When he got upstairs, Dalton was already in the hallway. He looked at his brother with a screwed-up expression and asked him what the hell he was doing there.
“What am I doing here? That seems to be a question that I should be asking you. Why are you here with my wife?”
Dustin expected an answer from his brother; he did not expect Jasmine to give him one.
“Your wife? You made me leave. The question is valid: why are you here, Dustin? You made clear what you wanted, and even though I didn’t agree with it, I still did as you asked.”
He looked to her and could see the pain that he had caused. It was never his intention to hurt her, but whatever his intentions were had not mattered. She obviously was hurt by all of it, and it was all his fault. The reason he hadn't gone to her sooner was because he knew she would not be so forgiving. He had not expected to be greeted with open arms.
“I did what was necessary because of how you came to be my wife. That does not mean that I'm going to stand by and let you be with my brother. There are some things I won’t be able to do. That’s one of them.”
“Your brother said that we could be together because you guys are related. Since you shifter people do not believe in divorce, I have to believe that this is a better way than being alone completely.”
He couldn't believe what was being said. It made sense, but it wasn’t feasible in his mind. Dalton and Jasmine. No. His mind and body reacted to the mere thought of it with repulsion.
“I warned you about my brother for a reason. I don't know why he's doing this, but it's not because he has your best intentions at heart.”
She looked over at Dalton and shrugged.
“At least my son will have a father. Dalton is taking the responsibility that you apparently don't want. How can you blame him when he’s stepped up for you?”
It took him a moment to really hear the words that had been said.
It dawned on him and he felt silly for not knowing it sooner. How could he not know that she was pregnant with his child?
In the time that Dustin tried to wrap his head around it, Dalton was moving in closer. Dustin got a bad feeling that took over, and he looked over to see something shiny and metal coming at his face. He didn’t have time to move, and there was only a brief burst of pain before blackness.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“What in the world did you do that for?”
She should have been surprised by Dalton’s actions, alarmed even, but Jasmine was fast getting used to the quick-tempers that she associated with shifters. They all seemed to be a little hot-headed.
“He was trying to take you away from me. What was I supposed to do?”
“Not this.”
Jasmine was looking at the body of her husband on the ground, and he did not look well. Dalton had hit him in the head with some kind of metal statute that looked really heavy, and now he was completely out of it. She just kept looking at him, not sure what to say or do.
“We have to help him or do something. You can't just leave him like this.”
Dalton wasn't really listening, though. Instead of helping her get Dustin up, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.
“We need to get out of here. When my brother wakes up, he is not going to be happy. You think he's mad now, wait until he comes to with a headache and revenge in his heart. I definitely don't want to be here.”
Jasmine didn't want to go with him. She was perfectly content to stay where she was. Just the fact that Dustin had come back for her gave her some kind of hope that maybe there was a chance for them. She was worried about how it was all going to play out, and now seeing how quickly Dalton could turn to violence, she was even more unsure about the current plan. When she refused to go with him, he started to pull on her arm, and Dalton was very clear that he did not have time for her refusals.
“I don't know why you think that you have a choice in this, but you really don't. You're going to come with me now, and we're going to get out of here. You're carrying the next alpha of my clan, so even if they don't want me, they'll have to take him. This is going to work out better than I thought.”
Jasmine tried to fight him for a few more moments before he hit her as well. She didn't take much to see black, and the last thing she remembered was feeling like she was floating. In the back of her mind, Jasmine knew that she was flying through the air. The question was, where was she going?
Dustin woke up with a start, knowing that something was horribly wrong. It took several moments for his mind to give him the real reason he was feeling the way he was. Apparently, his brother had stolen his wife.
If Dustin didn't care about her, then he could have just let it go and wished them luck. But that wasn't the case. He knew that his brother was not in love with her. Which meant that he had figured out a way to use her for something. He couldn’t stand to have anything bad happen to the only woman he’d ever loved.
The more his mind started to clear, the more he remembered, and then a very obvious memory came to him. It wasn't just that his brother was trying to take her, but he was also trying to take his son. She said that she was pregnant and he didn't even have to ask her: he knew that it was his.
He sat up and rubbed his head. There were several people staring at him, and he could tell by their smell, that they were all human. Dustin smiled and apologized.
“Is Jasmine coming back?”
He shrugged, not having an answer. “I sure hope so.”
While the woman asking the question looked a lot like Jasmine and he imagined that it was Jasmine’s mom, he wasn’t too nice to her. She was the one that had sold her daughter and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about it. He didn’t feel good about her, he knew that much.
Without saying much else, he walked out of the house that had held so much promise and tried his best to track her. He had to find his brother and Jasmine before Dalton did something that couldn’t be fixed.
