Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 84

“Jessica, what happened?” I said, my eyes wide and alert as Jessica stood before us.

There was a giant, nasty, purple bruise on the nape of her neck and she looked utterly and completely worn out. Her eyes had dark circles under them as though she hasn’t slept in weeks and her features were paler than usual and thinning out drastically since seeing her at the wedding.

Looking around at everyone, they all seemed just as astonished to see her appearance. She looked sheepish and then at the ground; I could tell she was trying to cover up the bruise by applying some makeup to it, but it still looked horrible and obvious that it was there. I could hardly imagine what it must look like without the makeup.

“Jessica?” I repeated, stepping closer to her.

It seemed as though she recoiled backward slightly. I stopped moving toward her and frowned. Something was seriously wrong, and I had a feeling I knew who to blame. I could feel the anger coursing through my body as I stared at my best friend who was in serious trouble.

I saw the same signs from my mother when I was only a child and now, I was seeing Jessica going through the same thing. I was afraid this was going to happen, and I wouldn’t stand for it. I was infuriated at the thought that Greggory would dare put his hands on her.

“I’m fine,” she assured me; but her tone was anything but assuring. It sounded raspy and broken as though she spent the entire night and day crying her eyes out and/or screaming to fight for her life. “I just fell.”

She was lying.

It was such an obvious lie and it infuriated me, even more, knowing that she didn’t trust me enough for the truth. What does she think I’m going to say? Why would she protect such an obvious monster?

“Arina?” She said slowly, staring around my reddened and angered face. “I promise I’m fine,” she chuckled nervously, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Why don’t we get back to Sabrebite. Emee is getting a bit fussy, and I think we should talk to Jessica alone,” Jonathan suggested, stepping beside me.

Everyone agreed; I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jessica though and my jaw was completely clenched. I was ready to straight-up fight somebody. I wanted Greggory’s b***d on my fingers. I wanted to rip his throat out with my bare hands through the nape of his neck and give him a taste of his own medicine.

I knew Greggory’s intentions weren’t good the moment Jessica mentioned mating with him and being in love. None of it ever made sense to me. If he knew Jessica was his mate from the beginning, then why would he marry Rachel? The thought was disgusting.

…

Once we returned to Sabrebite and back home, it was just Jonathan, Jessica, and I. Jonathan went to put Emee down for bed and I pulled Jessica over to the couch and sat her down. Tears were forming in her eyes whenever she tried hard not to cry. She kept glancing over at the clock nervously; something told me that he was keeping her on a serious lockdown.

“Jessica, what the hell?” I asked, keeping my voice low and my eyes locked on her.

She bit the bottom of her l*p nervously; chewing on it until it practically bled.

“I know…” she said softly. “You were right, Arina. He isn’t good for me.”

“So, he did do this to you?” I asked. I already knew that answer but hearing her confirm my worst fears was heart-shattering. I hated that my best friend was going through the same shit my mother went through; I didn’t want the same outcome to happen to her. “Why would he do this?”

Tears fell from my eyes, dripped from her chin, and soaked into her blouse.

“I didn’t do anything wrong…” she whispered. “He just wouldn’t stop.”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in for a hug; I allowed her to sob into my shoulder. But their body was frail, and I was worried she was about to physically break apart at any moment. I hated Greggory for doing this to her; I didn’t trust him to begin with, but I didn’t think he would become physically abusive like this.

“Jessica?” Jonathan said as he came back into the room. I looked at him sternly as Jessica continued crying into me and I shushed him to keep him quiet. He frowned and shook his head in response. “I have to ask you something.”

I rolled my eyes as she lifted her head; her tear-stained features staring up at him.

“I can’t see Greggory or you through the Overseer link. I’m assuming he’s blocking me out. Do you know how or if he’s doing that?”

She sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. Lifting her arms, she showed a small black cufflink.

“Probably this,” she said, her voice sounding raspy. Jonathan and I stared at the cufflink in shock. “He’s had them in his family for generations apparently. He said it will keep everything private and block out any unwanted guests. I guess that meant you.”

“How would his family get something like that?” Jonathan asked.

The Davis family got the Overseer cufflink from Naomi, the Witch of Perception. He couldn’t imagine that she would create an anti-Overseer cufflink as well. It wouldn’t have made sense.

Unless…

“You don’t think there’s another witch that would have created that, do you?” I asked, eyeing Jonathan carefully.

