Jordan's Marked Mate [The Ward Brothers] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Mackenzie Williams

  Chapter Thirty

  Riley sat on Jordan’s couch, staring at the floor. The broken necklace was in her left hand. Her mind seemed broken, as well. She was trying to play out a possible conversation in her head with Jordan, but her brain wouldn’t fully concentrate.

  She was slightly numb all over. The only sign that something serious was happening to her was the feeling of her skin where her mark was. Every so often, a ball of rage would roll through her gut. When it did, her scar-like mark would start to burn. It almost felt like a sunburn, but this feeling had nothing to do with too much sun exposure.

  She let out a frustrated breath as she squeezed the necklace in her hand. Just then, the front door creaked as it opened in front of her. As she heard Jordan step into the house, she had a short flashback from the night she had arrived here.

  Riley’s mind played back the cold, damp feeling from being tied to that tree and then the anger when she had been tied up in his house. Riley kept her head down and slowly closed her eyes as the door shut and Jordan came closer to her.

  “Sweet? What are you doing?” He stopped in front of her.

  Riley opened her eyes and sighed, but didn’t look up. Jordan reached down and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t react except to exhale loudly. He squeezed her shoulder softly.

  “Riley, what is it?” Jordan’s voice was etched with concern.

  Without speaking, she opened her hand, letting the sliver lotus dangle free. Jordan’s hand stiffened on her shoulder. At last, Riley looked up and stared into his eyes, which were full of worry. Riley swung the necklace a couple of times before dropping it. The damaged piece of jewelry hit the floor, part of the chain landed on Jordan’s dark boots.

  “Why do you have that?” She held eye contact with him.

  Jordan closed his eyes for a few seconds, clenching his jaw tightly. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes.

  “Pet, why were you in my closet?”

  Riley shrugged his hand off her shoulder and her scar-like mark started to burn again. She slowly stood, leaving the necklace lay where it had landed. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Riley wasn’t sure she really wanted answers, but she needed them.

  “Jordan, why do you have my necklace? The last time I had it was the accident. How did you get it?”

  Jordan bent down and retrieved the damaged item. He held it in his fist as he raked his other hand through his dark hair. Riley got the impression he was either stalling or was at a loss for words. She didn’t move or speak.

  After several seconds of silence, Jordan exhaled. “Let’s sit down and we’ll talk.”

  “No, just answer the question.” Riley balled her hands up.

  Jordan rubbed his face, exhaling. The burning on her skin was getting worse.

  “Pet, let’s not do this now. Please.” Jordan reached out to take her hand, but Riley pulled it away. Jordan closed his eyes and shook his head. “Riley, commit to me and I’ll share everything with you.”

  When he opened his eyes, Riley saw a swirl of sorrow and pain. What the hell was he hiding? Part of Riley didn’t want to know. She wanted to just rewind the day to when they had been in love and happy.

  “Why?”

  Riley gasped when Jordan suddenly moved toward her. He grabbed both of her arms harshly. The necklace was pressed against her skin for a few seconds before he lessened his grip and it fell to the floor.

  “I can’t lose you now. Not after everything that’s happened. Riley, I love you. Commit to me.”

  A few hours ago, she would have returned his declaration of love and most likely would have committed her life and heart to him. In this moment, she felt lost. Jordan’s expression was almost desperate as he squeezed her arms again. An odd tingle started in Riley’s mark and quickly slid down her arm.

  “Jordan, you’re scaring me.” Riley frowned.

  His eyes searched her face. “That look is killing me.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jordan’s greatest fear was standing right in front of him. Riley knew something was wrong and if he told her the truth, there was a very big possibility that she’d leave forever. I should just tie her up in my bedroom and refuse to let her go. Jordan couldn’t do that. That was not the kind of relationship he wanted with his slave. With his Riley.

  Maybe he should just lie to her. Jordan clenched his jaw tighter while taking a deep breath through his nose. Her eyes were starting to tear up and it was killing him. He ran his hands up and down her arms for a while.

  I can’t start a long-term relationship with a giant lie, but this thing between us might not survive with the truth. Why the hell did she have to find that damn necklace? Fate?

  “Jordan, tell me the truth. I deserve that much.” Her eyes were begging him.

  Jordan felt his heart slow and his arms went numb. Finally, he released her and moved to the couch. He slowly sat down, the necklace on the floor catching his eye. He should have never kept it. Riley gradually sat down next to him.

  He took a deep breath. “What do you remember about the accident?” Jordan searched her face again.

  Riley narrowed her eyes for a moment, frowning. “What’s there to remember? I was in the car with my parents. We crashed and they didn’t survive.” She took a shaky breath.

  Jordan wanted the conversation to die right then. It wouldn’t. He folded his hands together, leaning his elbows on his thighs. He stared at the floor for several seconds before looking back at Riley.

  “What do you remember about where you were going or why?”

  Riley nervously ran her hands down her legs. “What?”

  Jordan let a deep breath rush from him before sitting up straight. “Did they tell you where they were going and why?”

  She tilted her head to the side, thinking. After a few seconds, she furrowed her brow.

