The agreement

When they came to the western border, Thomas and Eleanor walked to the meeting point while the rest remained behind to take the agreed positions. Jonathan was already at the location when they arrived, accompanied by two burly warriors and Nessa. Her hands were bound in front of her, and the two warriors stood on either side of her. “Thomas!” she cried out when she saw her brother. She rushed forward but did not get anywhere as both warriors grabbed her arms and pulled her back. “Are you okay?” Thomas asked, assessing her body for injuries. She nodded, tears streaming down her face. Eleanor, whose hands were also bound, surveyed the area. Mia was nowhere to be seen. She had also not sensed any other scents on their way to the meeting spot. But she knew that did not necessarily mean they were alone. It was possible that the hybrids were masking their scents as usual. “Where is Mia?” Thomas demanded, looking around. “You said you would let both of them go if I brought her to you.” He had not sensed her scent, which meant she was not nearby. But her scent was not the only thing missing. His wolf should have been restless about not finding her. Surprisingly, he was calm, which should not happen when his mate was in danger. It did not make sense because before, he had been so protective towards her. Eleanor had warned him that Mia was not his mate. But what about everything he had felt towards her from the time he had rescued her after he attacked her rogue pack? “Are you sure you want her back?” Jonathan asked, his voice full of mockery. “I thought you would appreciate the gesture if I took her off your hands.” Thomas ground his teeth. “What are you talking about?” “She gave me a little gift. I thought it means she would rather stay with me, so I did not bother bringing her along. I don’t blame her, seeing how low you’ve sunk. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve checked your bank account.” Thomas bristled with anger. He was talking about the money that had disappeared from his bank account. Had Mia really given it all to him? Why? How could she do that when she wanted to become the Luna of Blackstorm? It made no sense. Jonathan must have forced her! “So I thought we could negotiate a little more,” Jonathan said, pacing back and forth in front of Nessa and the warriors. “If you transfer your land to me, I might consider releasing your sister.” Thomas’s face darkened with anger. “That was not the agreement. You asked for Eleanor, and here she is. Let go of my sister this instant!” Jonathan stopped pacing and looked at him. “Or what?” he challenged. “You’ve lost everything. Your money, your warriors, even your famous Luna.” His eyes landed on Eleanor then, doing a head to toe appraisal. Thomas stepped in front of her, blocking his view. He did not like the way Jonathan was looking at her and a wave of possessiveness coursed through him at the thought of the hybrid getting anywhere near her. A loop-sided smile flashed across Jonathan’s lips, as if he found Thomas’s move amusing. “I could take your sister back to my place and you’d do nothing about it,” he continued, “because you’ve turned into a useless, powerless Alpha. So why don’t you save us both time and transfer the land to me and I can let your sister go? We all win.” “I’m not giving you my land,” Thomas growled. “You can forget about it.” “Then I guess you can say goodbye to your sister,” Jonathan said, walking over to Nessa. He lifted his hand and stroked his fingers down her cheek. “What a beauty. I would not mind keeping her with me.” A sob escaped Nessa’s lips as she squeezed her eyes shut. “Don’t cry,” Jonathan cooed. “I promise I’ll treasure you more than your brother who doesn’t think you are worth more than a piece of land.” “Get your filthy hands off her,” Thomas roared, rushing forward. Jonathan turned around and planted himself in front of Nessa, his eyes flashing red. “Take another step and you’ll not see her or your precious mate ever again.” Thomas grid to a halt. His chest moved rapidly as he breathed heavily. He wanted nothing more than to shift and tear the smug look off the hybrid’s face. The sound of shuffling came from behind him, and he turned to find that another pair of warriors had appeared. They each grabbed Eleanor’s arms, holding her captive. “Damn it,” he cursed. Now, not only did he not have his hands on his sister, but he had also lost his hold on Eleanor. Unless he could fight five hybrids on his own, he had zero bargaining power. “And you,” Jonathan said, shifting his attention to Eleanor. “You can say goodbye to your men.” As they watched, he took his phone out of his pocket. Pressing it to his ear, he waited for a few seconds before ordering, “Get them.” He hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket, laughing. “Did you really think you could plan an ambush and I would not find out?” he asked, shaking his head. “Do you think so little of me, sweetheart, when I think the world of you?” “I don’t know what you are talking about,” Eleanor replied, pinning him with a steely gaze. “Uh, denial. That’s cute.” He walked forward until he was standing in front of her. “I have ears and eyes everywhere, sweetheart.” Eleanor tried not to gag at the sound of the pet name. But as long as he thought he had the upper hand, she would listen to whatever gibberish he had to spew. “Did you think you could fool me if you tied up your hands like this?” he asked, looking down at her hands. “I know you two are in on this. It’s a pity that you thought you could take me down with an ambush. I really thought we could all sit down and have a nice talk and come to an agreement.” “We already have an agreement,” Thomas snapped. “Release my sister. That was the deal, wasn’t it?” Jonathan did not remove his eyes from Eleanor. “The deal was that you two should come alone, but you decided to turn it into a battle. I’m only giving you what you wanted.” He turned around and faced Jonathan. “If you win, you can take the girl with you.”