“Jackson’s not an idiot! He’ll figure it out. How is my death going to help you in your cause against the humans?! You’re just ostracising the pack even further and giving them more reasons to fight you!” Okay, I realised that pissing him off wasn’t the wisest decision, but I needed to keep him talking to give me the time for Jackson to figure it out and realise he’d been sent on a wild goose chase.
“Jackson is in love with you. He’s told me himself his plans to mate you!” He stalked towards me and I stepped backwards, praying for an idea to spring to mind.
“In our world, when we find our mates it’s for life. There’s nothing you won’t do for them. Your death will cause him to go insane, which means he’ll be weak. The rest of the pack will be vulnerable and once we take out the main men, the rest will be easy to persuade to our side. I’ll fight Jackson to the death for the title of Alpha and we can begin to move toward the other packs and get them on our side. We’ve got it all figured out sweetheart. Nothing personal, mind. You’re just part of a bigger plan.”
“And Annabelle?” I asked, my breaths coming faster as I stare at him with disgust. “Why did you take her? She’s just a child!”
“Oh, please. I knew that if I threatened her you would do whatever I wanted. Your bond with that child makes me sick.”
“Where is she?”
“Don’t worry, she’s safe. I might be a little bit twisted, but even I draw the line at hurting children. She’s with the Grove Pack probably babbling on in that incessant way she normally does and driving them insane. Jackson and his men will find her but they’ll have to fight the pack to get her.”
“You’re sick.”
“No, darling. I’m ambitious, there’s a difference.”
I laughed and tried to hide the fear I could feel all the way down to my feet. I’d never been more scared in my life, but a part of me felt relieved that Annabelle was nowhere near this psycho. I was confident that the guys could beat the bastards that had taken her, and knowing that Annabelle would soon be reunited with her family gave me a boost of confidence as I stood before Tyler. I straightened myself and looked him in the eye. If this was the way I was going to die, there was no way I was going down without a fight. How this man had managed to hide his true colours from us all was beyond me. Looking at him now, I found it impossible to leave he had had fooled us. His crazy eyes, his mad ramblings and his pacing on the floor just illustrated how loony he really was, and I was in shock at how well he had managed to hide from us all. My mind went back to the time when Jasmine and I had been out shopping, and those men had attacked us. Tyler had arrived only five minutes after, but now I saw it for what he really was. He hadn’t been my rescuer. He had obviously known what was going to happen, and planned to swoop in and rescue us so no-one would ever suspect him of anything. He looked like the hero, and Jackson would have trusted him even more after saving my life.
He suddenly ran towards me with a speed that took me by surprise, and before I could blink I was pushed backwards until he fell on top of me, knocking the breath right out of me. He balled his hand up and punched me so hard in the face, I saw stars and the nausea hit me as I fought to stay awake. His hand grabbed me by the throat and the panic hit me full force when I found I couldn’t breathe. He squeezed tightly and I fought against him with everything I had, to try and get him off me. He laughed manically, watching the fear in my eyes, and I knew that I needed to do something now, or I was going to die.
I managed to free my right arm from where I had landed on it, and using the last remaining strength I had left, I reached between our bodies and grabbed at his crotch, inwardly cheering as I found what I was looking for. I shuddered as I could feel just how excited he was at watching me suffer. Desperate to get him away from me, I grabbed hold of his balls through his trousers and squeezed as hard as I could. Tyler let out an inhuman scream, reaching pitches I had never heard before and I tried to arch away from the sound, without releasing my hand. He let go of my throat and I sucked in a deep lungful of air, scrambling away from Tyler who was curled up in the foetal position and screaming. I knew I only had minutes before his accelerated healing kicked in, so I jumped up on shaky legs and started to run. My legs could barely hold my weight and my head felt woozy from where I had been starved of oxygen, but I knew this was a life or death situation and now I finally had something to live for there was no way I was going to let it end this way.
“You fucking bitch!” I heard Tyler’s scream from close behind me, and pushed myself faster through the forest. The next time he shouted, his voice sounded as if it was right behind me, causing my heart to drop.