The ghosts clung to him. They were all still freaked about the recent events and too damned needy for his state of mind.
Needy ghosts were the fucking worst.
“Are you going to talk to them?”
“I’m not their therapist.” But even as he spoke, they dissipated like smoke in the wind. He felt naked being ghostless. “I think I was wrong about the monsters not coming back here.”
Jez circled around slowly, his fangs elongated.
“What exactly do these monsters do in purgatory?” he asked quietly.
“All they do is fight each other. Over and over.”
“I’m guessing they learned a lot about stalking their prey,” Jinx said. “And I’ve never felt more like it in my life.”
“I think we should go.”
“Way too late. Good thing we can’t die.” But it was for sure going to hurt. “What did they look like?”
“That’s the odd thing—each person described them differently. It appears that the monsters morph into whatever your greatest fear is,” Jez told him. “They feed off humans and wolves alike. Vamps too, I’m guessing. Equal opportunity monsters.”
“You didn’t think to mention this before?”
“You didn’t ask.”
A low growl emanated from the trees. “Jez, what’s your big fear?”
“I don’t really like hellhounds much,” the deadhead admitted. As he spoke, a giant black beast with red eyes darted out of the woods, making a beeline for the vamp. Jez stood stock-still, muttering some kind of prayer—if vamps even prayed.
Jinx wanted to remind him that prayers didn’t work so well for them the last time, since that’s what opened purgatory in the first place, but he refrained, if only because his heart was in his throat.
“Jez, man, what the hell?”
There was no way to outrun this thing. Fighting would be their best option. And what a fight it would be.
The hellhound bounded on a straight course toward Jez, who pulled a silver knife and prepared to slice at whatever he could. Jinx called out and the hellhound skidded to a stop as the vamp and wolf stood close to one another.
“What the hell?” Jinx repeated softly.
“Good puppy,” Jez muttered and it advanced. Jinx took a step closer to it and it backed up.
Okay, this was definitely all kinds of weird.
“What’s your big fear, wolf?” Jez asked.
Oddly enough, Jinx appeared to have none, since he was looking downwind at a hellhound, and he didn’t much fear those necessarily, although it was a big motherfucker and Brother was straining at the bit, pushing for a shift.
“Not now, Brother,” he hissed.
The monster hellhound stared him down. Snorted. But it was confused.
And then it bowed.
“It thinks you’re its master.”
“I don’t want to be in charge of it,” Jinx hissed.
“I’m not minding it,” Jez said. “Now tell the nice hellhound that the vampire isn’t a chew toy.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’ll take him home with us. We wouldn’t need a security system then.”
The hellhound moved toward Jez and Jinx stifled a laugh. “Back off the vamp. He’s with me.”
The giant hound backed up.
“Yeah, down boy,” Jez told it. “I bet if you followed him, he’d take you to the others.”
“I’m not ready for that—what am I going to do?”
“This is like that book, Where the Wild Things Are. You’re that five-year-old kid who wears the white suit with the horns. Kinky.”
“I am not five,” Jinx said coldly.
“You’ve created quite a wild rumpus,” Jez persisted.
“I could still make you puppy chow.”
“Point taken.” Jez cleared his throat. “You do realize you’re like their king now.”
“I’m definitely not the king of goddamned purgatory,” Jinx said, but the beast sent up a mournful bark that said otherwise.
“Cheer up. Things could be worse,” Jez noted.
“How so?”
“You could be the king of purgatory and be inside purgatory.”
“I hate it when you’re logical.”
Jez stilled then, murmured, “Hey Jinx, we’ve got company.”
But Jinx already felt her presence like the soft brush of a hand on the back of his neck, a warm caress of sun. He felt her before he saw her, like there was a silken tie that stretched between them but remained unbroken. He felt tangled up. Confused. And grateful as hell.
