Scorned

by Jennifer Snyder

  “It’s an Irish sun catcher. The Celtic shamrocks represent good luck.” My mother said.

  “It’s really beautiful. Thank you, Regina.” Jace muttered. His tone was low, yet strong. “And thank you, Shelby. It means a lot.”

  “You’re welcome.” I whispered.

  The waiter came over then with our appetizer. Every cell in my body buzzed with life at the sight of him. Tessa would order another drink, and then I would have my chance to continue on with the plan. The instant she asked for a second glass of wine, adrenaline spiked through my system. As the waiter walked away to retrieve her glass, I excused myself from the table and headed after him.

  Phase two was ready to commence.

  Chapter 7

  I stood in the hallway, watching for the waiter to walk past me with Tessa’s drink. He was taking forever. The others would be wondering where I was if I was gone much longer. They would soon begin to speculate that the events of the night were beginning to take their toll on me. I didn’t want them thinking I was weak, because I wasn’t. I was strong. They all needed to remember that, especially my mother.

  As the lanky waiter finally passed me, my heart began to beat triple time inside my chest. It was now or never. I hoped he didn’t argue with me about taking the drink to our table for him. Pasting my most seductive smile on, and adding a little more sway than usual to my step, I started after him. My only goal was to get that damn drink from him before we came into view of everyone at my table.

  “Excuse me.” I called out to him.

  He continued walking as though he hadn’t heard me. I walked a little faster, catching up to him and matching his pace.

  “Excuse me.” I grinned.

  His eyes, a rich, dark brown, nearly bulged out of his head at the sight of me. “Can I help you with something, Miss?”

  “I was just going to offer to take my friend’s drink off your hands.” I pointed to the glass of wine he was holding. “I’m heading to the table now, and you seem so awfully busy.”

  “I am. The night has been insane, actually.” He smoothed a hand through his longish brown hair. A grateful smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Thanks. I’ll have your food to you shortly.” He passed me the glass without issue, and I sighed with relief.

  “No problem.” I said as I took it. “I’ll let the others know.”

  “Thanks.” He turned and hustled back toward the kitchen where I was sure he had a million things to do.

  I slowed my pace and glanced around. Now it was time for the tricky part—emptying the vial into Tessa’s drink without any witnesses. There were a few guys staring at me like a piece of meat and their significant others shooting daggers my way, but that was nothing new. I kept the sway to my hips, knowing their eyes would drop to my ass regardless of their gender, and continued moving forward. Easing my clutch open, I grabbed the vial in my fist and twisted the cap off one-handed. When that was done, I switched the glass into the same hand as the vial and emptied the contents while keeping my eyes trained ahead and a smile on my face. No one seemed to notice. Thank goodness.

  Exhaling the breath I’d been holding, I switched the glass back to my other hand and dropped the empty vial into my purse with ease. Phase two complete. Now all I needed was for Tessa to drink the thing, and I was home free. Exhilaration flooded my veins.

  When I reached our table again, Tessa was laughing about something Jace had said along with everyone else. There was nothing more irritating than that girl’s laugh. It grated on my nerves and brought my excitement to a standstill, which was probably for the best anyway. I wouldn’t have been able to dim it down otherwise, and I was positive Jace would have found it skeptical. He knew me too well.

  “Here you go. I crossed paths with the waiter on the way here.” I smiled as I set the polluted glass of wine down in front of Tessa. It was amazing how there wasn’t even the slightest hint of the potion in the liquid. If I had ever harbored a single doubt about Kalisa and her powers, I now had the utmost respect for her. “The poor guy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off so I offered to bring this with me since I was headed back here anyway.” My eyes drifted to Jace as I spoke. He was skeptical. Maybe mother and I hadn’t thought this part of the plan through hard enough. It should have been her to go after the drink and empty the vial into it. Everyone knew I wouldn’t do something as selfless as getting someone’s drink for them, especially when that person was Tessa. I wasn’t a kiss ass.

