The Protector

Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

The night was clear and the lamps shone brightly illuminating the grey tombstones. Jonathan held Tracy's hand as they weaved through the standing pillars. Under a cherry tree there sat a grave the name on the headstone was Briella Jessica Tanner. From the dates listed, she died when she was only 23.

"Was she your mate?"

"No. She was my best friend. Erik, Briella, and I were always together since we were in diapers. We were closer than siblings and everyone thought either one of us would be Briella's mate. We were relieved that neither of us were because honestly it would have felt like being mated to your sister. But if I could go back I would have gladly claimed her as a mate to prevent what happened."

Sitting on a bench under the cherry tree next to the grave, the tears fell silently as Jonathan spoke of his friend. His grief for her loss, his angry with the whole situation, and his guilt for not doing more.

Tracy just listened quietly, occasionally wiping her own tears. Jonathan took a deep breath as he finished his story. They sat side by side in a comfortable silence.

"There was nothing you could have done. Briella was determined to stay despite the abuse. Even the few times, when you managed to get her away for weeks, she still ran back. No matter how much you want to save someone there's nothing you can do until they decide to they want to be saved. In Briella's case, she ran out of time. That's not on you. Her mate had broken her to the point that she felt crippled without him. Plus the pull of mate bond was used against her. She was his prisoner even after he died."

"If I hadn't challenged him, after she told me loved him, if I hadn't left her alone..."

"Stop." Tracy said firmly, "You challenged him to save her. She killed herself after he died. That was her choice and really from the way he had continued to beat her, she would have died anyways. There was nothing you could have done to change her fate."

Jonathan sighed, "I never wanted a mate..."

"I understand."

"The bond makes you love your mate no matter what."

"What?! Are you freaking crazy?! THAT was not love! THAT was abuse and torture! You look at your parent's relationship and then look at friend's and tell me which was the example of true love. Would your father treat your mother like that? Of course not! Not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic and ends up living under a bridge. Most mated couples are happy or at least content, you've just seen a worst case scenario." Tracy paused for a moment before trying to lighten the mood, "Ha. I just compared love to booze. I guess it's accurate enough, they both make you do crazy things."

Jonathan snorted, "Maybe we're just cursed after all Erik got a crappy mate too."

"Crystal is a spoiled brat who was given everything all her life and it shows... so what are you saying? That I'm a psycho torturer or a spoiled rotten bitch?" Tracy asked indignantly before grinning, "Eh maybe best to hold judgement until I've had a chance to go all crazy on your ass first.... I wonder what that would be like? I've never gone loco on anybody yet and I don't think it fair to count the couple of times I've killed a few people."

She laughed while Jonathan chuckled. They sat quietly for a few moments before Jonathan asked, "Could we start over?"

"Start over? As in you go back to screwing the chicks? I think we'll have to wait until we come across one because that's what you were doing when we first 'met.'"

"I'm sorry. I was wrong and I knew it but I didn't-" he sighed.

"That was a clucked up chicken ass move on your part. You already condemned me to the loony bin before even having a decent conversation." Tracy ground out.

"You're right I'm sorry."

"And another thing-"

"Alright! I already said I was sorry and now I want some fucking peace." Jonathan burst out.

Tracy held her tongue but was determined that she was going to get back to it later. When you have a grudge sometimes you have to hold onto it for a while. Logic and reason are better tools to aid in an argument. Emotion tends to cloud judgement. Patience is sometimes a virtue but sometimes holding onto the bitterness for too long eats away at the bottle you hold it in. Still she wanted a restart as well as much as she wanted to chew his ass out it was wiser to let it go.

Miffed at her own decision and feeling like she let him off easy, "Fine." Tracy said standing up and started walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"To give you some fucking peace."

Jonathan came behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and another around her waist. Tracy's heart immediately sped up from having him so close. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he rubbed his nose into her neck breathing in deeply.

"You're just like a babydoll. You're so cute." he murmured seductively against her skin trailing light kisses from her collar to her cheek. All the anger dissipated and Tracy began to hope for a future. Turning her around to face him; Jonathan stroked her cheek, he looked into her eyes before leaning close and gently covering her lips with his own. The simple kiss turned into hungry passion before blazing into a lustful inferno. Jonathan pulled her to his body, closing any distance and leaned down to cup her generous bottom. The scent of their desire threw them into a frenzy. A sudden howl broke through the haze and they jerked apart.

"What is it?" Tracy asked panting.

Jonathan looked intently towards the howl that was joined by others, "Rogues at the border. We're under attack! Get back to the house." Jonathan said before shifting and racing off into the woods.

"Back to the house my ass." Tracy muttered before taking off in the direction of the howls.

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We got the tree up! 

Yay! Just a few more things and I'm ready for Christmas. Woo Hoo!