Jessica Bailey
AMELIE
The moment I crossed into my family’s pack territory, my heart felt lighter. I’d missed them so much. But my joy was short-lived when my phone rang. It was my mate.
“Hey, love! I just got to my family’s territory. You must have been counting the minutes.”
I laughed, trying to keep things light. He knew how long the drive to my dad’s territory took.
His response was sharp. “I don’t need to count minutes. I always know where you are.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean?” His tone and words confused me. What was he trying to say? His answer came swiftly.
“You think I’d let you roam around without me, not knowing where my property is? I don’t think so.
“I can track your phone and the car. I just wanted to let you know before you tried anything foolish.”
Tate had completely lost it. I’d never heard him sound so possessive and repulsive. I wanted to hang up, but I knew that would only make things worse.
I steadied my breathing and tried to calm my racing heart. He wasn’t even here, but I was still scared of him.
“Babe, you don’t have to worry. Where would I go? You’re my everything.”
The words left my mouth and I felt sick. Who had I become? What was I doing? How had I let things get this far? I was just visiting my family for a few days. Why was I panicking?
“Damn right. Don’t fucking forget it.” Then he hung up abruptly.
I had to pull over and just cry. Months of pent-up tears streamed down my face.
I’d been holding them back, knowing he was always watching, waiting for a sign of weakness.
“What am I doing?” I kept asking myself as I let the tears flow.
Finally, my wolf, Inari, had had enough and was in a rage of her own.
“Turn around. I’ll end him.” She’d been threatening his life daily recently.
“Inari, we can’t. I just want to get to Dad’s house and sleep. I’m so tired.”
Hearing the break in my voice, she calmed down. I’d lost the will to fight.
I finished crying and composed myself. I took a water bottle from the cooler in the passenger seat and used it to soothe the swelling around my eyes.
I still had an hour to go before reaching my parents’ pack house. I needed to put on my mask of the perfect daughter, sister, and mate for the world to see.
I could do this. I’d been doing it for ten years. What was one more event?
As I continued driving, I tried to remember the happy times with my mate.
But each memory was quickly overshadowed by the realization that I’d been slowly giving him complete control over my life.
I started to panic at my blind obedience and for not seeing it until now. But I had no one to blame but myself. I hadn’t even tried to stop it at first.
By the time I felt uncomfortable, I’d already lost my identity.
My mind was buzzing with this new realization. Before I knew it, I was at my family’s pack house. “Okay, Am! It’s showtime,” I told myself.
Inari, however, wasn’t as supportive of my act.
“They already know the truth. Stop hiding it. They can help us. He can’t reach us here.”
She pleaded with me to let my family help, but I couldn’t. I knew I’d have to return to my mate’s pack. There was no avoiding it.
Alpha Mason was coming as a witness to my brother’s heir ceremony. As the alpha of the Timberwolves Pack, if I stayed because of Tate, it would make Alpha Mason look bad to my father and the other alphas.
I rolled my eyes at her persistence. “Please, just let it go. Let’s enjoy our time while we can.”
She huffed at me and retreated into my mind. She knew we both needed a break. We were exhausted and needed this time to recharge.
I stepped out of the car and was immediately tackled by my sister Hope. She caught me off guard and knocked the wind out of me.
“Hope, you’re going to kill me. Let go!”
She giggled and looked down at me. She was much taller than me. Even though I was eleven years older, she was six inches taller than my five-foot-two-inch frame.
She had long, slender legs and her mother’s bright blonde hair, along with our father’s clear blue eyes. To me, she looked like an angel.
She’d just turned nineteen and was on the hunt for her mate. I just hoped he would treat her like the princess she was. I couldn’t wait to spoil my Hope!
After nearly squeezing the life out of me, she stepped back.
“Am, I missed you so much! Why don’t you visit more?”
This was what I needed—to feel wanted and loved, even if just for a moment. I could feel my eyes welling up.
“I missed you too! But where’s Luna and that bratty little brother of ours? I need to knock him down a peg or two before the heir ceremony.
“We can’t let him get a big head. We need to remind him that he’s the baby of the family.”
Hope nodded, trying to look serious, which made us both burst into laughter.
Wiping away a tear from laughing so hard, Hope raised a fist in the air and yelled, “It’s time for a brother hunt!”
So off we went into the house, on a mission to find our baby brother. We passed our father and our stepmother, Celeste, on the way in.
They didn’t try to stop us. They knew what was happening. They just looked at us and laughed.
Our father called out, “Don’t hurt his pride too much, girls. He’s going to be the next alpha soon.”
“Don’t sweat it, Dad,” Hope called out, her voice echoing through the house. “He’s got enough ego to fill up three alpha males. That’s the real issue here.”
We didn’t need to go on a wild goose chase to find our brother, James. We knew exactly where he’d be—holed up in his room, eyes glued to his computer screen, lost in some video game. His door was locked, as usual. We rapped on it, our knocks loud and demanding.
“No way in hell! You two are just going to screw up my game stats! I’ll come down later.”
Hope and I exchanged a glance, a wicked grin spreading across both our faces. We knew exactly how to get his undivided attention.
As James got older and his obsession with gaming grew, our stepmom came up with a clever way to ensure he got enough sleep for school and his future alpha duties.
She’d simply flip the switch on the fuse box for his room.
We dashed to the storage room off the kitchen, flinging open the fuse box. We instantly recognized the switch for James’s room.
Our stepmom, Luna Celeste, had marked it with a stroke of blue nail polish. It was her foolproof method to cut the power when she knew her son was still up, even in her half-asleep state.
Hope curtsied, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “The honor of drawing the beast from his den is all yours, sis.”
I returned her curtsy, my grin matching hers. “Thank you, dear sister. I won’t forget this honor.” We couldn’t contain our laughter any longer, and with a swift flick of my wrist, I flipped the switch.