He didn’t dare turn away from the monster, had no fucking clue what to do with the bowing hellhound presence. Finally, he told it, “Go hide. Don’t kill or hurt anyone. Tell the others to stand the fuck down. Wait for my call.”
The hellhound did some kind of doggy nod and disappeared quickly into the brush around the cemetery.
“How very military of you,” Jez drawled.
“You’re from London, not the south.”
“I’m versatile.”
“You’re fucking nuts.”
“I’ve been hanging around wolves for too long.” Jez still looked shaky as he lit a cigarette that looked suspiciously like one of Vice’s special hand rolls. “This is getting weird. We might have to ask Kate if you’re all evil again.”
“We can just ask Rogue,” Jinx said. “I’m guessing he’ll say yes.”
Jez sighed. “Why don’t you see if you can make sure Gillian doesn’t run again? Although I have a feeling she was running to you.”
It was then that Jinx realized his biggest fear wasn’t in the form of a monster, but rather, a mate.
Chapter 7
Instinctively, she knew where to find Jinx. In her old life, before the hospitals and the drugs, if anyone told her she’d be running through a creepy cemetery in the middle of the night alone, she’d have laughed. She probably would’ve been drinking at the time, in some kind of underground rave party with all the hangers-on who wanted to be called her friends because of her name and the money and perks that went along with that.
She let them, because it didn’t cost her a dime, and she’d never let them inside where it mattered anyway. She’d learned from a young age that everyone wanted something from her, but that didn’t mean she had to give it to them.
Here—he’s here.
Her warrior was standing, tall and proud, his stance one of battle. And although she didn’t see any imminent threat, she certainly felt one.
Her heartbeat pounded inside her ears, her toes dug the grass as her muscles tensed. She felt the urge to rescue him in much the same way he had her, but the rustling in her ears grew loud and she wasn’t sure what to do.
He sensed her, but he didn’t turn around, not right away. When he finally did, his expression was serious but his eyes . . . they glowed.
* * *
She wore what must be Gwen’s clothes. As much as he wanted to see her naked, he was glad she wasn’t, because they weren’t alone.
Once acknowledged, she strode across the space that separated them like she owned it.
She was mesmerizing and when you were trying to tame a hellhound, it wasn’t the best time to be distracted.
Maybe your fear isn’t going to come in the form of a monster.
“You’re angry,” she murmured when she got close.
“No. Worried.”
“Don’t be.”
She was so goddamned pretty. His instinct was to fall to his damned knees and take her down with him, Jez and hellhounds be damned. Even Brother Wolf egged him on and it took him a long moment to gain control. “Gillian,” was all he could say before he brought his mouth down on hers.
So much for control. Jez would have to deal.
Her hands wrapped around his neck as he pulled her close. Her body molded to his perfectly, a fit he’d never thought possible.
I’m the worst possible wolf for her.
And that didn’t stop him from playing his tongue along hers, his ca
nines elongating just enough to scrape her lip, a sign that Brother Wolf wanted to claim her too. His cock hardened and she moved her hips to rock against him. He ran his hands along her sides, cupped a breast before realizing that if he didn’t stop soon, he wouldn’t be able to.
When he pulled back, she put her hands on either side of his face and stared at him. “You’re worried.”
“About you, yes. Because you shouldn’t be out here alone.”
“I’ve always been alone. But now, I’m with you.”
Ah Christ. “Gillian—”
“You feel it too, when we’re together. It happened back at the hospital. That’s never happened to me.”
She was so much like the Dire women of old. Strong. Self-assured. Fate at first sight didn’t happen often, but they’d locked and loaded onto each other in the hospital room and nothing was going to change that.
He wasn’t worthy of this. She was nobility. Royalty. “It’s never happened to me either.”
“I couldn’t help leaving to find you.”
“I’m glad you did,” he admitted.
“The doctor—Gwen—said you were working.”
She was absorbing the Dire culture so quickly—being around him would make everything happen faster for her. She’d scented him here, and she knew instinctively that he was hunting.
