“Uncle Jacob, Aunt Stacy,” Eve whispered her eyes huge in her face which filled with tears as they pulled her into their arms.
“I am going to kill those young ladies because they did not tell us that you were his mate,” Stacy remarked as Victoria looked on in astonishment.
She frowned in confusion before she asked waspishly, “Where is Jay?”
They turned to look at her as Eve stepped away from Stacy and back to Arnold who grabbed her hand.
“He will be here soon,” Stan answered.
Arnold had a question in his mind but Stan just looked at him and he knew the answer to it. He had been friends with Jay a longer time than he knew Victoria so he knew what his friend was thinking of even if they had not talked for a long time.
Someone came over to Stan and said with a smile, “We are ready, Alpha Stan.”
Stan smiled clapping him on the back, “So let’s go meet your future Alpha and Alpha Female.” They all smiled as they followed them out of the house to the backyard where the ceremony was going to be held. Stan smiled for the only person going to be surprised was Victoria, the rest of the pack knew who was going to be the future Alpha and they accepted it because in their minds they were still getting both.
Victoria smiled as she followed them out to the backyard although the smile dropped as she saw Jay with his arm wrapped around the human’s waist and she strolled towards them.
“Jay,” she cooed as she reached them glaring at Emily who only looked at her before turning her attention back to where Stan and Cass were taking their place on a makeshift platform.
Then Victoria said sharply, “Jay, now that I am here you do not need the substitute.”
She did not realize that she was attracting a crowd until Stan said with complete authority, “Victoria the ceremony is about to begin.”
She nodded her head as she stood next to Jay sliding a hand through his arm.
Jay did not shake her arm off his, but his arm tightened more on Emily’s waist to draw her closer to him and his fingers clasped her side in his rage at what Victoria had called her.
You are no substitute he told her through the mate link. He felt her hand settle on his at her waist and her heard her whispered reply, I know am not. Remember, I am wearing your ring.
Looking down, he noticed that the hand she had clasped his with and her ring glinted from the lights. He smiled as he moved his fingers lightly so that her fingers slid it through his at her waist. He turned his attention back to his dad more relaxed now.
Victoria, not noticing the interaction, smiled thinking she knew the reason for his sudden relaxation as she looked towards Stan and her future.
“We are gathered here today,” Stan began with Cass next to him, “to pass on the leadership of our pack to the next Alpha. I have enjoyed my time as your Alpha, but it is my time to step down and let my sons take over for me. I have faith in them to lead the pack with strength and respect. I also have faith in the mates that were chosen for them to help and continue with our legacy.” There was clapping as he finished and he smiled as he raised a hand to quiet them down.
“My sons step forward, please,” he asked.
There was a murmur through the crowd as Jay stepped forward with an arm wrapped around Emily while Victoria was clinging to his other arm.
Eve Arnold said through their link.
Don’t worry I am prepared although I don’t think we will need it she replied back to him. He nodded his head as they focused on what was going on.
“My eldest son, Jay,” Stan said.
“Yes father,” he replied holding his gaze.
“You have asked that I pass the Alpha position to your brother. Do you still want to do that?” he asked him.
Victoria gasped at what he said and her nails bit into Jay’s arm to gain his attention, but he ignored her.
“I still do,” Jay confirmed.
Stan nodded his head, “Then I will ask your mate the same questions for you both have to agree.” Victoria relaxed as she realized without her agreement then Mark cannot be Alpha. She waited for the question and when it came, she was dumbfounded.
“Emily Jackson, as Jay’s mate, do you agree with his decision?” Stan said turning to Emily.
Emily said clearly, “I agree with his decision, sir.”
Stan nodded his head although his eyes were smiling, “Mark, as your brother has passed on the Alpha position to you, do you accept it?”
“I do,” Mark said and he felt power go through at his confirmation.
Stan smiled this time fully, “Sasha, as the next Alpha Female, do you accept your mate’s decision?”
Sasha took a deep breathe and knowing that Emily was smiling with encouragement along with her parents; she said clearly, “I do.” As with Mark, she felt the power go through her along with all the thoughts of all the pack members.
“Let me present your new Alpha and Alpha Female,” he declared throughout the yard as Victoria stared around her in stunned silence at what just happened. Her hand dropped away from Jay as Mark pulled him forward along with Emily as the applause welcoming the new Alpha and Alpha Female died down.
Mark said loudly, “First order of business before we enjoy the rest of the night. Jay, will you accept the position of my second-in-command? Will you be my Beta?”
Jay smiled as Emily giggled, “I accept, Alpha.”
They all laughed as Victoria vibrated with anger. She would wait though until the party ended before she tackled Stan about what happened.
The party lasted for a few more hours until everyone decided to head home except the ones who stayed in the pack house although it was only few unmated males. Jay had asked Arnold and Eve to stay and they were sitting around talking with them as their parents sat near the open doors leading to the garden.
Victoria came strolling in to stand in the middle of the room, “Alpha, I need to speak with you.”
Mark stepped forward, but she ignored him as she stared at Stan.
