T.J. POV
T.J. walked back towards the front doors of the pack-house, very annoyed with Jo-Jo’s comments, he did not need to hear her talk about sex or her orgasms like she had been, for that matter, and certainly not when referring to herself in that tone she had used. His eyes landed on West as he headed for the pack-house, and knew instantly, why she had struck up that conversation, and used all that sultriness.
She had known he was over there. Likely knew he’d seen the two of them talking, probably seen him through that camera of hers. The question was how long had the man been standing there listening. Jo-Jo had clearly stated those things to intentionally antagonise the man. Was she insane? It was completely possible that West would get really mad and lay down another order on her.
Did she not know better, than to tempt fate?
Crazy woman, was going to be the death of him. He looked at West’s face, the man was frowning right at her, looking past T.J. altogether, even T.J. heard her laugh and internally sighed, that bloody woman was playing with fire, it seemed, and enjoying it. Had she forgotten how damned possessive he had been during their Mate Bond, or had she just never really realised his behaviour was related to his possessiveness.
West had never, not even once, liked even the thought of someone else seeing her naked. Hell, she’d not even been allowed to attend gym class, because that meant she had to get changed in the girls' locker room, even other girls seeing her naked was a no go in his eyes. Wolf training had been out for her as well, because that had meant she’d have to be naked to shift into Clova in front of both male and female wolves. The one time she’d done it he’d gone absolutely ballistic.
Hadn’t realised she was wolf training with the others until he’d seen Clova out there on the training grounds and, well, he’d stalked off down there in a fully ticked off rage, that they had seen her naked body. Yelled at the whole damned field that training was over, literally picked up her wolf, Clova being quite small and all, and had stalked off with her to the side of the pack-house. To the omega stairs, kicked the door open and put her wolf on the inside, demanding she shift and return to their room.
T.J. had been trailing him, not really understanding the issue, until West had yelled at her that she was not allowed to shift in front of others. Poor Jo-Jo had just stared up at him not understanding at all why he was so irate. She’d just been training like everyone else did, hadn’t thought anything of it, they’d only been mated a couple of weeks, had finally gotten the all clear from the doctor to resume all normal wolfen things, including training.
She’d looked at T.J. for clarification on the situation, only to find West turn and look at him, not realising he was standing right there, where he could see the girl naked. Had snarled at her to get her ass upstairs and stepped outside to bang the door closed behind her.
Now here she was talking loudly right in front of him, about taking up with a she-wolf or two for that matter, had even touched him herself. Which would have incurred her pain, though he'd not seen pain in her at all.
Did it to tick West off, T.J. just knew it.
She had clearly been thinking about ways to get around, her Alpha’s Orders, and found a loophole to her liking. Announced it right in his presence of all the stupid things she could do, this was likely the stupidest.
‘Let it go West.’
‘I know why she did it.’ he muttered right back.
‘Relinquish it, solve the problem.’
‘No.’ he stated and turned and walked away ‘You’ve yet to show me where the art studio is to go. I just got the builders request to start clearing land for it.’
T.J. nodded he had been nice to the girl, as T.J. had requested him to be, though it had not lasted long, it seemed, but he would uphold his end of the deal. “Alright, come on. You’ll like it.”
He walked West right over to the place it would go. Watched as West raised an eyebrow at him, as he turned and looked at the pack-house, tilted his head up to the top floor.
“I can see it from my suite.” T.J. commented “You will also get a full view of it from your Alpha suite, if you ever decide to move into it.” T.J. had picked this place not just for his own piece of mind, where Jo-Jo was concerned, but also in the hope, that it would force his Alpha, into the Alpha suite up there waiting on him. He pointed to the ground floor. “Your office windows will also get a full view.”
West turned and looked right at him, narrowed eyes.
“You’re welcome West. She did have one request.”
“What was it?”
“A room to stay in, a one bedroom apartment off the back.”
“And?”
“I told her it's an art studio, not a place to live basically.”
“Hmm.”
T.J. watched as West turned and looked into the forest behind where it would go. Oh yes, T.J. had picked this place on purpose. It was actually where West came to be alone. He would sit out there on that stone bridge and either smoke or drink a bourbon. Not that he had seen the man light up at all since Jo-Jo had told him it wasn’t good for him.
The man had not given up smoking for his mother, or father and they both had disapproved, point of fact, his mother had chastised him about this, in her words, ‘filthy habit’ and West had lit one up right in front of her, just to tick the woman off. Miranda had also not been able to convince him either.
