Fated to the Werewolf King novel Chapter 20

"Hello?" He picked up his cell to an unknown number. Damion sat across from him at another desk in his large office in the pack house.

"Get your Alpha looking ass at the dress store right fucking now." Erica shouted at him. He held his phone away, his eyes looking over to Damion who recognized his Mate's temper easily.

"Can it wait?" He asked her after bringing his phone back to his ear.

"No! Jasper was just here!" She shouted again. Jayce was on his feet and out the door with Damion following behind him.

"What dress store? I'm on my way. Monitor Lily." He ordered, hanging up before she could get another snide remark in.

"What the Hell was that?" Damion asked as he matched his pace. Jayce was close to shifting when they reached the main floor. The receptionist coward away at the sight of her King stalking toward the door. His phone buzzed. He planned to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop until he answered it.

"Dammit Erica, I said I'm on my way!" He shouted. He listened to Damion snarl beside him.

"Jayce, don't come." Lily's sweet voice stopped him in tracks, his hand on the doorknob.

"Lily, I need to. I need to find him." He growled, every ounce of his body being restrained by her simple command.

"You can't. You would play right into his hands." She told him. His Wolf growled deeply.

Listen.

His Wolf's voice alarmed Jayce. He let go of the doorknob, seeing the confusion on Damion's face.

"How?" He asked her.

"Jasper disappeared after leaving the store. He's most likely confirming my whereabouts. He's probably monitoring where I go from here."

"So? That means he's close." He snarled, punching the wall. The debris fell away from the impact.

"Exactly, and if you came charging in like the hulking, sexy force that you are, he'll never approach me again. We'll lose him." She said. His Wolf purred, and he relaxed.

"Sexy?" He repeated. She stammered on the other line before clearing her throat.

"Anyway, we continue as we planned. It could be possible that he thinks I knew it was him, and he may be trickier to catch."

"To kill." He said. She said nothing at first.

"Right... Let him think he's got the advantage. He'll be cocky about it. He'll try to get closer because he believes he can." She told him. He pondered a moment on her words.

"Fine." He said through clenched teeth.

"Jayce." She spoke his name tenderly. He leaned his head against the door as she said his name. "Everything will be okay." She reassured him. He shut his eyes, letting her words sink into his mind.

"I know it will be. Just be careful, okay?" He told her.

"I will. I love you." She said. His heart skipped at her words, and he grasped his shirt gently.

"I love you too." He said before hanging up. He remained in that position for a moment longer before turning and heading back toward his office.

"Whoa, hold up. What was that about? We should go after Jasper." Damion said, stepping in front of him to stop him.

"We can't." Jayce said with regret in his voice. He'd love nothing more than to hunt the fucker down while the trail was still hot.

"Why the fuck not?" Damion asked him. Jayce met his gaze. His Beta was just as riled up as he was.

"It would just make him turn and run away. We'll keep to the plan we have for tomorrow." He said as he sidestepped him. Damion grabbed his arm.

"Jayce, this isn't like you. You are always on the case with shit. Why are you holding back now?" He questioned him. Jayce hesitated in his next step. Damion was right. He always charged ahead when situations arise. He never waited to be jumped first. Jayce gazed back at Damion. His Wolf tugged at his mind, but he ignored him.

"Let's go."

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Jayce rode with Damion in his pickup down to the dress shop, parking a few blocks away to stay out of sight. A part of him wanted to turn back, to obey his Mate's wishes, but he couldn't. Just knowing the slimy bastard was in his city made his blood boil. And he was so close to Lily! Was she terrified? Did she cry? He didn't know; he didn't ask. Jayce just knew he needed to kill Jasper so Lily could be free of him permanently.

"I got some info from Erica. He appeared as a brown-haired male in a butler suit that was tailing an annoying female." He cocked a brow at that.

"Did the female know him?" Jayce asked, his eyes on the dress store where he noticed Penelope's car parked at the entrance.

"The woman apparently made no pass to the man she came with, and from Lily's perspective, he wasn't with her when they left." Damion scrolled through his phone, "A woman with brunette hair and a self entitled attitude." Damion and Jayce exchanged looks, knowing full well who she was referring to.

"As much as I hate to say it." Damion said as he turned on his truck. Jayce didn't want him to finish. He knew what needed to be done.

