“When is the wedding?” the person on the other end spoke up, sounding around Dale’s age.
“I haven’t picked a date, but sooner rather than later. I don’t need Jade getting any ideas.”
Jade! He was marrying Jade off?
Dale nodded his head. “Yeah, everything is going according to plan. Once the money is transferred and the papers are signed, we will get the marriage set. She’s young and obedient. She at least has that going for her. She will be a picture-perfect wife.”
I felt pure anger as his words soaked in. Jade looked like a shell of a person, and he was proud of that? Proud of the person she’d become?
She looked nothing like the woman I left behind. She had dreams and hopes. She was going to go to college and do something big with her life? It didn’t look like she had. It looked like everything seemed to fall apart for her, and I didn’t know why.
Chapter 4 - Jade
I popped a couple of Advil in my mouth and swallowed them. I stared at myself in the mirror, hating the person who stared back at me. I was a nervous wreck since seeing Brandon and Kaleb. Why the sudden return now? And of course, Brandon would take over as Alpha. That’s just what I deserved, wasn’t it?
“Mommy,” Ilsa poked her head around the bathroom door and offered me a weak smile. “The TV won’t turn on.”
I forced a smile. “Give mommy one minute, and I’ll come look at it.”
Ilsa walked away, and I chewed on my lip. My head was pounding, and I felt like my stomach was going to make me throw up. It was a great mix to go back to work on.
After leaving my father’s house, I took Ilsa out for her day, but I avoided everyone at all costs. We stayed on the side of town I knew that they wouldn’t go to. Ilsa enjoyed the park, and we ended up going to the lake rather than the pool. I told Ilsa it was fun because it was just us, which she enjoyed, but it only made me feel more like a coward.
I knew it was only a matter of time before Brandon found out she was his. Only a matter of time before shit hits the fan. Like the marriage arrangement wasn’t bad enough.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see it was a text from my dad. I scowled as he set up a time already for me to come back over. He wanted me at his house by 6 tonight.
I flipped my phone over and took a slow breath in. I tried to calm my nerves, but it didn’t work.
“Mommy!” Ilsa poked her head through the door.
Rage surged through me. “Ilsa, I told you to wait!” As soon as the words came out, I realized just what I’d done.
I turned, watching as Ilsa’s eyes widened, and tears began to build up. I moved, walking closer to her and bending down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” I gave her the best smile I could pull together. “Mommy has a headache. Can you give mommy a few minutes?”
Ilsa seemed to shake it off and nodded. She reached a hand up, placing it on my forehead, and rubbed just like I had done to her every time she was sick.
After a few minutes, I fixed the TV for her and made breakfast. I had Ilsa at school half an hour later, and I was arriving at work ten minutes early. I gave Ryan my stack of paper, which he didn’t bother looking up from his computer. He simply nodded his head and waved me off.
I worked, trying to keep my mind off of everything that was going on in my life. But every time I seemed to get it out of my head, it came wiggling back in.
“Jade, I need a hundred copies of these pamphlets.”
I looked up as Ryan stepped into my office, placing eight different pamphlets onto my desk.
I nodded my head, taking them.
“Brandon and Kaleb are back in Belrose.”
I stiffened at his words, my fingers freezing on the paper. I swallowed, looking away. “They are.”
“I heard word on the street is Brandon is taking over the Alpha role and your brother is taking over as Beta.”
I slowly nodded. I wasn’t sure about my brother, but I was certain about Brandon. I heard it everywhere I went. It had onlybeen a few days, but word was traveling fast. Everyone seemed eager to see how this was going to go. I had questions. Did this mean that Brandon was staying? Was my brother?
Just then, some people walked by, and they talked loudly. “I heard Brandon is looking for a mate now that he’s going to be Alpha. Do you think he knows about Jade’s daughter?”
Every fiber in my being tensed up, and I tightened my grip on the paper. I forced a smile at Ryan. “I’ll get these copied.” I stumbled as I pulled myself up, my hands shaking with the papers. My room suddenly felt suffocating, and I moved quickly, slipping out of my office into the copy room next door. I felt tears burning as I stepped inside and dropped the pamphlets onto the ground.
