Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 90

Jonathan reached Moon-Valley within minutes of traveling in his wolf form. He could already smell Greggory everywhere and on every female. It was disgusting what he was doing to Jessica. That bruise on her neck was done by Greggory; there was no doubt in his mind about that. The fact that he’s an Alpha, and like Rock, uses his force to hurt his luna.

Greggory was somebody that Jonathan had once trusted; he thought of Greggory as a friend at one point. Back when Arina resided in Moon-Valley and attended their art school, he befriended Greggory. He was just a young boy who wanted to have a good time but couldn’t because he had so many responsibilities. He couldn’t truly be a kid.

Even after Jonathan’s 18th birthday, when he found out that his mate was Arina and he couldn’t hang around her anymore, he remained close to Greggory.

He was always a flirt with the ladies around his pack, even the ladies outside of his pack, but he never thought of Greggory to be the violent type. He couldn’t help but wonder what happened to cause this violent streak.

Approaching a woman at a produce stand, Jonathan noticed she smelled strongly of Greggory. She was with him recently, maybe the last day or so.

“Excuse me, mam?” Jonathan said as he walked toward the woman.

She was young; maybe in her mid-20s. She had sleek blonde hair that fell around her shoulders and down her back. Greggory always had a thing for blondes. She batted her long lashes at Jonathan; she knew he wasn’t from the pack almost instantly and he could see the worried expression growing on her face as he stopped in front of her.

“You were recently with Alpha Greggory. Do you know where I might replace him?” Jonathan went in to ask.

She frowned and blinked at him for a few moments before speaking.

“Uh…” she began. “Last I saw him he was in his office.”

“How long ago was that?” Jonathan asked.

Her face reddened as she looked around her surroundings; she was being cautious of who was listening.

“Maybe an hour ago,” she finally answered, lowering her voice.

“Do you know where his luna, Jessica, is?” Jonathan asked, eyeing her reaction.

The girl’s eyes widened; she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She was definitely aware of Greggory’s luna. She would have to be living under a rock for her to not know about Jessica. But bringing up Jessica made the girl feel weird.

“I’m not sure,” she said softly. “Maybe at home; she doesn’t go out that much.” After another pause, the woman asked, “Who are you anyway? Why are you asking all these questions?”

“Just a friend,” Jonathan answered, walking away. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

It was perfect; if Greggory was still in his office, which was located across the town, then Jonathan could go snooping around his house. Jessica would let him in for sure and he could really replace out what’s been going on behind those closed doors.

He could feel the woman staring at the back of his head as he continued walking away.

“What do you want with Jessica?” An unfamiliar male voice said from beside him.

He stopped walking to face the man standing there; Jonathan didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t smell as if he belonged to this pack.

“I’m sorry?” Jonathan asked, cocking an eyebrow up at him.

“You’re looking for Jessica; what do you want with her?” He asked again.

Jonathan frowned.

Who was this guy?

“Who’s asking?” Jonathan asked.

“I’m a friend of hers,” the man answered.

“Funny; I’ve known Jessica for a very long time, and she’s never mentioned any guy friends outside of her husband, Greggory,” Jonathan said, sizing him up.

“I’m more of a new friend,” the guy responded. “How long have you known her for?”

“I’m not telling you anything until you tell me who you are,” Jonathan told him.

“Spencer,” the man answered. “I was passing through when I met her…”

“Okay?” Jonathan said, still eyeing him carefully.

He still wasn’t sure who this guy was and what he wanted with Jessica himself. At this point, he couldn’t really trust anybody.

“When we met, there was this weird connection I felt with her,” he explained. “I can’t explain it and I’m not sure if she felt it too. But it was almost like I was drawn to her. Or my wolf was drawn to her or something… I don’t know. It was stupid I guess.”

“How old are you?” Jonathan asked.

“17,” he answered.

Could this guy be Jessica’s actual mate? If that was the case, that would mean Greggory lied about being mates with Jessica. But for what reason would he lie about something like that?

“The connection you felt, was it your wolf?” Jonathan asked.

Spencer looked surprised; he thought about it for a moment before answering.

“I couldn’t tell,” he admitted. “It was just something I never felt before.”

That sounded about right; Jonathan remembered how confusing and conflicted his feelings were with Arina for most of their life. He never understood it either and he couldn’t tell if it was coming from him or his wolf.

“We only met once, but I haven’t been able to get her out of my head,” Spencer said sheepishly. He looked almost embarrassed. “But she ran off quickly when I noticed that bruise on her neck.” He winced at the thought of it.

“You noticed the bruise too?” Jonathan asked, sighing sadly.

Spencer nodded.

