“You’re in a speed boat in the boathouse,” the woman said casually as though they were talking about something else. “And I hit you over the back of the head, tied you up, and dumped you here. Anymore questions?”
Tyler blinked rapidly, willing his eyes to adjust. He was in the boathouse all right, that much was clear. The speed boat was in the well of water in the center with the doors to the ocean open wide. There, standing on the concrete by the side of the boat, was Juliet Claesson. In her hand she held a screw driver and what looked like an engine part.
“You sent me that note,” he said as it began to dawn on him just how much trouble he was actually in. “What are you planning on doing with me?”
Juliet sighed as though she were bored of having to talk to him. “I’m going to kill you of course.”
“Why?” Tyler asked, starting to feel anger bubble up inside him. This was his mating day and some crazy bitch had kidnapped him and was planning on killing him. “I mean what exactly is your plan here? Are you really going to kill me because your daughter can’t get her own way? Please tell me this is about more than your daughter getting a date. I really don’t think you’ve thought this through.”
“Oh, I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Juliet told him, looking up from what she was doing long enough to sneer at him. “In fact I’ve been thinking about it since before you got here.”
“Milla wants to be the alpha mate so bad that you would actually kill for it? What about Finn, or are you planning on killing him, too?” he asked. A sudden and terrible fear took root in the pit of his stomach. Only now did the situation fully hit him. No one knew where he was. He was going to die and Finn might well be next. “Please, don’t hurt Finn. There’s no need to. With me gone they’ll have to take another third anyway.”
“Oh I know. Besides, with you both dead, Eric is likely to just give up on life. No, we’ll wait a couple of months after your death, give them time to grieve. Then Milla will be there for them, offering comfort and support. They’ll both be too hurt by losing you to want to find another third that they can love, so they’ll see that it’s best to mate with my daughter.”
“You’re crazy,” Tyler pointed out after several long moments of astonished silence. “You are full-on bat-shit crazy.”
Juliet didn’t even flinch at his accusation. In fact, she started to hum to herself as she continued working on whatever she was doing with the engine part. Tyler looked around to see if there was anything he could use to either cut the ropes or defend himself when she got closer, but there was nothing. She was clearly insane, so there would be no reasoning with her. The only chance he had at surviving this was to stall for time and hope that someone realized he was missing before it was too late. The low orange glow of the sun indicated that it was almost sunset. Eric and Finn were bound to realize something was wrong when he failed to show up for his own mating.
“So, just out of curiosity, what exactly are you doing over there?” he asked, not really sure he wanted to know the answer.
Juliet sighed again, clearly annoyed that she was being interrupted. “I’m sabotaging the engine so that it’ll overheat and explode after half an hour,” she said, still completely focused on what she was doing. “Give or take.”
“You’re going to blow me up?” he all but squeaked. “Well, I guess it’ll be quick at least.”
“Oh yes, it will be quick,” she assured him. “The engine will explode and you’ll be dead in seconds. I’ll make sure you’re right up by the engine. There won’t be much left of you when they find you. Eric and Finn will think that you had either changed your mind and were making a quick getaway back to the mainland, or that you needed to clear your head before the mating so you took the boat out for a ride. Either way you’ll be dead.”
“What makes you think you’ll get away with it?” Tyler asked. He tried to sit himself up against the edge of the boat and just about managed it, though it made the ropes dig into his skin and the movement made his head hurt worse. “They’ll find what’s left of the boat and they’ll realize it was tampered with.”
“No, they won’t,” she said, raising her voice at him. She held up the engine part and inspected it before a creepy smile spread out over her face. “They’ll find you eventually but the boat will be in so many parts that it’ll be impossible to figure out what really went wrong.”
“Oh my god,” he whispered as the memory of his conversation with Eric about his father and brother came back to him. Their boat’s engine had blown, too. “You killed Eric’s dad and brother.”
