I was not jealous

Julian

“She was pretty much in his lap.” From the back seat of my car I growled out.

From the drivers seat Ian tapped on the steering wheel but didn’t say anything. He usually got quiet when I got like this. The anger of what I had seen earlier was still eating me up inside and I didn’t really know why.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me at all. Cassie had already broken her vows to me.

So did you, my wolf seemed to mumble in my head. Hypocrite.

I pushed him back down. Now wasn’t the time to be logical. Cassie was insufferable and I wanted rid of her before she drove me crazy.

“Are you evening listening to me Ian?” I barked. Usually I could cope with his silence but not today. Today I needed him to agree with me.

“Yes Alpha.” He mumbled and the tone of his voice just made me angrier.

“Fuck off with the alpha stuff Ian.” I snapped. “You never call me alpha when we are alone. We are friends.”

Ian’s sigh was loud. “Fine as your friend I heard you Julian. You got jealous and have been snappy and an asshole ever since.”

“Jealous.” I said the word like it was a curse. “I am not jealous.”

“No?” In the rear view mirror his eyebrows arched. “You could have fooled me Julian.” He went back to staring at the road and the rain that was pelting downwards. It was coming down so heavy that it was impossible to see more than a few feet away.

“I was not jealous.”

“Of course not.” He mumbled again. “Damn this weather.” He shook his head. “It’s really coming down. Maybe we have a big storm coming in.”

He was trying to change the subject but I couldn’t let it go. “I mean it Ian. Why would I be jealous that Cassie-“

“Oh I don’t know Julian,” he shrugged his wide shoulders. “Maybe because she’s your wife and you’ve never been very good at sharing what belongs to you. Maybe-“ he tapped the steering wheel. “Maybe you like her more than you want to admit.”

“She drives me crazy.”

“Exactly. I mean if you didn’t care you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

“Like what?” My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline.

“Like a scorned lover. Everyone knows what Bill is like. His reputation with the ladies is notorious. He probably tried it on. Did you even ask her or did you fly off the handle?”

I fell silent. Blowing out a breath I closed my eyes. Could that be true? Had I flown off the handle because seeing them together had caused me to get jealous.

“You think?” I finally asked.

“Yeah. I’ve spoken to a few people about Cassie and they all say she is a solid person. A good person.”

“But her father?”

“She isn’t her father Julian.” He reminded me. “I think you might owe her a chance.”

“And probably an apology.” I admitted. “Damn it.”

Staring out the window I finally came to terms with what I was feeling. I didn’t like it much but at least I admitted it to myself.

I owed Cassie a chance. Maybe she would surprise me.

“Guess I should-“

Ian’s eyes crinkled. “I’ll turn the car around and take you back to the hospital. She should still be there.”

I lapsed into silence as he turned randomly amid a chorus of car horns.

The trip back took a lot less time than I had thought.

“Want me to wait?”

Ignoring Ian I slammed the car door shut and headed towards the small hidden door of the annex.

And with each step my wolf became more and more aggravated. Pacing up and down and trying to break free of my human skin.

Pushing into the annex i froze as the sound of screaming hit my ears and I instantly and instinctively knew who was screaming.

Cassie.

She was in here somewhere and in trouble. My wolf had sensed the danger before we had even left the car. That's why he was acting like a feral beast.

It took me a second to pinpoint exactly where the commotion was coming from but when I did that wasn’t a huge surprise either.

Alpha Bills room.

Sprinting full speed down the hallway I crashed into the room and the sight that greeted me stopped me in my tracks.

He was on the bed , straddling someone beneath him. His fist smashed down into her temple again and again but even as he beat her she kept fighting.

Fighting and screaming for help.

Closing the gap between us I grabbed at the collar of his shirt and yanked him backwards.

Bill fell to the floor and rolled growling to his knees.

“What the hell-“ I began to say but one look at Cassie lying dazed and bloody on the bed and I knew what he had been trying to do.

Her blouse was ripped , showing her bra which had been yanked down to show her breast. There were marks on her neck as if he had been kissing her roughly and then top button of her trousers was undone.

If the state of her clothes weren’t bad enough. My eyes found her face. There was a spreading bruise on her face where he had hit her.

The look in her eyes was glassy.

“You asshole .” It wasn’t jealousy that deepened my voice. It was bone crunching rage. No one woman should ever be subjected to what Cassie had. Fisting his shirt in my hand I lifted him into his face was level with mine and smashed my closed fist into it again and again. The bones crunched and his lip split as I pummeled him.

“How dare you touch her, how-“ disgusted I threw him from me. “Get out. Out of town and out of my territory. Our partnership is over.” I growled and it was taking everything I had not to let me wolf out to deal with him. If I did there would be a blood bath. “Leave before this turns into a diplomatic incident.”

Turning away from him was dangerous but that’s what I did. From behind me I heard him scuttle away.

“Are you ok?” Tentatively I reached out but stopped before I could touch her.

Cassie just lay there and stared up at the ceiling, silently. I would have thought she was knocked unconscious if her eyes hadn’t been open and blinking.

It was almost like she couldn’t move.

All she could do was lay there and stare whilst tears fell from her eyes.

And it broke my heart.