Jamie was just as startled the first time Dustin came to see her as she was the second. He burst in, and it was obvious that the man had something on his mind. She asked him what was going on and he didn't answer her for some time. It was clear he was having a hard time dealing with it.
“I need to ask you a couple of questions about Jasmine, places she would go if she were to disappear.”
Jamie frowned, and even though the man in front of her was scary as hell, she was now more worried about the woman she had set him up with.
“Where did she go? Is something wrong with Jasmine?”
“I'm pretty sure that my brother took her.”
“Your brother. I guess you're talking about Dalton, right? Wasn’t he the one that you were trying to keep from ascending?”
He looked at her a little cross. “How did you know about him?”
“He came in here the other day and he was quite upset. He wanted to know information about Jasmine and where he could find her. I didn't realize there was something going on.”
“So you gave him the information, I take it?”
She agreed, and Jamie asked him what had happened to her.
“Well, my brother found out that she was carrying my child, and apparently he has convinced her to marry him. I'm not quite sure how all of this happened, as you can imagine, it's still quite new to me, but I have to find her before my brother does something worse. This was the whole reason I had taken on your service to begin with. My brother is not good for anyone. I hate to think of what he would do to her.”
Jamie swallowed hard and tried to remember everything she had told Dalton. It hadn't been much. She hadn't even really thought it through at the time because the information he wanted seemed to be so innocuous.
Now, though, she was worried about what that would mean for not just her business, but for the woman that had been given away
“I heard she was out of the country for the last few years. There is no telling what she could have learned and who she would have met there. I'm sorry t
hat I don't have more information.
He thanked Jamie and told her that he was grateful for the help, but she didn't feel like she was helping very much.
“If I hear anything, I will call you right away, Dustin. I want to help you find her. I know that you love her, and I want you both to be happy.”
“Thank you, really, thank you for all of it. I know that I never asked you for true love, but you gave it to me, and now I'm going to make sure I never lose it.”
Jamie smiled at his answer, and it made her feel better about the circumstances in which it all happened. As much as she wanted it all to go perfectly, that man falling in love with anyone seemed to be one of the best compliments she could receive. Or a miracle, helped from above. Either way, something special.
“I am very glad to hear that. Now, let's get your wife back and see how we can fix this situation.”
He agreed, and she smiled at his answer. It was encouraging to see real love like that. Jamie didn't know how she felt about it, but she knew that at least some happiness had been found, if only for a fleeting moment.
When he left, she sighed deeply to herself. If only she could find Jasmine and make things better. She decided to make a couple of calls. It was the least she could do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Let go of me, Dalton! You said that you were going to help me, and instead, you're kidnapping me.”
She tried to pull away, but it didn't do any good. Jasmine was lifted off the ground, and in seconds, she was in flight. Dalton was red-colored, where his brother was blue. It made her think that there were some astronomical differences between the two brothers. One was good, and one was definitely evil.
Jasmine struggled for a few more moments before she almost fell off of him, and she stopped immediately. As much as she wanted to get away from Dalton, falling to her death did not seem to be a good idea. She needed to calm herself and try to figure out a way to make it all work. How, she did not know.
They flew for what felt like forever, and she was already so mentally drained that she actually passed out for a little while. Maybe it was something he gave her or something in his touch, but at the most inopportune time, she was losing herself completely.
She woke up still in flight, but they were on a descent. It felt a little sharp, and she had to hold on extra hard. Then they were at a cabin that was much like the one Dustin had brought her to after they were married.
Jasmine figured that it was a house that was in the family, and from the looks of it, it was far enough away from people that she would most likely not be found. That was his whole idea, and the thought of it made her shiver inside.
He let her down gently, and since the anger seemed to have dissipated from earlier, she was not going to try to fight him again. Pissing off a dragonkin did not seem like a good idea.
Jasmine remembered the words that Dustin had told her. He told her to watch out for Dalton because he was bad news. Now she could see it for what it was. She should have listened, and the situation would have been a lot better, but she hadn’t, and now she was going to have to pay the price.
Jasmine followed him in and tried her best to accommodate Dalton wherever she could. She did not want to fight with him so quickly. Jasmine was still hoping she could find a reasonable side to Dalton. It had to be there. If he was anything like Dustin, she was sure that she would be able to find a way to work things out. She was sure that her opportunity would come. All she had to do was wait for it.
Dustin, on the other hand, did not feel like waiting was the best way to go about things. He knew his brother too well and knew what he was capable of. Dustin knew that he had to get Jasmine away from his brother. Dalton was just going to use her and the baby to get what he really wanted. What Dalton really wanted, what he'd always wanted was not just the respect of the clan, but for him to be the leader of it. He wasn’t going to stop until he got his way. Or until someone else stopped him.
Dustin tried to calm his nerves, though it was nearly impossible. He ended up getting several of his cousins to help him. Dustin wasn't the only one that had issues with Dalton. Almost everybody in the family had at one point or another, and he used that to his advantage.
