Jay’s smile disappeared as he took a deep breathe before he explained what Emily and him discovered as they helped Garrett and Celeste.
“I never heard of someone doing that to their mate. I have heard of someone rejecting their mate, even the less thrilling idea of abusing their mate, but never going as far as killing their mate,” Jacob said with a grimace.
Stan looked down at his desk in thought as the others looked at him wondering what he thought about what Jay said.
“Dad,” Jay said quietly.
Stan signed as he looked up, “Victoria went against the nature of being a werewolf. To reject one’s own mate is bad enough, but to actually do what she did,” he stopped and shook his head.
Jay and Mark looked at each other in confusion before turning their attention back to their father.
He continued, “When you reject your mate, you are saying that they are not right for you, or nowadays, the one chosen as your mate does not fit the preconceived notion you have of your mate. From what you telling us, Victoria accepted her mate, and then find a way to take her mate out of the picture. By doing so in that fashion, she ruined herself because fate is tricky in the way it works. It seems to know exactly what one does and counterbalances that action.”
Jay and Mark still looked confused as they stared at him.
Stan sighed and looked at Jacob who was sitting back against the couch looking at him.
“I explained that badly, didn’t I?” he asked with a laugh. Jacob shook his head “yes” as he snickered.
“You ever wonder why an individual when they are rejected can find a second mate?” Stan asked. Both Jay and Mark nodded their head at the question.
“We are designed to share our lives with someone designed specifically for us, not who we think should be are mate. A wolf’s mate is the one that balances them out and keeps them sane even when everything could be following apart. Second mates are the chance to find that even ground, that certain someone who can calm the wolf part of you. Even second mates are predestined, but only when one is rejected or loses their mate far too soon by means that we see everyday. If you notice, most of the wolves that do the rejecting rarely get that chance because they had their specific person and they threw them away.”
“So by killing her mate,” Jay said slowly, “Victoria messed with the natural order of things.”
Stan nodded his head, “She is trying to rewrite what nature has already decided and it is not that easy.”
He continued, “When I met your mom, I thought fate had to be messing with me. A human was my mate although I knew that it was normal in our bloodline, I just wanted to run from it. I thought about rejecting her, but I realized that by her rejecting me, then it would be better. Your mom was stubborn and in turn, she made me happy with that stubbornness. One of my friends at the time told me I was crazy for accepting a human as my mate, but I have never regretted it once.”
“Why?” Mark asked leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Because she made have been human, but she was perfect for me,” Stan said with a smile. “I hope that your mates give you the same feeling.”
Mark nodded his head with a smile as Jay looked at him with a slight frown.
“How can one be sure though?” he asked quietly. The others laughed as Stan said, “You will know Jay although I think you do already, but with everything going on, you may not see it yet.”
Jay nodded his head as he thought about Emily and a smile crossed his face. Then he remembered what Mark said before the discussion and he turned to him.
“You said I had two phone calls,” Jay reminded him.
Mark frowned slightly as he said, “Arnold called and he wanted to talk to you.”
“Really,” Jay said completely shocked.
“See what he wants,” Stan said already knowing as did Jacob.
Jay shrugged his shoulders and pulled out his phone from his pocket. He dialed Arnold’s number and he waited for him to pick up.
“Hello,” Arnold said.
“Hi, you wanted to speak with me,” Jay said bluntly.
“Jay,” Arnold said with enthusiasm and Jay lifted his eyebrow. “Man, I have been trying to get a hold of you for weeks.”
“I had something I had to take care of. What is on your mind, Arnold?” Jay said.
“I would like you and Mark to meet my mate. Well, my second mate actually,” there was a pause before he continued, “my true second mate. Eve wants meet you two and both of your…mates.”
Jay heard the hesitation as he said “mates” and he looked at Mark who said through their pack link, He probably thinks that you marked Victoria has your mate especially as often as she has been over here.
“So, Jay would you and Mark come to dinner tonight?” Arnold asked.
Jay could help the laugh that came out, “You are nervous Arnold.”
Arnold was silent for a moment then he said, “I really need to talk to you Jay. Besides, not to be mushy or anything, I miss hanging out with my friend.”
Jay looked at Mark who had a smile on his face and he gave him a thumb ups.
Jay nodded his head, “What time, Arnold?”
“Around six,” they heard him let a sigh and then they heard him say to someone in the background, “They are coming.”
Then a woman’s voice from the background was heard, “How many are coming?”
Jay answered before he could repeat the question, “Four.”
“Okay,” Arnold said after he relayed the info to his mate, and then he said, “Jay, I hope she does not cause any trouble.”
“Don’t worry, Arnold,” Jay said with confidence, “she won’t make any trouble.”
“See you at six then,” Arnold said and with a goodbye they hung up.
Mark laughing said, “Let’s hope the girls are back before then.”
Jay’s eyes widened as he groaned, “Damn, I did not think about that.”
The women returned around five that evening and as they came through the door, Jay and Mark both snatched their mates away before anyone could stop them.