  However, maybe in this situation I could be. Who knew? No one had ever seen me in a situation quite like this before, not even myself. Who was to say I wouldn’t be a kiss ass at a time like this? After all, it was my place in the Pack at stake. I needed to prove to Jace I accepted his decision to be with Tessa, as well as the fact Tessa had beaten me in the Ordeal.

  “Thank you.” Tessa gripped the drink and brought it to her lips, but didn’t take a sip. Instead she sat it down on the table and laughed at something else Jace said. I hadn’t heard him continue on with whatever story he’d been telling, I’d been too focused on Tessa and the drink.

  Nicolas started talking then. It was a story I’d heard a million times. One that wasn’t funny, but everyone laughed at the end point anyway. I tuned him out, having faith I would remember to laugh at all the appropriate times and in tune with everyone else while I continued to keep my eyes trained on Tessa’s glass in a nonchalant way. I wanted her to drink it. I wanted to see her lips stained with the tainted wine I’d given her.

  When Nicolas’s story finally came to a close, Jace reached for Tessa’s drink by accident. My heart thumbed forcefully twice before stopping. I watched him bring the poison to his lips in slow motion. I couldn’t let him die. Not Jace. Not ever.

  Before I knew what I was doing, I bolted into a standing position and leaned across the table to slap the glass from his hand. It crashed to the table, shattering. Everyone cried out in shock from my bizarre behavior as the tainted wine darkened another patch of the cream-colored table cloth.

  “What the—” Jace started, but stopped when a puff of dark red vapor lifted from the table where the wine had spilled and evaporated into the air.

  All eyes fell on me, causing my heart to kick-start inside my chest. Phase three was an epic fail, and now I would be paying the price for it.

  The feel of my mother’s hand gripping my wrist tethered me back to the present. No one else moved. No one seemed to even breathe as they stared at me. I could feel their eyes burning into the depths of my soul, but there was one set I felt more than anyone’s—Jace’s.

  Venom burned through his honey-colored eyes. He knew what I’d attempted. His desire for my death was swirling through his eyes, erasing anything he had ever felt for me and twisting it into pure hatred.

  This was it. It was over. I’d lost the man I loved, my betrothed, for good. There was no coming back from this.

  “What have you done, Shelby?” My mother’s words startled me. Not her tone. Not how she gripped my wrist. But her words.

  She was pinning this all on me. My own mother was throwing me to the damn wolves, so to speak.

  I glanced at her. “Mother, I—”

  “You have disgraced our family name.” She turned her head away from me and let go of my wrist.

  My brows pinched together as heat rushed through my body. She was disowning me, rejecting me, right there in front of everyone because I had failed in our planned scheme. Movement from across the table captivated my attention. Nicolas was standing. His mouth opened to say something, but Jace placed a hand on his shoulder. My mother stood next, forcing my attention back to her. Tears glistened in her eyes. She placed a hand over her mouth as a sob propelled past her lips. She was a damn good actress, I had to give her credit there.

  “In the car you have a bag. Run.” She whispered low enough for only me to hear before she bolted from the table in the direction of the bathrooms.

  I didn’t hesitate. I darted toward the exit, knowing now wa
s my only chance if I wanted to live. Shoving people aside, I made my way through a crowd congregating at the front doors, waiting for a table. Once I made it to the parking lot, I hightailed it to our car and glanced in the backseat. There was nothing. Popping the trunk, I found a pink tote bag. My mother had packed a bag for me, because that was how confident she’d been in my ability to pull this entire thing off. I’d be lying if I said the realization didn’t sting.

  She thought I would fail, the words pulsed through my being, and she’d been right to think so. I had failed, yet again, when it came to acquiring my position beside Jace. I was a failure.

  Grabbing the bag, I slammed the trunk closed and bolted into the direction of the woods at the far edge of the parking lot.

  “Shelby, stop!” Jace shouted from somewhere behind me. “You can’t run from me. I’ll find you! You know I will!”

