by Mandy Rosko
“You won’t be letting me do shit. I promise you that when the time comes, you’re going to be begging for mercy.”
“Whatever you say, princess.”
Anna growled. Her claws punched through her fingernails. “Don’t call me that. I hate that.”And now her hands stung. She hadn’t been wearing the silver for long, but it was long enough that she was going to have to work on her control. Great.
“All right. I won’t call you princess anymore, but I do think it fits.”
Anna looked at him. He looked back at her, and she got sucked in. She couldn’t look away from him and she didn’t understand why.
Thank God Dennis was the one to break the eye contact. “You should get something to eat. If you’re that dead set on sticking around, you’re going to need some energy.”
“I’m not hungry.” She wanted to stay right where she was. She was comfortable where she was. “If anyone needs to eat for strength, it’s you.”
Dennis didn’t answer her right away. She looked over at him. His eyes were shut.
Anna’s chest clenched. She reached for his throat, pressing her fingers there, and sighed when she felt his heartbeat and the warmth of his breath when she checked his nose.
He was alive. Right. She shouldn’t worry too much. He was an alpha, after all.
He also wasn’t so bad. He was still an asshole, sure, and he’d done bad things, to her, to her brother, and her father, but he wasn’t a monster, and that was enough to make Anna not want to leave him. At least not yet.
Great, now she was tired.
To keep herself awake, Anna gently eased his wallet out of his back pocket. He’d offered her food, and since he had kidnapped her, he was definitely paying.
There was only twenty-five dollars and some change. She could order a pizza with that, and she was a little hungry, despite what she’d said. Anna made the call.
Dennis just pretended to sleep. He wasn’t that far gone, but admittedly, the weakness nearly made him doze off a couple of times.
Having her right there, stretched out next to him, was really helping. He could feel his wound stitching itself together without much effort. It would take more than a couple of days to be fully healed. It had been Wallace who’d gotten him first, right before Joel had stepped in and grabbed Dennis around his arms.
Betrayed twice by Wallace. First when he’d left Anna in that dickhead’s care, and now his belly was split open.
Dennis would have been proud of the man if he wasn’t so pissed off. He honestly hadn’t thought Wallace would have it in him to do that. If Anna hadn’t come back with that tree branch and knocked Wallace over the head, cracking his skull open, Wallace might have started playing around with Dennis’ intestines, killing him.
Anna stole his wallet and ordered a pizza. Dennis almost smiled at that. He really liked her. He listened as she ate, as she briefly talked to herself and to him, promising to save him a couple of slices if he stopped being a jackass.
That was fine. She could do whatever she wanted.
Dennis dozed off briefly. When he woke up, Anna was on the other side of the bed, and the only light in the room came from the yellow lamp.
God, this place sucked. She deserved better than this.
He would also rather it if she was closer, if she was in his arms. That would definitely speed up the healing, but he wasn’t going to be picky. She clearly felt this, too, but she was young. She wouldn’t know exactly what this was. The fact that she wasn’t touching him, that she’d let herself fall asleep an arm’s length away, meant she cared enough about him to not want to hurt him.
Any normal person, omega shifter or not, would know it wouldn’t be the best idea to touch someone so heavily injured.
He smiled at her. There was a time when he would have thought of Garret’s sister as spoiled brat, privileged little princess. He used to think of Garret and his sister, their father too, when the man was alive, basking in the wealth of the pack they’d kicked Dennis out of when he’d been a child, when he’d trusted his father above anyone else when he shouldn’t have.
Then his father had died, and Dennis had killed Anna’s father. It was self-defense, but could he use that as an excuse when there was a time when he would have killed the man in cold blood?
And now his own son was missing, and most likely dead because he’d followed Laurence to that miserable attack on Garret’s house.
Dennis was tired. He reached for the phone, pulling it from off the cradle. He dialed the number for Garret’s cell phone. He’d had it memorized for the longest time in case he ever needed it. Dennis was supposed to use it for the ransom call, but that had been flushed down the toilet pretty quickly.
The call went to messages. Fucking great.
“Hey, asshole.” Dennis glanced sharply at Anna. His tone didn’t wake her. He lowered his voice a little. “Guess what? I’m in bed now and your sister is right next to me. You should get over here and do something before I defile her.” He told Garret where he was. “Looking forward to seeing you, prick.” He hung up, stared at the ceiling, then took in a deep breath.
Dennis looked over at where Anna slept, her blonde hair fanned out on the pillow, small and innocent. And beautiful and brave.
He had to look away, back at the ceiling. Garret would probably get the message within a couple of minutes, if not an hour. He should get here before she woke up.
It was better this way.
Epilogue
Katie wasn’t going to lie, she was wringing her damned hands waiting for Jax to come back.
Garret had left behind all the betas. It was just Jax, Garret, and Dane out there, and that worried her a thousand times more than the idea of what might happen to the lodge if this turned out to be another trick and Dennis and his own alphas and betas showed up for a fight.
“Want some coffee?”
