by Sam Crescent
But instead, Norah lost her life at the hands of a wolf. This Zeke person. All the evidence given to her from the coven pointed to it. And she had lain in wait for him to show up at the bar to exact her revenge.
“Does it matter? If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.” Nyah pressed into him, allowing her belly to twist and rub against the bulge threatening to rip open his jeans.
Another low growl emanated from his throat. “Obviously you’re not working for Roark since he tried to kill you tonight. So who wants my brother dead?”
Nyah dragged a nail along the edge of his jeans, scraping the skin. “I do.”
Jordan gripped her wrist, and in a move so fast it blurred her vision, he slammed her back into the wall, pressing his other hand against her cheek, forcing the side of her face to scrape the rough finish. “Do not toy with me, bitch. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
“Nor do you,” she choked out, punctuating it with a laugh.
She closed her eyes, and as another incantation left her lips, her body disappeared from his grip. He slammed into the wall before spinning around in a fury. Nyah reappeared on the other side of the room, a smirk twitching on her lips.
Before her body took on full form, Jordan crossed the room in a blur and tossed her onto the bed with such force the air whooshed from her lungs as she hit the mattress. He launched himself on top of her, pinning her with his hands and legs.
“This is your last chance, Nyah, or I swear my teeth will rip a hole in your throat and I’ll leave you to bleed out.” Jordan panted above her. “Why do you want my brother dead?”
Nyah tried to suck in a breath, but the weight of Jordan above her crushed her lungs to the point she couldn’t even move. “He … killed … Norah.”
Jordan tilted his head and jerked back. “Who the fuck is Norah?”
Nyah coughed as he eased his chest from hers, allowing air to return to her lungs. “My twin sister.”
Jordan shook his head and pushed himself off her, though still pinning her with his hips as he sat above her. “Impossible.”
“The fuck it is. I know who killed my sister. And I will have his heart for it and return it to the coven so another wolf can never again terrorize a witch.” Nyah spat at him.
Jordan’s lips pulled into a seductive grin that Nyah wanted to punch off his face. Asshole.
“Wouldn’t you think he’d recognize you then, if you were a twin?” Jordan crossed his arms. “He had no idea who you were. I even sent him on recon to find out. If he already knew you or your sister, he would have told me.” Jordan leaned back down, clasping his fingers around her throat. “So let’s try the truth this time.”
The heat of his touch ignited her body, and it pissed her off. How could she even be turned on by this smug asshole? “That is the truth, you arrogant bastard.”
Nyah gripped his fingers closing in on her windpipe, preventing her from getting out another incantation. She kicked her leg up and kneed him in the balls, and he toppled off the bed. Nyah rolled to her knees and Jordan slung an arm around her waist while clasping his hand around her mouth.
“Zeke,” Jordan yelled over his shoulder.
Zeke whipped open the door, slamming it into the wall, almost off its hinges.
“She says you killed her sister,” Jordan said. “What was her name again, darlin’?”
“Norah,” Nyah mumbled against his fingers before she bit down on his hand. “Norah Winston, you asshole.”
Jordan clenched his jaw through the pain, and his left eye twitched as Nyah looked up at him, still in his hold. “Do you know a Norah Winston?”
Zeke shook his head. “Never heard of her.”
“She’s supposedly Trix’s twin. I said highly unlikely that you killed her then, because you should have recognized Trix , too.” Jordan leaned in and pressed his lips to Nyah’s ear. “So tell us how you came to the conclusion my brother killed your sister. You’ve got one chance, or I let Zeke here avenge his almost death. Speak fast.”
Jordan released his grip and thrust Nyah onto the bed. She glanced at his still-hard cock pressing against his tight jeans. He got his kicks from this shit. Probably lived for rough sex and beating women, just like her father. The fucker.
“I told you, my name isn’t Trix. It’s Nyah.” She sprung up from the bed and launched a fist into his chin, knocking him backward to the floor. Nyah darted across the room to Zeke, her last chance to take him out. Go big or go home.
