A/N: New chapter! Reminder that I'm in grad school and I can't write as much, so PLEASE don't message me/comment about updating. I'm glad you like it, but constantly asking won't make me write any quicker.
Hope y'all enjoy :)
The swimming hole proved to be nice, as Lea had promised. The sun now beating down on us from overhead provided enough warmth despite it being in the middle of December. I lie on my back, floating, watching the trees sway with the slight breeze. To my right, the rest are swinging off the rope into the water or splashing one another.
"Enjoying yourself?" His voice beckons to me and I smile, not looking over at him.
"Yes, I am. It's nice out here," I answer softly as the water bobs over my eyes and ears.
"You know, there are camelias on the other side of the ridge," He motions with his head toward the back side of the swimming hole. I right myself and tread water around me, peering over to see if I can catch a glimpse of them.
"They're my favorite."
"I know. Why don't you go over and pick some? I'm going to take another swing from the rope and I'll meet you over there."
I narrow my eyes slightly, wondering if this is a trickâhe's going to let me go alone?
"I trust you," Is all he says, obviously catching onto my train of thought. "Don't forget your towel and shoes." He kisses my temple gently, then propels himself back through the water to the other side of the swimming hole.
I paddle myself to the edge and climb out, my feet meeting dirt and grass as I pick up my towel and dab myself off. Wiping my feet, I slide them into my sandals before embarking over the ridge and into the forest. Sure as the world, there are a couple rows of perfectly planted camelias. They can't be natural, evident from the placement, but they've also been here a while, indicative of the size of the bushes. A smile reaches my face and I plop down through the tall grass to the trees. I delicately brush my fingertips over the petals of one of the bright pink flowers and take in the sweet smell.
The wind picks up and envelops me in the aroma. I sighâthis is such a lovely place. So romantic. I hear rustling in the woods around me and I laugh, "It's about time you got hereâ"
Yet my jovial statement is cut short when someone grabs my from behind, placing a hand over my mouth and the other around my waist. Whoever it is picks me up and pulls me further into the trees. I struggleâkick, scream, clawâbut it doesn't phase the person who holds me. The only thing I can deduce is that it's a man. At first, I thought it to be Hayes, but that long blonde hair is nowhere in sightâunless he has it pulled back, of course.
Even though it's not Hayes, it must be someone from Mistletoe because he easily crosses the salt barrier and carries me through another section of dense forestry until we reach a clearing filled with wildflowers. He finally releases me and I instantly whip around to hit him with a turning kick. He clumsily catches my ankle, so I begin pounding him with my fists instead. He barely fights me off, seemingly trying not to hurt me. I continue my assaults until I hear his voice and I finally look him in the face, "Belle!"
I stop, instantly recognizing the young man in front of me, save his new haircut, "Jon?" I pause after I say his name, taking in the shock from seeing him here, in front of me. His blue eyes reflect back at me, his brown hair now cut shorter and no longer falling into his eyes. He looks so grown. "W-What are you doing here? Why did you grab me like that?"
"I need to talk to you," He says, his expression growing somewhat grim.
"Well then how about a, 'Hi Belle, haven't see you in a while! Let's chat!' instead of dragging me through the woods to the land of another pack? You scared the shit out of me," I scold him, smoothing my hands over my waist where he'd grabbed me.
"I couldn't talk to you there, not on Moonlight territory. Not with Jaxon so nearby," He continues. This is the most serious I've ever seen him and I take a small step closer to him and touch his forearm.
"If this is about before, Jaxon and I are okay now. The Council is investigating, but we're betterâ"
"It's not about that."
I furrow my brow and drop my hand from his arm, "Then what is it?" Suddenly remembering the detail of him crossing into Mistletoe territory, I inch back, "How were you able to cross the salt line?"
He snorts, "It's just salt, Isabelle, anyone can step over it."
He's lying. I know his tellâa strange way he holds his mouth. He's doing it now. Does he take me for an idiot?
"No, Jonathan, they can't. Only Mistletoe members, and me for some reason, can step over it or break it... but how is that? We're both from the Smoky Mountain Packâ"
I hesitate. How could Jon be from Mistletoe? This doesn't make sense. Jon's been with me for as long as I can rememberâ
"I came to Smoky Mountain when I was six," He says, hinting at the truth but not actually saying it.
"But Mistletoe is hundreds of years oldâI mean, Hayes himself is four-hundred and something. How could you only be eighteen, if you even are part of this clan?"
He glances around, as if the trees are listening to us, and steps in closer to me. His hand finds my elbow, "It's not safe to talk here."
"I-If you're part of Mistletoe, why wouldn't it be safe to talk here?"
"C'mon."
His hand slides from my elbow and takes my hand. I only pause for a moment before following after his quick pace through the clearing again. Maybe I shouldn't trust him, but it's Jon. He's my best friend. How could I not trust him? We only run a few hundred yards until we're enshrouded in the forest again. He leads me into a cove fashioned from large rocks, hidden from the naked eye. Once we're inside, he glances around and looks me in the face again.
"I was born in 1614," He confesses lowly. My eyes shoot open as wide as two saucers and I step away from him, my back hitting the rock.
"W-What? Y-You're one of them?"
"My real name is Jonathan Lupus," He adds.
"Lupus? B-But that'sâthat'sâ" Oh. Oh no. "You're related to Hayes?"
"I'm his brother," He confesses, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
"What?" I exclaim. "How? I don't understand!"