Katie blinked. She turned away from the window. Miranda was right next to her, holding out a steaming cup.
The woman had a smile on her face as she looked down at Katie. “I promise it’s not poison.”
Katie let that sink in a moment before she took hold of the cup, using it to warm her hands. “Thank you.”
“Not to worry. The view out there any good?”
Katie held the mug in her hands, staring down into hot liquid. “Not really.”
She didn’t know why she was looking out the window, as if she expected anything to happen. There were betas all over the lawn, some prowling around in their wolf shapes. The others in their human forms with binoculars and guns would be up on the roof.
Garret hadn’t wanted to take any risks when he left this time, but he took a major risk by leaving with just himself, Dane, and Jax. Katie couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what could be happening out there right now. If the prisoner in the basement was telling the truth, then there was going to be a fight waiting for the three of them in that old meat factory. If he was lying, then it could be another trap, a reason to get the alphas out of the way while Dennis’ pack attacked again.
It was hard to say whether or not the kid in the basement was lying, though. If he really was Dennis’ son, then this could go any way.
“Do you think it’s always going to be like this?”
Katie looked at Miranda. “Like what?”
Miranda bit her lips together before answering. “Always worrying. Always…fighting?”
Katie looked back out the window. “It’s not always like this. There are some good times. Years when we can forget we’re at war with another pack. This is just a bad year, but things will get better.” As she spoke, she believed it, because it was true. Things would get better. There was no reason to believe they wouldn’t. The clouds outside were grey and gloomy, but the future, her future with Jax, was looking bright.
“Where’s Lois?”
“Oh, I think she’s working in her room. She draws and paints a lot whenever she wants to think about something else, you know?”
; Katie didn’t know about how the mind of an artist worked, but she nodded as if she did.
“Why do you ask?”
Katie shrugged. “Just curious.”
Miranda and Lois both had pretty dramatic entrances into pack life. That seemed to be the nice way of putting it. It was almost like something out of a romance novel.
Katie didn’t have that with Jax. At least, she didn’t think she did, though the last couple of decades had been pretty dramatic. But her story with Jax wasn’t going to end in a big battle, or a chase scene. It was calmer and quieter as she learned to believe that she could have something almost normal. She could be in love without worrying about being hurt. She could touch and be touched without fearing what would happen.
And she could also be a little more warm and welcoming to Miranda and Lois. Lois wasn’t here, so Miranda would have to do. “I’m sorry.”
Miranda had been just about to take a sip of her coffee before she stopped and looked at her. “For what?”
Katie looked back down into her cup. “You know for what. Just…I’m sorry.” Maybe being nicer and more open was something she was going to have to get used to because she apparently didn’t have the guts to get too emotional with this, or even specify that she was apologizing to Miranda for being a standoffish bitch.
Katie also couldn’t look the other woman in the eyes, but that seemed to be fine. She glanced to the side. Miranda was smiling as she took a sip of her coffee. Did this mean they were okay? Katie supposed she would have to find out for sure later, but for now, it seemed like they were.
“Jax is here.”
It was so sudden that Katie’s brain almost didn’t take in those words properly. “What?” She looked out the window, and the golden brown dragon that Katie loved was stepping through the trees. Jax turned into his human shape, walking naked across the lawn, glancing around, as though searching for some of Dennis’ men to step out from hiding and attack.
It didn’t happen. Katie put down her cup and ran to the sliding glass doors. She ran to Jax, across the law, as fast as if she was flying. She didn’t think about how that might worry him, about how he could potentially see that as her running away from danger, but as she got closer and he was able to see her face, his worry seemed to leave as he opened his arms to her, scooping her off her feet.
No one had ever scooped her up before. It felt nice. It put butterflies in her stomach and made Katie feel all kinds of giddy in his arms. She laughed.
“Everything’s good here?”
“Yeah. With you?”
Jax frowned.
Katie tensed. “Did the kid lie?”
“No. The meat factory was there, and it smelled like Anna had been there, but there was a fight. Blood was all over the place. Not hers, but the pack definitely had a fight for leadership.”
“Dennis?”
“Gone. He might be dead. We don’t know. Found a lot of his blood, but he is still an alpha.”
Katie nodded, taking that in as Jax walked with her back to the house. “Okay. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you back? Where are the others?” Katie glanced behind her to see Miranda standing in the doorway, a hopeful expression on her face.
“It’s just me,” Jax said, stepping up to the door and looking down at Miranda. “Garret’s going to be out a while longer. He wanted me to come back because he wanted an alpha here. In case something happens.”
Miranda took in a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and nodded. “Right. I’ll make sure he’s got something to eat when he gets back.”
Miranda didn’t have to cook for anyone in this house. There were omegas who had that job, but the fact that she was willing to do it, to keep herself busy as well as participate in pack affairs, meant she was going to do well here. She really did belong.
Katie looked up at Jax. “I know you have to keep watch, but do you think we can talk alone?”
The sudden tension in his shoulders didn’t go unnoticed.
“It’s all good stuff, I promise.”
