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Zoe and Sal ran across the large field that was Demetrius’s backyard, toward the thick forest that lined the property and away from the wedding guests.
“Will they come back?” I asked, glancing over at Jax. He must’ve been to werewolf weddings before; he’d clearly known that my sister and Sal were going to shift in front of all the guests.
He shook his head. “No, they’re not allowed to come back for four days.”
I frowned. “Why four?”
Jax shrugged. “I don’t know. Just werewolf rules, I guess.”
“Where do they go during those four days?”
“Just somewhere to be alone. Traditionally, new husbands and wives went to the forest, but these days, most of them go to a hotel or bed and breakfast or whatever. It’s pretty much the same thing as a honeymoon. The only difference is that they have to come back in four days.”
“Why?” My eyebrows lifted in question.
“They need to swap blood with each other,” Jax said.
“To get married, you have to play blood brothers?” I just gaped at him. Blood had always weirded me out.
“It’s how our bloodlines are formed,” he explained. “A husband and wife’s blood are mixed together to form one new bloodline.”
“Can the bloodline ever be... reversed?” I knew Rafael had said it wasn’t possible for werewolves to get divorced, but a part of me was still holding out hope that Zoe didn’t need to stay married to Sal. I didn’t know how she would get out of it, but there had to be a way to annul it or something. If Britney Spears could get unmarried in 55 hours, there had to be a way that Zoe could, too.
“No. Once the blood is mixed, it stays in your body and you carry that bloodline forever.”
“Forever?” I swallowed hard.
Jax nodded.
We have to stop it.
The thought occurred to me and I almost blurted it aloud, but then I remembered that Demetrius was within earshot. If he knew I wanted to do something to stop the bloodline from forming, I knew he would try to do something to stop me. For some reason, this marriage was very important to him.
As if he were reading my mind, Demetrius walked over to us then.
“So, I guess you two will be on your way now, huh?” He kept his gaze focused on Jax, not even bothering to look at me as he spoke.
“Well, we don’t have to go,” I offered, my best attempt at trying to make nice after the little scene I’d created. “We could stay.”
“I’m going to be leaving the compound, so there won’t be much for you to do here.” Demetrius glanced over at me then, his green eyes full of... no emotion. He didn’t look angry, but I knew he must’ve been. He wasn’t acting like his usual self. “I’ll be in touch.”
And just like that, he walked on past us. I followed his back to the door with my eyes and then turned to Jax. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
How was I going to break the news to Mom that Zoe had left pre-med camp and gotten married and that I didn’t know when she would be coming home? Would she ever come home? Not for four days, at least, but who knew if Sal would ever let her come back home, even if it was just for a visit.
We walked around the side of the house and into the driveway.
“There you guys are,” Elias said exasperatedly, a look of relief filling his dark eyes. “We were starting to worry about you.”
“No, tell it like it is. You were worried about them. I wasn’t.” Bash folded his arms across his chest. “I knew they went to that wedding thing.”
“Who got married, anyway?” Elias asked.
“My sister.”
“Oh, there’s my car,” Jax said, pointing his chin in the direction of the orange sports car. He turned to me. “I drove here?”
Sighing, I glanced over at his brothers. “Someone gave him Memory Serum.”
“No, shit. And he still remembers you?” Bash asked with raised eyebrows.
“Why wouldn’t he?” As soon as the words escaped my lips, I realized just how dumb my question must’ve sounded. Of course there was a chance that he might not have remembered me when he’d been given something to affect his memory.
“Well, the last time he was given Memory Serum, he didn’t remember you at all,” Bash explained.
“Then why does he remember me now?” I asked, turning to Elias. I knew he was older than Bash, so I figured he was more likely to know the answer.
“The stuff is complicated. It can affect some of your memories or all of your memories, depending on the type and the dosage that you’re given.” He glanced over at Jax. “He must not have been given that much, since he does still remember all of us. My guess is that it will start to wear off pretty soon.”
“I hope so,” I muttered, choosing not to elaborate how frustrating – and almost hurtful – it was to know that Jax didn’t remember anything that had happened between us since we’d reunited.
