. "I’m not letting you
go. You promised you would let me explain."

Jessica shook her head again, swallowing back
down the vile that threatened to erupt from within her. "I lied,
just like you." Jessica turned around to go and found herself in
front of Axel and Christian. "Lied, like all of you."

With one look, she condemned them all.

Neither Axel nor Christian could look her in
the eye. Filled with shame they turned their gazes to the
ground.

"Damn you all." She gritted past numb lips.
“Damn you all for this.”

She began to walk past them when Nick snaked
his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.
Jessica closed her eyes and forced herself to ignore the heat that
his body ignited within her own. She forced herself to stand still,
as stiff as a log, and ignore the comfort she found in his
touch.

"I'm not going to let you go, we are mates.
We'll talk about it. I know it looks really bad but I swear I was
going to talk to you about it tonight. Let me explain, you will see
that it is not as bad as she made it seem."

Jessica wanted to laugh but she couldn't. She
knew that if she did, it would lead to crying. And she felt that
once she started crying she would never stop. She'd never felt such
pain before. She couldn't even compare it to what she had felt
growing up feeling unwanted by her real parents.

Jessica took another deep breath, trying to
control the anguish that she felt spreading through her body and
fought to get out of Nicks embrace.

She stomped on his foot and with enough force
to surprise him and he dropped his arms. "You no longer have the
right to touch me," she told him without an ounce of emotion in her
voice.

Nick fisted his hands and looked at her, his
face set in taut lines. "I'm not letting you go."

"You don't have a choice," she told him
coldly. Without waiting for a response she turned to look at Axel
and Christian. "You once pledged your loyalty to me. Was that a lie
too?" She asked them in the same flat tone.

They shook their heads.

"Prove it," she demanded. "Prove it this one
time and after that I release you from your pledge. I want to go.
Hold him back don't let him stop me. If my friendship ever meant
anything to you, keep him away from me." She looked at them,
allowed them to see the torment in her eyes."I want to go
home."

They didn't say anything. They relaxed their
stances and allowed her to walk past them and when Nick took a step
towards her, they blocked his way. It would take the two of them to
hold Nick back. It would hurt, they knew it would but they owed it
to Jessica. The pain they had glimpsed in her eyes speared them
right through to their hearts. They'd never imagined that their
actions would hurt her so much.

"Get out of my way," Nick snarled.

"Let her go," Axel murmured.

Axel and Christian didn’t miss the
desperation in their Alpha’s eyes but the pain in Jessica’s had
undone them. They would help her get the space she needed and when
they were both calm, they could talk.

"Never!" Nick growled, taking a deep breath
he began to channel all of his power.

Axel and Christian braced themselves for what
they knew was coming.

Jessica also felt the ripple of power. Felt
the charge of energy in the air and it was the last straw. Jessica
felt the rigid control she had over her emotions break.

"You can have it all!" She screamed. "You
wanted my inheritance so bad now you have it! It’s yours; you
deserve it after such a stellar performance! It’s all yours just
stay away from me! Stay away from me!" She shrieked.

The force from her words, her emotions,
charged the atmosphere around them. Nicks power ripples were
nothing compared to hers. It was like a light breeze being compared
to a category five hurricane.

A power the likes no one had felt or seen in
almost twenty years.

But Jessica was unaware of the power she was
releasing. She was only aware of the screaming agony tearing her
apart.

"I hate you nick! I hate you with everything
in me!"

With those words a gust of power flew out of
her, slamming all three men to the ground.

Jessica didn't wait to see if they were OK.
She didn’t stop and wonder how she did what she’d just done. She
turned and fled, ran as fast as she could into the woods where she
knew it would be easy to lose them.

She would run until her lungs collapsed and
it didn't hurt to breath. She would run until she could no longer
feel her heart breaking and every beat didn't hurt. She would run
until her legs gave out, until her mind couldn’t think any more,
until everything inside of her went numb.

Her newly released wolf felt her pain and it
did the only thing it could do to protect her. It took over.

Suddenly Jessica felt like her body had gone
up in flames. Everything hurt, she felt as if she was been stabbed
by a thousand needles. Jessica bent over in pain and that's when
she noticed it. That’s when she saw the grey fur sprouting out of
her.

Horror struck and unable to look away, she
watched as her body shifted from human to wolf. Her feet and hands
became paws. Her fingernails became claws and she felt her teeth
grow longer. She couldn't stay upright any longer and she fell to
the ground even as her nose elongated and her sight shifted.

Suddenly scent became stronger and even
though she was seeing it all in black and white, it all seemed
clearer somehow, sharper.

Jessica took in the forests' scent through
her elongated nose and one scent stood out from the others.

Nicks

Like a splash of cold water Jessica came
crashing back to earth and once again began to run. She didn't care
where she went, she just ran. Ran away from it all, from him, from
the pain and from the lies.

“Jessica!!”

She heard her named being screamed but she
didn’t stop.

She kept on running.

Hours later, spent, she made her way to her
parents’ home. Shivering from the night cold, her clothing in
tatters, she knocked on the front door.

She was tired and hurting; physically and
emotionally.

Warily her mom opened the door and Jessica
flung herself into her arms. Noticing the remains of her clothing
Lauren led her upstairs to her old room without asking the
questions that were burning the tip of her tongue.

Without a sound, on autopilot, Jessica
dressed herself and slipped into bed.

Lauren tucked her in, concern clear in her
eyes and only then did Jessica open the dam that held back the
flood of her emotions. She flew into her mom’s arms and cried until
she could cry no more, until her eyes could produce no more
tears.

"Jessica what happened?" Her mom asked once
Jessica had calmed down and her tears had stopped.

Jessica told her, and the heart wrenching
tears began all over again.

Lauren was speechless.

"Get me out of here mom!" Jessica pleaded
between heart wracking sobs. "I don't want to be here! Please mom,
please get me out of here, take me away, and make this pain go
away! Make my heart stop hurting." Jessica pressed her palm against
her chest. "It feels like my chest is going to explode or cave in.
Now I know why they call it heart break, ‘cause it really does feel
like your heart is braking. Make it go away mom! Make the pain
stop...please!" She begged with tears running down her face.

Her pleas broke Laurens heart and she readily
agreed.

She would do everything in her power to keep
her away from Nick.

She would take her away.

Help her escape.

Chapter 23

"Another dead end."

The phrase kept flickering through Nick's
mind like a neon sign as he knocked on the Robertson's door. He'd
heard the same thing over and over again and every time it left him
feeling deader inside.

"Stop asking them, as Alpha you shouldn't
lower yourself anymore, there's no point." Matt had tried to reason
with him as he'd headed out the door earlier that day.

Matt' attempt to get him to see reason were
unnecessary; Nick knew there was no point. Knew it was a lost cause
to keep asking them about Jessica. There was no point, but he
couldn't keep himself from doing otherwise.

Her scent still lingered here, that’s why he
kept coming back. Like an addict needing a fix.

With that disturbing but truthful thought, he
knocked on the door again and waited a couple minutes in silence.
Like before, there was no answer. And just like before he raised
his hand to knock once again.

Over the months it had become a routine. He
would knock, wait a minute or two then knock some more. He did it
again and again until whoever was home grew tired of the noise and
finally opened the door. There was no point in trying to hide; with
his heightened senses he knew when someone was home and the
conversation and the length that ensued when the door was finally
opened depended on who it was that answered his call.