Forbidden by Liliana Carlisle

CHAPTER 25

JAKOB

“You did the right thing,” Lucas assures me, patting me on the shoulder. “I know it’s tough, but it saves you both pain in the long run.”

I shrug his hand off me.

It’s been a week since I left Amelia.

I’ve stayed away from her house since the night I ended it. I disabled the tracker in her phone weeks ago, so I don’t know if she heeded my warning and left town.

The Saviors are on a different fucking level, and if she’s caught in their crossfire…

But she hates me—I made sure of it.

And hopefully she left the area, fueled by that hatred.

I threw everything in her face I possibly could.

Then she told me she loved me, and I almost crumbled there.

But she wouldn’t budge until I told her the ultimate lie.

And it fucking worked.

It worked, and it took everything in me to not turn my car around and beg for forgiveness.

“Your Omega is still out there,” Calum reminds me, and I look at him incredulously.

“That’s interesting, because I remember only a few months ago you were all convinced I didn’t have one.” I snap.

We sit around a table at the safehouse, all of us having a drink. We keep watch over Aria and Chloe as we plan our next moves against the Saviors.

Local law enforcement has been sniffing around, and it’s taken many bribes and threats to have them back off. Turns out, the Saviors already have some of them in their pockets.

It’s a fucking shitshow.

I try not to be bitter as I watch Calum and Lucas interact with their mates, but the envy must be evident on my face, because no one will shut the fuck up about Amelia.

“It would never work, anyway,” Calum sniffs, and his eyes look down at me again. “Even biologically, a Beta just can’t take—”

“Calum.” Aria is the one who interrupts before I can say anything. “Stop.”

She’s standing in the doorway to the dining room, her face exasperated. Calum has the nerve to look ashamed, and Lucas and I smirk as she walks away.

For a moment, it lightens my foul mood, watching as this tiny Omega brings Calum to his knees.

Just like Amelia could do to me.

My anger returns just as quickly. “If she’s brought up one more time, I swear I’ll beat the shit out of both of you,” I say. “I don’t give a fuck. Just stop fucking talking about it.”

Lucas nods. “Sorry, brother,” he murmurs. “I know this isn’t easy.”

I catch Aria giving me a sympathetic nod before slipping out of the doorway.

Lucas’s phone beeps. “Oh, shit,” he murmurs as he looks at the screen. “Just got some news from Conrad.”

“What is it?” Calum asks.

His eyes widen as he whistles. “Looks like we’re going to Europe.”

I freeze.

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “What did Conrad send you?”

He turns his phone, a video playing on the screen.

“This was taken a few hours ago, according to Conrad,” he explains.

The video is grainy with poor lighting. It’s taken from someone in an audience, surrounded by people raising their hands, bidding for what’s on a stage.

“Oh, fuck,” I hiss.

There’s a woman, blindfolded, gagged, and struggling to stay standing. She whimpers, but her cries are drowned out by jeering and roaring from the men in the audience. Eventually, she leaves the stage, carried off by an Alpha.

Calum growls so loud the table rattles. Lucas stares at the screen in shock, and I snarl.

“The auctions,” I hiss.

“Rumor is they’re not chipped, and unmated,” Lucas continues, his eye twitching. “We’re leaving tonight. The plane will be ready in a few hours.”

I’m furious. I’m repulsed.

But I’m also devastated.

Amelia.

Her face flickers in my mind, and it’s hard to hide the pain that crosses my face. Being a few miles away from her is hard enough.

But being on the other side of the world is…

Unthinkable.

I’m slowly losing my sanity.

Need and desperation flow through my body, and the shame turns to anger. I stand up out of my chair and fling it across the room, watching as the legs splinter into pieces. Calum and Lucas watch silently.

I leave the room, desperate to get my shit together, so I don’t crumble like a coward.

* * *

I pack my stuff.

It’s easy enough. There are only some clothes and my passport, along with easily concealed weapons.

I’m ready to reign hellfire. To murder every single Savior out there, and smile while doing it.

This is who I am. This is what I do.

But there’s another plan forming in my mind, one that I know is irrational.

I won’t entertain it, because it’s not possible.

It’s better for the both of us if I stay away, for so many reasons.

But every instinct in me screams go to her.

I stand on the back porch, scanning the trees in the distance, lost in my thoughts.

Maybe Amelia left town.

It’s the best way for both of us.

But if she didn’t leave…

I need to see her one last time.

Let her scream at me. Hit me. Curse at me.

I need her wrath.

Her warmth.

Fuck.

A throat clears behind me, and I turn around to see Aria, a knowing smile on her face.

“Mind if we talk for a moment?” She asks.