West smoked, because it actually burned his lungs and caused him physical pain, not because he actually enjoyed it. Took it up a week or so after Jo-Jo had left him and had, continued to smoke right up until she was back in this pack.
T.J. thought about that for a minute. Actually, he hadn’t seen the man light up, not once, since Singapore, and he had seen him mad on several occasions since she had been back. Interesting he thought to himself and wondered if West had realised it. Or his mother and father, for that matter.
“Alright.” West nodded at him “guess I’ll approve it.”
“Good thinking. That room of hers is actually quite small for her work, I noticed. Definitely needs a good sized work space.”
Watched as West again looked up to the top floor, his current room, was on the front side of the pack-house, a room only, not a suite. No need for a suite. Is all he’d ever said on the subject.
“So when are you going to move into your suite? You know its ready up there.”
“Mm, I do. There is no point. I don’t need all those rooms.”
“You’re the Alpha now West. You should be in the Alpha suite.”
“With Miranda? I don’t think so.” he’d replied and strode off.
They walked back to the pack-house, not with Miranda. Well, that explained a lot T.J. guessed, not his Luna, so would not have her in there. Walked all the way into the Alpha’s office where he watched as West did sign and approve the application from the builders to clear and level the land in prep for her art studio.
He had not been able to get West to rescind the order on her. There was no convincing the man. T.J. had stared right at him and called him and ass-hole to his face. West had just looked at him, didn’t even seem surprised by it. Was probably expecting T.J. to come in here and beat the living hell out of him over it.
The only reason that T.J. had not done exactly that, was because Jo-Jo didn’t actually seem to be bothered by it, annoyed, maybe exasperated, but not actually angry and even kind of understood. T.J. thought she was, way to understanding about it. She’d just told him to leave it, and now on more than one occasion.
He knew she’d been worried about the fight between her Alpha and another Alpha, worried it had ruined the pack's alliance with Alpha Jayden, even. It was likely very clear to her that West was never going to let anyone touch her and this was her way of making sure nothing was ruined by herself, because her Alpha was a possessive ass-hole.
The Goddess herself only knew what was going to happen if this coming full moon did not give the man what he wanted. Though T.J. also knew that West was concerned about him and her. T.J. was not at all concerned about it. He’d never looked at her like that. He just liked pissing his friend off, by letting him think it was on the cards. Amused him to no end over it, in fact.
Though T.J. knew that everyone was expecting them to be Mates and that he had never found his Mate in all these years and he had been looking, also only added to West’s thinking that he was the competition for Jo-Jo. Only his mother shook her head on the matter, stating once, “I don’t see it, son.”
T.J.’s head snapped up as pain shot through him, interrupting his thoughts, his chair tipped over as he shot to his feet, and then he was gone, running from his Alpha’s office. She was in pain, serious pain, his heart was racing, there was so much pain.
He heard West yell his name, ignored it, couldn’t focus on anything other than his need to get to her.
Every ounce of his being was screaming danger, not just pain, danger, whatever it was, his tether to her was hot and burning, his damned arm felt like liquid fire was being poured over it. The marks down the inside of his bicep were burning and scorching him.
T.J. saw it before he got to her. Heath had her up off the ground, by her neck, he was strangling her, she was struggling against him with all she had, trying to pry his hands off of her neck. Lark roared inside of his head and he was filled with all his wolfs power and they shot forward with all his speed, slammed right into the man, he could tell she was fading and fast, he’d obviously locked off her airway, saw her hands fall away and was no longer struggling by the time he got there, fear was ripping right through him.
It seemed that Heath had not been expecting the attack, did not brace for it and they went tumbling over each other on the ground. He’d let go of her with T.J.’s impact and now he had that bastard pinned down on the ground, his arms slammed down on his neck, cutting off the man's own airway, see how you like you bastard.
‘Save her or kill me.’ Heath sneered at him via the mind-link.
T.J.’s eyes moved over to Jo-Jo, she was just lying there on the ground, so still, not moving, he could see the blood on her neck, couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest. She still couldn’t breathe, though it looked like she was trying to, but actually couldn’t. Launched himself off of Heath and over to Jo-Jo. There was blood coming from multiple wounds on her neck.
That bastard had his claws out and had them all inside her neck. Already he could see the hand prints still dark red around her neck. She couldn’t breathe at all he realised too much damage had already been done.
Yanked her up off the ground, she was going to be in severe pain with him touching her, but there was nothing he could do about it at this point, she was going to have to endure it. There was no other way for him to get her to the pack hospital.
