I give them a wink before turning back to Jax and opening my mouth. He has an honest to god smirk on his face and it’s so fucking hot.
He resumes feeding me, and we put on a show while the rest of the guys watch. I’m about to say fuck it and pounce on Jax when he leans in and whispers in my ear, “Not yet Aly.”
I groan and give him my best pout, but he just shakes his head before eating his own eggs. I lean back against him, snuggling in as close as I can get. I watch the boys slowly resume eating their own meals, which have no doubt gone cold, with sweet satisfaction. I love having this effect on them, it’s only fair considering what they do to me.
“So what’s the plan?” Jay breaks the tension by asking.
That sobers everyone up quickly.
“We need to know anything you can tell us Aly,” Nic says gently.
I take a deep breath and stare down at the wood of the table while I talk, “I was kept drugged up most of the time so honestly there isn’t that much to tell.”
I’m cut off by a low, menacing growl. I jerk my head up to see Jay looking furious, I’ve never seen him so angry. I glance around and see anger and sadness shining through the other guys as well. Is this what they felt like when I was gone?
I reach my hand across the table and rest it on Jay’s arm. He’s the most upset right now. “It’s okay, I can remember what happened and honestly it was nothing. They didn’t do anything to me.”
He calms down some but still looks furious.
“You guys won’t like this part,” I warn them, “they asked me how you all tricked me into believing we have a mate bond.”
Again, they react. White knuckles grip the table as swearing and growls erupt from them. It’s an insult to them and our bond to call it fake. I quickly continue.
“Obviously, I know it’s real. I didn’t understand why they were so adamant, why they couldn’t believe it. But memories kept coming back to me from my past. I was trained as a hunter, given all the knowledge of supernaturals and hunter culture but it was spelled away. It must have been different from the other spell or it would have broken when Nic destroyed it. This one was only going to undo itself when I triggered my hunter gene. Anyways, now I remember that hunters don’t believe they have mates. In their history, a hunter has never had one.”
Their jaws are hanging open in shock. I know hunter culture is kept a secret but I didn’t realize how very little they know.
“So they told me they were going to break the bonds and set me free,” I hold my hand up before they can react, again. “That’s when I knew I had to escape. They had given me a slightly smaller dose and the fear of losing my bonds was so strong, I could make a small plan. I skipped the next meal, and I was sober again. I attacked my parents and made my escape. But when I got outside, I was surrounded. An elder said I was sentenced to death and that’s when my parents switched sides to help me. You know the rest”
There’s stunned silence until Nic finally speaks up, “so they want you dead because you have mates, non hunter, supernatural mates to be exact?”
I nod my head yes.
“There’s got to be more to it than that. We could be the first case, but they don’t even want to know about it, which makes me think they already do,” Jax muses.
“Already do?” Kiran asks.
“They know it’s possible, or they’ve seen it before, but they don’t want hunters or supernaturals to know. Imagine if it was possible, hunters may be less likely to kill us if their mates could be among us.”
I turn and give him a quick kiss and tell him, “you’re so smart.”
The cutest blush rises to his cheeks. He’s such a contradiction, he feeds me in front of everyone with a straight face but blushes at my compliment.
“We need proof,” Nic says.
I hesitate before saying, “we should go talk to my parents.”
Predictably, they explode.
“No fucking way!” Jeremy stands up and slams his hands against the table.
Jax’s arms tighten around me and Jay growls. Kiran looks terrified.
“We don’t want you by them again Aly,” Nic says firmly.
“I know, but they’re locked up with Nic’s parents and you’ll be with me. They are our best chance for information,” I reason.
“No!” Jeremy says before stalking off towards the bedrooms.