Finding help wasn’t the hardest part; the hardest part was that he was unable to find them right off the bat. His brother had gone off the grid.
Finally, after sending out over ten scouts looking for her, he got some information that told him he was on the right track. Dustin was very unhappy to find she had been taken to one of the family cabins up north. He wasn't sure what Dalton had in mind, but he knew that he had to get Jasmine out of his grips. Nothing good would come of it.
Dustin took three other people with him, all cousins of his that were perfectly fine to go against Dalton. He had not made many friends in his lifetime because he was quick to screw people over. Dustin tried to live better, and now he was using it to his advantage.
It had been almost a week since Dalton had taken off with Jasmine, and when they arrived, it was dark. There were a couple lights turning on inside the cabin while they were watching. Dustin wanted to run in and immediately take his brother out. That's all he was focused on.
As much as Dustin knew that he had to be smart about it, it was hard not to rush in. He didn't know what was going on, but as they got closer, he looked through the window trying to figure it out. Whatever was going on, he knew that he would do everything in his power to stop it.
Once he got to the window, he could see inside, and they were both sitting in the living room. It looked practically peaceful, and for some reason, that bothered him. He didn't want them to be comfortable with each other. He didn't want her to be there because she wanted to be there. Dustin told himself that he was saving her butt. She smiled at Dalton, and they seemed at ease with each other.
He didn't watch for very long because he almost convinced himself that he was wrong and she wanted his brother instead of him. It was so clear in his mind that it saddened him. No matter how well they got along though, Dustin wasn’t going to let his brother raise his child. There was no way that he could sit idly by and let that happen. No way.
As he went to the front door, Dustin didn't even try to cover up the fact that he was there. He could take his brother down if he actually wanted him to fight him. He knew that he could kick the holy hell out of him if he needed to. There was no point in being slick then.
He just wanted to break faces, and then he would be able to stop worrying about Dalton and all of the things that he was or wasn’t going to do. He was sick of being his brother’s keeper.
Dustin liked to imagine that if he took his brother out of the equation, everything would fall into place. Somehow, he would be able to get over the way he and Jasmine met and they could make it work.
It didn't make sense; getting rid of Dalton could do so many things, but that's what Dustin wanted to believe. After seeing her and talking to her for a bit, he’d realized that she really did care for him, and Dustin also realized that no matter how they came to be together, it didn't matter. They were together, and he liked to believe that it was for a reason. It was hard to feel that way when she was out of his life, but now he knew exactly what he needed.
The door came off the hinges rather easily. It was certainly not the first one that he’d kicked in, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Dalton jerked at the sound of the door, but once he saw that it was his brother, he actually smiled, and it made Dustin feel cold inside.
“You know, brother, for someone who made it clear they didn't want to have anything to do with me, you certainly can't stay away, can you?”
Dustin just looked at him and shook his head. Why in the world was Dalton finding so much pleasure in this?
“Do you really hate me this much?”
“Hate you? Yeah, I guess you could say I hate you. You made sure of it, though. All of this to become the alpha, and from what I hear, you're not even taking the job very seriously. What was the point, if y
ou were just going to let the clan go to hell anyway?”
Dustin wasn't aware that he was letting the clan go to hell, though he did recognize that a lot of his time and energy was spent on hiding feelings for Jasmine. It was hard to think of anything else when she was constantly on his mind.
“I do what needs to be done.”
“That's not what I hear. I hear that you're letting everything slack. We’re losing cred in the community because of you.”
“Oh, really? Who says that?”
Dalton just smiled bigger and brighter. He was enjoying it all far too much.
“The same people that are probably regretting picking you. I am obviously the right choice.”
The whole time that the two brothers were arguing, neither one of them was looking over at Jasmine: the whole reason the two of them were fighting. She felt she was being pulled into something that she didn't have much to do with.
“Are you guys going to just keep deciding my future without even asking me about it? Is that really how this is going to go?”
Dustin looked at her and smiled like he was seeing her for the first time. Maybe he was, because he had been so focused on his brother and what Dalton was doing.
“I'm here to take you home, Jasmine. I didn't know that you were pregnant.
“Why does me being pregnant matter?”
“It does. Carrying my child, of course it matters.”
Jasmine bit her lip, and he could tell that she wanted to go. It was just in the way that she was inching towards him, although there was still fear in her face. He would never forgive himself if Dalton did something to her.
“Well, you made it clear that you didn’t want me, but I do agree that I should probably be with the father of my child.”
Dalton got the first whiff that something was off, and he stood up quickly, walking towards Jasmine.
“You will not take her with you, Dustin. You cast her aside, and I have taken her on as my own responsibility.”
Alpha Shifter Bride Service: (A Paranormal Romance Series) Page 10