“We should probably hit the road. It’s starting to get dark,” Elias noted.
I nodded my agreement. “Yeah, I guess we’ll meet you back at the house.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting home soon? Your mom will probably start to worry about you.” Elias looked genuinely concerned.
“Probably.” I shrugged, pretending to play it off coolly. In reality, I didn’t want to own up to the truth, which was that I was borderline terrified to face my mom. I just hoped she wouldn’t kill me.
As Jax and I climbed into his car, I realized that there was only one bright side. Whoever the wolves were who had chased me and caused me to fall into the hole earlier that day had stayed away. I was relieved, though I couldn’t help but wonder who they were or why they were so angry with me.
As if on cue, I heard the sound of a wolf howling in the distance. I didn’t know much about werewolves, but I could’ve sworn that there was a hint of anger in its howl.
*
“Can you believe him? I thought he would at least say something about me interrupting the ceremony. Somehow, it’s worse to know that he said nothing,” I said, going over our conversation with Demetrius for about the third time as we drove home.
Jax’s eyes flicked over to meet mine. “You would rather he said something about it? Why?”
“Yes, because I’m pretty sure he’s trying to torture me this way.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic?” he asked with raised brows.
“No, I’m being serious. I think he’s trying to drive me nuts. His silence is even worse than him yelling at me, because I have no idea what he’s thinking right now. For all I know, all bets could be off.”
“All bets?” Jax glanced over at me curiously.
I sighed, growing frustrated with him. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but that Memory Serum needed to wear off ASAP or I was going to lose my freakin’ mind.
“I know you won’t remember this right now, but the whole reason we came to the compound today was to ask Demetrius to let me leave his pack. Elias thought that maybe that was the problem for me, all the other times I... died.” I swallowed hard. The thought that Elias may have been wrong, that I really would die within a year, regardless of what we did, crossed my mind. I quickly shook the thought away and continued. “Demetrius agreed, with a few stipulations—”
“What were the stipulations?”
“We had to go to the wedding tonight and I have to spend a week with the guy who he wants to ‘court’ me before making my decision.” I snorted. “Like I’d really choose that guy.”
Jax didn’t say anything. I knew that he was probably thinking the same thing he’d told me he’d worried about before: that I would actually choose the other guy.
“Anyway, since I caused a scene, I’m wondering if Demetrius will just take all of it back and tell me that I can’t leave his pack.”
“Why did you make a scene, anyway?” Jax asked. “It’s not really like you.”
“Because Demetrius forced Zoe to marry Sal and it isn’t right,” I explained, shaking my head angrily. “I just can’t figure out why she actually went through with it.”
“Probably because it’s Demetrius,” he replied with a shrug. “If he was trying to force me to get married, I can’t say I wouldn’t do it.”
“Oh, yeah? Even if it was to someone who wasn’t me?” I asked playfully.
Jax shot a serious look in my direction. “He’s dangerous, Camryn. To not do something he asks of you could be a death sentence.”
“Not for me and Zoe,” I insisted. “We’re his daughters. I doubt he’d kill us.”
“I don’t know if he would or not. But I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
I thought about it for a moment. Had me embarrassing him at the wedding ceremony been enough to warrant death in Demetrius’s eyes? If he wanted me dead, he would’ve killed me already... right?
I wasn’t so sure.
Jax pulled the car into a gas station parking lot. “I need to get something to eat. I’m starving. Do you want anything?”
Before I even had the chance to answer, a car pulled in front of us, parking at a diagonal angle. Another slid in back of us, also diagonally.
We were cornered.
“Shit,” Jax muttered.
Panic washed over me. “What’s going on?”
“Let’s just say that, right now, we have other issues to deal with besides Demetrius.” He turned to look at me. “You stay in the car, okay?”
“No way.” I shook my head. “I’m not making any promises that I know I won’t be able to keep again. If you get out of the car, I’m coming with you.”
Jax shot a frustrated look in my direction before swinging his car door open.
I climbed out of the car, too, and stared into a familiar pair of almond-shaped brown eyes.