Chapter 25

(Isabella’s POV)

My eyes roll back in my head. I think I blacked out for a second. Suddenly, I have a flashback to the moments that followed after I downed my drink at the hotel.

I see myself sitting in the hallway of the hotel moments after drinking the concoction that was mixed in my alcoholic cocktail. I hear heavy footsteps approaching from down the hall.

I notice how the crowd has dispersed. The entire thing was orchestrated. I imagine now that many of the other Alpha’s in attendance have been in league with Jesse this entire time.

Where did everyone suddenly disappear to?

Then I see myself get to my feet and start running. I hear the footsteps chase after me. The sound keeps in time with the throbbing of my headache…both then and now.

I see myself running into Santiago. It feels as though I have stepped back inside my body at that moment. I feel safe near him. My quickened pulse slows down, my wolf quiets and lays down within my mind.

Then I feel my arousal set in. He really could have had me in that moment. But, I sense his arousal too. I missed that last time. Yes, he rejects me only a few moments later, but he wanted me too, or at least part of him did.

Everything goes black for a second. My eyes flutter open. I’m back in my body. I’m here with Jesse.

I try to take in my surroundings. This is a one-room cabin. There’s a double door, the one on the inside of the room looks to be made of steel. There is a table with a hot plate on top. Beneath that, there are canned goods and bottled water.

There is a wall of bladed weapons – an ax, a machete, daggers, and swords. There’s a cot in the corner. And another long table with what looks like alchemy supplies and drugs.

I struggle to move. I’m sweating. My breathing is short, ragged. I feel oxygen-starved and can’t seem to get my lungs to expand enough to get a single full breath.

Oh Moon Goddess, this feels the same as at the hotel! What do I do? What’s he going to do to me?

I do my best to relax my body. I want to shift. But when I reach for my wolf, I realize I can’t feel her. I can’t hear her. It’s like she’s gone.

Oh, Moon Goddess, has he figured out how to kill my wolf?

My head pounds, my surroundings start to blur. The room looks upside down. Nausea washes through me. My heart thunders in my chest, like a pack of wolves running in unison through me.

Jesse licks his lips as he watches me. I can sense his…arousal?

No, no, no! Is he going to rape me? I’m defenseless. He... he could kill me, make it look like an accident, just like the rogue kid! I can’t feel my wolf. What has he done to us?

I wish Santiago were my mate. I wish I were in his pack, what I wouldn’t give to have a mind-link connection to him now, what I would give for him to show up, right now, and rescue me. It’s hopeless. He doesn’t even know I’m missing.

“I knew you were heartless and cruel, Jesse, you proved that during our marriage. I learned the hard way what a liar you are…cheating bastard!”

He chuckles lowly, walks over and kisses me again, hard…forcing his tongue inside my mouth. “You know, feeling your knowledge of me inside Layla got me off more times than I can count. I loved your pain.”

I glare at him. I thought I knew everything horrible there was to know about him. I was wrong. I never pegged him to be a cold-blooded killer.

“The missing rogue kid, he’s the one you hired to drug and photograph me isn’t he? You killed him or had him killed, didn’t you?”

He just stares at me.

“That kid was the burnt remains found in the forest, wasn’t he?” I asked, my voice cracking on the last word.

Jesse doesn’t answer me. The remorseless, unfazed stare tells me it's all true.

“Isabella, what evidence is there against me, and where can I find it all?”

“Santiago has copies of the toxicology reports. They are safe in his study at the pack house. The private investigator, Mr. Singer, believes that you hired rogues to drug and photograph me.”

“Go on,” Jesse murmurs.

“I don’t want to tell you anymore.”

Jesse holds my hair back and squeezes my face. “You don’t have a choice. Tell me now.”

I nod.

He releases me.

My body shakes. I feel cold. Chills quake through my bones and chatter my teeth.

“Bank records show the money you withdrew to pay the rogue kid, then that you placed it back in the account. Your credit card statement has purchases for a camera and the drugs that were in my system at the hotel – Spanish fly, wolfsbane, and GHB.”

Jesse’s jaw clenches. “Go on,” he spits out through gritted teeth.

“He’s working on connecting you to the boy who's gone missing. We think you murdered him and that he is the burnt remains found in the rogue territory.”

Jesse scoffs, “Oh, we believe, do we?”

I scoff right back at him. “I didn’t at first,” I admit. “I knew you were a lying, cheating, son of a bitch, but until right now I didn’t think you were capable of setting your own mate up to be raped or murdering a kid in cold blood.”

“Now, be a good girl and tell me where the healing gem is.”

My eyes have nearly swollen shut, but they manage to widen at his question. The involuntary response worsens the throbbing pain behind my eyes and shoots through to the back of my head and down my neck.

He asked about this at lunch.

“I don’t know what that is!”

He lunges forward, and I flinch.

Jesse laughs, “Not such a tough Alpha, now, are you?”

“Stop hiding it from me, dammit!” he spits out.

“I’m not hiding anything. I don’t know what that is,” I whisper.

My mouth feels like cotton balls have been stuffed into my cheeks, and I feel as though I’ve swallowed a razor blade. It hurts to speak now.

“It’s a treasure passed down in your pack. It has the power to cure all kinds of werewolf illnesses. It can rid me of my infertility, Isabella so that I can have my heir.”

“My parents never told me anything about a healing gem. I’ve never seen one, wouldn’t even know how to recognize one if I were to see it.”

Jesse cocks his head, studying me. “Alright. We will come back to this in a minute, then. Before your truth serum effects wear off, I want to know… what’s the deal with Santiago? He’s not really your mate, is he? Admit it, you are working together just to get revenge, right?

My brain doesn’t process his questions. I answer on impulse alone…

“Santiago Morales, Alpha of Veridian Shadow Pack is my second chance mate. I’m in love with him. Our wolves have connected. He is looking for me. And when he gets here to rescue me, he will kill you, Jesse.”

“The truth serum,” my wolf coos, “speaks the truth. Perhaps we can arrange simultaneous doses for you and Santiago so that you can finally admit to your true feelings to each other.”

“Shut up,” I tell her