  The venom in his voice made ice shoot through my veins, because I knew he was telling the truth. Jace would stop at nothing to find me. He protected those he loved fiercely, and I had done the unthinkable. I had tried to kill his mate.

  I crashed through the woods and then quieted my footfalls the way only a wolf could. It wouldn’t be enough to throw Jace off my trail, but it was something. Relief fluttered through me after a while as the distance between his footfalls and mine grew. I was losing him. As the brambles thickened, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I lost him completely. He wouldn’t keep chasing me, most likely he would double back soon to check on Tessa.

  I listened closely. His footsteps had already disappeared. He’d given up on catching me easier than I’d imagined. My feet faltered. He couldn’t even find enough passion in his anger toward me to continue his search. My lips curled into a snarl.

  For the first time in my life, I hated Jace Fowler.

  Over the years I’d felt many emotions toward him but never hatred. It was an unexpected sensation. My teeth clenched together as hot tears slipped from my eyes. A scream built in my throat, but I swallowed it. It wouldn’t do me any good; nothing could release this energy building inside of me.

  The ground beneath my feet spun as I slowly drowned in my emotions. How could this be the way our fairytale ended? How the hell had I ended up here? Humiliation powered through me. I’d been mortified before tonight, but now I could add a failed attempt to murdering the Alpha Queen along with my mother disowning me into the mix.

  I wiped my eyes and scanned the woods surrounding me. It was time I gathered myself. If my mother had taught me one thing, it was tears helped nothing. Somehow I managed to take in a few deep breaths to calm myself.

  This was the last time I would set foot in Winburg, my hometown. The reality of the thought filtered through my mind. I would never be able to return home again, because if Jace didn’t kill me, the humiliation of everything would.

  Placing one foot in front of the other, I continued forward. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew my survival depended upon me leaving here. Jace and I would never be. It was time I realized that. In fact, if I ever saw him again it would be too soon. Hatred toward him boiled through me, sharpening my instincts and propelling me forward. Something else waited for me out there. I could feel it. Screw Jace. Screw my mom. And screw Tessa. I would find something better. I would survive, because no one was more motivated than a lover scorned.

  Special Bonus One:

  Tessa is Bitten (Jace’s Point-Of-View) From Marked

  I watched the house knowing my chance would come. This was supposed to happen. It was fated. At least that’s what I reminded myself. It helped to ease the guilt of what I was about to do. She would understand. She had to.

  She just…she had to.

  The front door of the house opened, allowing the thumping music from inside to blast through the night unfiltered. It tickled the fine hairs of my ears and caused me to blink a few times from its force. When I focused again, there she was.

  My eyes skimmed over every inch of her, taking in her tight leather pants reflecting the light of the moon, and her low-cut top exposing just enough to leave a man dying to see the rest she left hidden. A predatory growl built inside me. She was mine. No one else’s. And I was about to make sure of it tonight.

  This was supposed to happen. It was, I reminded myself again.

  In slow, deliberate movements I inched forward through the brush, ready to make my move, to make her mine. She crossed the tiny porch and leaned against the wooden rail. Her face tipped up toward the moon and I found myself pausing in my slow prowl forward, wondering if she felt the calling of the moon tonight, if her body somehow knew what was likely to happen.

  The front door to the house opened behind her and I took a step back, not willing to risk someone else seeing me and ruining my chances to get to her. A couple dressed as vampires stepped out, bringing with them the pulse of music from inside. The fine hairs along the insides of my ears vibrated with the sound.

  “Hey, Tessa,” I heard the female vampire say as soon as the guy she was with closed the door behind them. I noticed Tessa turn to glance at her, but she didn’t speak right away. I couldn’t be sure if it was because she couldn’t distinguish who was talking to her beneath all the caked on white face paint, or if she was so inebriated it took her a little while to realize someone was talking to her. “So, where’s that new boyfriend of yours?” There was a smirk in the girl’s tone, one that made her sound vile and wicked. Instantly I knew she was no friend of Tessa’s.

