Hollie struggled as her arms were forcibly wrenched behind her. Two men held her and shoved her forward roughly.
Hollie’s eyes widened in fear and distress when she saw Joe and Maria lying unconscious on the floor.
Jasper was standing over them with a gun in his hand.
He turned around and smiled at Hollie. “Long time no see,” he said.
Hollie was forced to kneel in front of Jasper.
“I just knocked them out. But if you don’t behave, these nice people will have a bullet through their brains,” Jasper said, pressing his gun to the back of Maria’s head.
“Don’t hurt them,” Hollie begged. “They’re innocent. They...”
“They are not innocent.” Jasper snarled. “They hired you. They employed a member of my pack—without my permission! You are my cook, not theirs.”
“I am not your anything,” Hollie snapped, her anger rising. “You never really regarded or treated me as a member of your pack. And you did say that every member of the Black Blade pack must be able to shift. Well, I can’t shift. So I can’t be a member of your pack. I’m out. You have no control over me.”
“I will always have control over you. You are not allowed to do anything without my approval. Do you understand?”
Hollie gritted her teeth and swallowed an expletive.
“I am your Beta. You will obey and respect me,” Jasper snarled at her.
“Are you really a Beta?” Hollie said calmly. “A Beta is the second in command, a leader in the pack. The responsibility of a true Alpha and Beta is to lead and protect the pack. You have never protected your pack members. Instead, you exploit and bully them. You use fear and lies to control the pack. It’s not a pack. It’s a cult. I should have gotten free much sooner. But I didn’t know anyone outside the pack. You kept us isolated, and didn’t allow us to mingle with people outside the pack. I’m free now, and I can work anywhere I want.”
Jasper pointed his gun at Hollie. “I should kill you right now.”
Hollie stared straight at him without flinching.
When Jasper saw that she was showing not a trace of fear, he aimed his gun at Joe instead. “Or maybe I should make old Joe and his wife corpses in their own diner.”
Hollie gasped. “No!”
Jasper smiled. “My two lieutenants will escort you to our car. The streets are pretty quiet at this time. It’s still early morning, and not many people are out and about. Just walk quietly to the car. Don’t draw attention to yourself. I’ll be watching from here. If you make one wrong move...” Jasper waved his gun at Joe and Maria.
He laughed when Hollie choked down a plea.
“It’s all up to you, Hollie. Whether these two humans live or die depends on you.”
“I’ll listen to you,” Hollie whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just...leave them alone. Please...”
Jasper smiled. “See? Everything can be so easy. We don’t have to be nasty, do we? We’re nice wolves.”
One of the lieutenants threw a dark hoodie at Hollie. “Put it on,” Jasper ordered. “And pull the hood over your head.”
Hollie obeyed. The large hoodie was a few sizes too big for her, and the hood obscured her face completely.
“Now, you will walk out of the diner with the two gentlemen. Keep your head down and get in the car. Don’t try anything funny, Hollie. You know what will happen, don’t you?” Jasper gave her a nasty smile. “Bang, bang!”
Hollie turned to take one last look at Joe and Maria. Both of them were out cold.
She didn’t know if Jasper would keep his word. Jasper was volatile and violent. He would have no qualms at all shooting them in the head. He might still kill them even if she did everything he said.
Hollie closed her eyes briefly. Joe and Maria were good people. They would get through this. They wouldn’t die because of her.
Hollie whispered a prayer and walked away from them. Bowing her head, she stepped out of the diner with the two lieutenants.