~Third-Person POV~
The tension was rising as everyone sat in silence. James kept his stare at Alex and Avery. Alex was fiddling with his hands and not able to look at Avery sensing how mad his alpha was. Alex gave a shocking glare at James the moment she sat down, he may be a pain in the ass but he is and has always been James's most loyal and trustworthy warrior and brother. In addition, he is the strongest.
James couldn't stop staring daggers at the two people sitting in front of him and he could barely contain his wolf. His wolf wanted his mate and the sight of his mate beside another man was causing him to claw and growl inside James's head. However, Avery was giving of a smirk and she had a glint in her eyes and that's when James realized.
' Relax Blade, she playing a game, I can see it in her eyes. She feels all mighty and tuff now that she made a move of her own. It's cute. You wanna play princess, let's play'
James told his wolf as he leaned back and crossed his arms, relaxing completely, well not completely but to his best efforts. His wolf tried to calm down but was still pacing around in James' head.
Avery was shocked when she saw James relax with a smug smile on his face and that just made her even more irritated, which James could see, making him even smugger.
Alice had not yet taken her seat.
She went over and placed a hand on James's shoulder
" May I speak with you in private, my son," Alice said and she headed out the service door on the other side of the room before James answered. He looked over at Avery and Alex and didn't want to leave them alone but had no other choice when Alice called for him and he had to leave.
" What's wrong?" James asked as soon as he got to Alice. He didn't want to waste a second being away from Avery. She's decided to get under his skin, and it's already working with the little thing she has done.
" What's wrong? Are you kidding me, child, you growled! That's what's wrong, I had to stall her and she knows it was all fake," James' face dropped at the thought that something would ruin the plan.
" Did she hear anything?" He asked
" No, the girl heard nothing, only I did. I'm a wolf too remember? Listen, James, this has to go well. She has to come home with us, she must come to the pack or there will be consequences. But you listen to me, if you hurt that girl in any way, I will be that consequence, are we clear? She is sweet and caring and must be treated with respect. However, I know you don't take kindly to the fact that she's mostly human, but you be nice to her."
Alice said with a firm tone, Ever since Jame's parents passed, Alice had been like a mother to the three siblings, helping them with whatever they needed, listening to them, and comforting them in times of need. Therefore, even James took her words to heart, except he was the alpha and was not good at taking orders.
" I am the alpha. She is about to be my wife and I will do with her as I please. I have no intentions of harming her, however, she is merely a human, she's weak, she will be my wife, but she will never be my mate. She doesn't know the meaning of a mate so she will not be hurt by my decision." James spoke in a serious manner
" She may not know the meaning of that word just yet my child, but one day she will, would you still not accept her?" Alice asked, with a serious look on her face. She only ever wore a serious face when talking to the three people she considered her children.
" No I wouldn't. It would make me weak if I rejected her sense I am marrying her, she will be with me all of the time, Blade would not forgive me." James answered
" Well, then I believe she's in good hands, but remember James, she will find out the truth about everything within the next few days. Her parents will call her and tell her. In order for this to work she has to sever all ties with her family like they did with her the moment she was sold. She has never known true love James, don't screw this up." Alice said and as she was heading for the door and she reached the doorknob she turned around and faced James again as she said " Oh and by the way James, Avery is much stronger than you might think," with those final words Alice walked back out into the dining hall.
James stood in his place and didn't move, he had to take everything in and then go out and face Avery. He didn't know exactly how she would react when she found out the truth, but that was a problem for another day.
As James was dragging his hands over his face, he suddenly heard giggling from outside and he could tell who they were. James burst open the door to find Alex and Avery close to each other, talking, laughing. He suddenly felt a hand grab his own and when he looked over to see who it was, it was his sister. Amber gently rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. She had been doing this since they were children, whenever James would get too angry and he wasn't able to control himself, she grabbed her little brother's hand and rubbed circles on his hand with her thumb. This was the only thing that always managed to calm him.
"Oh, hello James, how nice of you to join us," Avery's words came out like golden liquid and flowed into James's ears like lava, burning the inside of his skull.
' She's pushing it. She is really pushing It' He told himself as his jaw ticked.
James took his seat at the table. Well aware of Avery's gameplay, he would not succumb to his jealousy and anger towards Avery and Alex.
The rest of the morning they all had breakfast and made small talk. A few laughs here and there were also thrown in.
" So, Avery, are you excited about the trip?" Amber asked as she looked at Avery with subtleness and warmth in her eyes.
" I am, it just feels a bit weird going so far away without speaking to my parents. In fact, it feels weird that they haven't tried to make contact with me these last few days," Avery said as her eyes fell down. Disappointment was written all over her face
" I wouldn't worry too much about that, dear, we spoke to them when James brought you here, we made sure they knew you were safe, they were worried considering you're their little girl, however, they also said this trip could serve as a gooddistraction for you. Something about a boy? They wouldn't say but they seemed determined for you to take on this trip," Alice spoke. Her lies visible to everyone there except of course for Avery.
Avery's parents had only called James once to make sure he had Avery.
Flashback...
" Hello? James?" Jack asked as he called for James the night Avery had left for the party.
"I'm here." James calmly answered
" She just left with her friend. She will be at the party tonight, that is where you take her. We made this agreement with your parents a long time ago, and we are honoring our side of the deal. I hope we can expect the same from you?" Jack asked. His voice sounded frightened which made James grin. He liked being superior, being feared.
"If I may ask, Jack, my parents didn't have time to tell me everything before they died. How come you can give up your girl with such ease?"
" She was merely a means to an end. We had our boy and he became everything we could dream of. One day Madeleine was captured and raped. She was away from me for 3 days and when I found her she was lying naked, bloody, and beaten on the cold floor in some abandoned dungeon. Later we discovered she was pregnant, she was bearing a child that wasn't mine, she wanted to get rid of the child. We were both angry and devastated. It was an abomination and that child would be a disgrace to our family and our pack. We were already weak as it was. Rogues had plundered our village multiple times and we had lost many of our warriors. That's when we reached out to your parents. We offered our unborn child in exchange for their protection. However, they had a few demands which we met and then we struck a deal. You see James, we gave her up because we never wanted her, the mere sight of her has had us uneasy from the beginning, then we had our other daughter and suddenly everything fell into place, we had our family, Avery was only a reminder of a horrible event in our lives, and the sooner we get rid of her the better. That's why I'm telling you this. Take her, and don't let her come back."
At Jack's words he couldn't help but feel all kinds of emotions. Most of all anger. How could a life mean so little to them, regardless of the situation, Avery was their daughter, she did not choose to enter this world, they chose for her, she was kept only for James, this fact somehow made him feel good. She was brought to this world for him and only him.
" If she chooses not to come with me?" James asked. Of course she would go with him, one way or another. But he needed to know their intentions
" Kill her." Was Jack's response, and James felt rage consume his body at the sickening words of Avery's father.
James had been watching Avery for the past two years. She had been nothing but sweet and kind to everyone she met, stranger or friend, and yet they would so easily dispose of her?
He would take her, and make her his own, give her a family and the love she deserves.
END of flashback...