by Alisa Woods
He could set Arianna free, but only by dying in her place.
Jak blinked and dragged his gaze up to meet Circe’s steady one. “Is there no other way?”
“I’m afraid not, little wolf.” Her voice was soft, and not entirely unkind, but her sympathy rang hollow in his ears. “Perhaps now you can understand why I would want my payment in advance.” She pursed her lips into a tight line.
Jak didn’t have to worry about the witch draining his blood after a night of wolf-on-witch sexual depravity… because the spell he was bartering for would kill him anyway.
He swallowed. “I’ll have to get back to you on this.”
Then he turned and stumbled out the door. As he fled the coven, he had just one thought: he had promised to free Arianna, and he was going to keep that promise. But if a wolf had to die to make it happen, it wasn’t going to be Jak…
It was going to be Mace.
He would have to do this the old-fashioned way: by killing Arianna’s mate.
Killing Mace would be the easy part—it was the idea of leaving Gage’s pack that twisted Jak’s stomach in a knot.
He had just left Circe and her coven a few hours ago. Normally on a Saturday night, Gage’s pack would be out club-hopping, but tonight, he had brought them straight here, to the Olympic mountains, for some pack bonding time.
Jak kicked at the fall leaves with his boots while he leaned against the pack’s van. Gage was instructing Mason and the others—Joe, Frank, Billy, and Sampson, the youngest and wildest of the bunch, and all the rest—about the rules. All fifteen were in attendance tonight—the hunt was mandatory for everyone, including Jak. It was a standard hunt, and he had developed the game, so he already knew what Gage had planned. The half-moon lit up the meadow well enough for Jak to see the rest of Gage’s pack punching each other good-naturedly and laughing too loud in each other’s faces.
It wasn’t actually these jokers he would miss, although they were the closest thing he’d ever had to real brothers—his own were more sadists than siblings. As the youngest, Jak was always omega to their abundance of alphas. It was a regular sport for them to see how many pieces they could take out of him without requiring a healer to stitch him back together. Jak’s father only encouraged them: he was the leader of their small, country pack, a real alpha’s alpha, and he had a barely disguised disdain for his youngest son, the tech geek. Jak’s mother had protected him from the savagery of his older brothers, but as Jak grew big enough to fight back, it got uglier.
And then his mom died.
Jak’s wolf still howled a long mournful cry every time he thought about her. But Jak’s human side had nothing but rage… and a single photo that he’d had on him when he left his pack and family for good.
His mom was as gentle as they came and beautiful besides. She always kept him close—he had already been the target of his brothers’ twisted humor more than once when she wasn’t watching. Her kitchen was the safest place for him in his family’s sprawling ranch in the mountains northeast of Seattle. She was a captive mate, like Arianna, and dutifully bore pups for his father, but their mating was never a love match—Jak remembered with nauseating clarity the day he figured that out.
He was just a kid, maybe ten. His father came home drunk in the middle of the day, somehow missing that Jak was curled up under the kitchen table, putting together computer parts. He had scored a motherboard from one of his teachers—along with parts scavenged off the internet and his friends at school—and he was buried in building a computer of his own.
Jak hardly made a sound, and he had always wondered if things would have been different if he had. His father had always been rough and demanding—Jak loathed him more each day of his childhood. But that spring day, he watched, silently, as his father forced himself on his mother, right above Jak, on the kitchen table. His father never realized he was there.
His stomach still heaved every time he thought of it: the shaking of the table, his father’s grunts, his mother’s quiet sobs afterward. It would forever be seared into his mind.
From then on, Jak tried to protect his mom, to keep her away from his father, even going so far as to take the beatings his father liked to mete out, as long as he didn’t vent his frustrations, whatever they were, on her. But it was no use: Jak was still just a kid. Then one day he came home from school to find her dead.
It takes a lot to kill a wolf.
