Lola stood by the window, trying to break it open. The chair she had thrown against the glass was lying on the floor, and her knuckles were red from beating against the impenetrable glass.
Her hair lay messy, and her cheeks stained crimson from the blood on her hands when she dragged them over her face in despair.
Her foggy mind was still trying to comprehend everything from the last hours, but only bits and pieces were forming in her memory.
She remembered her apartment and Jax. Ash was there too, but then what had happened? She pulled her hair and clenched her jaw in frustration as the flight in her erupted but without the ability to act on it. The door was locked shut, and the thickness of the door made it impossible for Lola to kick down. Her mind reeled to the possibility of the guy's ability to break it down, given the fact that they weren't normal, or well, not human at least.
She cussed and walked back to the window, hoping for some miraculous solution that would get her out of there. When it didn't come to her, she lifted the chair again and raised it above her head.
Just as her hands were about to throw it against the glass, she heard the lock and the doorknob turning.
Lola stood heaving with the chair raised and listened as someone stepped inside the room. The door closed, and Jax waited on the other side of the bedroom.
"Lola."
She slowly turned and lowered the chair, but it didn't hit the floor. He saw the smeared blood on her cheeks. His eyes narrowed on where her porcelain skin was covered in red.
"Lola?"
She dropped the chair, and Jax stood back.
Her teeth ground together, and she raised her finger in the air, pointing it at him.
"You're going to let me go," she said, trying to supress the shiver in her voice.
A sudden fear mixed with panic was seeping through her veins, causing tunnel vision. All she saw was a way out through the unlocked door, and the only one in her way was Jax.
"Please calm down. I swear I won't hurt you." He raised his hands to try and seem less threatening. Lola gasped and stepped back.
"Don't come near me!" The look of pain on her face and the fear he saw in her eyes had him wanting to clutch his heart. He felt the pain as she did. Everything she felt, he felt it too, and he wanted so badly to take it away from her.
"I'm going to leave. Now, step aside," Lola demanded.
Her hair fell in front of her face. Her blonde strands clumped together from the dried blood.
Jax heaved a sigh and let his shoulders fall. His hands dropped, and his head slowly began to shake back and forth.
"I'm sorry, Lola, but I can't let you go." His voice lowered into a hushed tone, and the honesty dripped in each word.
A painful laugh escaped Lola's lips, and her fingers grabbed onto her hair.
"You- You can't?" She laughed.
Jax bit on his tongue and stood his ground. He didn't try to approach her or speak because nothing he could say would take away from the shattering feeling in which she was currently drowning.
"Let me go, Jax," she ordered.
She turned her body, her eyes stared into his, and both of their dominance rose to the surface.
He knew that stepping aside would calm her. It would make her happy, and it would make her hate him less.
"You can't let her go," Landon warned.
"Except that I can," Jax responded to his wolf.
"We'll lose the title, she will go on the run, and we'll never see our mate again."
"Maybe, but at least then she won't hate us." Jax looked at his mate, the girl he loved, without her ever knowing how much.
Jax slowly took a step to the side and then another. Lola now had a free path to the door. He turned his body and stared at the wall.
Was this a dumb idea? Would he live to regret letting his mate go so easily?
Lola stared warily at the door. She kept one eye on Jax as she moved her foot forward. When she saw Jax standing completely still, she took the leap of faith that she'd be free to leave. Lola sprinted to the door. She opened it and stood in the frame as she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Jax turned his head and gazed at her.
"Thank you," she said in a broken voice.
Jax bowed his head in response without breaking eye contact. Lola's eyes glistened in joy, her lips even pulled up in a faint smile, and he knew it was for what he'd done.
She ran out into the hall and turned left to the staircase. Her feet carried her as quickly as they could, and she smiled when she got down to the entrance. Only there it stopped. Her eyes scanned the room. A familiar scent swiftly passed her, and Ash's body suddenly covered the door. His arms hung by his sides, and his shoulder slowly went to his ear in a gentle shrug. With a monotone expression, he stared at Lola as the fear grew within her.
She turned and saw Jax's mother and father on her left. To the right stood a man she hadn't seen. He was big and scary-looking, with scars that covered his face and neck. It looked like he'd been burnt.
"I'm... uhm, I'm leaving now," she said somewhat unsurely.
Ash kept eye contact as she walked toward him. He didn't move away from the door. Lola drew a shaky breath.
"Jax said I could go," she whispered.
Ash's lip turned in a twitched smile, one that was forced and drenched in pity.
"Jax isn't the one who makes the rules," he said, articulating each word.
Lola faltered back and shook her head.
Nobody else said a word. They were all staring at her like a caged animal in a circus.
"Ash?" Lola's voice trembled, and her bottom lip began to quiver.
The sound of patter on the stairs from someone coming down resounded.
Lola spun on her feet and saw Jax standing with his hand on the railing.
"You said I could go... You let me go," she said and smiled, hoping he would do it again.
"I did," Jax said, his voice dripping in regret.
"Can I go?" she asked. Her voice hitched, and she looked around. Her eyes landed on Ash, who was still guarding the door.
"No," Ash said, his eyes wandering past her and locked with his cousin. His eyes were burning fiercely, so much so that Lola could almost see a flame in their center as they stared at Jax.
"Lola."
Her attention was pulled as Mrs.Blackwood said her name. She walked closer, her heels tapped against the hardwood floors. A nasty snarl crept up on her face, and her eyes were anything but kind as they took in Lola's appearance.
"Your life is about to be very different. It will change in ways you can not even imagine, and you will learn things that most humans only ever fantasize about. You are not leaving this town, and you are not leaving this house, not until you agree to the terms we are about to set forth." Her voice dragged out. The words were spoken with a sickening joy for the power she held.
Lola's head snapped to the side, and she stared at Jax in desperation.
"Jax?" she breathed.
Jax looked at her defenseless gaze, her broken spirit suddenly falling to pieces around her feet. The girl he loved-he loved her so much that he couldn't give her the one thing she desired above all else: her freedom. It now belonged to him.