“What is the rush?” Sasha growled as they walked them up the stairs and Emily frowned.
“We have been invited to dinner,” Mark began.
Jay continued, “It is at Arnold Westwood house, Alpha of the Stronghold Pack.”
“What?” Sasha and Emily both said together.
Jay sighed, “He wants us to meet his mate…second mate. He also said he needs to talk with me about something.”
Emily looked at him with her brown eyes with those amber highlights he loved so much and she nodded her head.
“I need a shower and a change of clothes. What time is dinner?” she said heading for their room.
“Six,” Mark said and Sasha screeched at him before running to their room.
Both Mark and Jay laughed at her reaction as Emily rolled her eyes entering the room, and heading straight for the shower.
Thirty minutes later, she was ready. She was adding a light touch of make-up when Jay walked into the room.
“Emily,” he said.
“Almost done,” she replied adding her lip gloss before stepping back from the mirror.
She nodded her head at her reflection and headed into the bedroom.
Jay looked up and forgot what he was going to say. Emily looked beautiful with her brown hair pulled back at the sides with clips and the rest hung down her back. She had an off the shoulder cream-colored blouse that showed a hint of their mate mark which she combined with a pair of chocolate brown jeans. She looked down at herself and asked, “I was going to wear a skirt but…”
“You look great,” Jay said huskily and Emily blushed as she walked towards him in her brown ankle boots.
He kissed her as she stopped in front of him and he was about to deepen it when Mark knocked on the d
oor.
“Come on now,” he said loudly and Sasha giggled.
Jay pulled away and muttered, “I am going to kill him.”
Emily just laughed as he placed an arm around her waist and led her out of the room.
Taking Mark’s car, they headed to Arnold’s house and were a few minutes early when they pulled into the driveway.
They climbed out laughing, but as they mounted the steps tension set in.
“Ring the bell, Jay,” Emily encouraged and Jay scowled as he did it knowing that Emily felt his tension seeing his friend what felt like years.
Arnold opened the door with a smile although he grimaced when a loud noise came from the kitchen.
“Come in,” he said distractedly.
They entered the house and heard another loud noise from the kitchen followed by a curse.
Arnold ran a hand through his hair as he looked at them. His smile froze as he saw Emily.
“Arnold,” Mark began, “This is my mate Sasha Jackson.” Then he said with a smile, “This is her sister, Emily.”
“My mate,” Jay intervened and Arnold looked at him in shock.
Before he could say anything, a young woman came out of the kitchen. Her long red hair was pulled into a ponytail as her gray eyes shimmered with anger.
“Arnold, we may have to order…” her voice drifted as she noticed them.
Sasha and Emily felt their eyes widened as they said clearly, “Eve”.
The woman unfroze as she ran forward to hug both of them, “Sasha, Emily, how I have missed you.” All three of them begin talking at once as their mates looked on in amazement.
Chapter 25
“Did you think that we would ever meet again, Eve?” Sasha asked as they all settled in the living room after dinner.
It had taken the men a good twenty minutes when they first arrived to separate their mates so they could decide what to do for dinner.
“So when did you learn to cook?” Emily had teased as they headed for the kitchen.
“It has been almost ten years, Emily,” Eve had said dryly until they got to the kitchen where she had to admit, “But I am not very good at it.”
They had all laughed before the women pushed the men out and restarted making dinner, and it came out just fine as they sat around the table talking.
Now they were in the living room and Eve settled back against the arm Arnold had placed around her as she answered Sasha’s question, “I did not think I would not after what happened.”
Emily who was sitting in Jay’s lap in the chair said quietly, “It was not your fault, Eve.”
“I agree with Emily, Eve. It was not your fault what happened back then,” Sasha said sincerely.
Eve’s eyes filled with the tears as she whispered, “Thank you.”
Emily could see the confusion and questions in Jay and Mark’s eyes while Arnold’s eyes showed his concern for her as his arms tightened around her.
Sasha and Emily both looked at Eve for her approval to tell their mates about her and she gave it with a nod of her head.
Sasha began, “We met Eve when she was ten, I was eleven and Emily was nine. We liked each other from the first meeting. It was Emily, though, who realized that she was different from us; the she-wolf and the human.” She laughed as Eve chuckled, “Yeah, we were all different and learning to deal with it.”
Emily nodded her head as she continued on from there, “Eve is a full-blooded witch unlike Celeste who is a werewolf and a witch. Celeste might be the strongest of her kind but Eve is more powerful.” She stopped for a moment before she continued, “We really did not mind her being a witch. I mean, I was having dreams/visions from the age of three and Sasha always knew that she was a werewolf so she was growing into her enhanced senses even then although she did not shift for another five years. Unfortunately, a few weeks before her eleventh birthday, an accident happened and everything changed.”