  “He couldn’t make it.” Tessa responded. There was a level of irritation lacing her words I found satisfying, because it meant she knew the girl wasn’t a friend. Tessa was smart. She could gauge a person quickly, even when intoxicated.

  “I see Sam dressed for a rematch. We were hoping to see one,” the guy beside the vampire girl choked out as he attempted to inhale a puff from his cigarette. The scent of it, chemical and harsh, floated through the breeze to meet with my nose, burning it. I detested the smell of cigarettes in this form.

  “Not gonna happen.” Tessa muttered before shifting to gaze back at the night sky.

  “Someone’s a little testy tonight.” The female vampire whispered with annoyance. My eyes blazed through the distance, focusing only on her. Anger lapped away at my insides, sparking the adrenaline surging through me to new heights.

  The girl giggled as her boyfriend pulled her tight against his body and nipped at her neck. They were in a playful lip lock next. My gaze drifted back to Tessa. During my life as a wolf I couldn’t count how many times I’d wished to be nothing besides human, but none of those times had ever mattered more than this one right now.

  Tessa was beautiful, ethereal in a sense, and I desired nothing more than to be standing there with her. I wanted her tucked into my side, with her head resting on my shoulder as I warmed her from the coolness of the night. That could never happen though, not on a night when the moon was full at least.

  Music pulsed through the night, pulling me from my thoughts and bringing me back to the present. The vampire couple had stepped back inside, leaving Tessa alone once more. Every nerve in my body sparked to life.

  This was the moment.

  My body tensed as I thought of how I should approach her. I’d thought this over a million times, worked through it in my head unfolding in so many different ways, still I had never been able to decide on one. Tessa moved, and I thought maybe things were going to land in my favor. Maybe she would come to me. This didn’t have to be scary. I didn’t have to attack her. Nothing about this needed to be vicious.

  Then, she stopped on the second step and leaned her head against the rail. Her eyes closed, and I swore I’d never seen anything more beautiful. The way the moon lit her face was breathtaking. I started forward as though attracted to her by an unseen magnetic force. The breaking of a twig beneath one of my paws had her eyes snapping open to look around. It didn’t stop me. I continued forward through the leaves, her being my only destination. She slowly brought herself to a standing positi
on and glanced around. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and fear I knew would only intensify the moment I stepped through the woods and into the light of the moon.

  I continued forward, slow and cautiously. Scaring her back into the house was the last thing I wanted. I needed her to stay where she was. I needed this to be over with. The hourglass was above my head, releasing its final granules of sand. The moment she spotted me, her entire body grew stiff with panic. I could see it widen her eyes even more and hear her heart thudding against her chest with so much force. The predator in me knew I only had mere seconds before she bolted toward the front door of the house.

  She spun and darted up the stairs, exactly as I thought she would. Fear had gotten the best of her. I tried to not take her moment of flight to the heart, but couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want her to fear me. Ever.

  As I thought this, I watched her miss a step and fall. My heart picked up its pace at the sight. She scrambled to get up while glancing at me from over her shoulder. Even though her eyes were filled with terror, I knew now was my moment. I wouldn’t get another.

  Allowing the predator inside me to fully take over, I lunged forward. Hesitation no longer existed and neither did fear. There was no way this moment could be turned into something wonderful, into something that wouldn’t scare her. Being bitten by a werewolf was not a fantasy anyone harbored. I wasn’t sure why I’d dwelled on the idea so much in an attempt to make it perfect.

  There was nothing perfect about what I was going to do to Tessa.

  Without a second thought, I lunged forward and sunk my teeth into her right leg. I felt each layer my teeth penetrated—her leather pants, the delicate flesh, her muscles and tendons. It was revolting and yet satisfying all the same. I had done what I’d set out to. Now Tessa would change.

  Now Tessa could truly be mine.