Juliet crouched down on the concrete beside the boat and began reassembling the engine. She began humming again as she worked.
“Why?” Tyler asked, feeling sick to his stomach. “Why would you want them dead?”
Juliet didn’t answer him and Tyler started trying to piece it all together.
“You wanted Milla to mate with Anders, Eric’s brother, because he was going to be the alpha,” Tyler said. He tried to remember everything he had learned about Eric’s family and what Lisa had told him about the Claessons. “But Milla was too young. You thought given the connection between your families that he would wait for her to be old enough but he fell in love and mated with someone else.”
Juliet stopped humming and her hand froze as she was re-attaching the part. She turned and looked at him with eyes that were so cold they made him shiver.
“When you killed them, Katja was already five,” Tyler pointed out. “So Anders had been mated for at least six years. Why would you wait that long to kill him? It doesn’t make sense. Something else must have happened.”
Juliet’s gaze burned into him and she moved closer, sitting herself down at the other end of the boat. “I was supposed to be the alpha mate. Sven Snövarg and I were supposed to be mated. We were the same age, born in the same month even,” she said, smiling wistfully as she reminisced. “We were from the two oldest families on Snövarg island. My whole life my father told me who I was going to mate with and how I was going to be the mother of their next alpha. But then when we were seventeen a man showed up with his daughter, Märta. They had left their pack and came to the island in search of a new home. Sven’s mother, the alpha at the time, welcomed them and it wasn’t long before Sven fell in love. My whole life had been about being the best alpha mate I could be, and then it was just over.”
Tyler frowned as he listened to her. The old saying about a woman scorned came to mind. “So that’s why you wanted Sven dead, too. He didn’t want you and then his son didn’t want your daughter.”
“No,” she told him, looking angry for the first time since Tyler had woken up. “I didn’t want Sven dead. I loved him. His mate, Märta, died when Lisa was born and he and I became friends again. We got close and I fell in love with him all over again.”
Tyler remembered what she had said about how Milla would comfort Eric and Finn after he died. Her plans hadn’t seemed to evolve much over the years. “But you had a mate then.”
She scoffed angrily. “A man my father picked out for me. I never loved him. When he died it was like fate, a sign that finally Sven and I could be together. He comforted me like I had comforted him and one night I kissed him. He told me that he could never take another mate,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. “That he would never love again.”
Behind Juliet Tyler could see that the door leading to the dock was slightly ajar. The only reason he was noticing it now was because the light flickered, as though someone or something had just walked past it. He knew he had to keep her talking, keep her focused on something other than sending him off to his death. While he talked he tried to undo the ropes around his wrists, but he wasn’t making much headway.
“So you killed him,” Tyler said. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his head. He thought about changing, about letting the shift come over him, but with the ropes how they were he could end up even worse off. The orange sun was reflecting on Juliet’s face, giving
it the illusion of warmth. “And you killed Anders, too, because he did to Milla what Sven did to you. So what about Katja? Was it because she was next in line after Anders to become alpha?”
“No,” Juliet insisted ardently. “I’m not a monster, I wouldn’t hurt a child. She wasn’t supposed to be on the boat and I knew that the elders wouldn’t allow a child to become alpha. It was a father and son fishing trip, Katja shouldn’t have been there.”
“But she was. Sven and Anders realized something was wrong before it exploded. Katja was too little to really remember what happened but she said it smelled like burning and then they panicked. Sven and Anders were seasoned seamen, they knew the engine was going to explode, but there was only time to blow up the life raft and get Katja on it. If she hadn’t been there they might have tried to make a swim for it, but they knew that Kat wouldn’t make it,” Tyler said as he tried to figure it all out. “She said the blast blew her away from the boat.”
“Ironic, isn’t it,” she said, wistfully looking out to the ocean. “Almost like fate. The one thing I hadn’t planned on was what ended up making my plan work. I’ve gotten better since then, though, learned more. You won’t be swimming anywhere, not with your hands and feet tied.”
