The Heart of a Beast: A Phoenix Pack Urban Paranormal (Saved By a Beast Book 4)

by Jade Royal

  Don’t challenge me, Kyra; I’m the commanding enforcer. That’s it. The tone of his voice in her head made her body pulse with both fear and lust. He made her swallow her words and turn her on at the same time.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kyra squeaked.

  “Jayce maybe we should go too. I don’t want Bliss to feel alone, and she may need rest after breastfeeding I can look after Kingston.”

  “It’s your call baby,” Jayce shrugged.

  “Alright then let’s go. Single file out. Tristan take the rear and Kyra in the middle. Zander you’re going to come with me to see them home.”

  “Understood,” the enforcers spoke at the same time. Jaxson looked at Kyra and winked at her. Kyra was just please to have satisfied him. She really did need to check her tongue at the door when he gave orders.

  As a unit, they walked single filed out of the lounge. From the middle Kyra warded off anyone who was trying to get too close to the baby or Kellan and Bliss. Once outside, Jaxson checked the perimeter before signaling it was clear. Then he and Zander ran off into the night to see the alphas and the betas get home safely. Once they were gone from sight, Kyra hurried back into the lounge to keep watch over Selena, Gemma, and Mira.

  “I’m tired of the VIP, I wanna mingle and dance with the crowd. Which also translates to I smell a bunch of male wolves who just hit puberty and this chick is mate-less. So yeah I need to appear available.” She shook her butt to emphasize her point. Tristan laughed at her.

  “I did a sweep, everything is good. Kyra cover them from up close. I got your back from here.”

  “Alright girls, let’s go shake our asses.”

  “Gemma not too much ass shaking alright?” Tristan said

  . “You’re gonna give me a heart attack out here.” Gemma laughed before kissing her mate and palming his groin.

  “Don’t start something you can’t finish,” he warned her darkly. Gemma only smirked before walking away. Kyra silently wished for Jaxson to hurry and return so she could sexually taunt and tease him.

  On the dancefloor, the young wolves noticed Selena immediately, drawn to her scent. They steered clear of Gemma, sniffing out Tristan’s strong scent attached to her now. They were being good boys, and Selena was having fun dancing with them, so Kyra didn’t interfere.

  “Now is that hot coco or warm coffee I smell?” Kyra rolled her eyes as an adult wolf whispered in her ear. She chuckled and shook her head at his lame ass pick up line.

  “You tell me,” she responded.

  “You’re the one smelling it.”

  “Feisty,” he smiled.

  “I like it. Care to dance?” Kyra was already dancing in place moving her hips and body to the music.

  “I’m already dancing,” she replied.

  “I meant with me,” he laughed.

  “Damn baby don’t be so hard to get.”

  “I can’t,” she sighed.

  “I’m on the clock. Now take a few steps back.” She gave him a look, but he didn’t back away at all.

  “I’m gonna go dance with Tristan,” Gemma said as the music changed. Kyra nodded and watched her carefully as she walked through the crowd. When she got to Tristan, Kyra was able to let her guard down. Selena was wrapped up tightly with the young shifter who was holding her as they danced. There was no need to worry about that situation. Kyra could smell the desire come off both their bodies.

  “One dance,” the man pleaded still trying to get her attention.

  “Is it ever really just one dance?” she asked.

  “How about this. You seem like a pretty smart woman. We dance, you don’t like it, I leave you the hell alone. But if we dance and you love it, then I get to spend the rest of my night dancing with you. Now don’t tell me you don’t think that’s a good deal,” he said.

  “Fine,” Kyra shrugged knowing that he wasn’t going to leave her alone unless she followed along with his stupid little deal. The sooner she could get rid of him, the better.

  Jaxson was eager to get back to the lounge so he could be near Kyra again. The trip to the caves had been steady, but now that he was only with Zander he could move more swiftly and quickly through the woods. He returned to the lounge after only half hour. Tristan was still posted up near the VIP section although the section itself was clear.

