by Jade Royal
The Heart Of
A Beast
A Phoenix Pack Urban Paranormal
Book 4
Jade Royal
© 2019
Published by Miss Candice Presents
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.
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Urban fiction
Urban romance
Women’s fiction
Urban paranormal
Other Works by
Jade Royal
Love is Worth the Sacrifice (Completed Series)
Two Halves of a Broken Heart
How Deep is Your Love (Completed Series)
Saved by a Beast (Phoenix Pack Paranormal Book 1)
Craved by a Beast (Phoenix Pack Paranormal Book 2)
Confessions of a Beast (Phoenix Pack Paranormal Book 3)
Chapter One
Jaxson’s eyes flipped open at the pure chaos sounding off around the walls of the cave. He sat up, his sheet falling away from his naked body. In that moment of awareness, he realized the sheer panic that was vibrating through the pack bond he shared. Something was deadly wrong. Kyra. Jaxson jumped up so quick he tripped over his bedsheets. He grabbed a pair of jeans slung over his chaise lounge and shoved his legs into them. His heart was beating rapidly, concern dripping from his pores. Nothing had better not happen to Kyra. Charging out of his room, he flat out ran towards Kyra’s bedroom. He was going so fast he had to skid to a stop when Kyra’s bedroom door popped open, and she came out of the room perfectly fine. The breath that he took nearly choked him. He bent over and tried to catch his breath.
“Are you alright?” she questioned looking at him curiously.
“I thought…never mind,” he said.
“What the hell is going on? Why is everyone shouting and panicking through the bond?”
“Yo Jax! Let’s go!” Kellan boomed from down the tunnels. His voice was all alpha and Jaxson’s wolf immediately healed. He turned immediately and jogged towards Kellan. Kellan’s face was bone straight with eyebrows that dipped in anger. The alpha wasn’t just worried; he was pissed the fuck off. The rest of the pack followed the alpha out of the caves to investigate what the hell was wrong.
Kyra had to run to keep up with the males as they marched out of the caves. Jaxson kept her firmly behind him as he walked, signaling to her that he didn’t want her in any line of fire. She didn’t know what was going on, but if Kellan was that pissed, then it was something huge. They left the caves altogether and went on the other side to the natural springs. The sudden clip in their steps stopped abruptly as they came up on the scene in front of them.
“Oh shit!” Kyra gasped seeing Tristan’s still body on the ground. She heard his heartbeat, so she knew he wasn’t dead. But he was completely knocked out. She had to wonder what the hell could knock a full grown enforcer wolf out. Niles was on the ground next to him slowly standing up.
“What the fuck did you do?” Jaxson asked Niles walking towards the young wolf.
“I-I didn’t do-”
“Bull-fucking-shit!” Jaxson snarled. Something snapped inside him. Seeing one of his best friends down and out like that put anger in his heart. In fact, no one in his pack could have been attacked without his beast wanting to unleash the ultimate revenge. And that’s what Niles was facing off. Jaxson grabbed him by the shirt with his fist aimed at Nile’s face.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” he sneered.
“We trusted you!” Jaxson was ready to let his fist fly when Kellan’s hand took the brunt of the punch instead of Niles’s face. Kellan pushed Jaxson’s fist back before ripping Niles from Jaxson’s clutches.
“Stop it,” Kellan ordered.
“This bitch-”
“Ain’t strong enough to knock out a fully-grown wolf,” Kellan interjected.
“Whatever Niles may have done, it wasn’t knocking Tristan out. There’s no way he has the strength for it.” Jaxson realized Kellan was right, but he was still fuming.
Selena rushed towards Tristan’s fallen body and kneeled next to him. She put her hand on his forehead.
“Do you feel Gemma’s energy?” Kellan asked her.
“I felt her get hurt. But then it cut off. Then I felt Tristan get hurt too. He got hit with something really hard. So did Gemma. I sense….silver.” Kellan’s eyes flashed wolf. He was getting sick and tired of this shit. This time, he was not going to waste any time or go over plans or heavy thinking. Kellan was going to be in strict attack mode. And that was that.
***
Tristan’s eyes fluttered open slowly. He felt Selena’s tender touch against his forehead and his chest. He felt like he had just come out of a deep sleep and he was taking a while to come to. Everything felt so distant like it was a dream.
“Gemma,” he mumbled. He searched his bond for the comfort of his mate and found it empty. Tristan jumped up, fully aware of his surroundings. His mate was gone. His emerald wolf eyes flashed as his canines burst from his mouth. He popped up from the ground swinging at anything in his path. Selena screeched and ducked out of the way. Jaxson snatched her out of the way hastily before Tristan’s angered claws had a chance to reach her. Everyone kept out of the way knowing that Tristan’s control was lost because his mate had been hurt. Jaxson pushed Kyra behind him ready to fight off Tristan and hold him at bay if necessary.
Howling with his muscles contorting, trying not to shift; Tristan locked eyes with Niles. He snarled and lunged for the young wolf. Kellan intersected Tristan, spearing him to the ground before he got near Niles.