“Did you kill your mate, too?” Tyler asked. He tried desperately to undo the rope around his wrists but it was useless. This woman tied one hell of a knot. He had no idea if there was actually someone outside, and if there was then maybe it was an accomplice. Either way, his odds weren’t looking good. This woman was starting to sound like the ultimate bunny boiler. The irony was not lost on him.
“No,” Juliet said, glaring at him again as though he was out of line for suggesting such a thing. “My girls loved their father, I wouldn’t do that to them.”
There was the distinct sound of footsteps outside before the wooden door slid all the way open. He looked up, hoping and praying that it was Eric or Finn. When he saw Milla standing there his heart sunk.
“Mama.” Milla was wearing a pretty sundress that Tyler assumed was for his mating ceremony. The usually pretty and arrogant girl looked frightened and she had tears streaming from her eyes. She looked outside nervously before shutting the door behind her. “Get out of the boat.”
Juliet looked stunned and also a little nervous as she did as her daughter asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I wondered where you were, and if you were coming to the ceremony, so I tracked your scent. Now, please, get out of the boat.”
“Sweetheart, it’s okay, it’s all going to be okay. I’m going to fix everything. I’m doing this for you.”
Milla tried to sniff back her tears but it was no use. Tyler didn’t think he had ever seen someone look so broken. “Nothing you’ve ever done has been for me.”
“That’s not true,” Juliet seethed. “Don’t be so ungrateful. You have no idea the lengths I’ve gone to so that you can be happy.”
“Like murdering people? Mama, you killed our alpha, and his son.” Milla swiped at her face and seemed to steel herself. “I never wanted Anders, I was just a kid. The only reason I wanted to be Eric’s second mate was because you made me feel like I was a failure if I didn’t. You make me feel like I’m worthless if I’m not bound to a powerful man.”
“I just want the best for you,” Juliet told her. Her voice was softer now as she pleaded with her child to understand.
Milla shook her head sadly. “You want what’s best for you. Eric and Finn are out looking for him right now. The beach is filled with people waiting for them to get mated. You need to let him go.”
“I can’t do that,” Juliet shouted, angry at the suggestion. “If I do that then it was all for nothing.”
“You need to let him go,” Milla said again. “And take that boat and run, because Eric will try and hunt you down. You can’t ever come back.”
“You don’t mean that,” Juliet said, trying to reason with her as though she were the one with the crazy ideas.
“I don’t want to see you again, but I don’t want to see you dead either,” Milla said. She took several cautious steps closer to her mom and put her hand on her arm. “Please. If you love me then you’ll do this.”
Tyler watched as the two women looked into each other’s eyes, as though they were both willing the other to understand their point of view. His heart was pounding as the tension grew. Finally all compassion in Juliet’s face fell away and was replaced with contempt.
“You weak girl,” she seethed as she grabbed hold of Milla’s arm and pulled her down with her onto the boat. “We are going to kill him and you won’t say a word to anyone. We stick with the plan and if you don’t then I’ll make sure everyone thinks you were involved all along.”
Milla tripped and stumbled, falling to her knees next to Tyler. “Mama, please,” she begged as the tears started to fall again.
As Juliet reached behind her, pulling a sharp-looking knife out of her back pocket, the door slid open with such a force that it shook the boathouse.
“Tyler,” Eric shouted as he came rushing in with Finn close behind him. They stopped and took in the scene in front of them.
“No,” Juliet shouted. “No, no, no, no, you shouldn’t be here.”
Despite the fact that there was a crazy person wielding a knife not four feet from him, Tyler felt relief flood his body at the sight of both his men.
“Juliet, what are you doing?” Finn asked as he held up his hands to show her that they were empty before slowly walking closer to her.
“What does it matter if he dies?” she asked, as though she truly believed she could talk them into letting her kill him. “You still have each other and then Milla can be your third. She can have your children just like it was always supposed to be.”