  ***

  “They wanted some freedom,” Tristan informed Jaxson as he approached. Jaxson looked around the lounge and stopped short when his eyes landed on Kyra. His wolf jumped up from its laying position and began growling. Who was that shifter dancing with their woman? Jaxson stared long and hard not able to even believe his heightened eyesight that Kyra was dancing with another man.

  Looking the way she was, it wasn’t hard to believe that anyone wanted to dance with her. She wasn’t taking her eyes off Selena, Jaxson could see that, but he still had a problem. It wasn’t stemming from his commanding enforcer position, no. It was stemming simply from the fact that he had a problem with someone dancing with the woman he was craving so heavily. Indecision was attacking his mind. One, he wanted to rush over there and knock the muthafucker off his feet. Two, he was still on the job, and he couldn’t just abandon his post to deal with his personal life. Kellan did want them to enjoy the night, but that didn’t mean he was supposed to let his guard all the way down to deal with his personal problems.

  “Smoke is coming out of your ears,” Tristan said to him teasingly.

  “Shut up,” Jaxson snapped.

  “Go handle your business. I got this.”

  “But-”

  “Go on. Ain’t no one here gonna do something stupid. I got eyes on Selena and Mira. If I need you, I’ll call for you.” Jaxson nodded and took Tristan’s approval. He forced his way through the crowd eager to snatch up the bastard who was touching his woman. Just as Jaxson neared, the man put his arm around Kyra’s waist.

  “That wasn’t part of the deal was it?” Kyra asked him with a smile. She was ready for the dance to be over and was looking for a way out of it. Suddenly, the shifter was snatched away from her, with claws embedded in the back of his neck. Kyra gasped as Jaxson’s wolf eyes glared at her. He gave her a menacing look before turning to the shifter.

  “Get lost,” he ordered.

  “The lady wanted-”

  “I said get lost, or you need me to elaborate in another way?”

  “She’s not even mated!” Jaxson pushed the shifter away.

  “Fuck off!” Jaxson roared. The shifter righted his clothing roughly before walking off. What he said was true. Kyra wasn’t mated. It wasn’t his fault he was pursuing an unmated she-wolf. Therein was the problem. Jaxson realized he couldn’t stand the fact that he couldn’t claim Kyra the way he needed to. He looked at Kyra.

  “Outside,” he ordered.

  “But we can’t-”

  “RIGHT NOW!” Kyra jumped at his tone of voice. She cut her eyes at him before marching through the crowd towards the back door. She slammed open the door.

  “What is your problem?” She snapped.

  “My problem? What the fuck do you think you’re doing in there?”

  “I had my eyes on Selena I didn’t let my guard down!”

  “Fuck that! That’s not what I’m talking about!”

  “So what then? You’re mad because I was dancing with another wolf?”

  “You think that’s okay?” he asked her crossing his arms. Kyra realized the problem very clearly. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She’d always wanted a man to claim her and Jaxson’s outright rage made it pretty clear he wasn’t just fucking around to play games with her.

  “Jax I-I promise it didn’t mean anything,” she sighed.

  “I was doing it to get rid of him. I was hardly paying attention to him.” Jaxson’s glare finally turned into a soft gaze.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” he scolded.

  “Because if that was me and another woman, you wouldn’t be happy.”

  “No, I wouldn’t.” Jaxson saw a human m
an loitering near the edge of the woods in the back of the building. He pulled Kyra into him.

  “Go inside,” he told her softly.

  “I need to have your back Jax,” she told him.

  “And not because we’re fucking either.” Jaxson wasn’t paying attention to her next words because he was distracted by the smell of something odd.

  “I need you to go inside Kyra,” he spoke urgently. Mira came out of the lounge.

  “Hey what you two-” the air shifted as an arrow flew past Jaxson’s eyes. Kyra jumped in front of Mira, taking the arrow in her shoulder as both women fell. Kyra laid on top of Mira’s body covering her from the assault of arrows coming their way.