Jak’s inner beast howled again, and Jak ground his boot into the rocky forest floor. He had no doubt his father had done it. You could hardly see the bruises on his mother’s neck under her fur, but they blared out his father’s guilt. Jak could only imagine how much she had to fight at the end, even shifting to do it… Jak never figured out why his father did it, but brutes like him didn’t seem to need a reason. Maybe his mother had finally stood up to him. Maybe she had done something innocent that set him off. Maybe his father had just come home stupid drunk one day and didn’t know what he was doing until it was too late.
But Jak knew his father would get away with it because she was wolf when she died. If Jak hadn’t been a scrawny 14-year-old at the time, he would have killed his father right then. But he was weak. And outnumbered by his brothers.
The best he could do was to stay alive himself.
His mom would have wanted that.
Even so, he almost didn’t make it out of adolescence alive. Wouldn’t have, if Gage hadn’t saved him from Jak’s own kin. Right in this very meadow in the Olympic mountains, in fact, where he now stood waiting for his alpha to give the signal for their pack games to begin. Back then, the games Jak’s brothers played nearly killed him. Gage was only a few years older than Jak, but he was a decent alpha, even then. Gage stood up to them, rescued Jak from being turned into hamburger, and from then on, Jak had been steadfast by his side.
He literally owed his life to Gage Crittenden.
And now he was going to not only leave his alpha’s pack… but kill Gage’s brother in the process.
This situation is so fucked up. Jak’s logical side insisted there had to be another way around this, some way he could save Arianna from the same fate Jak’s mom had endured without having to kill Mace... but he just couldn’t see it. Mace would never let her go—he’d rather see her dead.
And Jak could all too easily picture her that way.
“Hey, you all right?” Gage’s boots tramped through the leaves nearby.
His voice startled Jak out of his morbid thoughts. “Yeah, just… have a lot on my mind.”
Gage gripped his shoulder for an instant in a manly sort of way then let his hand drop. “Don’t let this thing with the bounty hunters rattle you. They’re nothing but cowards and assholes.”
“Cowards with guns,” Jak grumped. He had ended up telling Gage most of the truth: that Jak had found the bounty hunters, beat the shit out of them, and that they’d fled the area… but that he hadn’t gotten much out of them in the process. Jak had verified that they’d left by checking on their dive of a hideout on his way back from the witch’s coven.
He folded his arms and gazed out at the pack. They’d shifted to wolf form and were wrestling through the leaves, nipping at each other’s tails. It was like watching overgrown children play—the innocent kind, not the kind who tried to kill the weak among them.
“Just wish I knew what the hunters were after.” Jak’s wolf growled his unhappiness.
“Probably just freelancers,” Gage said, leaning against the van next to him. “Got wind of who you were, or maybe Arianna, through someone… then kept that tidbit to themselves until they could profit from it. If they were affiliated with someone we know—someone with a grudge—they wouldn’t have given up so easily. And they would have offered up a name under your gentle persuasion.”
Jak snorted a laugh and nodded.
“Honestly?” Gage said, drawing Jak’s gaze back to him. “I was mostly concerned it was your family looking for you. I know it’s been a long time, but blood runs thick.�
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Jak shook his head fiercely. “This is my family now.” And he meant those words, but it only clamped the knot in his stomach tighter.
Gage gave him a half smile. “You know you’re more family to me than my own blood, right?”
Jak’s throat grew tight. “That’s only because you got screwed in having Mace for a brother.” If only he could confide in Gage, gain his help in this… but as much as his alpha hated Mace, Gage would never approve of actually ripping out his throat.
“At least I only have one asshole brother,” Gage said with a smile.
Jak coughed through the thickness in his throat.
Gage looked over the wrestling wolves of his pack. “It was here, wasn’t it?”
“Eight years, three months ago,” Jak said with a small smile. “Not that I’m keeping track.”
“It was a lucky day for both of us.” Gage gave him a nod, and Jak thought he might choke on it. How was he going to betray the only wolf who had ever had his back in all things?
