72. Anna

72

Anna

Emerson got the human police involved? Of course he did. He couldn't drag me out of town, but he could get the police to do it. The question was whether this search was legitimate or if Emerson had paid these two officers to drag us away.

I pressed my ear to the door.

"Missing woman? That's horrible," Kenzi said loudly. "It's just me and my two sisters here. My brother and sister-in-law are next door, but she's really not feeling well. We can let you take a peek through the adjoining door, but I would appreciate it if you didn't disturb her."

What was she doing? Hurriedly, I ran to the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I thought about pulling them all the way over my head, but that would definitely look suspicious.

The sounds were muted, and I held my breath. Jax positioned himself between the bed and the adjoining door. A moment later, it opened. "Jax," Kenzi said in a stage whisper.

"These officers want to take a look at Sarah and make sure she's not the missing person they're searching for."

"And you just let them in here?" Jax said in a hard low but hard voice. "My wife is not feeling well, officers. I can assure you that she is not missing."

"Jax, stop being so protective. They can look at her from here."

I moaned a little and opened my eyes. "Baby? What's going on?" Then, as if I was seeing the officers for the first time, I gasped and jerked the blanket up further. "What's going on?"

One of the officers cleared his throat. "Sorry to disturb you, miss. You can go back to sleep."

Jax followed them out of the room and closed the door behind me. I knew that it wouldn't be long before he returned, but I felt the emptiness of the room. I was alone for the first time since leaving Emerson's pack.

I thought I was recovering, but panic rose up inside me, and I got up. The bed was in a vulnerable position. In the middle of the room. The safest place was the bathroom which had a small window I could shift and climb out of if I needed to.

Shame washed over me as I hurried to the bathroom and closed the door. What the hell was I doing? I'd survived Emerson twice now. Held my own against him. Escaped. So why did I feel the need to hide now? It wasn't like Jax was there when I was locked away in the suite. I'd lost all hope.

"Anna? Baby? They're gone," Jax said in a low voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I called out and turned on the water of the sink so he wouldn't think I was hiding. When I opened the door, I tried not to look as ashamed and relieved as I felt. "How did they pull it off?"

"Janelle isn't as powerless as she appears. Apparently she'd already put a glamour in place since she heard Emerson here, and she spelled the officers so they would see something different when they looked at you."

"What if they'd gotten too close to me and the spell hadn't worked? Or what happens if they stake out the motel? I'm going to have to leave at some point."

When Jax didn't answer, my stomach twisted. He also didn't have any ideas. "It's a small police force. I doubt they can spare anyone to stake out the place, especially since they've already taken a look around. If we see them again, we can file a claim for police harassment, but I'm hoping it won't go that far."

"It's going to be fine. We're just going to hole up here until we need to leave, and then we just leave. You've already told the police that I'm sick, so it's fine if I don't go anywhere. Janelle is spelled, and everyone else can come and go as they please. No big deal." I took a deep breath.

"Anna."

"I'm okay. Really. I know it looks like I might fall apart, but I won't. I expected Emerson to make a move. I didn't expect this move, but it's fine."

I waited for him to say my name again, but he just folded me up into a hug and kissed the top of my head. I stiffened only for a moment before I melted into him. "I'm going to fight until there's nothing left in me for you," he whispered. "We're going to go home, Anna."

Home. Still a strange concept.

There was a soft knock on the door, and suddenly the room was full of wolves. Saul and Amelia sat on the bed. Kenzi perched on the table. Finn stood by the door, and Janelle, looking paler than ever, slumped against the wall.

"Are you glamouring yourself now?" I asked her.

"Can you not see it?" Janelle whipped her head around to Kenzi. "Can you see it?"

"Relax. You were a washed-up brunette when I first saw you, and now you're a bombshell blonde. Anna just can't see it because she's weird. How about you spill some of those secrets you have."

Janelle glanced at me, and I could see her wavering. "I'm still too vulnerable."

I shook my head. "No. The deal was I got you off his land, and I did that. We can take you with us, liability and all, but you need to give us a reason to trust you. This is how you do it.

Let's start with the multiple witches that Emerson appears to have on his land."

Janelle sighed heavily and slowly sat in the chair. "They came two years ago. I've only seen two, but I can feel more. Maybe half a dozen. They cast magic over the land, like what Irene did, and they fed from me to do it. I was never an exception witch, but I'm able to work pack magic."

"Pack magic? My magic?" Jax said in a low and dangerous voice.

"Exactly. I can strengthen it. When I first arrived, Emerson was dangerously close to losing his pack to his second."

"Elonso?"

"No. He had a different second then," Jax said in a low voice. "He disappeared and Elonso took his place."

"Elonso wasn't even part of the pack then. He was a rogue who joined and quickly moved up the ranks. I desperately needed protection in a pack, and I showed Emerson how I could give him more control as an alpha. He was…obsessed. I should have realized that would be a problem then. At the time, I just boosted his power. I thought I was doing a good thing. He was secure, and the pack felt secure. Then, he brought in more witches." Janelle stared down at her hands. "I thought I was being replaced. I panicked. I showed him that I could do more."

Tears filled her eyes, and it was Kenzi who walked over and sat next to her. "What did you do?" She asked softly. "Just tell us."

"I helped him manipulate the bond. Not just control the wolf but also control the human."

The witch closed her eyes. "My mother warned me to stay away from wolves. That our power was dangerous, but I got involved with a powerful and abusive man. I needed to hide. I thought as long as I didn't use that form of magic, I'd be fine. I made a huge mistake. At first, Emerson used the threat of my ex to control me. When I saw what he was doing to his wolves, I decided I didn't care. I'd rather face my ex. He started using the witches instead. They drained my magic. Almost all of his pack are under his control, and they don't even know it."

I saw Jax's eyes widen. Finn cursed under his breath, and even Kenzi moved away from her. "Can you control any wolf?" She asked flatly.

"No. I can manipulate bonds, but I have to be granted access by the more powerful party. I can't just control a wolf. I need permission from an alpha or a mate, which is why I couldn't turn the magic around and control Emerson. I could only control those under him."

"Why did he bring you to my territory?" Jax's voice was dangerously soft. "It sounds like any of his other witches could have manipulated Irene's spell better than you."

"He knew Anna was a void. He thought I could manipulate her mating bond without your permission. I wasn't supposed to threaten you or your pack. That was Plan B. Emerson wanted to use me to walk Anna out of your arms and into his."