“I’ll kill the son of a bitch!” Tristan screamed; his voice not sounding human.
“He took my mate away from me! I’ll fucking kill him!”
“I promise I didn’t do anything!” Niles exclaimed trying to get as far away from the out of control wolf as possible.
“Stop it!” Kellan howled at Tristan trying to keep the wolf down. But even the voice of the alpha did little to get Tristan to snap out of his rage. Tristan was close to attacking his alpha when a burst of warmness filled his being. Tristan stopped moving immediately. Gemma’s essence knitted itself back into their bond. Her warmness and innocence lodged itself into his body, settling his wolf and giving the beast solace.
When Tristan stilled, Kellan knew exactly why. He felt when Gemma’s energy was reconnected to the bond he shared with her as her alpha. Immediately, Kellan knew how to find her. Unlike with Rita’s kidnapping; there was nothing blocking him from tracking her. But it was almost too good to be true. Why would someone kidnap her and then make her easy to find? It was either a trap, or the kidnapper was human. Which, Kellan doubted a human could stumble upon the caves and enter it knowing that fro
m the outside it looked like a waterfall that had no depths.
“I can find her,” Tristan growled pushing Kellan off him.
“Can you feel her?” Tristan asked.
“Yes, I feel her, and her scent I can track now,” Kellan informed him.
“Doesn’t that seem too good to be true?” Jayce spoke up. Tristan glared at him. His wolf eyes still taking over his human eyes.
“I don’t care what it seems like,” he sneered “I’m going for my fucking mate.”
“What in the hell is going on?” Dell’s voice sounded from the mouth of the natural springs cave. He looked genuinely confused.
“Someone snatched up Gemma,” Kellan informed him.
“Would you know something about that?” Kellaned asked.
“What?! Snatched her up?” Dell looked immediately at Niles.
“Didn’t you tell me you were going to see her, and I told you not to? You didn’t listen to me did you?!” Dell snapped at him. Niles’s mouth fell wide open at the blatant lie.
“What in the fuck are you talking about?! I haven’t seen you all night!” Niles exclaimed. Tristan tried to go for him again, but Kellan pushed him back. Even though he couldn’t sense the lie Dell was telling, he sensed the fear in Niles and the disbelief. So Dell may have been a good liar, but Niles was better at being fearful. Because the scents had been masked, Kellan couldn’t tell who had snatched up Gemma. But he was going to find that out when he followed her trail to wherever she was being kept.
Kellan, Zander spoke into his mind.
What?
That’s him. Kellan turned and looked at Zander.
That’s him what? Kellan asked.
The scent I found in the woods after Bliss was shot with that dart. It belongs to him. I told you if I got near the scent again I would be able to tell who it was. And it’s him. I promise you that. Kellan’s wolf eyes made an appearance for a second before he turned back and looked at Dell. It took all of Kellan’s might not to kill the fucker right then and there.
“Are you going to help us find Gemma?” Kellan asked him instead.
“Um-you know where she is?”
“Yeah. Whoever took her unblocked her essence from me. I can find her.”
Dell realized Kellan was testing him. Only thing was that Dell didn’t know what the answers to this test was. He couldn’t admit that he knew where Gemma was being kept or who took her. And he certainly didn’t want to go to where he knew she had been taken because the place was laced with traps. There was no way they could make it out alive.
“Don’t you think that sounds like a trap?” Dell asked trying to weasel out of it.
“Wait a minute,” Niles stepped up.
“Tell Kellan about how you know the dude that attacked them in the woods. And about how you want to use his weapons.”
“Shut it!” Dell snapped at him.
“No!” Niles snapped back. In that moment, Dell realized he’d lost Niles’s allegiance.
“So you know who attacked us? And you know all about these so-called weapons?” Kellan tried to act surprised but failed.
“Look, I only did it to protect my pack. You were gonna put me out there, and I have no other way to protect them against other wolves.”
“Sure I get it,” Kellan shrugged.
“But seen as you know so much about these weapons then you can surely help us get Gemma if where we go is indeed a trap, can’t you?” Dell Knew Kellan was baiting him. And if he said no, Kellan was probably going to kill him on the spot.
“Yeah, yeah I can help,” he spoke quietly.
“Let’s go,” Kellan ordered.
Why are we bringing this dick with us? Jayce asked in Kellan’s mind.
We’re dealing with our problems today. And this is one of our problems, Kellan replied.
Shouldn’t we plan something? Jaxson asked.
Fuck that. My best friend wants his mate back, and I’m tired of my pack being fucked with. There are no prisoners today. I’m straight killing every fucking body.
Everyone in the pack looked at each other. Kellan had become the ruthless alpha just like his father did when he was pushed to the limit.
“Zander and Niles, stay back with the she-wolves. Everyone else, with me.” Each wolf took turns kissing their mates again before heading out into the stillness of the night. Jaxson was the last wolf out. He looked back at Kyra who wore a worried expression on her face.
