Chapter 182
Jojo:
I turned and tossed myself around the bed, making sure I did not get too close to wake Valerie up from sleep. She and baby Lucian were sound asleep, but I could not bring myself to sleep, no matter how much I tried. My thoughts continually drifted from one event to another, most of them had a lot to do with the alpha. I thought back to how he had left the house, without even letting me speak. I did not want to think too much about it, but I couldn’t. A part of me – a very strong part of me – wished he was here. I might have been able to sleep better.
He had concluded that I was going to ask him to leave, or say that I was not comfortable in his presence, but that was not it at all. I could not remember what I had planned to say, but I knew it had nothing to do with him leaving. As a matter of fact, the next time I saw him, I was going to tell him to take a room in the house.
I found out there were five rooms in the condo. What was I supposed to do with five rooms? Valerie and I shared the same room because she could not stay in a room on her own. And Lucian was sound asleep in the cot beside my bed. The rest of the rooms were free, he could have any of them.
I turned to Lucian’s cot for what could pass as the tenth time. I heaved a sigh as I saw him sleeping soundly. His little eyes were closed while he sucked on his right thumb. A smile crept up to my cheeks. Watching him always made me so happy. Perhaps it was the peace I needed to…
The sound of my phone ringing from underneath my pillow caused me to raise my head. I raised my pillow up and took my phone. I examined the screen, but it was an unknown number calling. I squinted my brows at the screen, wondering who it was.
Could it be someone from home? Or the alpha was trying to reach me?
I could not know until I answered the call. I sat up straight, allowing my back to rest on the headboard. I answered the call and pressed my phone’s speaker to my right ear.
Immediately I answered the call, my ears were greeted by the sound of ragged breaths coming from the background. I leaned out of the headboard with a frown on my face.
“Hello, Jojo Wyatt. Are you finally ready to speak with me?” A shrill masculine voice spoke.
My scowl deepened. I could not tell who the voice belonged to yet, but I knew for a fact that it was neither friend nor family.
“Who’s this?” I bit back.
The man at the other end of the line hissed, as though he was annoyed by my question.
“You do not remember my voice? Well, it doesn’t matter. Tell me, dear. How was your journey to Rush pack?”
My heart skipped three beats at once. His question landed on my ears like a mysterious missile. For several seconds, I was tongue tied. I did not know what to say. Whoever this person was knew that I was in Rush pack! Only a handful of people had access to that information, and I doubt he was one of them.
As if sensing my concerns and hearing the questions I repeated in my head, the strange man laughed, and he laughed me to scorn.
“I know everything, Jojo Wyatt. I know everything that happens in this pack, so don’t you ever think you can just sneak up on me. Now that you are here, you have only twenty-four hours to bring my grandson to me…”
By the goddess! I brought the phone down and stared at it. Cold sweat broke out from the skin of my forehead, and my shaky hands were forced to grip the phone.
It was alpha Cole! How did he know I was here? He was the reason we wanted to keep this trip a secret!
I swallowed the lump that had risen to my throat, and took in deep breaths. I had never had to face him without the alpha, and I was sure he knew that. He was trying to scare me, to intimidate me.
“Bring my grandson to me in twenty-four hours, Jojo Wyatt. If you decide to play smart or be an idiot, Jojo, I would take your mother to an asylum…”Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
“No!” I cried out. I suddenly realized myself and pressed my right hand on my mouth to muffle the sound of my tears. Hot burning tears scorched the back of my eyes. The mention of my mother had caused me to feel a sharp pain on my chest.
“Yes, Jojo. She would be considered crazy, a threat to society. She would be cut away from the rest of the world and you would never, ever see her again. While you are at it, I want you to make my son understand that you want absolutely nothing to do with him. You never want to see him again, because, come to think of it, you do not deserve to breathe the same air that my son does. You do not even have a wolf, your father was and still is a worthless man who destroyed your life and that of your mother.”
I shook my head vehemently. I wished he would stop. I did not want to hear anything about my father, or my mother. I just… I just wanted to be.
“You are nothing but the child of a worthless father and a weak mother. Killing your father is non-negotiable. So, if you have any last words for your father, I suggest that you speak now. He is right here, listening. And you would not see him again, because I would make sure he doesn’t see tomorrow morning. So, what’s it going to be, Jojo Wyatt?”
He was mocking me, throwing the fact that he knew I could do nothing in front of my face, and expecting me to swallow it up.
Alpha Cole chuckled at the other end of the line, it was a bitter and malicious sound.
“I cannot believe this was what your mother left me for.”
The truth, like rain, started to fall on me. The statement he had made caused everything to make sense! Back at the house, I had thought my mother was the reason the alpha’s father had been so unkind to Mrs Smith. But… my mother was not a home wrecker, she never was.
Immediately, I placed my feet on the cold tiles and rose from the bed.
Anger boiled at the pit of my stomach, I was smoldered with resentment, and the back of my head hurt with all the pent up frustration I was carrying.
“Kill that man if you want, I was fatherless a long time ago.” I spoke through gritted teeth.
“One more thing, alpha Cole. My mother was not the reason your marriage turned out to be a failure. It was all you, you were the reason. You are so selfish, unkind and unlovable. That’s why you trap people to keep them close to you, because ordinarily, no one would want to stay by you, not even your own son.” He decided to go low, so I went even lower.
“My mother didn’t want you, so you had to make her an outcast, you had to make her suffer. Yes, I cannot blame you for the monster my father turned out to be, that was his choice. But do you know what fighting so hard to ruin the lives of people who don’t want you around makes you?” I scoffed, before I continued.
“It makes you a sorry and bitter coward, alpha Cole Rush. You are a pitiful coward. And I weep for how hopeless you are.”
Finally, I had said the words that had lingered on the tip of my tongue for so long. My heart felt lighter, I felt stronger, knowing that there was nothing he could do to me now that I had shown him I wasn’t scared of him anymore.
The sound of his manic laughter caused my skin to crawl. This man just never gave up. His resilience did nothing but stimulate my stubbornness.
“Twenty-four hours, Jojo Wyatt. Let’s see if you’ll be so much of a big talker then.”
Before I could make another sentence, he ended the call.
I dug my teeth into the soft flesh of my lower lip and fought back the urge to scream as I threw my phone on my bed.
I buried my face into my palms in frustration.