He breathed a relieved sigh. “Sure thing, whatever you want to talk about.”
She smiled at him. This was why she loved him.
“I’ll leave you both alone,” Miranda said, a quirky little grin on her face, as if she thought she was leaving Katie and Jax alone to have sex.
“That’s not what we’re doing,” Katie said, but Miranda had already twirled around and was walking away.
“Sure it’s not,” she called over her shoulder.
“It’s not. Jax has to…fuck,” she hissed, feeling the heat rise in her face. Not that Miranda was paying attention anymore anyway. The bitch was already out of sight.
“That seemed to go well,” Jax said.
“Don’t you start smiling, too,” Katie said, still glaring in the direction Miranda had skipped off in. “I apologized and was going to be nice to her and everything.”
“Well, then it’s her loss, I guess.” Jax set Katie onto her feet. “What did you want to talk about? Did the kid in the basement do anything?”
“No, some of the betas are still with him, and Joey brought them all food.”
“He’s okay to do that?” Jax said, lifting a brow.
“He’s mostly healed, and I think he wants to get back to work. And he’s been itching to see the guy from Dennis’ pack, like every other omega who shouldn’t be sticking their nose into it.”
Jax chuckled, then looked around. “Want to talk over there? No one’s using the patio.”
Katie nodded, taking her mate by the hand and lacing their fingers together as they walked to their seats. She was getting used to casually touching him, and Jax was getting used to Katie doing it. She could tell because his surprise didn’t last very long before he just started to go with it, allowing Katie to lead him.
She sat next to him. She didn’t want to put the glass table between them, and she made sure to keep holding his hand.
“So, what are we talking about?” Jax asked. He seemed to be having trouble deciding whether he should keep his eyes on her, or look out onto the property in case there was another attack. That was fine. Katie didn’t need a hundred percent of his attention when he was supposed to be watching out for the safety of the pack.
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
Jax whipped his head around to stare at her. “For what?”
She slid her thumb across his hand. “For waiting for me. I know there was that moment when you wanted to let me go.”
He cringed.
Katie shook her head. “No, it’s okay. After all these years of keeping you on the edge of your seat, I don’t blame you for thinking that would be the best thing to do. For the both of us.”
Jax squeezed her hand tighter. “So, where are we right now?”
That shocked her. “You don’t know.”
Jax rubbed his jaw. “I want to be sure before anything else happens. I don’t want to make any assumptions and be wrong.”
She thought she’d been clear, but then again, she really couldn’t blame him. He was so used to interacting with her when she had her barriers up.
“This is probably going to take a bit before we’re both used to it, but I want to get used to it with you.” Katie couldn’t keep her eyes locked onto Jax’s as she spoke. She kept looking away, like a shy school girl. She’d never felt so young or vulnerable before. “So that we’re a hundred percent clear, I want to be your mate. I want to touch you, and I want you to feel comfortable touching me whenever you want.”
When she looked at Jax this time, his eyes were dilated, his nostrils flaring. “I think we can make that happen.”
Relief, sweet and cool, washed over her. Katie hadn’t realized the weight that had settled on her shoulders when she’d brought Jax over here. And yeah, she was definitely feeling like a giddy school girl. “So, do you move into my room, or should I move into yours?”
He was giving her that look, the one that Katie was starting to learn meant Jax wan
ted to do more than just innocently hold her hand. “What would you prefer?”
“Hmm, my room is already painted and decorated the way I like, but you have a connected bathroom, so…”
“You can paint our room whatever you want. Put whatever you want in there, too. Frills around the bed, a canopy, whatever you want.”
“I have a couple of teddy bears.”
“That’s all right, too. Whatever you want.”
Katie grinned at him, feeling his love shining through. “Okay, but don’t worry, I actually don’t have teddy bears.” She pretended not to see his relief when she leaned in and kissed him.
Miranda probably shouldn’t be watching Katie and Jax from the window, but she couldn’t help herself. She kind of wished Lois was here with her to see it, too.
It was nice seeing Katie with her mate. She had always seemed so closed off, and occasionally kind of mean, but whatever it was that happened in her personal life to make her that way, Jax seemed to be the antidote for it.
Okay, that was enough. They were kissing know and Miranda figured this was getting beyond innocent spying.
She turned around and left the window, heading to the room she shared with Garret. She’d left her phone there, and she was going to need it to look up some nice recipes that an alpha would like.
Something meaty.
Her phone was still charging on the cradle, but when Miranda reached for it, she paused. Fuck. Garret’s phone was right there. He’d forgotten to take it.
She picked it up.
This wasn’t too much of a big deal. One of the betas could deliver messages in a pinch, and they could sniff out the last place Garret had been.
The tiny green light near the camera kept blinking, which meant something had come in.
Miranda normally wouldn’t listen to Garret’s messages—that just seemed like a complete privacy invasion—but his sister was missing.
She listened to the message that had come in from an unknown number, then nearly dropped the phone. She spun around, racing out of the room. “Jax!”
