by Shea Balik
One of Saber’s eyebrows rose up at Wilder’s declaration. “What precedent do you have for that right?”
Wilder looked at Jazz, who no longer appeared ready to flee or curl up into a defeated ball. It had started when he’d heard the first Councilman give his vote. With each ‘guilty’ Wilder had watched his mate’s back straighten a little more and relief soften the worry lines around his face.
He just hoped his announcement wouldn’t cause Jazz any more grief. Determined that Jazz not find out they were mates by yelling it for everyone to hear, he handed the chain that kept Kingston from running to Kirill. “Will you please make sure he doesn’t get away?”
Kirill nodded. “Of course,” he said even though it was obvious he had several questions he wanted to ask.
Then Wilder strode to where Jazz stood protected between Draco and Chadwick. With the wind blowing away from Jazz, Wilder had known his little mate hadn’t been able to scent him.
He was less than ten feet from Jazz, when he heard him gasp. “You’re my mate.”
Wilder smiled, praying he wasn’t too intimidating. He was a big guy and there was little he could do to change that. “Yes, I am, brown eyes.”
The sweetest smile stretched across Jazz’s lips, lighting up his entire face for the world to see. “I have a mate,” Jazz whispered reverently.
“Congratulations, you two.” Saber’s voice boomed out. “Your request to be first in the ring, Wilder, is granted,” he told Wilder.
The Council Leader’s words had panic coming off Jazz in waves. His soft, slim hand reached out and touched Wilder’s arm. “You can’t fight Kingston,” he pleaded. “He won’t fight fair.”
The need to hold his mate had Wilder stepping even closer and cupping his hands around Jazz’s face. He tilted his little mate’s head up as he leaned down until they were all each other could see. “I’ve already fought Kingston,” Wilder admitted. “I was the one who captured him and brought him to Miracle. I promise you, brown eyes, I know his tricks.”
Jazz’s teeth grabbed ahold of his bottom lip and chewed on it as if he were thinking. The sight was so damn enticing, Wilder’s already hard cock felt as if it were going to burst from its confinement behind his pants just to get closer.
For several long moments, Wilder could see Jazz trying to figure out how to say whatever was on his mind. “It’s okay, my sweet mate. You can say anything to me.”
There was a flash of doubt, but right behind it was a budding hope that Wilder planned to make bloom. With a shaky breath, Jazz finally said, “Do you promise to come back to me?” Jazz’s voice had been filled with so much fear, he’d barely been loud enough for Wilder to make out.
But before he could answer, Jazz rushed to add, “Because I never thought fate would think I deserved a mate and I don’t want to lose you.”
Fuck.
Wilder was sure his heart broke a little more for his mate. How anyone so sweet and kind could believe they didn’t deserve a mate made Wilder want to kill whoever made Jazz doubt himself. His grizzly took comfort in being able to shred one of those people, soon.
“I swear, I will be by your side for eternity,” Wilder promised him. Then he pressed a light, barely there kiss against his lips, getting the barest taste of his mate. Groaning in pleasure, he whispered, “I can’t wait for the chance to taste every inch of you, my sweet mate.”
Then he stepped back and strode to where Trygg and Saber waited for him. They led him to the fighting ring. Kingston was already there, his chains were off as every member of the Council and Alpha Edrick’s inner circle surrounded him to ensure he didn’t try to escape.
“You sure you want to do this?” Saber asked as they stepped up to the edge of the grass that encircled the dirt floor of the ring.
Wilder grinned as his bear growled, the sound rumbled through his chest as anticipation of tearing the man who had hurt Jazz apart piece by piece filled him. “Definitely.”
CHAPTER 6
Mind numbing terror filled Jazz as he watched his mate – I have a mate Jazz’s deer squealed and pranced around in his head – enter the dirt filled ring, while those who had been guarding over Kingston left. There was no way this could turn out okay.
Jazz’s life had been filled with nothing but disappointment, why would this be any different? If he thought about it, which he tried not to, it would be fitting for him to meet his mate, only to lose him in less than an hour.