She looked to have a crushed windpipe and it was why she couldn’t breathe, begged her to stay with him, heard her tell him though the mind-link that she couldn’t breathe, told her to hold on, as he ran as fast as he could, Lark giving him all he had, filled with adrenaline. The whisper of his name so filled with sadness, she knew she was dying, believed it was too late, drove fear right to his heart, it was hammering inside his chest, he could even feel Lark’s fear ebbing in, feared he’d not been quick enough.
‘Patterson.’ T.J. roared down the mind-link to the pack doctor, ‘incoming, Jo-Jo, crushed windpipe. Not breathing.’
‘On it, meet you in front, how long?’ he could hear the man's urgency coming down the line.
‘2 minutes, I’m coming at full speed.’
‘Heartbeat?’
T.J. tuned his senses to her heartbeat, ‘yes, erratic.’ it was beating erratically inside her chest likely trying to compensate for her respiratory distress.
‘I’ll ready the crash cart, Alpha aware?’
‘No time, I’ll tell him when she’s breathing.’ T.J. did not care that he hadn’t alerted West, he had more pressing needs, communicating with the doctor was more important for Jo-Jo’s survival right that minute.
‘Right.’
It took less than 2 minutes for him to get there and there were 2 nurses holding the pack hospital doors open. He shot through and put her down on the waiting gurney with Patterson. The minute she was lying in front of him, his fingers were on her throat, probing for the right spot to cut her open and get that breathing tube into her.
Right there in the pack hospital foyer, the man was performing an emergency Tracheotomy, he had to get it right, but it was taking to long. “Hurry up.” T.J. yelled at the man.
Got yelled at right back “Shut up Beta, I have to get it right.”
‘West, pack hospital now, Jo-Jo’s not breathing.’ he finally linked West in on the emergency that was unfolding within his own pack.
‘What?’ was roared right back at him, then the line was severed, T.J. knew the man was coming likely as fast as T.J. himself had moved.
T.J. stood and watched as Patterson’s fingers were touching her. She didn’t even flinch away from him, her heart rate was weakening with every second he wanted to scream at the man, her body was compensating for the lack of oxygen, but it was not helping, her lungs could not oxygenate what it was not receiving.
Finally, the man, put a scalpel on her neck and pressed it in. Blood flowed from the place on her neck and he was pushing a tube in after the blade was removed. A whoosh of air was heard as her body finally breathed and took in the oxygen it needed.
Watched on his own heart rate finally easing off a bit as he saw the rise and fall of her chest. Her unconscious body doing its own thing. Watched as Patterson started looking at the other wounds on her neck, they were all still bleeding, lifted his head and looked right at him, right as West shot through the front doors, his eyes fell right on her as Patterson motioned for his staff to take her away to the actual emergency treatment room for proper treatment.
“What the hell happened?” Patterson snapped before West could even get the words out himself.
“Heath.” T.J. stated flatly, that man had only been out of the cells for 2 damned days. Would have only just been fully healed himself. And already that bastard had come for her again.
Saw Patterson become angry, not something that happened with their pack doctor “I’ll look after her.”
West grabbed on to the man. “Is she going to be alright?”
“She’s breathing. Crushed windpipe, the Beta was not wrong. But she’s also got penetrating claw marks all around her neck, still actively bleeding, I have to check those.” and then he was heading off after his nurses who were pushing that gurney through a set of double doors now.
“Women only.” T.J. yelled after him, got an angry, annoyed look back from the doctor and then he disappeared behind the doors, she’d been taken through.
“It was Heath. I had him West. That bastard told me. It was her life or his. He knew. He knew what he did to her. Knew I would give up killing him to save her too.”
“He’s going to die. I’ll fucking kill him myself.” West snarled, Volt right there on the surface.
“West, it’s her father. If you kill him, she might hate you for it.”
T.J. watched as his Alpha thought about, seemed to be actually contemplating what to do. It was likely he knew T.J. was right, she’d not wanted to own up to him hurting her last time could very well be the same this time. “Cells it is then, until I get her permission, she’d better bloody give it T.J., This is…”
“I know, but we also need to know why West. Interrogation first.”
West nodded, “He hasn’t gone rogue. Gotta know where coming for him.”
“Definitely knows, I’m coming.” T.J. grated out.
“Betting on Jo-anne asking me not to kill him, in other words.”
T.J. watched as West closed his eyes and knew what he was doing, he was using that Alpha to pack member tether, to try and locate the man. “Oh, he’s moving Terence. And fast.”
“He’s running.”
“Yes, right towards the eastern border, the closest one I guess.”
“Let’s go get that mother fucker.”
“Lets.” West agreed without hesitation.
And they were gone from the pack hospital to hunt down that bastard.