Jared (14 page)

Pam nodded in agreement. “
How much is it?”

“Damon said price didn’t matter.” Nicole snorted glancing over her shoulder
before whispering
. “But I bet I can find the same dress on the discount rack.”

“Woman
,
spend that man’s money.” Pam flipped her hands up in the air. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

Tessa laughed. She had always liked Pam, but something was different about her and she had a bad feeling she knew what it was. She saw
a
bruise on her shoulder as they hugged
earlier
. Her nervousness reminded Tessa of herself.

“Are you going to get a veil
?
” Tessa threw her arm up
in a fast motion
close to Pam, who in turn snapped back covering her face.

No
one
said a word as Pam lowered her arm, eyes wide
filled
with fear and shame.

“Pam, are you okay?”
Nicole reached for her, but Pam pulled away gathering her stuff.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She stood
,
not looking either woman in the eye. “I need to get going though. I…ah…just
…
pick out a dress you want me
to wear
and I’ll be fine with it. Just don’t make me look too dorky
and
please
,
not
yellow
.”

“Hey….” Nicole called out, but Pam had already rushed out the door. “Call me.”

“I’m sorry.” Tessa stood with Nicole.

“I am going to kill that son of a bitch.” Nicole paced toward the door, but Damon was at her side in a flash.

“What’s wrong?” Damon grabbed Nicole’s arm
his eyes searching for threat
.

Jared walked up with Duncan. “Where’s Pam?” Duncan looked around his eyes narrowing at how upset Nicole was.

“How did you know?”
Nicole glanced at Tessa, the golden
eyes now
black with fury
.
“I’ve been around her for years and you just s
aw
her again tonight. How did you know?”

“Know what dammit?” Duncan, who was usually in total control, growled.

“That bastard is beating her.” Nicole choked out. “How in the
hell could we have missed that?
”

Everyone was cursing, looking ready to kill
something…or in this case someone
. “What happened?” Jared calmed down enough to ask.

“We were just looking at pictures of dresses. Tessa raised her arm quickly near Pam’s face
and Pam freaked out covering her head
. She was so afraid.
I have never seen that look on her face before.
” Nicole looked at Damon. “
How in the hell did I not know
?
”

Damon’s arms encircled
Nicole holding her tight
,
staring at Jared and Duncan over her head.

“People who go through something like that get good at hiding it.
And obviously the person doing the hitting gets good at making sure no one sees the damage they inflict.
” Tessa replied, hating the fact she let Pam’s secret out in the open
,
but s
omeone had to do it before it was too late. “There’s a lot of shame involved
,
and fear
,
so most of the time the person hides it from the ones that are closest to them.”

Duncan cursed again slamming his fist through the wall before bursting out the door.

Jared walked up to Tessa lifting her chin when she refused to look him in the eye. “Who
hit
you Tessa?
”

“My father.” Tessa replied. Keeping secrets like that gave the abuser control and her father had no more control over her life, never would again.
She wasn’t ashamed anymore, she was a survivor.

“He’s a dead man.” His finger rubbed across her cheek.

Adam ch
ose that
moment
to walk inside and everything became clear to Jared. He knew exactly why Adam and Tessa were so protective o
f
each other, it made
perfect
sense.

“Adam.” Jared stuck out his hand. “I apologize and should have taken your concern for your sister more seriously.”

Taking Jared’s hand Adam nodded. “Yeah
,
well I was coming in to apologize to
o
. This vampire crap is kind of freakin me out and I get a little
crazy
.”

“Ah, now why don’t you guys hug or something
?
” Sid rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall.

“Shut up Sid!” Everyone yelled at the same time.

Throwing up his hands Sid walked to the back of the warehouse. “Just trying to lighten shit up around here. Geez!”

Duncan stormed out into the night, his vision clear other than
a
red haze of fury. Seeing Pam at her car he was at her side in a flash. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Startled Pam drop
ped
her keys. “Leave it go Duncan.” Pam bent to
grab them
without turning around. “There’s nothing to tell. She startled me…that’s all.”

Touching
her gentl
y
he turned her around to face him. “Bullshit.” He leaned down in her line of vision.
“Why are
you
with this loser?”

Pam started to say something, but her phone dinged indicat
ing
a text. Clicking her phone she read the text. “I have to go.” Her purse slid off her arm pulling the neck of her shirt down with it. A dark black and purple bruise
stood out
against her pale skin.

“I’m going to kill the son of a bitch.” Duncan reached out to touch the mark, but Pam backed away.

“No, you won’t.” Pam frowned pulling her shirt back up. “It’s none of
your business Duncan. Just let
it go.”

“Never.”
Duncan growled.

The saddest eyes he had ever seen looked up at him. “
Please Duncan.” Reaching up she kissed his cheek. “Thanks for everything, but you have to let this go. I’m fine.”

Watching her get in the car and drive off
to go back to that bastard
was one of the hardest things Duncan had ever done.
He wanted to protect her
…needed to protect her.
“Fuck!”