“What can I do for you, Victoria?” Stan said as everyone stared at her.
“I feel that I should let you know that you have been deceived,” Victoria said bluntly.
Stan raised an eyebrow at her as the others looked at her in amazement, “Really, Victoria? How was I deceived as you put it?”
“I am Jay’s true mate,” Victoria said confidently. “As his true mate, I do not accept his decision to give up the Alpha position to his brother.”
“True mate!” Mark scoffed.
Victoria ignored him as she smiled at Stan, “Jay knows this to be true although I am surprised that you allowed him to proclaim a human as his mate.”
“Victoria,” Stan said tensely and she smiled thinking she had won that she did not hear the note of anger in his voice.
“Did Jay mark you?” Stan asked suddenly. Everyone looked at him in confusion for they knew the answer to that question.
Victoria tossed her hair over her shoulder as she answered demurely, “No, he wanted to wait until tonight.”
“I see,” Stan said slowly, “Jay, do you know what would have happened if you had not marked your mate before the ceremony tonight?”
“Of course,” Jay said with a smile. “She would have no say in whether or not I accepted or passed up the decision.”
There was complete silence at his words. Then Stan said to Victoria, “So you see, Victoria, even if you were his mate, you would not have been able to deny his decision because you are not marked by him. Only marked mates can give their vote in such a ceremony.”
“But…” Victoria said looking at them. Then she noticed what she did not before. Emily’s dress showed where her mate mark began as the rest was hidden by her dress.
Her face screwed in anger, “You marked her as your mate, Jay, a human. Why would you want that worthless female compared
to me, a she-wolf?”
Jay tensed where he stood and he felt Emily’s temper rise as she said clearly, “What about your first mate, Victoria? Taylor?”
Victoria was stunned for a moment before she pulled herself together, “Is that how you got him to accept you? Telling him some lame story about me having a first mate?” She had not realized that Arnold and Eve were still there until he spoke up.
“So are you saying that you did not have a first mate, Victoria?” Arnold said where he sat. Victoria turned to him in shock as he continued with narrowed eyes, “Which means that you lied to me.”
“I…I” Victoria stuttered then she allowed tears to fill her eyes, “I told you the truth. I did have a mate but he died in an attack.” She turned her eyes to Jay as she said, “I thought Arnold was my second mate but when I met you, I knew that he was not.”
“And yet, you let him mark you,” Jay said without hesitation. Victoria bit her lip for she did not know what to say to him.
“I thought that it was better to accept him over the grief of losing another mate I cared for,” she began to sob.
“Interesting,” Sasha said rolling her eyes.
“I can think of another word to describe it,” Emily uttered and Victoria glared at her through her fake tears.
“You have no say in this, whore,” she spat.
Emily’s eyes glowed amber as she said, “Oh yes, I do considering that you are claiming my MATE as yours.”
“Please,” Victoria sneered, “you are a pathetic human. What can you actually do for someone like him?”
Then she turned to Jay with a seductive smile, “Jay, honey, tell everyone truth.”
“Of course, Victoria,” Jay said nodding his head. Then he said clearly slipping an arm around Emily’s waist, “Emily is my mate although you tried your best to convince me that it was you until you let Arnold mark it. Of course, they did not work so well for you when he met Eve. Then you refocused your attention back to me not realizing that I had already met my mate, my first and only mate.”
“No,” she sneered not wanting to give up, “You are my mate. I am your Alpha Female.”
“I am not Alpha,” Jay said slowly.
“You could have been, but you had give it away to become Beta, second-in-command. How stupid is that,” Victoria sneered starting to lose her control.
Emily tilted her head to the side as the amber in her intensified, “Have you ever heard of a seer, Victoria?” she asked. Not giving her time to answer the question, she continued as her voice hardened, “You see I know how you tried to have your mate killed by a rogue, but your mate was stronger than you thought. Since he was defending you, he was able to use all the strength that made him a fighter wolf for his pack which you never knew because you only saw him as a geek. Of course, Taylor knew what you had done as he told me you were not that good of an actress.” Victoria turned pale as she stepped back stumbling in her heels.
“NO,” she cried in fear, “You cannot know that, it is impossible.”
“Did you know Victoria that by killing your mate, you doomed yourself?” Emily asked her quietly.
Victoria looked at her for a moment then a crazy haze went across her vision as she screamed, “I deserved better than that weak fool. It was my destiny to be an Alpha Female, it is my right.”
“No,” Jay said tightening his arm on Emily, “A true Alpha Female does what is best for her pack not for herself. You would never have done that because the only thing you wanted was the power.”
Before she could answer him there was a flash of light then a voice sung, “I have been waiting for you, my love.” Victoria screamed as a man materialized in front of them all. Emily looked at him as he focused on Victoria.
“No,” Victoria cried, “You are died. I know you are. I made sure of it.”
“I know you did, my love,” he crooned, “that is why I am here still. They have allowed me to take you with me as my mate.”
