Wolf Bait (Perry and Jonas)

The food the King made for me has gone cold. I took a bite to appease him when he set it on my desk and he went to bed. It's early in the morning and I am obsessing over every little detail of this report. "It's not him," I say when Jacob walks in.

"You're sure?" he asks looking over the wall where I printed everything I needed. I nod and he instantly wraps his arms around me. "Thank god,"

I pull away as my eyes fill with tears. He cups my face and lets out a sigh of relief.

"Fuck," I choke out.

"Show me," he pushes my hair away from my face. I wipe my face with the back of my hands.

"It's a copy of a heist we pulled off in Madrid. When we took the copies of the Vampire King's gold plates,"

"I remember," he nods.

"The same program was used. Darren never used the same program. He would toss them out and redo the entire thing. You know how paranoid he was. Also, the way the vans were broken into. They used silver picks and left traces. Darren could never," "That means the King is right and he's trying to lure you back in he rubs my arm.

He is. Enough to catch my full attention. It was a cheap shot to do this to me. That sick mother fucker. I hate him.

"I'm sorry I bugged you," I apologize.

"Don't be, Sweetheart. That's what fathers are for," he pats my head.

"Perry," I pull away to see James standing in the doorway.

"Come in," I wave him in. "This is my dad, Jacob. Jake this is James. The King's little brother,"

"We're acquainted," Jacob holds his hand out for him. James smirks but takes it anyway. "You need some rest. Eat," he points at the full plate on my desk. "That monster is fucking with your head. Don't let him take you there again, Perry. You're stronger now. Yeah?" "Yeah," I nod. He kisses the top of my head and excuses himself.

"You good?" James asks.

"What do you want?" I ask ripping the pictures and notes off the wall.

"You didn't show up at training,"

"You need me to hold your hand, Chosen One?" I scoff. He growls rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," he turns to leave.

"Wait," I groan annoyed with myself for feeling sorry for this asshole. "I'm sorry. It was a long night,"

"Do you need anything?" he asks. I sit on all the pages and shake my head. "What is that?"

"The heist I had you look into. The Falcon replicated some of Darren's patterns and for a moment I thought the worst,"

"He can do that? I heard from the other 10s that no one can replicate what you and he can do,

"Apparently, but there were slips and now I know he's just trying to get my attention,

You talk about him like he's some kind of god."

"He fancies himself one. He does shit like this and we're so tangled in all his shit that it's hard to get away from him,"

"I meant Darren," he smirks and starts to clean up my mess.

"I do not," I scoff.

"You do. Maybe it doesn't sound that way to you, but I notice. If I notice, I know my insecure sissy-ass brother does too."

"Darren was my mate. I love him. I was in love with him since before I even knew he was my mate,"

"I'm not saying not to. I'm just making an observation. I've heard stories about him, you know. Shit that maybe you've forgotten in your grief,"

"You mean how he supposedly held my leash and used me to get whatever he wanted," I scoff. "You're not the first person to say that. Not even the first one this week. You never met him and you don't know the reality of our situation, "That's how all abused females justify that their mate was a bastard," he stuffs everything into the trash bin.

"He wasn't abusive. Maybe he was, but it wasn't like I was any better. Before we knew we were mates, we were rivals. There was a lot of tension between us already,

"If you say so," he sits at my desk and spins in my chair.

"Don't act like you were the perfect husband. She would have never let Jonas put that mark on her if you were,

"I never said I was. Eve was everything I wasn't. Creative, kind, and very optimistic. She kept me centered. I guess what I wanted from her was peace. Something not shrouded in blood. Kind of like what you want from my brother," "I'm sorry," I say meaning it. "I don't know if any has ever told you this, but I'm sorry for your loss,"

"No, no one ever has. Like you, everyone took one look at me and decided that Jonas was the victim in all this,"

"You both were and weren't. Thinking about the what-ifs isn't going to help you forgive yourself. It's only going to make the guilt heavier,"

"That is a very Edmundo Salazar thing to say, Perry," he sneers.

"It doesn't make it any less true. Thinking about the what-ifs is what drove me feral. What made me do extreme shit like put a bomb in the alpha's house and the packhouse so when I died they were blown to shit with me,"

"I'm a big fan of that," he smirks. "And the reports of you lighting their house on fire on the anniversary of Darren's death,"

"Shut up, I laugh.

"I want to help you with this. Tell me what to do," he sits up. "Where do we start? What do we need?*

"We need two more team members. I don't have anyone, but I know you do," I sit back. The paper members as sick as us. People to help us get that advantage. Anyone come to mind?"

"Yeah, he nods. "But you gave them to your little vampire friend, Lily,"

"You know they're blood bags now, right? Think harder. We can't get them back,"

under me crinkles. "Two

17:30 Wed, Dec 11 GGB.

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"You're a real piece of work," he sighs. "Fine. I'll see what I can do It's likely that my brother is not going to like this,"

"Your brother hasn't liked this since I dropped your name. You can't pick just anyone to spite him, James. This is not a game. People are going to die. A lot of them. Shit, either one of us can be next. I have people who are going to be joining us outside of this, but I wouldn't trust them with anything else.

"If you're going to bring people into this, this is it. This is going to be their life. There will be no way out. You are included in that. You fucked up and this is the only way you can turn that around. I want to trust you. Shit, I want us to be friends eventually. I'm taking all the risk,"

"By risking my life," he growls.

"What would you be doing if not this?" I ask. "What else do you have outside of this?"

His jaw ticks and he looks down at his hands.

"Nothing. I have absolutely nothing other than this. It doesn't mean that it's all I deserve,"

"You're right and that's the reason why I don't keep you in a box. This is a job, James. Something to keep you going without you ending up like I did. This isn't everything you're going to be required to do. Once your training is over, it's done. We don't have to see each other unless it's necessary. You're free even if you aren't,"All content is © N0velDrama.Org.

"Tell me something, Your Majesty," he stands. "If you had to choose. If Darren were alive," he points at the trash. "Would you take him back?"

The question catches me off guard. I sit back and smile.

"No," I answer truthfully. "It would mean he chose to leave me and kill our son. It would mean that I made the wrong people pay for that. Even if it killed me, I would end him the same way I ended Calvin. I'm not a forgiving person, James,"

"You forgave me," he scoffs.

"I have nothing to forgive you for, dumbass. You didn't do shit to me. It's in your best interest to remember that. Hurt me and I'll fucking destroy you. Betray me and I'll kill you. Try hurting my mate and you're going to wish your father never dragged you out of your fucking cave. Get out. I have work to do,"