A cry welled up in his throat as he watched an enraged Kingston shift and rush toward Wilder. It was an unusual name, not that Jazz was typical. But he liked his mate’s name.
The crowd cheered, drawing Jazz’s attention back to the ring. He’d tried to zone out for the express purpose of not having to watch his mate die in front of his eyes. Except, what he saw was Wilder with a grin of triumph on his face, while a bleeding Kingston limped a few paces away.
How had that happened?
He knew Kingston never fought fair. It was why he shifted so quickly and attacked before Wilder had a chance to shift. Normally, a predator like Kingston’s wolf would have the upper hand in a fight with an unarmed, unshifted human. Having kept his focus off the pair, Jazz was uncertain how Wilder had been the one to do damage, yet he appeared completely unscathed.
Kingston crouched low to the ground, his teeth bared as he growled a warning. Then he was off like a shot. This time, Jazz forced himself to watch. Everything suddenly decelerated, as if time itself had slowed down.
Kingston leapt straight at Wilder, who stood there, hands at his sides, watching and waiting. Just as Kingston was upon Wilder, he twisted his body to the left. It was as if Wilder had been waiting for that one movement, for his hand rose up and wrapped around Kingston’s neck, stopping those vicious teeth from sinking into his flesh.
But Kingston wasn’t done. As Wilder held him, he twisted his lower body and lashed out with his hind legs, claws extended. Jazz was sure his mate was about to be sliced open. He desperately wanted to close his eyes, but before he could, Wilder lifted up his other hand, his own claws extended, which were three times the length of Kingston’s wolf.
Before Kingston could cut into Wilder’s abdomen, Jazz’s mate sliced the muscle along one of Kingston’s back legs. The wolf yelped as Wilder tossed him across the ring as if he were nothing more than a fly pestering him.
More blood poured from Kingston’s body as he limped a few steps. The rage in his eyes turned to fear as the man started to realize he wasn’t nearly as good as Wilder in the ring. When he tried to take a step toward Wilder, his back leg wouldn’t hold him and Kingston collapsed to the ground.
His wild-eyed gaze glanced around the ring, clearly looking for a way out. Along each edge wolves, mountain lions, bears, apes, and cheetahs stood around the ring, ready to stop Kingston from trying to escape. Yet, despite the lack of an obvious route out of danger, he continued to search, until his gaze landed on Jazz.
Frozen, Jazz could read Kingston’s intent before he even got back to his feet. Because of his inability to move, Jazz was stuck, helpless to get out of the way when his tormentor raced his way using only three legs.
A roar unlike anything Jazz had ever heard before bellowed in the air. Unable to look away he watched as the wolf, who had spent so many weeks hurting Jazz in both his animal and human form, came at him. His mind flashed back to the day he saw the same look of death and glee in those golden brown eyes. He’d been lucky to survive the last time, but Jazz knew Kingston wouldn’t make that mistake again.
He didn’t want to lose a chance with his mate this soon. A voice deep inside of him begged for him to run, to fight, to do… something, not just stand there and wait to be killed. If only that were possible. But Jazz knew the truth all too well. He was weak and pathetic. From the day of his birth, he’d been unworthy to live, to draw breath. It had taken thirty-two years, but his father would finally get his wish for Jazz to no longer take up space.
Desperate to see his mate’s face one last ti
me, Jazz managed to force his gaze away from his impending death. Rage filled those dark eyes that he now knew were a rich dark hickory and not black. But instead of dark brown hair and suntanned skin, there was thick brown fur and massive paws.
His eyes widened in surprise. His mate was beautiful in both forms and Jazz would have loved a chance to run with his mate in their animal forms. But that wasn’t to be. Fate had always been a cruel bitch to Jazz, now wasn’t any exception.
He braced for the blow he could almost feel coming toward him, but Jazz refused to look away from Wilder. If this was to be his last moments on earth, he wanted the last sight he saw to be his mate.
As he stood there, he wasn’t sure what to make of the big brown paw crashing down on grey mottled fur that couldn’t have been more than a foot from Jazz. There was a loud yelp of pain, then a heartbeat of silence before cheers erupted.