Jak swallowed and lifted his chin to the meadow. “Are we doing the ceremony here next week?” The full moon was next Saturday—time for Jak and the rest of Gage’s pack to officially renew their submission to their alpha. It was what made them a pack, strengthened them, and bolstered the magic in all their blood, Gage most of all. The submission ceremony made their alpha strong. And it would be the day Jak betrayed the man who was even more than an alpha to him.
“No,” Gage said. “I think we’ll stay close to home this time. I’m fairly certain those bounty hunters are history, but no need to tempt them. Besides, I doubt Mace will let Arianna go off property.”
“Yeah.” Another problem he had to face: how to tell Arianna that his plan with the witches won’t work, and he has to kill Mace instead... not to mention the details of their grand deception scheduled for next Saturday.
“That’s why I wanted to come here today. We won’t get to run as a pack after the ceremony, like we normally do. And we need that time together. I don’t know who’s out there targeting us, but if those hunters can find out who we are, anyone can. We need to stay on our toes, work together to keep things tight. I don’t want this rattling them…” He lifted his chin to the rest of the pack. “…any more than I want it to rattle you. We’re in this together. Got it?”
“Got it, boss.” But his stomach just churned more. What would it do to Gage’s position in the Red pack if his own beta betrayed him? How would it shake the confidence of the others? Not to mention that the wolves who were his brothers today would, by this time next week, want a piece of him for betraying their alpha—a very bloody piece.
He and Arianna would need to get far, far away from Seattle.
“All right, time to get these guys started.” Gage shifted, leaving his clothes next to the van, and loped over to where his pack were still wrestling in wolf form.
Jak took a moment to banish all thoughts of Arianna, Mace, and the coming deception from his mind: once his was in wolf form, Gage and the others would be able to hear his thoughts. He could control them a little, but you never know when a stray thought will slip through: there are no true secrets in the pack, not for long anyway.
With that thought, a chill settled deep in his stomach: he would never be able to keep his feelings for Arianna secret forever. Eventually, it would come out. Jak needed to be gone before his entire pack realized he had already broken pack law. As much as he hated the idea of leaving, staying wasn’t really optional anymore.
Jak took a deep breath and shifted. His clothes fell to the ground, and the cool fall air was even more crisp with his shifter senses. It was filled with earthy scents that spoke to his wolf form. He yipped and trotted over to join his pack. Already he could hear their jumble of thoughts, excited for the hunt.
Gage had to use some of his alpha command voice to settle them down. Listen up, assholes!
They quieted immediately, whimpering a little. Even Jak bent his head a little with that tone in Gage’s thoughts.
Mason has the prize. Jak dropped him north of us, near the top of the ridge. We’ve got ten minutes to scent and recover the prize or Mason keeps it for himself. Gage looked up at the half moon. It was a decent amount of light in the meadow, but the forest would be slow traveling. Wolf form only until we’re done.
They all yipped agreement, including Jak.
What’s the prize, Jak?
Come on, tell us!
You idiots will just have to find out when you get there, Jak responded.
Their complaints were half-growl, half-groan, but Jak was glad to have an excuse to keep his thoughts quiet and focused on the hunt.
Time to go, Gage thought. He led the pack away from the van, quickly working up to a fast lope. The run felt good—cool air in Jak’s ears, soft grass on his paws. The moon bathed them in silver light.
Once they dived into the murk of the forest, Jak took the lead. Drop off point is about a quarter mile ahead. He could get them there, but all bets were off after that—Mason could have gone anywhere with the prize. The pace was slower, with fallen logs, unsteady footing, and undergrowth in the way, but soon they padded into the clearing for the turnoff from the main road. The pack quickly fanned out, scenting for Mason.
Johnson yipped from back in the forest. I’ve got him! The rustle of his pounding paws, charging off on the scent-trail, followed. The rest of them scrambled after, making sure to stay in thought-range and not lose him. Jak and the others quickly caught the scent as well, and soon they were a force of fur, black and brown and silver-frosted by pockets of moonlight, trampling the undergrowth in the heat of the chase. Their thoughts were tight and focused. Mason, Mason, Mason. Jak was flush with the feeling of belonging that was part of being pack. He reveled in it, let it permeate his mind… and tried not to think about losing it.
