Jadie woke up early the next morning feeling lighter than she had in a long time. She quickly got dressed and went to find her family.
Jeremy was asleep in his bed, Jack sitting up on the couch scrolling through his phone. Her mother and father were getting dressed in their room, planning to meet her downstairs for breakfast.
“Wake up, we have food to make!” She shouted in the younger of her brothers’ ear. His eyes shot open as he winced in pain from the volume.
“Why would you do that?” He groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. Jadie rolled her eyes and ripped it away from the foot of the bed, leaving his whole body that was only covered by a pair of shorts exposed to the cold morning air.
He hissed and sat up, giving his sister a glare. “Fine.” He growled, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and slowly making his way to his bag that held all his clothes.
Jack remained silent by the door, waitin
His voice came out quiet as he dropped his head to stare at his hands. “I can’t get the image out of my head. It’s haunted me for as long as I can remember.” Kristine rested her hand on his knee in a comforting manor. “Whatever it is, you can tell us.” He took in a ragged breath and continued. “Do you remember the last time we all came here together? We were all a lot younger.” She nodded in confusion, curious to where this was going. “Well, Jack, Michael and I decided to pull a prank on Lincoln.” His voice broke, causing him to clear his throat. “It was supposed to be innocent. Jack and I would tie him to a tree near their northern border and go back to get him later.” Gerald frowned and sat forward. “Why would you do something like that?” His voice was becoming harsh as he tried to understand why his sons thought something like that was okay. “It was Michael’s idea.” His voice grew lower. Jadie looked confused and chimed in. “Who is Michael?” She aske
Once Lincoln was calmed down enough, he took a deep breath and straightened up to his full height. He nodded to Jeremy and pushed away his fear as he approached hesitantly. “Lincoln.” His voice was hoarse as he struggled to look him in the eye. The images of him close to death flashed in his mind; the fear in his voice when he called to them for help. “I am…so sorry.” He cleared his throat and forced himself to continue. “We should have never done that to you.” Lincoln remained expressionless. “I wanted to help you when you called out to us, and I regret it so much.” Lincoln sighed and stopped him. “Honestly, you don’t need to do this.” They all looked at him in confusion. “I may struggle to be near you for obvious reasons,” he clenched his fist and continued. “But that is for me to deal with. We were children, and no matter what you say, it will take me a while to forgive you.” Jeremy dropped his head slightly but froze when Lincoln rested his free hand on his s
Nadine searched for her son’s mind link, forcing her way through to tell him the good news.Lincoln was busy helping situate some of the pack members that lost their homes when he heard his mother’s voice.‘Jadie accepted Wilson’s rejection. She also told her family she isn’t moving home.’ Lincoln’s chest swelled in pride. She was getting stronger, and he couldn’t have been happier for her.Excitement grew within him the longer he worked in Matthew’s pack lands. He couldn’t wait to be done, his wolf anxious to return home. This created quite the distraction, and he struggled to keep things standing without bumping into them and knocking them over. He did create some form of amusement for the gloomy wolves, even if more things became broken when his large frame came into contact with them.Jadie enjoyed one of the final days of her family’s presence, but something felt missing. She
Food was quickly served, and everyone had gone through the line to grab themselves a plate. Jadie picked at her meal, suddenly losing her appetite. “You all ate without me?” A familiar voice sent chills down her spine. Lincoln’s bright smile was hard to miss in the sea of people. Chris was close behind him with a rare grin as his mate raced into his arms. This was something Jadie loved about Lincoln. He was adored by everyone, and treated every person in his pack like they were his family. Jadie’s palms grew sweaty. She was actually nervous now that he was here. They had spent plenty of time together before without an issue, and she couldn’t understand her reaction to him now. “Are you alright?” Kristine asked her, watching as Jadie’s face paled. She thought she was going to be sick from the flurries in her stomach as he moved further into the yard with a dazzling smile towards his guests. Lincoln froze halfway through the crowd, lifting his nose i
Lincoln snarled in warning and pushed his shoulders back. This wouldn’t be a difficult fight for him; he had Alpha training and strength that Wilson didn’t have. “Not anymore.” He glared, waiting for Wilson to make a move. “Back down before you do something you will regret.” Lincoln warned, but it was too late. Wilson shifted, snapping his teeth at his Alpha. “He’s challenging him.” Jeremy mumbled, staring at the deranged beta as he lifted his lips to growl again. “Is he insane?” He turned to his father with wide eyes. “He lost his mate. Wolves do crazy things when they’re rejected. It probably doesn’t help that she’s paired with Lincoln now, either.” They all watched as Lincoln looked over his shoulder at Jadie, motioning for her to back away towards her family. Jadie clenched her hands together in nervousness and backed up into her father’s arms. Once Lincoln knew she was safe, his eyes faded to a charcoal color and he let out a roar that sent sh
“Where are we going?” She asked, struggling to keep up with his speed. Jeremy looked around to make sure they weren’t being followed before continuing on, deep into the woods. “There’s a safe house a few miles south of here. If we can make it there, we should be fine until this is over.” Jadie huffed and pushed her legs as fast as they could go as they weaved through the trees. “How do you know about this place?” She shouted over the sound of their pounding footsteps on the ground. “We used to hide there from mom and dad when we would pull things on your mate.” He grazed over, his eyes flickering around to be aware of their surroundings Jeremy froze when he sensed someone nearby. He shushed Jadie who was about to ask him what was going on, scanning the trees with cautious eyes. “I knew he would send you away. What a fool.” A familiar voice chuckled, echoing through the shade. Jadie glared at the redhead that stepped out into the light peaked throu
Jadie groaned in pain when she was awoken by a solid object burying into her stomach. She barreled over, but was unable to move far with her hands tied behind her back.“Wake up!” The man growled, glaring at her in hatred. Jadie examined him through pain-filled eyes, his face looking familiar. He had the same color hair as Lincoln’s, but his eyes were a muddy brown. His features were softer than Lincoln’s sharp jawline and straight nose.This man resembled Nadine more than Anthony, and Jadie could tell exactly who he was right away.“Michael.” She spat, squinting her eyes against the bright LED lights that hung from the ceiling of the cement room.He gave her a sickening smile and stood straight, crossing his arms. “Oh, so he does talk about me!”Jadie shook her head. “Only bad things.” She taunted. His face fell to a scowl as he reared his arm and back handed her with all his strength. She cried out in pain when her head whipped to the side, stinging
Lincoln was trudging through the halls towards his room when he made an unexpected detour towards a familiar bedroom he had gotten used to being around over the past couple weeks.The plain white door that separated him from Jadie’s scent and belongings seemed so simple, but it was enough to made his body become rigid, and his hand at his side that was once prepared to grip the handle felt like a heavy dead weight.He stood for a while, just staring at the grooves under the paint of the door, thinking about the day he had fallen asleep in the hall and was later caught by Jadie. The urge to be near her was strong, but it was nowhere near what he was feeling now. He felt empty, something that was all-too familiar to him. He didn’t have many friends growing up—most of the kids were close to Michael and steered clear of him. Once his father’s health started to slip, his mother started focusing everything on him and that left Lincoln with no-one.