  Attack! Jaxson yelled into Tristan’s mind. Keep Gemma inside. I’m pursuing the human. Jaxson ran towards the direction of the arrows full speed. Once the flood of arrows stopped flying, Kyra stood up shakily. As part of the plans they had come up with, Kyra’s main task was getting the other she-wolves to safety regardless if Jaxson was fighting the battle by himself.

  “Why’d you do that?” Mira asked, surprised that Kyra had leaped in front of her.

  “No time for that. Let’s go.” She helped Mira up; still wincing in pain, but she powered through. She barged back into the lounge with Mira in tow. Kyra limped towards Tristan who had Selena and Gemma tucked away in a safe room embedded secretly into the walls of the lounge. The music had cut off, and everyone was scattering away. Tristan had announced that the lounge was under attack and Niles and Zander were directing shifters to safety into the basement where they would have mass protection from whatever attack loomed.

  “Jax is by himself,” Kyra huffed out as she entered the safe room.

  “I got them. Go back Jax up.” Tristan rushed off without a second. It gave Kyra confidence knowing that he trusted her position as an enforcer.

  “Shit Ky,” Selena rushed over to heal Kyra. She had three wolfsbane arrows in her back. Each she-wolf grabbed onto one of the arrows.

  “On three!” Selena ordered. They counted and yanked the arrows from Kyra’s body at the same time. Kyra howled in pain and fell down to the ground. Selena quickly sat on her back and ran her glowing hands over Kyra’s skin. The force of the wolfsbane leaving her body through the healing burned like a bitch. Kyra just gritted her teeth and dug her nails into the ground until it was over. Though she was healed, she was still weakened as her body tried to recover. Still, she stood slowly ready to fight again if she had to.

  “You’re crazy,” Mira shook her head.

  “To jump in front of an attack meant for someone else.”

  “Well, I took a vow, Mira. If that makes me crazy then so be it.”

  “So you did it because you vowed to huh?”

  “What’s your problem woman? Yes, I made a vow, but if you think about it, you’re not a phoenix pack she-wolfs yet. So technically I could have let your ass get fucked up with wolfsbane arrows. But luckily for you, I’m not that kind of a bitch.” Even though it hurt Mira’s pride, she rolled her eyes and bowed.

  “Thanks, Kyra,” she bit out.

  “Wow, hell must have frozen over,” Kyra teased.

  “But you’re welcome.” The safe room doors whirred open. Kyra roared with a battle cry ready to lunge at their attacker only to bump into Jaxson’s chest.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, handling her like a rag doll, turning her every which way to check her for injuries.

  “I’m fine. Selena healed me.” He clutched her head and kissed her deeply.

  “We never discussed you jumping in front of weapons,” Jaxson told her.

  “You’re never to do that again.”

  “I can’t promise that.” She pulled away from him.

  “What happened out there.”

  “Just some stupid random hunter. He’s dead. He was alone. Zander and Niles are letting people out of the basement now so they can get back to their pack territories.”

  “Thankfully that’s over,” Gemma sighed hugging Tristan.

  “Is everyone else okay? Mira, did you get hurt?” Jaxson looked at Mira with concern.

  “I’m fine. Kyra took the brunt of the attack.

  “I’m okay,” Selena said.

  “Good. Once the place is cleared, we’ll lock up and get to the caves. I already told Kellan what happened.”

  “Is he coming?” Kyra asked.

  “No. He needs to stay in the cave with the others. It’s safer that way.”

  “Let’s get this place cleared and head back to the caves. You all stay here until everyone is out,” Jaxson ordered. Kyra was ready to go out and help them, but Jaxson stopped her.

  “No, you stay here and finish healing up. We’ll come get you, ladies, when we’re done.” He gave Kyra a look expecting her to argue his order, but she simply sat on the padded floor and crossed her legs.

  Good girl. You’re learning, he said in her head. Kyra grinned at him throwing up her middle finger.

  Don’t worry I will. Kyra didn’t miss the hunger in his words that flowed across her head. She winked at him letting him know she was ready for any and all challenges.