Jazz blinked, unsure what had just happened. He had no clue why the crowd would be cheering when he was about to die. Then that thick brown fur receded as Wilder returned to his human form. Before Jazz could warn him to get out the way before Kingston killed them both, two thickly muscled arms pulled him against a hard chest.
“I’ve got you, brown eyes,” Wilder whispered as he held Jazz tight. “Kingston will never be able to harm you again.”
Jazz didn’t understand. He’d seen the look in Kingston’s eyes. There was no doubt the man had planned to finish the job and kill him. “What if he attacks me again?” Jazz mumbled as he tried to look around and see where Kingston could have possibly gone.
Wilder turned them just enough that Jazz was able to see Kirill pick up the body of Kingston’s wolf and carry it to the woods. Blood coated its fur, dripping onto the ground like a trail of breadcrumbs.
“What…?” he started to ask as he watched Kirill continue to walk until he’d disappeared, with twenty men following him.
“Kingston is dead, my mate. He can’t hurt you any longer.”
Jazz swung his head up to look at Wilder, sure he had to lying. But all he saw there was truth and lust. Pushing aside his own lust, he asked, “But how?”
Saber slapped a hand on Wilder’s back. “Now that Kingston is dead.” The Council Leader glance in Jazz’s direction as if the only reason the words had been said was to reassure him that Wilder had been telling the truth. “And you have both found your mate, Edrick and I are insisting you both,” Saber emphasized the word making sure, once more, to look right at Jazz, “take a break from your duties and enjoy getting to know one another.”
Jazz opened his mouth to argue, he had a lot of work that still had to be done, but Saber held up his hand and stopped him. “We insist.”
It wasn’t like he could tell the man no. Saber was the Council Leader and Edrick Miracle’s Alpha. At the same time, he didn’t want anyone to have to wait for a place to live because he wasn’t doing his fair share.
But the situation was taken out of his hands when Wilder answered for them both. “Thank you. We appreciate the time, especially since my job requires me to be on the road quite a bit.”
Jazz’s head swung back to look at his mate so quickly, he nearly lost his balance. Good thing Wilder was still holding him. “The road?”
There was sigh from Wilder and a chuckle from Saber. “I see this is a good time for me to wish you both well and head on home,” Saber told them, then left without so much as a goodbye.
Too distracted by his mate’s announcement, Jazz hardly noticed the man was gone. He should have known fate would never really give him what he wanted in life. A mate who would stay by his side, no matter what.
“I’m a Council enforcer,” Wilder said as he turned to face Jazz fully. Those safe, strong arms, pulled Jazz closer to that big, warm body and Jazz gasped as he felt the hard length of Wilder’s dick press against his abdomen.
Glancing down, Jazz was shocked to see his mate was naked. How had he missed that before? Wilder chuckled, when Jazz’s face heated as he stared a little too long at the man’s long thick cock pressed between them.
“Maybe we should head inside and see if Alpha Edrick has any spare clothes?” Wilder suggested. “Then we can go somewhere private and talk.”
Jazz nodded, but if he were honest, he hadn’t really been paying that much attention to what his mate had said. His entire focus had been on Wilder’s chiseled body and who could blame him?
CHAPTER 7
Wilder couldn’t help but puff up his chest a bit at the way his mate couldn’t stop looking at him. The lust he saw in those sweet brown eyes was all he needed for his cock to become hard. It made even putting on a pair of sweatpants a challenge. The fact that they tented obscenely meant anyone who saw them would know exactly what Wilder was thinking.
Not that he gave a damn. They could smirk and tease all they wanted. Finding his mate was more than worth it. That his mate was beautiful both inside and out, only added to his happiness.
“Saber mentioned most residents of Miracle still don’t have housing,” Wilder said as they left from the front of the alpha’s house this time. “Do you have a place, or are you sleeping in a tent?”
The most lovely shade of pink spread up Jazz’s long slender neck and spread out over his cheeks. He couldn’t help but wonder if all of Jazz’s body would hold that same alluring shade when Wilder made love to his mate.