He clamps a hand over my mouth again and raises his finger to his lips, indicating for me to shut it. "I will explain everything, but you have to be quiet. The trees, they have ears." Unsure of what he means, but eager to know more, I nod and he releases his hand from my mouth. "My mother and father were magical, of course, but not to the extent of my brother. In 1620, when my brother turned twenty-seven and I turned six, he received a prophecy. His magical power would grow tenfold and he would be the most powerful alpha in history, but only if he could live for 400 more years."
"427 years altogether? That's such a random number," I mumble.
"Not in numerology. 427 relates to three planes of existenceâmental, physical, and spiritual. The cycle of 427 years will end in renewal in all three worlds: past, present, and future. The divine light of the Moon Goddess will be bestowed to him and he will grow in power and favor. The condition is if he could find a way to live for four-hundred more years and take the cast-off mate, who doesn't belong to him but will bring about the true wealth and power he seeksâthat's the short version, at least. So, he created a spell to stop our aging. I was six until 2008, which is when he cut the spell from me and sent me to the Smoky Mountain Pack... to gain your trust."
"My trust?" I pause, then put two-and-two together from the prophecy. "Am I supposed to be the cast-off mate that doesn't belong to him?" He doesn't say anything, but from the look he's giving me, I know it's true. "H-How did he know it was me? No one knows who they'll be mated with until it happens."
"He divined it somehow," He shrugs. "As I said, he's very powerful; he can do almost anything with sorcery."
"S-So why tell me all this? If you were only sent to gain my trust, then why haven't you turned me over to him? When is all of this even supposed to happen?"
"New Year's Eve is when my brother will turn 427 and he'll work to make the prophecy come true. He has to perform some sort of marriage ritual right at midnight."
"That's only eighteen days away. What about Jaxon? H-He would never let any of this happenâ"
"He'll kill him. He'll kill anyone who gets in his way, which is why it's probably not safe for me to be telling you this."
"Why are you, then?"
"Because, Isabelle, I love you. You're my best friend and I can't watch him ruin your life. I can't let him hurt you."
"How do I know this isn't a trick? Mistletoe is known to be crafty."
"You don't. I just hope you can trust me, but I understand if you can't. I'm telling you the truth, though, Isabelle. I hate my brother. He took my life from me. I won't let him take yours from you too."
I sigh, running my fingers through my now damp hair with difficulty. They get caught in the tangles, and I think of how my life is the sameâI'm caught in a tangled web. "You say Hayes is so powerfulâHow does he not realize you're talking to me right now?"
"I'm his right-hand man now, since he called me back. He halted my aging again. He trusts me to some degree. But in case he didn't, I cast a cloaking spell on us. It's a basic one, since my magic is pretty rusty, but it does the trick."
"So, what now? Should I run? Try to go somewhere that he can't reach Jaxon and I?"
"Hayes will be able to find you anywhere you go," He states, deflating my hope. "But I can make talismans that cloak you and Jaxon. It will take me a little while, but I should be able to do it."
I pause again, absorbing the overwhelming information that he's given me. A rush of emotions washes over meâfear, mistrust, relief. Relief that at least we know about Hayes' plan and Jon will help us. Mistrust because Jon isn't who he said he was. Fear because I don't want Jaxon to die. I don't want to be taken by Hayes. I don't know if I should tell Jaxon or not. If I know him, he won't want to take the talisman and hide. No, he'll want to fight Hayes to the death and I know it won't be Hayes who falls. Yet I want him to be prepared, and I don't want to shred the ounce of trust we've built.
"Jaxon will be missing you by now," He glances around nervously. "We need to get you back before he loses it... also before the spell wears off, which will be soon."
I nod, wondering how Jaxon is reacting. He said it'd only be a moment before he met me by the cameliasâI'm sure it's long past the time he discovered I was gone. I wonder if he thinks I've run from him, or if he believes Hayes stole me away. Either way, his reaction can't be too good.
Jon takes my hand again and we run back through the forest, clearing, and more forest until I've stepped over the salt line. He stays behind the boundary and gives me a nod, "I'll be in touch."
Then, he's disappeared into the trees as if he'd never been there at all. I stand there only for a moment more, before turning and sprinting back in the direction of the swimming hole. In the distance I can hear yelling, so I push myself harder. "Jax!" I begin to yell when I've come up on the camelia bushes.
"Isabelle?" His voice is frantic from over the ridge and before I've even made it halfway up the small hill, he's met me. He lifts me from my ground by an arm around my waist and a hand pressing my head into his shoulder, securing me against his wet, muscular body.
"Jax," I mumble into his skin, kissing his shoulder and neck.
"I thoughtâI thought I'd lost you... I thought you left me," His voice breaks and he presses me tighter against him. Is he... crying? This is definitely a shift in Jaxons. Maybe that run did him better than I first believed. "Where'd you go?"
He pulls me back to look into his watery, ice-blue eyes. No tears have fallen, but they're collecting there and I run my thumb across his sharp cheekbone. "I promise, I'll tell you everything when we get somewhere... less out in the open," I mumble the last part, unsure of how much Mistletoe's power extends. "I'll never leave you, Jax. How could you think that?"
"I deserve itâfor everything. You should leave meâ"
I cut him off by planting a brief, but passionate, kiss on his lips and resting my forehead to his. "I'm not going anywhere."
He sighs, presses another kiss to my mouth and holds me close again. Nestling my head into his shoulder, I exhale deeply.
I'm not going anywhereâat least, not of my own volition.
A/N: So? Thoughts?
1. Do you think Isabelle should leave Jaxon?
2. Do you think she can trust Jon?
3. Will they actually escape with the talismans and hide from Hayes?
Jon is the one pictured at the top :) Couldn't put it before because I didn't want to spoil it.
until next time, xoxo,
IC Judah