They drove up a small driveway to a two-story house. Its wrap-around porch accented with hanging potted plants, as Jayce stepped up in one go. The door flew open to Chelsea in the doorway, wearing a silk red robe and a sweet smile on her face.

"My King." She said to him, her eyes landing on Damion and her smile drops, "Damion." She scowled at him, probably still sore after being dumped once he found his Mate.

"Where is he?" Jayce demanded, pushing past her. He lifted his nose into the air, but the only scent he could gather was hers.

"My father is at the pack house." Chelsea said dismissively, walking back to the living room to pick up her glass of wine. Damion dashed through to the kitchen.

"Not him, fool. The butler you had at the dress store." Jayce snarled down at her. She swallowed, but stood her ground.

"Butler? He's out on an errand for me." She sipped her wine. Jayce's growl bounced off the walls of her living room, a crack forming in her wineglass.

"What errand?" He towered over her. Her eyes evaded his, her body shivering. Damion came running back into the living room.

"He's not here, Jayce." He said to him. Jayce didn't bother addressing him. He continued to stare down at Chelsea, his gaze boring down on her.

"Tell me, Chelsea." His patience wore thin. Her eyes flitted up to his for a moment, and he thought he noticed a glimmer of remorse in her eyes.

"He's following that bitch of yours." She said with disdain. His hand lashed out, grabbing the front of her robe and tugged her close, spilling her wine.

"Why?" He shouted in her face, her feet just barely touching the ground. Her eyes widened up at him, fear clear in her eyes now.

"You said you would wait." She said to him as he stepped closer.

"I know, but I couldn't knowing he was still in the city." He said to her. Erica wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Let's get out of plain sight first." Erica said, her eyes staring daggers at Damion. He looked away from her as he lead them all back to his truck. Jayce tried to reach for Lily, but Erica kept shaking her head at him. As they climbed into the truck, Erica sat with Lily and Jayce took the passenger seat. She refused to even look at him.

I told you.

His Wolf growled at him, and he couldn't deny that he was right. Damion pulled into his long driveway and Lily was the first one out the truck and inside.

"Lily wait." He hopped out of the truck and rushed after her. She stopped on the first step up the stairs, but she didn't look back at him. "I had to do it. He was right there." He tried to justify his actions.

"Did you get him?" She asked, turning to face him. He stopped, staring up at her.

"No... But I will." He said to her. Fear clouded her eyes.

"You won't... We had a plan, and now he probably won't show himself." Her body trembled. He reached out to her, wanting to comfort her, but she moved away.

"Lily, please." He never thought he'd ever beg to her.

"No. We had our one chance to be rid of him, and you blew it." She snapped. He snarled in response. He stepped closer until she couldn't get away again, cornering her against the wall.

"I don't need to wait around for him to come after you." He growled down at her.

"Now you gave him more chances to do it!" She raised her voice. He punched the wall beside her head, her eyes going wide as she stared up at him.

"Don't talk to your King that way." He growled down at her. He watched the tears overflow and spill over instantly.

Shit.

She lowered her gaze, her hands balling into fists.

"You're not my King." She said to him before moving off of the wall and headed upstairs. He watched her turn down the opposite corridor to her old room and slammed the door shut.

"That could've gone better." Erica spoke up from the doorway. Damion looked away awkwardly as she spoke up. "Now, I'm not gonna lie. I was glad you two dealt with Jasper right away, but you could've handled it better." She told Jayce. He stepped down the stairs, ignoring the rubble he created, and went into the living room.

"Let's leave them be for now." Damion told her, lifting her off of her feet.

"Dammit, put me down!" She shouted as he shut the door behind himself. She continued to rant until the truck was gone from his driveway. Jayce took a seat on one of the couches, rubbing his temples. He wanted to go to Lily. He wanted to drop to his knees and beg for her to forgive him. A part of him knew he shouldn't have gone ahead, but he couldn't stop himself. He pulled out his phone and called Joel.

"I need you and Nigel to keep an eye on Chelsea's place. I want a complete rotation of her property. Jasper has been noted inside the home, he won't be returning to it." He spit out his command before hanging up the phone.

You're not my King.

Her voice rang in his head, constantly repeating. She was right. He didn't want to be her King. He wanted to be her Mate. Her man. Her lover. But not her King.