Page 106 of The Secret Mate Society

He smiled, but it wasn't the friendly expression I remembered from the office.This smile was predatory, twisted with something dark and hungry."Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

"But the police found your body.They said?—"

"They foundabody," Jake corrected, crouching down in front of me.His brown eyes caught the light, and I saw that same sickly yellow gleam I'd witnessed in the alley."Some homeless drifter who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.With the right...modifications...he became a very convincing Jake Harrison."

Horror crawled up my spine."You killed an innocent person just to fake your own death?"

"I killed him because I needed you to trust that letter," Jake said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from my forehead.I flinched away, and his smile widened."I needed you to run from Calder.To hate him.To think he was a monster."

My mind was racing, trying to piece it together."You wrote that letter.The accusations.You wanted me to think Calder killed my father."

"And it worked beautifully."Jake stood, pacing around me in a slow circle."You should have seen your face when you ran from him.The fear, the betrayal.It was perfect."

I yanked against the ropes, ignoring the burn."Why?What do you want from me?"

Jake stopped behind me, and I felt his hand trail across my bare shoulder.I shuddered, every muscle tensing.

"What do I want?"His voice dropped to a whisper near my ear."I want what I've always wanted, Ethan.You."

My stomach turned."You're insane."

"Am I?"His fingers traced down my spine, and I tried to twist away but couldn't."I've dreamed about this for so long.Watched you, followed you, waited for the perfect moment.”He slowly shook his head.“But do you know how hard it was to resist the mate bond?To watch you fall for that alphamuttinstead of me?"

Mate bond.The words hit me like ice water."You're...you're a werewolf too."

"Very good."Jake came back around to face me, and this time I saw it clearly.The way his features seemed slightly too sharp, too predatory.How had I never noticed before?"Though I prefer to think of myself as more...evolved than Calder and his precious pack."

The realization hit me with devastating clarity."You’re the rogue.The monster.The one they’re hunting.It… It was you.All along."

Jake's expression shifted, something almost tender crossing his face."Now you’re finally catching on, baby.”

I felt my blood run cold."Don't call me that."

"But it's what you are, baby."Jake crouched down in front of me again, his face inches from mine."You're mine.You've always been mine.From the moment I saw you in those woods fourteen years ago, standing over your father's corpse, I knew you were meant for me."

My breath caught."You...you were there?That night?"

"Of course I was there."His hand cupped my cheek, thumb brushing across my skin in a mockery of tenderness."I killed your father right in front of you.It was my rite of passage, my entry into true power."His eyes gleamed with something twisted and wrong."My own father wanted me to prove myself, to show I could be every bit as ruthless and heartless as he was.So I hunted down a human, tracked him through those woods until I found him camping with his son."

Tears burned behind my eyes."H-He was innocent."

"He was in the wrong place," Jake said, his voice matter-of-fact."And when I ripped his heart out, when I tasted his blood...I looked up and saw you.Hiding behind that tree, those beautiful green eyes wide with terror."He leaned closer, his breath hot against my face."I felt it.The mate bond, snapping into place like a lock finding its key."

I tried to jerk away, but the ropes held firm."That's not possible.I was just a teenager"

"So was I," Jake interrupted."And I saw my future mate.I knew I'd have to wait, but I was patient.I watched you grow up from afar, followed your moves from New York to Maine, got myself hired at the Gazette so I could be close to you."His smile widened."I orchestrated everything perfectly.The murders, the heart removals—all designed to draw you in, to make you obsessed, to make you need someone to lean on.I even killed myownfather when he got in the way."

Horror washed over me in waves."You killed all those people just to manipulate me?"

"Not just to manipulate you."Jake stood, pacing around me again."I needed to establish my territory, show the other packs that I wasn't bound by their precious rules.But yes, having you chase the story, getting closer to the truth...It was delicious watching you work."He stopped behind me, hands settling on my bare shoulders."And then Calder had to ruin everything."

I felt him tense, anger radiating from him in waves.

"That self-righteous alpha," Jake spat."Swooping in, playing hero, stealing what was rightfully mine.Do you have any idea how it felt?Watching him touch you, claim you, mark you as his?"His fingers dug into my shoulders hard enough to bruise."You were supposed to be mine, Ethan.Mine."

I tried to shrink away from his touch, but there was nowhere to go.The beam at my back was unyielding, and Jake's grip on my shoulders was like iron.

"I'm not yours," I said through gritted teeth, forcing the words out despite the fear threatening to choke me."I never was, and Ineverwill be."