Page 114 of The Packaged Deal

“Your mother is nothing to us or our future. You never have to see her again.” It’s a simple solution to this problem. I don’t understand what’s going on here. This is a side I’ve never seen before. She is spilling pain from every inch of her, all the while, building walls to shut me out.

She looks up, her eyes filled with tears, but her face is furious. “You still don’t get it, Adrian. Nothing she said is wrong. I don’t have a pack. There are no bond marks on my person. I am not wanted. I am weird and unnatural. The packs don’t like me and the alphas-” she laughs bitterly. “The alphas think I’m good enough to fuck but not bond.”

“That’s not true!” I snap at her.

“ISN’T IT?” she bellows, surging up off the couch. “Isn’t that exactly what you’ve done?”

I let out a low hiss. Furious with her, with myself. But I’m concerned, I've never seen her like this before. How do I fix this?

“It's not like that,” Kandi says softly.

She just deliberately looks from us to Sven. He stands there mute.

“Sven, please!” Kandi growls with a note of desperation in her voice that panics me.

He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

I look back at Jade. Tears are streaming from her eyes.

“See! My mother didn’t lie.” Her bitter voice is full of so much self-loathing.

I stalk towards her, gripping her upper arms and pulling her to my chest.

“Your mother was so far wrong it’s not funny. You’re wrong if you believe that we’re not a pack. We are. And I will-”

She pulls away from me, refusing my touch. I turn my head to glare at Sven.

“You have a pack,” I growl louder.

She ignores me.

“You know what I don’t understand? Why am I still here? You’ve told me over and over that it’s not possible. You keep saying the words. What makes me so stupid that I think I can change you? Why am I just staying here, getting hurt?”

“Jade,” I groan. I can’t take her pain. I’m frantic and growing more and more uneasy. This is agony, I can’t hear this defeat, this bone deep sorrow.

She huddles in on herself, rubbing her face on her knees.

“No, this isn’t right,” I snarl. “You’re ours. That was the plan. After your heat when you’re in your right mind.”

She just continues to make these pitiful sobs. I sit on the couch and drag her into my arms. She fights me, but I ignore her, resting my chin on her head.

“I was going to bond you. Jade, please, I was claiming you tonight,” I whisper over and over, but she doesn’t hear me. “I was claiming you.”

Her sobs quiet down, but she doesn’t speak. She just stays trembling in my arms.

Kandi is crouched in front of us, rubbing her hand.

“What do we do?” she mouths at me.

I shake my head, but I don’t know.

Sven paces back and forth in front of us. Finally, he spits out a curse, pulls her out of my arms and stalks off with her.

“SVEN!” I roar and charge after them.

He ignores me and takes her straight into the spare room that Kandi has modified into a temporary gym. He sets her down and pushes her.

“Hit me.”

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