“She’s right.”
“You’re hunting ghosts.” Her eyes flashed for a second and he swore he saw them change. Prayed it was a trick of light.
“Yes. I’ll tell you more, but we should get out of here.”
“I was worried about you. You were fighting, I think. I didn’t see anything but I feel . . .” She trailed off, shivered.
“Those are the ghosts.”
“And the monster?”
“What do you know about that?”
“They talked about it. At the hospital. I never saw it but a lot of them did.” She slid her hand into his like it was the most natural thing in the world as they walked, with Jez several steps ahead of them. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“To the hospital? You won’t.”
“No, to the house with Gwen.”
“Did something happen?” he heard himself demand with a growl to his tone so fierce Jez stopped walking for a second and turned to look at him with warning.
Yeah, Brother Wolf, back it down.
If Gillian noticed, she took it in stride. “No, they all seem nice. I just want to stay with you.”
“You met all of them?”
“Lots of males. They were big, like you. But none of them were you,” she said quietly. “I wanted to go outside, but Gwen told me I couldn’t. So I left.”
“And they followed you,” Jinx said, noting Rifter’s truck. Vice would’ve been the first one on her tail, but he was no doubt helping Liam get ready.
Liam. Cyd. Cain. Jinx felt the guilt of not being there ball in his stomach. As if sensing this, Gillian squeezed his hand a little tighter.
“That’s Rifter. He’s my . . . boss. Both he and Gwen are.” Technically, it was the truth.
Rifter came toward them and Jinx willed himself not to growl as he got close. But the possessive feelings couldn’t be ignored or tamed.
Gwen must’ve mentioned it to the king, because Rifter stayed at a respectable distance as he spoke. “Gillian, you scared the hell out of us.”
“I can’t believe a girl gave you the slip,” Jez said and Rifter growled at him. Jez crossed his arms and looked unimpressed.
“You’ve got to go back to the house,” Jinx told her.
“No, I don’t. I won’t.”
She might only be out of prison because of him, but she wasn’t giving up any other freedoms easily, if at all. Hell, he was lucky she wanted to stick close to him, because her Houdini act was hard to top.
“It’s dangerous, Gillian,” Rifter said. “You don’t understand yet—”
“I’m staying with Jinx.” Her words were firm and for a long moment, the king pondered in silence. Finally, he nodded his consent.
He hadn’t asked Jinx to come back and stay at the mansion, which was a relief.
“Fine. But Jinx, you need to report in and make preparations. Come use the yard, the woods at night. Much safer,” Rifter said.
Jinx nodded and Gillian smiled at him. “Will you get in the truck with Jez? I’ll be right there.”
Jez motioned to her and she nodded, slipped her hand from his. He immediately missed the contact.
“Thank you for bringing her to Gwen, instead of asking Gwen to come to you,” Rifter said. “We both know she would’ve done it.”
Jinx nodded, didn’t know what else to say.
“You know Rogue is awake.”
“I saw him when I left the mansion, yes.”
Rifter opened his mouth as if to say something else, but stopped. Jinx broke in with, “Liam’s going to fight any time now.”
“Yes.”
And you should be with him and your twins was the unspoken phrase. More guilt.
“I’ll make sure her shift is smooth. I’ll try to have her at the mansion when it happens,” Jinx told his king, because he owed the man, his brother in arms, that, if not more. Rifter nodded and dismissed him. Jinx ran his hand along the deep scars on the side of his neck that Rifter had given him recently and knew that nothing between them would ever be the same.
Chapter 8
It was close to three in the morning, Vice’s favorite time of night and it was rapidly becoming Liam’s as well. That afternoon, Liam had captured a young Were who’d been working with the outlaw wolves. In doing so, he gained valuable intel on his biggest enemies, Tals and Walker, the wolves in charge of the outlaw werepack currently trying to oust Liam as rightful king. Now, with only the sliver of a moon for company, Liam was tense—Cyd, not much better.