Gods, he sure hoped so.
“Please don’t be embarrassed,” Wilder quickly said, hating that he’d made his mate uncomfortable. “From what Saber told me, Miracle has had a huge influx of people with only a couple of buildings standing. I may have only just met you, but I’m a pretty good judge of people. If I had to guess, you insisted others take the housing that’s being built while you continue to sleep outside.”
Jazz’s jaw dropped. “Ho-how did you know that?”
“Honestly?” Wilder had always been good at reading people. It’s what made him such a great enforcer. He was one of the few who always captured who he was after. “It’s in your eyes,” Wilder told him.
Stopping mid-step as he led them in the direction of Saber’s farm, where he was currently living, Wilder turned to face his mate. “You show the world your heart in those pretty brown eyes, my mate. Your compassion and kindness are obvious to anyone who bothers to pay attention.”
He leaned down and placed an all too brief kiss to the lips he wanted to devour. “And I’m definitely paying attention, mate.”
This time, as they started walking again, Jazz tucked in close, as if he craved being as close to his mate as much as Wilder did. It boded well, especially after everything Kingston had put him through.
“Are you going to tell me why you’ll have to leave me for your job?” Jazz asked after they’d walked for several minutes in silence.
The defeated, resigned tone Jazz used, combined with the way he asked the question, as if Wilder was trying to get away from him was like having his balls ripped off. He stopped again and put one hand on Jazz’s shoulder to keep him in place and the other under his chin to force eye contact.
“I would never just leave you, Jazz. Please believe that. I have been searching for you my entire life and now that I found you, nothing could tear me away from you.” Well, almost nothing. “Having said that, I’m a Council enforcer. It is my job to find shifters, like Kingston, who have broken our laws and bring them to justice.”
There was so much pain and heartache in Jazz’s expression that Wilder was more than a little bit tempted to find Saber and quit, if it would mean wiping that look off Jazz’s face. But he couldn’t do that. If he’d been working for the old Council, Wilder would have done it without thinking. But this Council, under Saber’s leadership, seemed to really be trying to ensure all shifters were treated fairly. That wasn’t something Wilder could just walk away from.
“So, you will leave,” Jazz said, his voice so damn sad, Wilder pulled him against his chest, holding him as tightly as he dared without hurting his little mate.
H
ow did he explain so Jazz would understand without feeling abandoned? Unsure, he asked, “What do you do for a living?”
Jazz lifted a shoulder in a move that bespoke he didn’t think much of his career. “I’m helping build the apartments, but that’s just because there isn’t anything else I can do without causing more damage.”
His mate had a way of always putting himself down, no matter the situation. It was one of the reasons Wilder wasn’t sure how to make Jazz understand, he might have to leave for some assignments, but he’d always return to his mate.
“What damage?” They were standing near Main Street and from what Trygg, and especially Kellach, told him they’d been some of the original people to see Miracle before they started rebuilding, the town had been falling down around their ears.
Chadwick had only been able to save two homes. But none of the stores along Main Street had been salvable. They’d been in such decay that a couple of them had literally fallen down when someone slammed a door. So, he wasn’t quite sure how Jazz felt he could have destroyed anything, when nothing had been left of the old town.
There was another shrug, followed by a soft sigh. When Jazz pushed from his embrace, Wilder let him, but left his hand on his slim hip. The thought of not touching Jazz left Wilder twitchy.
“There were a few boyfriends that said I was a clumsy idiot that couldn’t get anything right.” Jazz stared hard at his feet, his voice growing softer with each word. “My dad used to complain that I was always ruining everything.”
Now that Wilder knew who was responsible for Jazz not believing in himself, he wanted nothing more than to go find his mate’s father and tear him apart, piece by piece. No parent should treat his children like they were trash.
“He was wrong.” Wilder reached a hand up and pushed back a strand of hair off his forehead. “Those people in the crowd today were there for you. To support you. To show you, you aren’t alone. That doesn’t happen unless they like you, Jazz. Clearly, no matter what you might think, you’re worthy in their eyes.”