“We love him, that’s why it matters. We’re not going to let you kill him,” Finn said, his usually calm voice getting low and angry. “Now move away from him and put down the knife, or I’ll kill you.”
Tyler looked over at Eric and saw abject fear in his handsome face. It was the thing that frightened him most.
“She killed your father and brother, too,” Milla said out of nowhere. “She’s insane.”
Juliet swung round, knife aloft, to look at the daughter who had just betrayed her in her eyes.
“You little bitch,” she seethed. “After all I’ve done for you.”
“You did this for yourself,” Milla shouted. She had turned so that she was facing her mom, resting back on her hands, with her knees bent. “You’re a psychopath who only cares about herself. I wish you had died instead of papa. I won’t let you hurt Kristen like you hurt me.”
Juliet quickly took several steps closer to her daughter, her knife gripped tightly in her hand, which was apparently Milla’s plan. Just when Tyler thought Juliet was going to lash out at her own daughter and stab her, Milla kicked at her with both her feet, sending Juliet stumbling backwards. She hit her head on the concrete before falling in the gap between the boat and the floor. She hit the water with a loud splash and straight away Milla was scrambling to get up.
“Mama,” she screamed before jumping into the small gap of the well to find her. Finn jumped in after Milla while Eric ran and leaped into the boat. He was down on his knees, his fingernails turned into claws, shredding the ropes that were keeping Tyler confined.
“Tyler, are you hurt?” he asked, his voice raw with worry.
“No,” Tyler assured him. “My head hurts a little from where she knocked me out, but I’m okay.”
Once free of his binds he was pulled into Eric’s arms. The wolf shifter held him tightly as though he would never let him go.
“I love you,” Eric whispered as he kissed the top of Tyler’s head. “I love you so much.”
Despite everything he had just been through, hearing that they both loved him made him feel safer than he had ever felt before.
“I love you both, too.”
When Milla and Finn returned to the surface after just a minute
, although to Tyler it felt much longer, they hauled a limp and bleeding Juliet up onto the concrete floor.
“Tyler?” Finn shouted, his long blond hair now loose and hanging in his face in damp strands. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Tyler assured him, seeing the relief that filled Finn’s face as he looked at him in Eric’s arms. Milla stared down at her mother’s lifeless body, her fingers frozen on Juliet’s throat where her pulse should be.
“She’s dead,” Milla whispered in disbelief. “I killed her.”
Tyler managed to pull himself free of Eric’s tight hold. He held on to the side of the boat and pulled himself up. Eric was on his feet right away, helping Tyler to stand and step up onto the floor. He crouched down beside Milla and looked down at Juliet’s limp body.
He wanted to say that he was sorry, or tell Milla that it wasn’t her fault, but he didn’t think she wanted to hear any of it. He didn’t know how long they all stayed like that in silence, but by the time Lisa, Martin, and some others found them, Finn and Eric were on either side of him, both of them holding onto him in some way.
Lisa gasped as she took in the scene. “What happened?”
Eric reluctantly let go of Tyler and stood up to face his people. He slipped into alpha mode easily. “It’s a long story. Lisa, go and tell everyone waiting on the beach that we’re going to have to postpone the mating, but that I’ll be there shortly to speak to them. Martin, take Milla here back to her house and find Kristen.”
“Eric,” Lisa began. “Talk to me, tell me what happened. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Just get the girls home and take Tyler with you. I’ll fill everyone in soon,” Eric promised. He looked at her hard as though willing her to understand and not push him on it. Tyler couldn’t imagine how hard it was going to be for him to have that talk with Lisa, and more importantly, Katja, about what had really happened to their family.
Tyler looked back over at Milla. The girl appeared to have slipped into a catatonic state.
“Milla, it wasn’t your fault. She did this,” he said softly. “Not you.”
The Happily Ever After Mating Agency Presents Snövarg Island (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) Page 13