“It’s hard not to notice,” he answered. “It was huge and dark. It looked awful. I asked what happened, but she didn’t want to answer. She covered it up and said she had to go.”

Jonathan wasn’t sure how much he could tell this guy. However, there was a part of him that trusted him.

“Do you think it was that Alpha guy? Greggory?” Spencer asked, surprising Jonathan.

Jonathan wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“She told you about Greggory?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Not exactly,” Spencer answered. “I commented on one of the lades about how that dude is a player. You can literally smell him on every female in this pack. Plus, he’s all he’s been talking about. I’ve been here since yesterday and I’ve heard a dozen different conversations about him.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “Jessica overheard me, but she didn’t seem mad. Moreso defeated. Like she knew what he’s been doing and doesn’t have a strong enough voice to say something to him. I asked if he was the one who hurt her neck and she got weird.”

“Look, no offense but I don’t know you well enough to talk to you about any of this. For all I know, you could be working with Greggory…”

“What?! No, of course not…” Spencer said defensively.

Jonathan’s cufflink began buzzing on his arm; it startled him. He forgot he had the ability to see anyone’s past, present, and future. He would be able to see instantly if Spencer was telling the truth. Spencer stood there still in shock as Jonathan grabbed onto his arm. He went to pull away, but Jonathan’s grip overpowered his strength.

Instantly Jonathan was surrounded by Spencer’s memories. He watched as his mother gave Spencer away to people who looked sketchy; he couldn’t tell what pack they were in. It was somewhere Jonathan has never been before. But the air felt polluted, and it was difficult to breathe.

Spencer must have been around 6, maybe 7 years old at the time. Spencer had the same honey brown eyes and tanned skin his mother had. His mother’s hair was blonde, and Spencer had light brown hair. He looked similar in his adult years as well, except he had more facial scruff and a much broader body.

Young Spencer looked confused as to why his mother was handing him over to a strange couple. Jonathan noticed that the mother was covered from head to toe in a cloth and he couldn’t actually see her features, but she was holding a small bundle in her arms. He took a step closer and realized it was a small baby. He couldn’t tell if the baby was a boy or a girl though. However, from the looks of things, she was just giving the couple Spencer and keeping the baby. Which confused Spencer even more.

Spencer was crying and screaming for his mom to come back but his mom wanted nothing to do with him.

Jonathan’s heart broke for him, but he didn’t stick around this memory for long; he continued moving forward through another significant part of his life.

The memories began changing and it showed Spencer’s life with this couple. They used him for slave work on their farm; they beat him and tortured him. Many nights he would go hungry; he hardly slept and when he did, he was riddled with nightmares. There were some nights when he was afraid, he wouldn’t make it. He would have fevers that nearly took his life.

Jonathan had to admit that it was hard to walk; oftentimes, he couldn’t watch. He looked away during some of the beatings. It had already happened so Jonathan wasn’t able to do anything about it. But he watched Spencer every night, praying to the moon goddess for something better to come along.

Jonathan hoped he would replace it someday. He continued moving forward through the memories.

The memories changed again, and Jonathan watched Spencer finally escaping the farm; he was 16 years old, and it was the year he could turn into his true wolf form. He took off and didn’t look back. Spencer was weak though and it took him a long while to make his way to Moon-Valley. He had to spend a lot of nights hidden in a cave and nurse himself back to health due to his poor health conditions and chronic fevers.

During one of his fever dreams, he dreamt of a woman that didn’t recognize at the time; Jonathan couldn’t see the dream or the woman, but he could hear the voice and he knew the voice almost instantly.

It was Emlin.

She was watching over this boy; she visited him in his dreams and told him that he needed to get to Moon-Valley. She told him that he needed to keep traveling west and that he needs to get there as soon as he can.

He woke up confused, but he listened to her.

He just turned 17 a few weeks ago and he arrived at Moon-Valley yesterday morning. He’s been hanging out here ever since.

He had no idea who Greggory was, but he picked up his scent quickly and realized that almost all females in the pack had slept with him. Then, he met Jessica and instantly found himself drawn to her.

Jonathan saw all he needed to see. He let go of Spencer’s arm and stared at him. Spencer stared with his eyes wild and alert; he was confused and wary.

“What the hell was that?” Spencer breathed rubbing his arm.

Jonathan could imagine he probably felt him wandering through his memories; he wondered how uncomfortable it must have been for him. Maybe invasive?

“Sorry,” Jonathan muttered. “I just needed to know if I could trust you.”

“And?” Spencer asked, sounding annoyed.

“I’m sorry about everything that’s happened to you in your life,” Jonathan told him; he felt for the guy. He hasn’t had an easy life.