She slammed her hand against his chest, digging her nails into his flesh. Zeke gasped, as his arms that almost pushed her back fell limp to his sides. But something gripped her from behind and flung her to the ground.
Zeke dropped next to her, blood trickling from his chest. “I … didn’t … kill … her.”
Nyah’s heart seized at the dying man’s words. He sucked in another gasp, blood gurgling to his lips.
Jordan dropped to his brother’s side and gripped his face in his hands. “Don’t you leave me, Zeke. Fight it.”
“You swear you didn’t kill my sister?” Nyah rolled over and looked into the dying man’s eyes. The eyes never lied.
Zeke nodded and coughed up a river of blood.
Nyah held her hands over his chest and whispered a spell as a bright white light glowed under her fingertips. The same fingertips that could bring death, also brought life. Her blessing and her curse.
Zeke sucked in a gasp of air before coughing it back out, rolling to his knees. “Crazy-ass bitch.”
“You’re fucking welcome, asshole.” Ungrateful dick, like the rest of them.
“Oh, I’m the asshole? You’re the one who fucking tried to kill me. Twice!” Zeke rubbed his chest and glared at her.
Minor details. If this Zeke guy didn’t kill Norah, who the hell did?
“Looks to me like you owe my brother an apology,” Jordan said, sitting on the floor with one arm draped over his raised knee. A sexy smirk twitched on his lips.
She ached to kiss it off his mouth and knee him in the balls again at the same time. He infuriated her, yet she ached to have his body press against hers again.
Don’t fall for it, Nyah. You have no time to lose. You have to find Norah’s killer.
“I saved his life. That should take care of it,” Norah said, pushing herself to her feet.
Nyah brushed past Jordan, slamming into his shoulder. His hand gripped her by the elbow and spun her around, thrusting her back onto the bed.
“What the fuck? We’re done here. You can let me go.” Anger thrummed in her veins, just shy of the excitement welling beneath it.
Jordan nodded his head toward his brother. “Zeke, go have a rest. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Thanks, bro.” Zeke turned and gave Nyah the finger as he closed the door behind him.
“As for you,” Jordan said, crossing his arms as he made his way to the bed. “I’m not through with you yet.”
“What do you want with me?” Nyah inched her way up the pillows, ready to strike back at him.
“I haven’t figured that out just yet.” He ran a hand along his face, rubbing his chin. “But until then, we need to figure out who actually killed your sister.”
Nyah swallowed hard. For the first time since she arrived in Eden’s Bayou, it hit her. Norah was truly gone. Dead. All she had to survive on was her anger. Her determination to find her killer and make him suffer. Now, she had nothing. All her clues had led her to a dead end. The emotions balled up in her throat and wedged themselves there. She forced back a pool of tears welling in her eyes.
No tears. Don’t let him see you cry.
“Why? What’s in it for you?” Nyah choked out.
Jordan paused, staring at her with dark eyes. “Because someone obviously fed you false information. They wanted you to kill my brother. Which means we both need to get to the bottom of it. And, I’m sure you want closure for your sister. You healed my brother. I’ll help you find your sister’s killer.”
She didn’t need his help. Didn’t want it. The longer she stayed in his presence, the more he seduced her with his eyes and his large, protective body. He could have ripped her to shreds a number of times tonight, but he hadn’t. He fought with her. Fought for the truth and let her live. She almost needlessly killed a man tonight in blind rage with only hearsay to go on. It struck her heart she could have had a hell of a lot more blood on her hands tonight if it weren’t for him. Yet he sat there and offered to help her.
Nyah was in over her head.
Chapter Three
Jordan’s heart raced as he stared into Nyah’s glassy eyes. She could have easily torched him again, or performed some kind of freakish spell. But she sat there, vulnerable. She needed help.
The intensity in her eyes told him he was going to be in trouble. His heart quivered, melting at her pain.
Fuck, what was wrong with him? He wasn’t some fucking sap.