  ***

  It was 2 in the morning by the time the rest of the pack was back home in the cave. Everyone had went their separate ways, but Jaxson was finishing up a full report of the situation for Kellan to look over. Enforcers hardly did any paperwork, that was all for the betas, but since Jayce was tending to his pregnant mate, Jaxson wrote up the report and left it in Kellan’s office. The next move after reading the report, Kellan would most likely order a scouting of the area the human was to ensure he didn’t have friends nearby. Finding and infiltrating any clubhouses or human hunter businesses would help aid in stopping shifter hunting.

  Jaxson hadn’t seen Kyra since they got home, but he was yearning to be in her arms again. As he walked through the tunnels past the rooms of each mated pair, he could smell their arousals and consummations. It only made him crave Kyra even more intensely than he already was. He walked through the tunnels to his bedroom where he stripped off his clothes and went to take a shower before he could go visit Kyra in her bedroom. Honestly, he was in a rush to go and see her, so he showered no more than ten minutes before cutting the water off and getting out.

  When he opened his bathroom door, Mira was sitting in his bed. He was buck ass naked and didn’t really care if she saw it, but in respect for Kyra he grabbed a towel and put it around his waist.

  “You know this is a complete violation of my privacy right?” he asked her.

  “Sorry,” she smiled.

  “I figured I could just wait for you here.” Jaxson looked in the mirror attached to his oak dresser and brushed his hair and beard.

  “What’s up then?” he asked.

  “Just wanted to spend time with you.” Jaxson sighed.

  “Is it not clear that I’m very interested in being with Kyra?” he asked.

  “But she’s not your mate!”

  “Neither are you!” Jaxson exclaimed.

  “I don’t see the problem with me wanting her! I’m sorry if I led you on in any way, but ultimately my wolf and I are both drawn to Kyra. I’m trying very hard to explain that to you Mira and be nice about it.”

  “Maybe it’s just the sex you want from her,” Mira said softly.

  “It’s not.”

  “You were interested in me before she came into the picture you know that right?”

  “No I wasn’t,” he laughed.

  “Either way it doesn’t matter Mira. I’m not interested in being with you.”

  “We’ll see,” she said hopping off the bed.

  “That sounds like a threat.” Mira only gave him a look and walked out of his bedroom. She realized not only from that conversation but from watching him and Kyra together that she wasn’t going to get to be with him. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t disrupt whatever they had going for them. That plus she spent her time and energy trying to get him to make love to her. She still wanted that. Noth
ing would stop her from trying to get it.

  Jaxson let go of whatever Mira had said and proceeded on with his night. He didn’t want anything like that on his mind as he went to Kyra’s bedroom.

  “Come in,” she called out when he knocked. Like she normally did before she went to bed she was writing in her diary. Jaxson crawled onto the bed and laid next to where she was sitting. He tried to peek over at what she was writing, but she leaned away and pressed her book to her chest.

  “Damn!” she teased.

  “All in my business and shit.”

  “Just seeing if you writing about me that’s all,” he shrugged.

  “Whatever,” she smiled. Jaxson rubbed her thigh.

  “I never apologized for the way I acted inside the lounge and then how I snapped at you. I’m sorry baby.” He raised up and kissed her cheek. Kyra blushed. Honestly, he was a hard ass enforcer, but intimately he was such a caring and loving man. Kyra always melted at his tenderness.

  “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been dancing with that guy. I should have thought about how you would feel.” Jaxson slowly sat up and looked at her.

  “Kyra, what are we really doing?” he asked softly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, are we just fucking to fuck? If not then what are we doing?”

  “Well…I don’t know what we’re doing,” she whispered.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked. Kyra looked around obviously afraid to say what she wanted to say.

  “Just come out with it Kyra.”

  “I want you,” she replied.

  “More than sexually.”

  “My heart is invested in you, Kyra. Not just my dick. You know what pissed me off about seeing another man dance with you?”

  “What?”

  “The fact that he wasn’t in the wrong. The fact that nothing told him you were off limits in the first place. I can’t stand to see something like that happen again. That’s why I’m asking just what is it we’re doing because I’m not gonna pretend like I wanna be your fuck buddy.”