“No,” Victoria whimpered as she stumbled back and she tripped hitting her head on the floor. The figure sighed heavily as he slid forward to pick her up and Emily asked hesitatingly, “What is going to happen to her?”
He smiled at Emily as a hard light entered his eyes before he said, “I told you that she will not interfere and she will not. She will get her just reward.”
Then he disappeared with Victoria in his arms and the room was silent as they tried to understand what had happened.
Emily looked at the spot where Taylor and Victoria had been, and she felt sympathy go through her as Jay hugged her to him.
Epilogue
Six months later
“Emily,” Sasha cried out as she came through the door with her packages. Emily came out of the living room with laughing eyes as she asked, “What did you do buy out the store?”
She grabbed most of the bags from her before they headed upstairs to the room that Mark had converted into a nursery.
Sasha glared at her as they entered the nursery, “Wait until you are pregnant and as big as a horse, and you tell me if you don’t have certain cravings.”
Emily laughed as she helped her into the rocker that Jay bought for the couple for their first child and she said, “Most pregnant women have food cravings, Sasha, not shopping cravings.”
“To each their own,” Sasha retorted relaxing in the chair as Emily chuckled and began putting away the baby clothes that Sasha had picked up not including the toys and odds-and-ins that she picked up.
Emily continued putting the things away as her mind wondered back over the last six months. After Victoria disappeared the night of the ceremony, she and Jay had decided to wait to let everyone know that they were engaged, but Sasha had seen the ring as they headed up to bed and they had a small celebration in the early morning to congratulate the newly engaged couple. A few days later, they had started talking about when to have the wedding. Sasha had wanted them to have a double wedding, but Emily had disagreed for she believed that Sasha deserved a wedding all to herself. Sasha had cried which in turn had everyone getting on to Emily for getting a pregnant woman upset so that she relented and three months later, they had been married.
She frowned as she though about Victoria for she still felt bad about what happened to her. Although the others had said that she had brought it on herself, and Emily understood that but since she did not know what exactly happened to her, then she felt bad about it.
She sighed heavily as she put away the last few things and she turned to Sasha with a smile, “All done, Sasha.”
Sasha opened one eye as she looked at her, “Emily, you have been thinking about Victoria and I know that you feel bad about what happened, but you have to remember it was not your fault. Victoria did it to herself.”
“I know,” Emily said softly knowing more than even Sasha knew about what would have happened if she had not existed, but she still felt bad for Victoria.
“Okay, Sasha, I will stop worrying about it,” she said a moment later to see Sasha looking at her with wide eyes.
“Sasha, are you okay?” Emily said rushing over to her side.
Sasha blinked at her as she said slowly, “Emily, you smell different.”
Emily had to laugh in relief as she said, “A new perfume that I am trying.”
“No,” Sasha said shaking her head, “more than that…like your scent has changed.”
Then both of their eyes widened as realization came to them.
Emily sunk down to her knees as her hand immediately splayed across her abdomen.
She asked in disbelief, “I am pregnant?”
“I believe so,” Sasha said. “Too bad Jay and Mark won’t be back for another day or Jay could definitely tell you if you were.” Emily was listening but she was thinking back to her last monthly, and she paled when she realized she was not sure.
“Emily, did you hear me?�
� Sasha asked her and Emily turned her head to look at her.
“Huh?” she asked and Sasha laughed shaking her head.
“Jay can tell if you are pregnant right away,” she said. Then she said crossly, “It is frustrating that the male can tell before we can that we are pregnant.”
Emily chuckled but her mind was wondering. Was she really ready for a baby? She loved Michaela and her new niece or nephew, but her own? What would Jay think as they had only been married for three months? Was he ready to be a father? Then she paled, what about her gift?
“Emily, I think you worrying over nothing,” Sasha said seeing her sister go pale.
Emily quickly got to her feet as she mumbled, “I need to go and get a few things. Will you be okay, Sasha?”
Sasha nodded her head knowing that the news hit her hard and she needed some time to process the information as Emily hurried out of the room. She began to rock slowly as she rubbed her swollen stomach and she said quietly to her baby, “It looks like that you will have more than one cousin to play with, little one.”
Emily did not know where she was going until she pulled into the mall parking lot, the first place that Jay and Mark brought them when they first arrived there. She walked into the mall a little dazed as she contemplated the news of the baby, if she was indeed pregnant although her senses were telling her that she was. She walked around the stores looking at baby things as she thought about everything that happened since they moved here. Everything came to her in flashes as she walked around, and she thought about Garrett and Celeste. Two weeks after they left, Garrett accepted the position of Beta for the pack, and Celeste was finishing school with Garrett’s support. She wanted to learn from the pack doctor, and Garrett supported her decision as he continued to help and support the pack. Emily was happy for them as Garrett had moved past his brother’s death and leading his own life.
As for Arnold and Eve, they were fixtures in their life although Arnold had his own pack to run. Eve was pregnant with their first child and Emily was happy for her and Arnold as Sasha loved the fact that her child would have another “cousin” to play with besides Michaela although if she was pregnant, then there would be another one too.
Marked in a Vision Page 17