Please be safe, she spoke into his mind. Jaxson nodded at her and smiled. He opened his arms, and she immediately embraced him, hugging him tightly. With all his might he just wanted to dip down and kiss her plump lips. But then his eyes flipped up and locked directly with Mira’s eyes. Guilt flooded his system, making him let go of Kyra hastily. He nodded at Mira before he hurried off to catch up with the rest of the pack. He wasn’t quite sure what the hell he was guilty about, but there was just something about Mira and something about Kyra that had him torn between the two women. It was surely going to be his undoing.
Chapter Two
Gemma groaned at the throbbing in her head pulsed viciously. Someone had hit her good and hard. Blinking her eyes, she tried to register her surroundings. With the ache in her head, it took her a moment to gather herself. Why wasn’t she healing fast? Picking her head up, Gemma realized she wasn’t laying down. In fact, she wasn’t even on the ground. Shaking the cobwebs from her brain, she registered the tight cuffs around her ankles and her wrists. Gasping, she looked at her wrists and ankles. The room was dark, but she was still able to see with her enhanced vision although her powers were a little stifled. She was suspended in midair with her arms spread out to the sides, and her legs spread out and open as well. The cuffs were linked to heavy-duty chains that were wrapped around steel hooks on both the floor and the ceiling. Where in the fuck was she?
Tristan? She called out to him, but she felt the power of mind speaking dim and tinker out as if she needed to be charged or something. The cuffs weren’t silver, and she could still feel Tristan’s essence within her, but something was making her weak.
“Wolfsbane in the cuffs,” someone spoke from the shadows. Gemma gasped and tried to fight against the chains.
“No use little one. You’re in there pretty tight.” The lights flipped on. A man standing in the corner of the room with a black cloak stepped forward. He pushed his hood down. Gemma couldn’t help but scream at the sight of his mangled face. Not only that; but he was supposed to be dead.
“You’re Bliss’s father,” she whispered.
“That I am. But don’t you recognize me from somewhere else?” He pulled a hat from the pocket of the cloak and put it on his head. Gemma saw that he was the man who’d offer her to sing at his lounge.
“You!” She screeched.
“Yes me,” he laughed.
“You know I tried to get you to come back by offering you a paid job, but even that didn’t get you in the position I wanted you. So I just decided to snatch your ass up.”
“Let me go right now! If my alpha or my mate-”
“Calm down songbird,” he said casually.
“Your alpha and your mate is exactly who I’m waiting for. As you can see; there’s no silver cuffs. I laced the cuffs with wolfsbane to keep you tame, but there’s nothing blocking your scent from your alpha and your mate. I do hope they show up soon though.” Gemma realized that this was nothing more than a trap. A trap that both Kellan and Tristan were going to walk right into because no way were they not going to bust in here all claws and teeth ready to fight.
“Where are we?” Gemma asked.
“The lounge. Or well the basement of the lounge. I had this device you’re in set up for Bliss, but I figured since I had you; I could have still used it after all.”
“What do you want from me?” Gemma questioned.
“Well for starters it’s Bliss I wanted. That little bitch has made my life hell; first by killing my true love, and then to be given the power of a shifter that I had worke
d hard to try and get myself, and then for making me look like this and turning me into some sort of mutated ass creature. I’m not gonna be happy until that bitch is suffering like I’m suffering.”
“And you think kidnapping me is gonna get you what you want?” Gemma questioned.
“Maybe not. But it will help,” Bryce smiled. He looked Gemma up and down. He’d tied her up naked and man; his dick was about to fall off from being so damn hard.
“How fast you think your mate is gonna show up here?” he asked her, getting close. Gemma saw the lust in his eyes. Her heart started to beat fast. She fought against the cuffs but to no avail.
“I just thought of something.” He turned and walked out of the basement. Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. But that was sort lived. He returned to the basement after only five minutes of being gone, but this time he came with four humans carrying guns. They all looked at Gemma curiously.
“You mean to tell me that this young thing is one of those mutants?” One of the humans asked.
“Sure,” Bryce replied. He pulled out a dart gun and shot it at Gemma. The dart, laced with wolfsbane hit her in the stomach. It was enough for her wolf to try and barrel through the barrier to emerge to protect Gemma, but the wolfsbane held her at bay. Still, Gemma’s wolf teeth filled her mouth.
“See,” Bryce said.
“Look at the teeth.” The humans got close and stared at her in awe. One of them touched her breast.
“She’s pretty,” he said.
“Maybe if we give her a little human dick she’ll know what it is to be normal.” Gemma snapped her teeth at him, disgusted.
“You wanna touch; then pay up,” Bryce said. Each human looked at each other before digging into their pockets and handing Bryce wads of money.
“Y’all better hurry up. You’re on borrowed time.” Gemma snapped her eyes shut as hands and lips invaded her body; touching and licking her. Something warm squirted on her thigh. She popped her eyes open to see the white human ejaculating on her skin. Both she and her wolf tried hard to attack the humans wanting them to feel her wrath. She just prayed that Tristan and the rest of the pack would be stronger than any trap, and free her from this nightmare.