Cain, his omega, was remarkably calm, which Liam took to mean they were on the right path, hopefully both literally and figuratively. Their truck cut through the night quietly, purposefully as Cain drove them and Cyd remained in the backseat, armed and dangerous.
The twins had permission from Jinx to fight. Cyd had proven his control a couple of months earlier when he took down a rogue Were who threatened Jinx and the entire werepack with his actions, and again during Seb’s most recent attempt to take over the town. But tonight’s fight would be different, enough to push a Were who’d suffered from moon craze over the edge.
Cain was worried about his twin, Liam knew, and Liam wasn’t sure if he was as worried about himself. But they’d made their decision about tonight—none of them were immortal and all three had to be prepared to suffer life-threatening injuries during a kill like this.
Was anyone really prepared? Liam wondered now. His father hadn’t been—Liam could still hear the man’s screams echoing in his ears, his death anything but peaceful.
“What are you doing with Max?” Cain asked him as they neared their destination, ripping him from his heartbreaking reverie and throwing him into another one of almost equal pain.
“I can’t answer that now. How the hell can you ask me that at a time like this?” Liam ran his hands through his hair and he heard Cyd’s muffled curse from the backseat. No doubt that alpha was as pissed as he was for Cain’s question, but the omega was undeterred, and undaunted.
“You have to. You need to be decisive in every damned thing you do,” Cain said, his voice strong and sure.
The pain of having Max, his mate—his human mate—cheat on him with an outlaw wolf was something that could rip Liam’s heart out if he thought about it too much, which was why he’d been avoiding anything to do with the subject of her unborn son.
“You let that pup out of your sight, he’s going to come back and kill you,” Cain told him.
“You’re a soothsayer now?” Liam demanded.
“You know I’m telling the truth, right?”
Liam thought about Max and the last time he’d seen her, holding her swollen belly and staring out the windo
w. “He could kill me either way when he finds out what I did to his father and mother.”
“I guess you’ve made the decision on what you’re doing with the human. But the baby, keep him close.” Cain spoke quietly but every word was a boom to Liam’s ears.
“And what? Lock it up?” Liam asked.
“You could raise it as yours,” Cain agreed.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nature, nurture.” Cain paused. “You don’t know what kind of half wolf you’ll be turning away. Sometimes, it pays to keep your enemies close.”
“The Dires took us in when our own Weres didn’t want us,” Cyd said. “I don’t think they made the wrong choice.”
“The Dires can’t die,” Liam pointed out and the twins left him in silence for the rest of the trip, with Cain’s favorite Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon, playing.
Liam let him have that. Stared out the window at the dark road ahead and thought about his night to come—and the long stretch of road that lay after it.
He was charged with getting all the Weres to follow him, without question. He wouldn’t tell the majority of the Weres about what their mission was until their loyalty was completely secured.
Even then, it was a risk.
Half the Manhattan pack was behind him. Another quarter was undecided and the rest were decidedly rebelling with Tals and Walker leading them after Liam had killed Teague, who’d been the real leader of the outlaws.
Which was why those wolves needed to die.
“I’m ready,” Liam said, not bothering to ask Cyd or Cain if they were. They had to be, if for no other reason than the man they’d decided to call their king was, and the two fell into step next to him.
Flanked by Cyd and Cain, he prepared for his first official act as king. His first unofficial one had been killing Teague weeks ago, after which he’d announced his intentions to take over for his father—and to kill every single outlaw unless they renounced their new leaders and came back under his pack’s protection.
Liam had already made a statement to the outlaw werepack by killing Teague in front of Max. And while he hadn’t made up his mind about her child, if he didn’t kill Max—as was his right since she was his mate and she’d betrayed him—he would lose a great deal of the ground he’d gained establishing himself as the successor to the crown as king of the alphas.
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