Eve decided to take up the story from there, “My mom had been training me in my powers, but she had been getting upset with my stubbornness in not wanting to learn. You see to my mom, the stronger my powers the more she could use me to get what she wanted so I refused to learn. My mom decided that abusing me would make me want to learn so the abuse would stop but one certain day, she had went too far. I forget, now, what happened to set me off but I blew up the house with us inside of it. I was lucky to have survived and the only reason I did as it was explained to me that the blast blew me out the window onto the front lawn. There was so much commotion and confusion that everything is a blur to me until Sasha and Emily’s parents brought me to their house after everything died down. I never knew what was said to cover my lost of control, but I stayed with them until they found an aunt I do not know I had. She was full-blooded witch like I was and she took me in, and begin to train me to develop and control my powers. Unlike my mother, though, she understood my reluctance in learning to develop my powers and it took her four years to get me to accept my fate as a witch. After I accepted it, I learned everything I could for the next five years and I surprised myself in what I remembered in the first four years with her. I remember her laughing telling me that I may have not wanted to accept it, but my mind had remembered everything because it knew that in the end I was going to come to peace with it.”
Emily looked at her in sadness as Sasha asked, “What happened to your aunt?”
“She died when I was eighteen fighting another witch who had been using black magic,” Eve confided and Emily straightened in Jay’s lap.
She looked at Arnold before her gaze returned to Eve.
Eve looked around the room, “I came to this area because I needed a fresh start and then I met Arnold.” She smiled at him as he hugged her to him, “I felt something the moment we met and his touched gave me a pleasant jolt, but I ignored it. Arnold was a jerk but for some reason he kept coming around as if he was trying to prove something, and then I met Victoria.”
Emily started to laugh and she collapsed against Jay. They all looked at her like she was crazy except for Eve who smiled.
“Poor Victoria,” Emily finally said wiping her eyes.
“What?” they all yelled except Eve who began to chuckle. Emily just smiled, “It was just her bad luck that the Alpha-to-be she wanted had a second mate who was a witch and could see right through her amateur spells.”
“Okay,” Sasha said slowly confused as Jay and Mark eyes widened in understanding.
“Are you saying that Victoria is a witch?” Sasha asked with a frown.
“No,” Eve explained to Sasha, “She is merely a magic user. She has no real powers, but she was taught certain spells that anyone can use with the right ingredients.”
Sasha’s eyes widened as she asked, “Are you telling me that she used a spell to make Arnold believe that she was his mate?”
“Second mate,” Eve corrected. “Arnold lost his first mate when they were both sixteen. She had been killed by a rogue wolf not too long after her first shift, but they had not mated yet and Arnold had not marked her.” She tilted her head and everyone could see the mark on her neck.
“I am sorry, Arnold,” Jay said in sympathy. “You never mentioned it to us.”
“I know, but it was a touchy subject. I never really discussed it with anyone including Victoria so I don’t know how she knew about it,” he stated with a frown.
“Research,” Emily, Sasha and Eve all said at the same time.
Arnold raised his brows as Jay and Mark laughed.
“When she told me her mate died,” he continued ignoring their laughter, “I realized that it would be simple to make her my second mate. I did not love her, but I was very attracted to her.”
Eve frowned at him and Arnold said immediately, “But I am more attracted to you.”
Jay groaned as he said, “To think that she was able to use the same trick on both of us.”
Arnold and Eve looked over at him as Sasha eyes widened again in astonishment and Mark shook his head.
“She wanted Jay, but she wanted the Alpha Female position even more,” Emily explained.
“So once I marked her, she stopped using the spell on you until she realized that you were in line for an Alpha position yourself, Jay” Arnold summarized
“Bingo,” Jay said.
Arnold muttered something under his breath and Eve frowned as she looked at Jay, “But there is no spell on you.”
Emily giggled at that, “Because she thinks he still wants her without it.”
“But he is mated to you,” Eve said still confused.
“I am human, Eve,” Emily stated softly and Eve gasped.
“I have heard of werewolves like you,” Arnold replied looking at Jay with new respect.
“So Victoria believes that I am no threat for why would a powerful Alpha-to-be pick a useless human as his mate compared to a she-wolf,” Emily remarked after Arnold made his statement.
Eve and Sasha began laughing as finally as they understood what Emily had meant earlier.
“Poor Victoria,” Sasha said imitating Emily who just shrugged.
“After everything she has done to Jay and Arnold, and she still gets neither one,” Eve said still laughing.
Emily and Jay looked at each other before Jay said quietly, “That is not all she has done.”
Then he went on to explain what they learned from Garrett.
“How could she,” Sasha cried out as Mark pulled her close to his side.
Arnold was silent with fury as Eve settled back against him her eyes wide in disbelief.
“I have never heard of a werewolf killing their own mate for any reason,” Arnold said harshly.
Jay’s hold on Emily tightened as he said quietly, “I know.”
They stayed for a couple more hours before they left.
Jay invited them to the ceremony in a few days time which they gladly accepted.
The next day, Jay went to the jewelry store to pick up the ring he had ordered. He smiled when the woman showed it to him.
Marked in a Vision Page 15