I’m ready to tell her no, but she quickly adds, “I’m not here to tell you that you’re doing the right thing.”

That stops me. I turn to her, curious. “What do you mean?”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Calum can be a dick.”

I scoff. “Yes. That’s nothing new.”

“But there’s something about us I doubt he’s told you,” she says.

I frown. “What?”

She bites her lip, as if debating whether to tell me. “Calum was in love with me when he thought I was a Beta,” she admits.

I freeze. “What are you talking about?”

“I removed my chip and disguised myself as a Beta,” she explains. “Calum still wanted me, even before my suppressants wore off. And when he found out I was an Omega, he was ready to keep me, even if I wasn’t his mate.”

This is news to me. Calum never shared the full story of how he met Aria.

I look at her as if she’s grown a second head. “That’s not something Calum would do. He’s always—”

“By the book, I know.” She rolls her eyes. “But I think that’s why he’s being an asshole to you. You’re in love with a Beta and you’re not ashamed of it. You didn’t wrestle with guilt like he did.”

Her words resonate in my chest.

You’re in love with a Beta.

Yes. I am.

It’s a universal truth. I refused to accept it until now.

I love her.

She loves me.

Aria quirks her lip up. “You didn’t realize it until now, did you?”

I shake my head. “I just knew I needed her,” I say quietly. “And that I couldn’t stay away from her.”

“I know this is bad timing,” she continues. “You’re supposed to leave tonight. But I’m just saying…maybe you shouldn’t give up on her.”

“I put her in danger,” I snap. “Being associated with me puts a target on her back.”

Aria regards me curiously. “Well, if she knows what you are and still wants you, then is it really your decision?”

“Of course, it is,” I snarl, but she’s unphased.

“Bring her to the safehouse,” she insists. “And if the guys have a problem with it, Chloe and I will talk to them.”

“Why are you helping me?” I ask finally.

She scoffs. “Well, since the time I’ve worked at The Center, you’ve gone from smart-ass Jakob to a walking zombie. Chloe and I have your back. Get your girl.”

I really shouldn’t.

We leave in less than three hours.

It’s barely enough time to beg Amelia for forgiveness, much less convince her to let me drop her off at a safehouse with two Omegas she doesn’t know.

I shake my head. “She’s a Beta,” I say. “There isn’t a future for us.”

“Then make one,” Aria says simply.

“And how the Hell do I do that?” I argue. “It. Doesn’t. Work.”

“If you love her enough, you’ll make it work,” she insists.

She’s right.

I should argue more because rationally, this is insane.

But fuck it.

I need to see her, damn it all.

Fuck the rules.

Fuck society.

And fuck biology.

I’m going to make this work.

A throat clears, and I notice Lucas standing in the sliding glass doorway.

“Get her back here as soon as possible,” he says, his face resigned. I quirk an eyebrow at him.

“For fuck’s sake, stop smirking. Just bring her back here so we can leave.”

“Chloe got to you too, huh?” Aria says, giving Lucas a cheeky smile.

He rolls his eyes, then looks at me. “I’m giving you a five-minute head start before I tell Calum.”

I race out the front door.

* * *

My skin thrums with need as I approach her apartment.

She’s going to fight me on this.

But if I can get her stubborn ass in the car, I’ll explain everything to her and grovel for the rest of my fucking life if I have to.

I love her.

I’ll reject anyone or anything that gets in our way.

My phone buzzes nonstop, but I ignore it as I pull up to her apartment.

There’s a car outside her house that I don’t recognize, and her front door is cracked open when I approach.

There’s an Alpha inside, and I almost lose my shit.

But then I realize he’s consoling his mated Omega, who sniffles in his arms.

Amelia isn’t in the room with them.

They both notice me at the same time. The Alpha growls and places a protective arm over his mate, who shrugs out of his grip and walks towards me.

“Lucy, don’t—” But before he can finish, she slaps me across the face.

What the fuck?

It doesn’t hurt, but it’s enough to startle me. Her face is full of fury, and there’s a ringing in my ears as she snarls. “You’re a fucking monster!”

“Lucy!” The Alpha calls again, but the Omega—Lucy—points her finger at me, angry tears running down her cheeks. “You murderer, you vile piece of—”

I ignore her, instead glaring at her Alpha. “Where’s Amelia?” I ask, and his eyes narrow.

“You tell me,” he snarls, and I growl in reply.

I don’t have time for this bullshit, or whoever the fuck this guy is.

“Where is she?” I roar.

“She’s missing!” Lucy says. “I thought maybe you finally killed her!”