  Jordan growled. This conversation was too painful. He needed to end it. Rip the band-aid off.

  “Maybe no one told you or maybe you simply don’t remember, but your parents were running. They knew you were marked and they were running.” Jordan clenched his fists. “They were trying to hide you from me.”

  “What? How do you know?” Riley sat up straighter.

  “Trust me. I know. I was in contact with your grandmother.”

  “What? You’re fucking lying!” Riley started to stand.

  Jordan swiftly laid an arm over her lap, stopping her. Her eyes widened and more tears filled them.

  “They were running. I had to stop them.”

  Riley inhaled sharply and tried to stand again. Jordan just pressed harder against her lap, pinning her to the couch.

  “You’re the reason they’re dead!”

  “I didn’t kill them.” Jordan tried to keep his tone even. “I didn’t even mean for the car to crash. I was simply there to persuade them. I couldn’t have known how drastically your father would run from me. I was young and impulsive. I should have quietly followed you instead of chasing. It was a tragic mishap. I never wanted anything bad to happen to you.”

  “Tragic mishap?” Riley shook under his arm.

  “Sshhh, hon, you have to believe me that I never wanted that to happen and I would change it if I could. I love you more than my own life.”

  Riley push hard against his arm. Jordan held it strong until she lifted her small fist and beat his arm with it. Of course, she wasn’t hurting him. Not physically. Jordan pulled back his arm and she instantly stood.

  His slave started to pace before him. Jordan growled in frustration. This wasn’t going to end well. How could it?

  * * * *

  Riley put her hands on her hips and stopped pacing. She stood at the front door and stared at it. She was furious but also heartbroken. How was this even possible? Her grandmother had communicated with the shifters? At least once, it seemed.

  Riley closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. She was willing her memory of that day to resurface, a thing she never thought she’d want to
do. The memory was faded and fuzzy, but after some concentration and focus, Riley managed to remember just a few things.

  She was in the backseat of the car. She watched her father reach up and adjust the rearview mirror. Riley got a quick glimpse of his face in the mirror. His eyes widened and he swiftly jerked the steering wheel. Had he seen something? Had he seen Jordan?

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Jordan sat on his couch, wringing his hands, and watching his upset lover standing in front of the door, as if she was about to bolt. How did things go so sideways in such a short amount of time? This morning, she was his. This afternoon, he was losing her.

  He wanted to go to her. He wanted to hold her and erase all her anger and sadness, but Jordan was afraid of pushing her. That could make this situation much worse. Goddamn it! Maybe I am too soft. I should smack her ass, tell her she’s my marked slave, and to start acting like it!

  Jordan wasn’t that type of man and he knew it. He didn’t want to be either, but could a man such as himself keep a slave like Riley?

  Finally, Jordan stood from the couch but didn’t go to her right away. He just watched her and tried to read her body language. She was in deep thought and obviously upset. He exhaled and rubbed his face.

  Riley spoke without turning around to face him. “You were at the crash site?”

  Jordan didn’t know what to say so he tried to be as truthful as possible. “Yes.”

  “You walked up and took my necklace.” She turned sideways.

  “Not exactly. I came up on the accident seconds before help arrived. I watched from afar, wanting to see you alive and well.” He took a step toward her. “Afterward, I found that necklace just before the tow trucks cleared the scene.” Jordan stepped closer to Riley. “The reason your parents were in a mad rush was because of me, but I didn’t cause that crash and I certainly didn’t want anyone to die.”

  Jordan reached out and touched her arm. He expected her to pull away immediately, but she simply stood there, still not looking at him, though. Jordan reached up his second hand to grab her waist and this time, she did move away from him.

  “So my parents were desperate to get me away from you. Away from this shifter slave shit.”

  Her words were like daggers to his heart. Riley turned her full attention on him and he could see all the anger in her eyes. His body almost crumbled to the floor when he saw a bit of hate creeping into her stare.

  “Well, maybe they were right to try and hide me.”

  “Riley, love, don’t say that. We are meant to be together. You are marked for me. That distinct mark on your body, the one you were born with, shows it’s so.” He pointed at her neck.

  “Yeah, well, maybe I don’t believe in magic.” She swiftly turned away from him and took a few steps toward the door.

  Jordan stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

  Riley slowed but didn’t turn around. “I’m leaving.”

  “Riley, you can’t.”

  She whipped her head around and there were clear signs of hate now in her expression. “Yes, I can!”

  Fuck! Should he let her go so she could think and maybe blow off some steam? Is that what she needed? Should he tie her to the chair and make her remember who was in charge? In this situation, he didn’t think that the last option would work.

  Jordan’s eyes were begging her to stay. “Pet, please. Let’s talk about this.”

  “I’m going.”

  Those words sounded so undeviating and permanent. Jordan sighed and closed his eyes. He was fucked either way. He would just have to put faith in the connection they had made over the last few days. Hadn’t that been the point of bringing her out here and getting her to willingly stay with him?

  True, it hadn’t been an entire week yet, but Jordan had to believe that the love she showed earlier had been real. Now, was it enough?