Just moments ago they wrestled and fought, yet the entire time all he could think about was ripping her clothes to shreds and claiming her body for his own. The way her long blonde hair fell through his fingers like silk ribbons. He ached to grab her again, this time in the throes of passion while he drove himself into her.
His gaze raked her body, falling on two pebbled nipples stretching against her shirt. It took everything in him not to palm them and free them from their covering. The fire in her blue eyes now glassed over like ice.
She was obviously in pain at the loss of her sister. And something told him it was probably the first time she’d let herself grieve. But she was a strong, very powerful witch, and Jordan had to watch himself. She could have taken him down. But she hadn’t. Jordan could have killed her as well, many times over tonight. But he hadn’t.
Why?
He ran a hand down his face, trying to wipe away the thoughts filling his head. “You should rest. Tomorrow we’ll work on finding out who’s behind all this.”
“How can I trust you? What if you try and kill me?” Nyah stared him down.
Jordan arched a brow. “Oh, like you tried to kill me and my brother tonight?”
She pointed a finger that brushed the tip of his nose. “Hey, I never tried to kill you!”
“Oh right, like starting my shirt on fire was just some ploy to get me to strip for you?” Jordan crossed his arms with a smirk.
Nyah’s lips curled to a pout. “Maybe.”
Jordan’s dick twitched at the sight of her plump lips in that adorable pout. He’d love to slide himself right between them.
Shit, he had to stop thinking of her that way. Just as he talked himself down, her heartbeat sped in his ears and he zeroed in on her chest. Her fast pulse hummed like an electric current in the air.
Maybe she was feeling it, too. That undeniable draw. An insatiable lust his brain couldn’t shut off. His own heart sped at the thought, and he forced down a growl making its way up from his depths at the thought of pushing her back on the bed and fucking her until his name left her lips in a primal cry.
Nyah nodded and rolled over, inching her way to the edge of the bed.
“Where are you going?” Jordan clutched her by the elbow.
Nyah glanced over her shoulder to his hand, and then to his face. “Back to my motel room?”
“No, you’re not. You’re staying here. Where I can keep an eye on you.”
“You gonna cuff me to your bed, handsome?” Her tongue darted over her lips.
“I’ll do you one better.” Jordan winked and reached for the drawer in the bedside table. He pulled out the syringe, bit off the cap, and stuck it in her arm. “Sleep tight, darlin’.”
“What?” Nyah gasped and glanced down at her arm. “You’re fucking … drugging … me?”
A limp arm hung over the bed as she collapsed onto the pillows.
“Sweet dreams.”
He always had tranquilizers handy, should one of the young wolves get unruly during their first couple of full moon cycles until they learned to shift of their own accord. He never thought he’d need to use it on a human. But, this one was a witch, and he couldn’t let her run off in the middle of the night and attempt to kill them again.
Though, in his heart, he knew she wouldn’t do it. She had plenty of chances tonight. He saw her strength, her abilities, but he also saw her weakness. She wasn’t a killer. A killer didn’t hesitate. Someone who’d never taken a life had that moment of regret, that moment of guilt and remorse before ever even laying a hand.
Drugging her was more for her own safety than his or Zeke’s. If the rest of the pack knew there was a witch on the homestead, he didn’t have time or energy to explain the situation.
Jordan stared at the beauty sleeping soundly on his bed. Closing his eyes, he inhaled her scent mixed with amber and musk. He forced himself off the bed and released the deep breath. Nothing had ever smelled so good to him in his life. This desire welling up in him, almost an ache for this creature he hardly knew, had him bewildered.
He needed air.
He rushed out of the room and ran into Zeke in the common area of the large three-story estate.
“Awful quiet in there. Did you fuck her or drug her?” Zeke asked.
“Really?” Jordan shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Well, the noises that came from the room earlier sounded a helluva lot like foreplay. Just sayin’.” Zeke smirked. “Not to mention you haven’t been able to stop talking about her or take your eyes off her since she got here.”
Jordan fanned his arm toward his bedroom. “That insane woman tried to kill you about ten minutes ago, or did you already block that from your memory?”