A splash ahead and ripple of moans showed Mason had crossed a stream.
Lost him! Billy complained, but Sampson had already leapt ahead, splashing down the stream. The rest followed after, fanning out at the edges, scenting for Mason as they went.
He could have gone upstream, idiots, Jak thought. Billy circled back and joined Jak and Gage in scenting upstream. Even though Jak had set up the game, he had no idea where Mason would go… and half the goal was not so much claiming the prize as keeping Mason from getting it. Just as Jak was about to lose telepathic contact with the wolves downstream, a rapid-fire thought-argument resolved into a series of This way! thoughts that had half the pack charging off in a single direction again.
Jak and his cohort quickly circled back and loped after them. They only caught up as the pack broke from the forest into another clearing. On the far side was a tree that stood alone… and in the upper branches sat Mason, fully clothed next to the keg of beer that was today’s prize. The moon glinted off the silver metal, but even from this distance, Jak could see Mason’s grin.
Bastard broke the rules! was the resonant thought cycling through the pack, but Jak just wore a toothy wolf smile as he, Gage, and Billy trotted toward the front of the pack. Rules were all wolf for the game… but for the chasers, not for the chased. Jak had no idea how Mason had hauled the keg up into the branches, but staying human was the only way he could move the prize, so the all wolf rule didn’t apply to him. However, the trees were off-limits precisely because wolves couldn’t climb.
Make a pyramid! Gage ordered. It was a decent way to make up for the fact that they had paws not hands, but Jak could see there was no way they would get far with that. Still, they piled one on top of another, claws digging in to furred backs to form a wolf pyramid that would at least reach the lowest branches. While they could hold on with their razor-sharp claws, they’d just rip the bark right off the tree if they tried to scale it.
Coming through! Jak threw a thought out into the pack. As a beta, his order carried a lot less weight than one from Gage, but the pyramid of fur tolerated his climb up their backs well enough to get him to the top.
He pa
used. Boys, when your enemy breaks the rules, you've gotta to do the same. He shifted right there, taking a leap as he did to catch the next branch up.
“Oh, shit,” Mason said as he saw Jak coming, buck naked in the moonlight, climbing hand-over-hand up the tree. Yips and howls from down below cheered him on, and so far, Gage hadn’t called foul on his move.
When he reached the branch Mason was perched on, Jak saw he had carved a notch into the thick wood with his claws and lashed the keg to it with a rope he must have secreted away in the forest prior to the hunt. Jak braced himself to fight Mason for the prize, but he just looked defeated as he watched Jak climb up next to him.
“Hidden rope,” Jak commented casually. “Nice touch.”
“You’re the game master,” Mason said, grumbling. “I didn’t count on you breaking the rules.”
Somehow that stabbed Jak in the heart. He was going to miss Mason. All of them, really. Now that he was human again, his stomach was back in knots.
“We could just keep it for ourselves,” Jak said, patting the tap on the keg.
Mason’s face lit up—his reddened cheeks looked like he had already taken a few slugs to drink. “Yeah?”
Jak just laughed. The pack was howling their impatience below, now that Jak was just cozying up to the keg like Mason. “No. But it was a respectable try.” His smile faded. “Maybe next time, I’ll tell Gage to make you game master.”
Mason’s grin was ear to ear then.
“Let’s lower this thing down,” Jak said. “I don’t want Billy breaking his damn neck trying to get up here.”
As they worked the rope, the clench in Jak’s stomach just grew. Breaking the rules was all fun and games within the pack, but the truth of his words plowed into him like an avalanche: his enemy had already broken the rules. The rules of being alpha. Of protecting your own. Of caring for your mate. Jak hadn’t been born alpha—he was the last in a brutal line of brothers competing for dominance in their tiny pack—but even he knew that a dark alpha like Mace was a betrayal of everything their kind stood for. Being alpha meant doing everything for the ones you loved. Everything for your pack.
