Page 20 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
Jackson Trent, indebted to Kato Montolli…
… Hereby agrees to get Sasha Harlow, a leopard species, into the pack as a companion…
… Whatever means necessary…
“Sasha.” Conall’s voice nearly brought me back again but I was lost, spiraling through those words.
… Earn the leopard’s trust. She will learn part of our plan for the town…
… Jackson will stage their breakup, leaving the pack Sasha’s only place to go…
… The plan will commence…
… A new species: leopard and wolf. Speed and strength. Agility and build…
Nausea rolled through me as I thought about Jackson’s name at the bottom of the contract, agreeing to it all. Except it was no longer just sadness and anger that weighed me down. It was betrayal, a need for revenge.
“Soon,” I whispered to Conall. “Not yet. I need to process it first.”
He blinked, as if surprised at my offer of trust. He nodded, pulling back from me. My skin was alight where he’d pressed his lips and teeth to my fingertip.
Conall offered me his hand to tug me off the floor. I let him help me, and I dropped into the passenger side of the car, sighing. We drove back into Silverlake Valley, and I wondered whathe’dfound that was of use in that office.
***
After Conall dropped me off home, I had my box of mementos open, the contents tipped into the sink, my sobs hiccupping past my lips as I gathered it all to burn.
I was finally letting go. Seeing that contract had finally unlocked the need in me to trash every memory I had of Jackson and my relationship, now knowing it was all fake.
He’d used me, targeted me personally, became the hero who’d saved me from my home, took me away from there, ruined my life. He got me surrounded by the wolves, right at the heart of their pack. The whole time he’d been planning to leave me, to make sure that when the heartbreak happened, I would only have the pack to turn to. And I would have, had Kato not assigned me to find Thalia and take advantage of her heartbreak, until we’d genuinely become friends. Kato had made me bring Thalia in to be an assassin, someone to get rid of Fenrys; Jackson had brought me in to be the pack’s eventual toy, to make a new shifter species combining my DNA and theirs.
My stomach lurched at the thought. Who would have done it? Fathered a wolf-leopard cub in me? Kato himself? I let out a snarl as I flicked the lighter on and held it to the picture of Jackson and I in San Francisco. I was a virgin, and Jackson had never gone the whole way with me. We’d fooled around, but I’d always thought he respected my decision to wait. Now I realized he hadn’t done it out of respect.
He just hadn’t been contracted to my bodily rights the whole way. No, I’d been saved for Kato’s use.
A slimy sort of violation crawled through my skin as I thought of how close to danger I’d come. But then another thought hit me: if Jackson left due to our fake breakup, what had he been doing all this time? He’d told me it was due to us not working out as he wanted to leave the pack and would find it hard if I didn’t go with him, but now I knew his full motives. So where was Jackson, and what, exactly, had he been doing since leaving the pack and me?
As the last memories of a relationship that had been fake from the start began to burn in my bathroom sink, I grabbed my phone, typing furiously. I wasn’t upset anymore; I was fucking furious. For the first time in months, I opened Jackson’smessage thread. I still hadn’t deleted our messages. I did that now and began anew, wanting him to know exactly how I felt in person.
I want to meet with you. I know you’ve not gone far, Jackson. Meet me in Jack’s diner, Silverlake Valley, as soon as you can.
A reply came not even ten minutes later.I see you’ve finally found your fire again. I’m available on Sunday morning. I’ll be there at 10:30.
That was two days away. I’d have to let my landlord and sort of employer know I would have to cancel the shift she’d asked me to do but I couldn’t risk Jackson not offering another meeting.
I didn’t tell Conall or Thalia. I’d agreed to fake date Conall for the sake of his leads, but this was one to do on my own. I poured a glass of wine before grabbing the whole bottle and retreating to my bathroom, filling the bath.
I’ll be there.
Chapter 10 - Conall
I was heading out of Silverlake Valley and towards the highway when my phone pinged.
Sasha: My lead is going well.
That was all she said. No name, no indication, nothing specific. I rolled my eyes, throwing my phone on the dash. On second thoughts, I pulled over onto the side of the road, throwing my car into park.
I grabbed my phone again.