“You’re the Overseer?” Spencer said, keeping his voice low. Jonathan just nodded his response; it was still weird for him to admit that out loud. “I heard he existed…but I never thought…” his voice trailed off.

“We didn’t exist for a long time; the role is kind of new to me,” he explained.

Spencer exhaled in awe.

Jonathan wanted to replace out more about this guy without having to search through his life, but he knew they didn’t have time for that right now. He needed to investigate more about Greggory and replace out if Jessica was okay. He was going to use Spencer’s help in accomplishing that.

“I think Jessica might be in danger,” Jonathan told him as he began walking in the direction of Greggory’s house.

Spencer followed closely behind.

“I was afraid of that…” he responded sadly. “What can I do to help?”

“I’m breaking into Greggory’s house; I could use your help to do that,” Jonathan answered.

“Anything,” Spencer said.

…

They reached Greggory’s house within a few minutes. Jonathan noticed that the windows were tinted; there were no signs of light, indicating that no one was home. He pressed his fingers against the wooden paneling of the house, trying to get a sense of movement; there was none.

He found that to be weird because he could smell a presence nearby and it seems as though someone was inside. But there was no indication of that being true. Spencer was staring around the house in dismay; he was thinking about something, and he had a worried expression on his face.

Jonathan stared at him with a questioning gaze.

“Jessica’s here,” he answered Jonathan’s gaze. “She’s inside the house. But there’s no indication of movement.”

Jonathan’s heart sunk deep into his stomach.

That meant something was wrong.

He went to open the door, but it was locked.

“Try a window,” Jonathan ordered him.

Spencer went to check a couple of windows, but they all proved to be locked. Jonathan began knocking on the door; maybe she was just sleeping. He was trying to be optimistic about the situation and keep a level head. He didn’t want to go into full panic mode just yet; he still had to investigate the house without Greggory knowing he was there. He couldn’t smell Greggory for miles, so he knew he wasn’t coming around for a little bit.

He needed to use this time wisely and…

Before he could finish his thought, he heard the sound of glass shattering. He turned to see Spencer picking up another rock and throwing it through the window. He had beads of sweat on his forehead and a look of panic in his eyes.

Jonathan stared at him with disbelief.

“Vandalism? Seriously?” Jonathan scolded, running towards him.

“I’m sorry, but something’s wrong. I can feel it,” Spencer said as he pushed the rest of the glass out of the frame. He winced as a piece of glass snagged on his finger. “I need to get inside,” he added.

Jonathan sighed in defeat; he guessed it didn’t matter anymore.

He followed Spencer into the dark house; there was a broken lamp scattered across the ground on the other side of the room. It reminded him of Rock’s house whenever he got into a fight with Melissa. Or Willa. Whoever she was.

There was a lingering smell that was so potent it nearly made Jonathan gag; it didn’t smell like anything fresh, but it was so strong it took him back.

Jonathan tried to flip on a light, but the light switch wasn’t working. Or there was no power to the house. The kitchen smelled of moldy food; it was almost as if nobody has lived there in months.

Spencer pushed open one of the doors at the far end of the hallway and he stumbled backward in shock. Jonathan gasped as the smell hit him instantly; it smelled like something died in there.

“Jessica…?” Spencer whispered; his voice broken.

Jonathan’s face fell as they both ran into the room.

Jessica was lying in her bed; her blonde hair damps with b***d sticking to her bloodened features. She had scratches and bruises along her jawline; the bruise around the nape of her neck was more purple. Was completely naked with bite marks along her arms and legs; bruises crossed her ribs.

Spencer was the first to reach her; he lifted her head and pressed his ear against her chest. His body was shaking; he’s only known her for a little while, but Jonathan could tell how deeply he cared for her. He wondered how long Emlin has been keeping her watch on this boy and why he was a significant other than being Jessica’s obvious mate.

“Oh my god, she’s alive…” Spencer breathed.

Jonathan let out the breath he was holding and joined Spencer at the bedside. He pressed his fingers against her wrist to feel for a pulse. He wasn’t prepared to be taken through Jessica’s memories. He watched Greggory beat the crap out of her, using different objects. Jessica was crying and begging for him to stop but he wouldn’t. He then watched as Greggory forced himself on top of her and raped her. Then he continued beating her until she was unconscious. He threw her in the bed and left her for dead.

Jonathan released Jessica and stumbled backward; his breath was caught in his throat. He never knew Greggory to be the violent type, but seeing what he did to Jessica, was unbelievable.

“What did you see?” Spencer asked, worry in his voice.

“You don’t want to know…” Jonathan answered. “We need to get her out of here.”

Spencer nodded in agreement.

“Where are we going to take her?” Spencer asked.

“Home to Sabrebite.”