“Wasn’t the first time someone tried to kill me today. And, she was fighting to avenge her sister. I get it. If someone killed you, I’d do the same. Only I wouldn’t hesitate.” Zeke shrugged.
“You caught that, too?”
“If she had really wanted us dead, we wouldn’t be standing here. She’s a witch, a damn powerful one. She said Winston. The same witches who ran our ancestors out of the colonies and into the south.”
Jordan sighed and nodded, collapsing into a recliner. “I know. I know.”
“What’s wrong?” Zeke quirked a brow.
“I wish I knew. There’s just something about her, I can’t fucking explain it. I can’t stop thinking about her. I go near her and everything inside me feels like an all-consuming fire raging through my blood. Her scent, it’s like a drug and it takes all my power not to throw her against the damn wall and fuck her until I can’t see straight.” Jordan glanced at his hands. The ones that were around her throat, holding her down on the bed. The ones that tingled as they connected with her skin. “I think she put a fucking spell on me.”
“Or, she could be your mate,” Zeke said, a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Jordan shook his head. “You’re fucking high. There’s no way she’s my mate. She’s human. And a witch! No. Not in our bloodline. We’ve never mated outside of a wolf. Another pack, maybe. But not with a human. It can’t be so. She’s got me under some spell. I swear it to you. The moment she got here, I knew something was up.”
“If she had you under a spell to throw you off, then how come you still feel this way when she’s knocked out of her gourd right now in the other room?” Zeke pointed to the other room. “What you just described was exactly how it was for me with Gina. I think you’ve found your mate.”
A tremor ripped through Jordan’s heart. That couldn’t be true. He refused to believe it. Why? Why her?
“No. I’m the fucking Alpha of this pack, a pure bloodline wolf pack. Why would the powers that be mate me to a witch?” Jordan laughed at the words coming out of his mouth.
The idea was complete insanity. He would have to claim her, bite her, turn her, and make her part of the pack. She would never do it, nor would the pack ever accept her.
“I have no idea. But you can’t change the fact if it’s true. If you ignore it, should you even have the wi
llpower to, you’ll never again find your mate. You have one shot at it. And you absolutely know when it hits you.”
“I don’t know. It can’t possibly be her. I wouldn’t be this confused, right?” Jordan fought the panic in his heart.
The more he thought about it, the more the idea took residence in his mind. It would explain everything, his feelings, his lust, his carnal desire to claim her. He’d been attracted to humans before, even had sex with them. But he’d never experienced this need, this ache that overwhelmed his entire being the moment he even thought about her, let alone stood in the same room with her.
“You’re confused because you’re trying to fight it.”
Jordan looked at his younger brother, wise beyond his twenty-six years. “She would never be accepted by the pack. I … I couldn’t bring her in to the homestead. A place she would be shunned. I would never be taken seriously as Alpha again. This just can’t be, Zeke. It can’t.”
“You’re Alpha. What you say, goes. They don’t have a choice.”
Jordan snorted. “Easy for you to say, you’re mated to Gina. Fucking gorgeous, smart, a wolf, and the best tracker we have in Eden’s Bayou.”
“They don’t have to like it, but they have to accept it.”
“She fucking tried to kill you!” Jordan shot out of his chair and paced the room.
Zeke folded his arms, leaning against the hallway door frame. “She also healed me. She didn’t have to. If I can get over that fact, maybe you should try.”
“I can’t destroy our bloodline. Maybe this is a test. Maybe I’m not meant to have a mate, to keep us ancients, we have to suffer. I don’t know.” Jordan ran a hand over his smooth, bald head. “I do this and we’re no better than the Bayou Vista pack.”
“Maybe it’s time to stop thinking we’re better. And start evolving.” Zeke shrugged. “She’s the last of her kind. We’re the last of ours.”
Jordan’s shoulders slumped, and he glanced at the bedroom door.
“You want her, yes?” Zeke asked.
“More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.” The words flew off his tongue before he could stop them. He realized what his brother had done. Fuck.