  Jordan opened his eyes. “Riley, I’m not giving you up. I will, however, let you go, but only so you can be alone and think. I love you. I mean that.”

  He desperately wanted her to soften and return the words he needed to hear. She didn’t. Riley took a deep shaky breath and a few tears slid down her beautiful face.

  “Pet, I think you have grown to love me, too. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  Her body trembled and she took another sob-filled breath. “I’m going.”

  Jordan was choosing to believe in fate and love. He slowly let go of her. Riley took several deep breaths, not moving away from him. What was she thinking? Riley looked into his eyes and that hate seemed to fade a bit. It was replaced with loneliness which was just as bad.

  At last, she turned toward the door and in a few seconds, she walked out of his home. Jordan prayed it wasn’t from his life, as well. He let out a frustrated, pain-filled yell.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Riley opened the back sliding door of her home. It was still unlocked from the night she had been kidnapped. As she slowly inspected all the rooms, she was thankful that nothing looked to be missing. The only things out of place were where she had been wrestled and taken several days beforehand.

  Immediate sadness and anxiety filled her. In an instant, Riley crumbled. She fell to the floor and started to weep uncontrollably. Old feelings of despair and loss were rising from her parents’ and even her grandmother’s deaths.

  Did her grandmother really try and help Jordan? If so, then didn’t that give her an argument for being with him? Riley sobbed harder still as images of her once Master filled her mind. Before finding that stupid necklace, she would have absolutely said she loved him. Wasn’t that still true?

  Riley pounded her fist against her floor. “Goddamn it!”

  She felt lost. Maybe she needed this whole thing way more than she thought. Riley had needed to be taken against her will, tied up, fucked by her Master, and loved by him, too. But could she really just let her parents’ desire to keep her away from shifters die with them? Ignore their protests from the past?

  Riley slammed her fist against the floor again. “It’s my life, isn’t it?”

  Or was her life already spoken for, with or without her say?

  * * * *

  Riley had been gone for just over twenty-four hours, and Jordan felt dead inside. He had followed her as far as the truce with the town would allow, and knew that she had at least made it into civilization.

  He hadn’t talked to his brothers since his argument with his slave. Jordan didn’t want to tell them the story, yet. He hoped with every fiber in his being that Riley would soon return or at least contact him. Then, after they were together and back in love, he’d tell his brothers about the small hiccup. It was just a temporary hiccup, right?

  The wolf shifter had spent the last twenty-some hours pacing back and forth in his home as his human self, and then pacing on the edge of the forest as his wolf self. Back and forth, staring, thinking, self-loathing.

  He was just returning home from another scan of the path to town. Jordan howled an agonized howl before hanging his white-furred head. After a few silent seconds, he shifted back to his human form. As he took a few slow steps, a thought popped into his mind and he now, at least, had a plan.

  “Those idiots from town! I’ll hire one to check on Riley. Maybe deliver a message for me.”

  Jordan picked up his pace as he got closer to his house. He had the contact information for one of those scoundrels in his study. As he rushed into his home, he prayed it wasn’t too late. He prayed Riley hadn’t already fallen into her old life, forgetting about him and his.

  “Riley, you’re meant to be here. I hope you feel that.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Why don’t you just fucking kidnap her again?” The shorter thief rubbed his hands together.

  Jordan was already beyond annoyed with the man, but he still needed him. Not every man would be willing to do the bidding of a shifter for cash. Jordan closed his eyes for a second, stopping the growl that tried to rise in his throat.

  He opened his e
yes and took a deep breath. “No, not this time. That was because she didn’t know me. She knows me now. I want her to decide.”

  Jordan didn’t know why he was telling this man so much. Maybe it was because he still hadn’t talked with his brothers. He clenched his jaw as stress filled his chest. The man, which he was fairly sure was named Mike, let his arms fall down to his sides as he started to rock back and forth on his heels. He looked a lot more confident this time than the last time they met in the forest. That was probably because he’d been paid by a shifter and lived to tell about it. I’m not in the mood for his bullshit this time. He better just do his fucking job.

  “And all you want me to do is spy on her?”

  “Not spy. I want you to check in on her. I want to know if she seems…normal.” Jordan wanted to see if she was depressed or if she seemed like she was happy and had moved on. He hoped this creep understood that.

  “And you can’t do it yourself because of the stupid agreement with the town?” Mike cocked his head to the side in an annoying fashion.

  Jordan let out his growl that time. He was rapidly losing patience. “Yes. The townsfolk leave us alone, not hunting us, as long as we stay out of town. Now, can you do this job or not?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll spy on your cheating girlfriend for you.”

  That was one straw too much. Jordan stepped forward and swiftly grabbed Mike by the neck. Jordan narrowed his eyes as the man started to cough. Mike tried to claw Jordan’s hand off himself. Jordan only squeezed a bit harder.

  Soon, Mike was being lifted a few inches off the ground. His eyes were as round as saucers as he struggled to breathe.

  “Let me be clear, friend. You are not spying on her. If I find out that you violated her by watching her in the shower or some shit like that, you won’t need my payment because you’ll be six feet underground. Got it?”