“Why’d you let her go?” Jared walked up beside Duncan.

“I have no claim on her.” Duncan’s reply
was a deep growl of
frustration
.
“
She may not be my mate. She’s good at blocking.
”

“But you love her.” Jared felt for his friend.

Duncan looked Jared square in the eyes. “Like no other.”

Jared slapped him on the back. “The mate shit is way overrated if you ask me.”

“Can you read Tessa?” Duncan ask
ed
again looking toward where Pam’s car disappeared.

Jar
ed looked surprised, but
grinned.
“Don’t know. Her brother has her blocked from everyone.” Jared turned to head back into the warehouse. “But I will tell you this
…I don’t really care if I can or can’t
. If I loved a woman who wasn’t my mate nothing would stop me from being with her.”

“Yeah, right, Romeo.” Duncan
grumbled
.

“You know I really don’t care if you believe me or not.” Jared sighed looking in the door seeing Tessa talking with Nicole. “I’m tired of nameless one night stands and I’m not afraid to make a commitment unlike you and Damon. At the time I would have given anything to have been in Damon’s shoes with Nicole. You’re blind if you don’t see that Pam has feeling
s
for you and she is in desperate need of help. Step up before someone else does
or she ends up dead
.”

“What….are you gonna step up?” Duncan growled behind.

“Might
,
if you don’t stop being a pussy.” Jared swung the door open. “Fight for her Duncan, she’s worth it.”

********

Everyone was quiet as they filed into the house.
Dillon,
Matt
and Jeff
decided to stay behind with Sid and Duncan. Jill felt uncomfortable staying with all guys and wanted to come back with Tessa which was fine with her. Tessa missed having another female around, even one that didn’t say much.

Jared placed the two containers of chicken on the table while Tessa grabbed plates. “Hope you guys are hungry.” Tessa smiled trying to lighten the gloomy mood. “We have enough chicken to feed an army.”

No one said a word, the only response was a grunt from Adam. Jared kept checking his phone and Jill doodled on her notepad. Grabbing a piece of chicken Tessa sat quietly with everyone else.

“I’m heading into town for a while.” Adam pushed his plate away before standing to stretch.

“No…you’re not.” Jared frowned.

Adam stopped mid stretch. “Who says?”

“I do
.
” Jared’s tone held no compromise.

“I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Adam walked toward the door, but stopped when Jared stepped in front of him.

“I said you’re not going.” Jared’s cold stare warned not to push him on the matter, but Adam being a typical teenager didn’t heed the warning.

“Looks like we may have a problem then cause I’m going out.” Adam went to side step, but again was blocked.

“If the
C
ouncil finds out you’
re running around without
an
escort you will get locked up.” Jared crossed his arms no
t
budging. “Is that what you want?”

“If you think you’re going to be following me around
24/7
you can forget it.” When Jared didn’t respond Adam laughed. “You aren’t worried about me, you’re worried about me turning rogue.”

“It’s my job to watch out for innocents.” Jared stated without blinking an eye. “Don’t want to hurt your feelings, but until we know which way you’re going to go you’ve got a buddy with you.”

“I’m not even close to going rogue.” Adam replied his one golden eye turning dark. “But I am about to rage on you if you don’t get out of my way.”

“Give it your best shot kid.” Jared taunted
,
his eyes burning a little darker. Some deep dark place wanted to see what this
half-breed
had. He knew
Adam
hadn’t come into his full power yet, but
he
was curious to
what this kid could do when pushed.

Tessa pointed a chicken leg at them both. “If you even think about fighting in my kitchen, well let’s just say you haven’t seen anyone rage like a red head.”

Jared felt a grin tip his lips and noticed Adam was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “What? You think you can take on two vampires sis?”

“If I have to
…yes.
” She answered honestly
,
dropping the chicken leg. “I don’t want you guys fighting.”

They both backed down eyeing each other, but Adam spoke first. “
Then
please tell this guy that I have yet
to kill
a single soul in this town. Even the
asshole
sheriff can vouch for that.”

“It’s true.” Tessa replied, then grinned trying again to lighten the mood. “Not one death. Oh, well, we still don’t know what happened to Ms. Shoemaker’s cat, Bitsy.”

“Okay. Okay.” Adam threw his hands up in the air. “I got a little hungry and went on a rage killing Bitsy in the back alley of Pop’s Barbershop.”

Jill slapped her hand o
ver
her mouth covering her giggle.

Tessa looked up at Jared. “Let him go. It’s just right down the hill.” She smiled, her green eyes pleading.

The smile did him in…dammit. How in the hell could he say no to that smile. “What’s your cell phone number?” Adam rattled it off as Jared called it. Adam programmed Jared’s number in his cell. “You have a half an hour before I come looking for you.”

“I swear I’ll call if I get any urges to kill anything bigger than a cat.” Adam ruffled the top of Tessa’s
hair
like he was the older of the two then headed out the door before Jared could change his mind.