Telling from the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing. I looked at Jessica, I could see the worry on her face as she tried to process that.

“You don’t remember hearing anything about another witch?” I asked her.

“No…” she said softly. “If I did, I would have mentioned something.”

“If there’s anyone who would know, it would be my mother,” Jonathan said slowly.

My frown deepened.

“You don’t think she’d keep something else from us, do you? Something this serious?” I asked him.

He shook his head.

“Not intentionally. But she would know exactly the witch capable of something like this,” he said. “I’ll give her a call and have her come here as soon as she can.”

My stomach was in a complete knot.

“Meanwhile, I’ll set up the guest bedroom for Jessica,” I told them; Jonathan nodded in agreement while Jessica’s eyes widened in fear.

“No!” She said, standing up quickly. “I can’t stay. I need to go home.”

My mouth nearly dropped open; she wasn’t serious. Was she?

“Jessica, you can’t honestly be thinking about going back to him, do you?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even. “Look at you!” I motioned for her neck.

She quickly covered it with her hand to keep it out of my view.

“I have to,” she told me. “If I don’t return, he will come looking for me and…” she tried to say.

“We won’t let him get to you,” I cut her off.

She shook her head quickly.

“I have to go. I’m sorry,” she said as she rushed towards the door. “Happy birthday, Arina.”

“Jessica, wait!” I yelled after her, but she was already gone.

I couldn’t believe she just left and gone back to him. I wanted to chase after her, but I couldn’t just leave Jonathan and Emee here.

“My mom will be here soon,” Jonathan informed me, coming back into the room. “She left?”

I looked at him with a worried expression.

“Yes,” I told him.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around me.

“I can’t believe she left,” I told him, tears falling from my eyes.

“She’s strong, Arina. You know that better than anyone. She will be able to handle her own until we can help her,” he assured me.

But I wasn’t so sure; from the looks of that bruise, things were already so bad, and they were only married for a month. My mother was one of the strongest wolves I knew, and she still wasn’t strong enough to defend herself against Rock. She ended up dying at the hands of Melissa.

I didn’t want something like that to happen to Jessica too.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, peering up at him.

“Well, for starters, we need to figure out the connections that Greggory has and how he got that cufflink. Then I’ll go to Moon-valley and investigate the situation. But I need to know what I’m up against first.”

He was right; we needed to be patient. Chasing Jessica down and/or running into her home to grab her, wouldn’t be beneficial for her or us. It would only anger Greggory even more and who knows what he’s capable of. Who knows what kind of elements he has on his side.

I was relieved that Jess showed up quickly and was eager to help.

“So, what’s going on with Jessica and Greggory?” She asked with worry.

I knew Jonathan had told her about some stuff over the phone; she was at the party when we saw Jessica’s bruise, so she already knew that Jessica was in an abusive situation.

“Greggory has this black cufflink and is using it to block out the Overseer sight,” I explained; her eyes widened in shock.

“A black cufflink?” She asked, astonished.

“Which means there’s someone who made that cufflink,” Jonathan said, eyeing her.

She frowned.

“Naomi would never do such a thing,” Jess said, looking between us.

“We know,” I told her calmly. “But someone did.”

“And you think I know who did?” Jess asked, sounding defensive.

“We were just asking if you might know,” I told her.

“No…” Jess sighed. “I don’t.”

“Were there other witches?” I asked.

She thought about it for a moment and nodded.

“Of course, there were. But the only one our family has ever met was Naomi,” she said, still in thought.

“So, the only one who would know for certain about this other witch and their abilities, would be Naomi?” Jonathan asked, sounding disappointed.

Jess stayed silent for a long while before answering.

“Not necessarily,” Jess said. “There’s a woman in the gem shop in town, Jade, I was talking to her not long ago. I didn’t know it but she’s a huge witch fanatic. She collects everything that has to do with a witch including books. She might know something.”

“Then we will go to the gem shop and speak with her,” I said eagerly.

“It’s closed until morning,” Jonathan said. “So, it’ll have to wait.”

“It can’t. Jessica is in danger now. We need to help her,” I argued.

“We will. But we can’t rush this. We need to play it safe,” he told me.

“I’ll give her a call and see if she’ll speak with us,” Jess offered.

I nodded my thanks to her.

“If anyone will know who made that black cufflink and what it can do, it’s Jade.”