“Killed her?” I hiss, turning to meet her teary eyes. “Why the fuck would I kill her? And what do you mean she’s missing?”

“She presented at the hospital,” Lucy says, wiping her tears away. “She presented, and now she’s gone.”

Her words don’t register. “What?” I rumble.

“She’s an Omega,” she says. “She was sicker than usual, and I had to admit her, and she was presenting.”

My phone continues to buzz nonstop.

Amelia’s an Omega.

“They chipped her, then she disappeared. Along with her doctor.”

Oh fuck.

Lucy sits on the couch with her Alpha, who wraps an arm around her but keeps an eye on me. “We have no idea where she is,” he growls. “But we thought somehow you were involved.”

I narrow my eyes. I can smell his anger. He’s fighting the urge to attack me.

“We thought her mate had already retrieved her,” Lucy says, still staring daggers at me. “But the hospital said they never alerted him. We filed a police report, but they said there’s not much else they can do.”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

“Isn’t your job to collect?” The Alpha says, gripping his mate tighter. “Go collect her.”

“Bring her to her mate,” Lucy whispers, and I feel sick.

Her mate.

Amelia has a mate.

Adrenaline flows through my body, negative energy building in me with nowhere to go.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

With a growl, I finally check my phone. Ten missed calls from Calum, another ten from Conrad, along with…

Alert. Omega match found.

The incessant buzzing was the automatic alarm on my phone, triggered when I matched with my mate.

Amelia’s face fills the screen.

Time stops.

Amelia Constance Walker, the alert says. Omega.

Emotions flood me.

Joy. Disbelief.

Need.

Terror. Despair.

Of course, she’s my mate.

Deep down, I knew it all along.

Lucy must read my expression, because she lets out a quiet gasp.

“It’s you,” she breathes. “You’re her mate.”

“What hospital was she at?” I bark at her. She gives me the information I need, and I turn to leave.

“Please bring her back, Jakob,” she sighs quietly. “We love her.”

I nod. “I do too,” I admit to her. “And I will.”

* * *

“Change of plans,” I hiss into the phone. “Meet me at Omega Mercy Hospital.”

“We leave in about an hour,” Lucas says. “We don’t have time.”

I speed up, swerving through cars, desperate to reach my destination.

Desperate to find out what the fuck happened.

I try my best not to explode on Lucas. “Amelia presented at the hospital. Then she disappeared.” I say the words as calmly as I can, despite the waver in my voice.

“Holy shit! She presented?”

“Yes,” I growl. “And I got the alert. She’s my mate.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line.

“Tell Conrad. And meet me at the hospital.”

I hang up as I pull into the parking lot.

It’s easy enough to coerce the assistant at the front. I find out the name of the nurse that tended to her, and the primary doctor they assigned her to.

Lucky for me, the nurse was on a smoke break.

Unlucky for him, he pissed his pants as I shoved him into my car, threatening him with my gun to his face.

“Lillith Travers,” he spits out. “She’s the one that took her.”

“And where did she take her?”

He hesitates, and I bring the butt of the gun down on his head, hard enough to stun.

“She mentioned something about another country,” he chokes out. “She speaks Russian, I know that.”

Russia.

He brings his hand to his head. “I think you cracked my skull—”

“Good. You’re lucky I don’t do more,” I hiss. “You fucked with my Omega. Mine.”

Horror dawns in his eyes as blood drips down his face. “I’m sorry,” he sputters. “I didn’t know—she paid me enough money to pay rent for the next year if I turned away when she—”

“When she what?” I growl, shaking his shoulders.

Blood and tears fill his eyes as he struggles to answer me. “She sedated her and took her away.”

“WHERE?” I snarl, cocking the gun. He starts to sob.

“I don’t know! Maybe Russia. I don’t know, I’m sorry!”

I lean in closer to him, sneering in his face. “Do you know you’ve aided in the trafficking of an Omega? You know what the punishment is for that?”

He squints his eyes shut, shaking his head.

“Either I throw you to my brothers, or you go to prison. Regardless, you’ll be dead before the month’s over.”

The Beta openly cries, his sobs loud. “Please, I didn’t know—”

“Now you do,” I spit, before hitting him over the head again. He slumps over, unconscious. I push him out of the passenger seat as Lucas pulls up.

“Who’s that?” He asks out his car window, staring at the crumpled body in the back of the parking lot.

“The nurse who aided in Amelia’s kidnapping,” I snarl.

He narrows his eyes at the body. “Fucker,” he snarls. “Conrad has more info about where we’re going. It’s a small town in Russia.”

I nod. “Makes sense. I’ll meet you at the safehouse.”

It’s time to get my mate back.

Hopefully I’m not too late.