NO WAY OUT

"Go to hell, Jaxson."

I didn't even have time to blink before the world tilted. Jaxson lunged forward, his shoulder slamming into my stomach as he lifted me into the air.

"Jaxson! Put me down! You arrogant, overbearingg son of a—"

I hammered my fists against his back and swung my legs uselessly in the air. The guards didn't dare look at us, their heads bowed as their Alpha passed by with his trashing, screaming mate.

He tossed me into the back seat of the lead SUV, the locks clicking nefore I could even try to escape.

The drive was a suffocating silence. My phone buzzed in my pocket; once, twice, five times. I didn't need to look a the screen to know who it was.

Liam. The man waiting for me in the city. 

He was probably worried about me. I barely answered his calls throughout the trip.

The moment we got to the pack house, my stomach dropped. The place still looked annoyingly the same. We used to train as kids, I'd peep Jaxson by the bushes during his special training. I growned at my stupidity.

Jaxson didn't say anything as he hauled me inside. He slammed the door and locked it , finally lookin at me.

"I"m leaving," I said, my voice shaking with rage, "You can't keep me here."

"Your parents ae currently being 'escorted' to the border." Jaxson interrupted, his voice annoyingly calm.

I froze. "What?"

"They failed to keep their daughter in line five years ago and teach you discipline," he said stepping closer to me. "I've already signed the papers, Ava. If you walk out that door, if you try to get on a plane or a bus your parents are exiled. Cast out. Rogues."

My heart stopped.  In the wolf word, exile was a death sentence for people as old as my parents. They wouldn't survive a week without a pack's protection.

"You wouldn't," I whispered. " They're your father's oldest friend's"

"I am he Alpha now. My word is law." he growled. "Agree to stay. agree to be my luna. And they stay. Defy me again...and you can watch them wither away in the woods."

My phone buzzed again in my pocket.

​Jaxson’s eyes dropped to the bulge of the device. His nostrils flared, his wolf picking up a scent that didn't belong to the pack. Before I could move, he snatched the phone from my pocket.

​"Give it back!"

​He held it up, his eyes widening as he read the string of texts on the lock screen.

​Liam: Hey babe, you landed yet?

Liam: Starting to get worried. Call me.

Liam: I miss you. Can't wait for dinner tonight.

​The temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees. Jaxson’s grip on the phone tightened until the screen began to crack. He looked at the name 'Liam,' then back at me, his eyes glowing a lethal, terrifying gold.

​"Who is Liam?" he whispered.

He just stared at the name Liam like it was a bug he was deciding whether or not to crush.

​"Give me my phone, Jaxson," I said, my voice as steady as I could make it.

​He finally looked up, and the coldness in his eyes was worse than the rage. He tossed the phone onto the heavy mahogany desk between us. The screen still lit up with a heart emoji next to Liam’s name.

​"So that's why you're so eager to get back to the city," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. He leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You’ve been playing house with a human. Does he know what you are, Ava? Does he know his 'babe' turns into a predator and sheds on the rug?"

​"He knows me better than you ever did," I snapped, reaching for the phone.

​His hand clamped over mine, pinning my wrist to the desk. He didn't pull me close. He just held me there, an Alpha reminding me of my place.

​"I don't care about your human pet," he said flatly. "He’s a temporary distraction. A hobby. But this—" he gestured with his hands, and the marks of his territory outside "—this is reality. You stay here, you play the role of Luna, and your parents get to keep their home and their dignity."

​"And if I refuse?"

​"Then I send the order to exile them before lunch. And then," he leaned in just enough for me to smell the cold scent of winter on his skin, "I'll make sure your little human friend loses everything too. Jobs, apartments... they're very easy to disappear when you have the right connections."

​I felt a chill run down my spine. This wasn't the boy who teased me in the hallways. This was a man who understood power and how to use it as a scalpel.

​"You're a monster," I whispered.

​"I'm an Alpha," he corrected. He let go of my wrist and stood up, smoothing out his rumpled shirt as if we were discussing the weather. "My mother has left clothes for you in the Alpha suite. We have a pack meeting at noon. You will be there, and you will look like you belong at my side."

​He walked to the door, unlocking it with a sharp click.

​"What about Liam?" I called out, my heart aching as the phone buzzed one more time on the desk.

​Jaxson paused at the door, not even bothering to look back. "Block him. Or I’ll have someone do it for you. Permanently."

​He stepped out, leaving the door open—not as a gesture of freedom, but as a sign that I had nowhere left to run.

​I picked up the phone. My thumb hovered over Liam's latest text: I love you, see you soon?

​Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them back. I didn't block Liam. I turned the phone off and shoved it into my pocket.

It was either his love or his life, and honestly, I always thought he deserved better than me.