Mae POV
Memories of my time with Jameson flash through my mind. He is not kind when he is drunk. Panic rushes through my body. I glance behind the door where we keep our trusty bat, and Jameson is blocking my way to grab it. The room feels like it is getting smaller by the minute.
'Pull yourself together, Mae,' I tell myself silently. 'You aren't the same girl you were a year ago.'
Slowly, I back away from Jameson, trying to put as much space between us as possible. Thankfully, Jameson doesn't notice. He is too busy looking around my apartment like he is looking for something.
"Why does it smell like another man in here?" He finally asks, turning his attention back on me. "Do you have company?"
"Of course not," I spit at him. "I swore off men after our time together."
Jameson's eyes light up. "I knew you wouldn't be able to replace me," he slurs his words. "I was the best thing to ever happen to you."
"More like the worst," I mumble.
Jameson quickly steps toward me and wraps his hand around my neck. "What was that, Mae?"
"Nothing," I choke out, not wanting to piss him off more.
"That's what I thought," he growls at me and something strange flashes in his eyes. Something I have never seen before. One moment, they are brown, and the next moment, they are black. "Now, where did we leave off?"
I can smell the whiskey on his breath as he leans down to kiss me. His hand is still around my neck, tilting my head back so I am unable to fight. But like I told myself before. I am not the same girl I was a year ago. Reaching up, I slap him across the face.
Jameson releases me from his grasp, and I try to dart around him to get the bat. I am not fast enough. He catches me around the waist and holds me tight to his body. My back is against his front, and I can feel his growing erection up against me.
I kick and squirm, trying to get out of his hold, but he is too strong. He runs his free hand over my body, and bile rises in the back of my throat. His touch makes me feel dirty.
"Don't touch me," I say through gritted teeth.
"Stop pretending like you don't like it," Jameson grunts as I continue to fight against his roaming hands.
My elbow flings backward and happens to catch Jameson in the stomach. He breathes out heavily and groans as he lets go of me.
"When did you turn into such an uptight bitch?" Jameson roars as he holds his side.
"You need to leave," I tell him.
"I am not going anywhere until I get what I came here for," Jameson threatens me.
I swallow hard and prepare myself for another fight. He backhands me across my cheekbone, and the taste of blood fills my mouth. Warm liquid dribbles down my face, and I know it is blood.
I touch my cheek gently, and my fingertips are instantly covered in blood. "You hit me," I say in disbelief.
"There is more where that came from if you don't sit down and listen like a good girl," Jameson yells at me.
I can only hope that my neighbors have heard the fighting and have called the cops. Tish isn't due home for another hour. Who knows what he could do to me in that amount of time?
I raise my hands in defeat and back away from Jameson. "Jameson," I say his name sweetly. "In the morning, you will remember why we didn't work out. You left me, remember?"
"No," Jameson shouts. "I would never have left you. You are an angel."
"Jameson," I sigh. "You wanted to see other people. You said, and I quote, 'I reject you.' Remember?"
I can see a flicker of remembrance in Jameson's eyes, and he looks at me in shock. "Mae, Baby, what happened to your face?"
"You hit me, you bastard," I can't help but scream back at him.
"I would never hurt you," Jameson says as he drops to his knees in front of me. "I love you."
"You don't love me," I tell him. "You can't possibly love anyone when you love yourself so much."
Jameson shuffles toward me on his knees. "I came here to get you back. I miss you. Then I smelled the scent of another man, and I… I just… you belong to me."
"There hasn't been a man here in weeks," I tell him. "Tish is going through a bit of a dry spell."
"I can smell him all over you," Jameson growls. He actually growls, and I swear his teeth look longer and pointier.
"Fuck," I groan. "You are one of them."
"One of who?" Jameson blinks his eyes repeatedly like he always did when he was lying.
"A wolf person," I whisper.
Jameson's eyes flicker wildly, and he hops to his feet quickly. "Who told you that?"
"I figured it out all on my own," I roll my eyes.
Jameson begins to stalk toward me, and I realize I am his prey. "Now you can never leave me," Jameson says with a smirk. "If you tell anyone, I will kill you."
Suddenly, my back is pressed against the wall of my apartment, and there is nowhere for me to go. He boxes me in with his arms, and I know I am screwed.
"I won't tell anyone," I shout. "I have been sworn to secrecy."
"Sworn by who?" Jameson demands to know.
"He is an Alpha," I whimper as Jameson hits the wall beside my head. "He said I am his mate."
"Impossible," Jameson snarls, and spit flies out of his mouth, hitting me on the face. "You are my mate. You belong to me."
"I don't belong to anyone," I scream back at him.
Jameson pins me to the wall by my shoulders and crashes his mouth down onto mine. He tastes like whiskey and cigarettes. I close my eyes and bite his tongue. His blood pours into my mouth, and I have to fight the urge to vomit.
Jameson pulls away from me and raises his hand to hit me again. I brace myself for the hit, but it doesn't come.
Suddenly, there is a loud thump and Jameson crumples to the ground in front of me. I look up and see Tish standing with the bat in her hands and a feral look on her face.
Stepping over Jameson's body, I run to Tish, who is still holding the bat in the air. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and sob.