Chapter108: I Am The Alpha. I Give The Orders

"You're so thickheaded!" She seethed and tried to step back. His hand shot out on the low of her back and he pulled her in.

She looked at him now and saw two people, the Jax she knew and loved- the one who showed her a life where she was deserving of happiness and a trusting partner. And then there was the other Jax, the possessive Alpha who wanted, not to love her, but keep her, like an artifact to put in his library and look at when he pleased. It was like he couldn't make up his mind on where he stood with their marriage and she realized that the notion of soulmates was a joke. Because how can you love someone and treat them like property?

"I can't let you go." He repeated.

"But you also don't want me. What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know!" He said without missing a beat.

He opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it.

Did Jax know just what he had caused? What he was continuously doing by pulling the leash around her neck and not allowing her to be free from him.

The air in her throat evaporated and the walls felt like they were closing on the both of them, they had nowhere else to run. It was only this and now, no later to deal with the problems they had.

They knew they couldn't continue on as they had, Jax wasn't one to nearly kill a guy that hadn't done him wrong and Lola was desperately trying to hang on to that last string of life that had yet to snap and send her down a dark abyss.

Despite seeing in her eyes what he did to her, the pain and torment she lived with, he bit back what might've been the right thing to say and instead did what he knew- he gave an order.

"You won't be able to leave this house, the order has already been given to keep you in but Melissa is free to stay if she'd like."

Jax turned around and walked out, he didn't spare her a second glance and left the door wide open as he exited.

He walked slowly down the stairs, the steps creaking under his weight and Lola watched the empty hallway. She had half a mind to crawl into bed and another to run after him and cuss him out.

There were many choice words she still hadn't said but they sat on the tip of her tongue and she wanted nothing more than to piss him off, make him hurt as he had made her hurt.

Without allowing time to talk herself out of it, she hurried to the door.

She walked out into the hallway, about to turn to the stairs when a shadow crossed her path and she was forced to stop in her tracks.

Lavina cast a leering gaze down the stairs before turning back and touching the updo on her head, making sure that not a single hair was out of place.

She slid her tongue over her pearly white teeth and touched up the gloss in the corner of her lip.

She had changed outfits since this morning at the Mayor's house, it was much more sophisticated before but now she wore a low-cut top with a heavy pendant hanging on a delicate golden chain that pulled the gaze of the beholder to her chest.

Her costume trousers fell to her ankles and even inside the house she still wore heels, just like Mrs. Blackwood.

"I heard raised voices," she pouted. Lola tried to see if the worry was sincere or if she was feigning interest in her own agenda.

"Did you now," Lola said auspiciously.

Laughing as though she had not a care in the world, Lavina stepped back and bowed her head.

"I don't mean to cross any boundaries. I do hope you know that I'm just his friend and never hope to be more. I met the love of my life and I lost him, I will never experience that again. Trust me when I say that I don't wish anyone to go through what I did. If I ever ask about you and Jax, it's because I care... about both of you." Lavina strained a smile but she wasn't one to overstay her welcome and she had become an expert at reading the room. She cupped her hands and turned to walk off.

"Do you know what's going on with him?" Lola asked, cursing herself for giving in but she was desperate for answers at this point.

She did a scan of the hallway, going over her words before speaking them and Lola noticed a lot of traits in Lavina that the socialite had as well. She understood why the pack wanted Lavina as their leader, why Jax's mother wanted her as her son's wife, and why, wherever she went, she fit right in.

Lola saw everything that she was not, all played out in Lavina's appearance and her personality.

"I honestly don't know. Our mates are our everything, we can not function without them. For an Alpha, it's detrimental that once he finds his mate, he holds them close and protects her because any weakness caused by the mate bond will directly affect him and his strength," she shrugged with a defeated gaze, wishing she could be of more help. "So I don't know why he's acting like a dick, I really wish I did. But between you and me, just us girls, Jax will never know...where are you with Ash?" A mischievous glint shone in her eyes, sparkling under the crystal lamps.

"Ash?" Lola asked. "There is nothing between me and Ash. We're friends, just like you and he," she said, reminding her of the fact that Ash and she had been close too.

"We're friends now, didn't use to be though," Lavina laughed.

"Because you slept together?" Lola asked with a grin.

Lavina clicked her tongue and looked with pride.

"Aha, he told you," she said.

Lola shrugged, nobody had told her it was a secret and Ash seemed to have done quite well for himself when it came to the girls in the pack. She could only imagine how many girls he had been within his own pack.

"And also he loved me," she said.

A smile spread on her face when she saw Lola's rounded eyes and tinted cheeks, and her jaw dropped.

"Seriously?" Lola exclaimed.

"I understand why he didn't tell you. He was probably hoping it would go better this time."

She said, insinuating once again that Ash was in love with Jax's girl.

How odd that he had tried with two of Jax's girlfriends, or well, one girlfriend and one wife.

"Maybe don't tell him that I told you, it wasn't his proudest moment." She joked with a wink.

"And give Jax the benefit of the doubt for the time being. I'm not sure what's going on with him but I'm sure he won't stop until he figures it out." She offered a consoling smile and took Lola's hand in her own.

A tumultuous argument erupted from the first floor and Lola's head snapped around when she heard Justin's raised voice.

Lola and Lavina hurried down and slid around the corner into the living room.

Justin stood holding a lamp in his hand, swinging it around him whenever anybody stepped near and he had Jax and Ash on either side of him trying to calm him down without losing their temper.

He flung the lamp and spun on his feet, his eyes landed on Lola's and she tensed. Justin stared in utter shock but his gaze moved over Lola's face and onto Lavina's. His hand lowered and his eyes softened when they took her in.

"It's you," he said in an exhale.

Lavina gulped, she spun the ring on her finger and laughed nervously.