“Where are you going?” Garrett’s voice stopped her before she could run out the front door.
Spinning around, she smiled at him, still feeling a little shy at the way she had acted during their numerous love-making sessions. “I’m taking this to Jonah.” She held up the journal. “It was my mother’s and I think it’s only fair to let him read it since it’s mostly about him.”
Garrett nodded, but his eyes left hers to stare out the door. “I don’t want you alone.” His voice had changed since last night. It was harder, but she knew the reason why. Tonight was a blood moon and she was being hunted. He had told her that the town was surrounded by the males of his pack, but his mood clearly showed he didn’t want to take any chances.
Glancing out the door, she spotted Jonah sitting on his porch alone. “He’s right there.” Janna nodded Jonah’s way. “And I can scream pretty loud, not to mention I can be pretty scrappy when I need to be.”
His all business façade faded as he looked down at her with a grin. “Yeah, I found out last night how scrappy you can get.” He laughed when her face turned bright red.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” She tossed him a sexy grin, kissed his chin then attempted to leave, but he pulled her back to him.
“You talk like that and expect me to let you walk out the door.” He crushed her to him, leaning down and taking her lips in a hard kiss. “You’ll learn.” He grinned after breaking the kiss.
Her heart felt like it was going to explode. So this was how true happiness felt after letting go of all her fears and heartache. And how lucky was she to have a man like Garrett who would absorb all her fears and unhappiness? “You wish,” she teased, then scooted quickly out the door before he could grab her again. Glancing over her shoulder, her stomach flipped as her heart skipped seeing him looking at her ass with such lust, it almost made her turn right back around and into his arms.
His eyes rose, but the lust quickly changed to seriousness. “I have to take care of something.” He followed her out the door. “Do not leave Jonah’s sight.” He gave a loud whistle, gaining Jonah’s attention.
Something passed between the two men because Jonah nodded as he stood waiting for her. As she made her way across the street, she turned to look at Garrett, but he was gone.
“Hello, Janna,” Jonah greeted as she approached.
“Hey.” She smiled, still feeling a little uncomfortable with the man who was her father. She had already figured out that her father was a man of little words. The silence was an uncomfortable barrier between them. The journal was heavy in her hand. Lifting it, she handed it to him. “This was my mother’s.”
He stared at the book with such longing, but didn’t raise his hand to take it.
“She’d want you to read it. It’s her journal.” She pushed it forward, urging him to take it. “I want you to read it.”
Jonah took the journal and stared, transfixed. His large rough hand ran lovingly across the front cover. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Janna smiled, feeling her own tears threatening. It was hard to let the last thing of her mother’s that she owned go, but she knew without a doubt, it was in good hands.
“One day I’m going to prove to you that I am worthy of your mother’s love and…” He looked up from the book, his gaze intense. “…yours.”
Janna bit her lip to keep her chin from trembling, but before she could answer, Sam ran up to her. “Ja…Ja…Janna, have you se…se…seen Le…le…le…da?”
She noticed right away Sam was upset; his stuttering was worse than she had ever seen. “No.” She knelt down. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I…I…” Sam’s eyes started to fill with tears of frustration. “I…”
“Sam, you have to calm down. I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” Janna reassured him, trying to slow him down so she could understand him.
“No, sh…she’s not.” Sam swallowed hard as he shook his head. His eyes were filled with panic and tears. “I…I…used our secret word and sh…sh…sh…she hasn’t answered me.”
“Oh, honey I’m sure she…” Janna glanced up at Jonah who was looking over her head. Turning, she looked to see Garrett jogging toward them.
“No!” Sam yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her. “She wo…wo…would have an…answered no ma….ma….matter what.”
“Where did you see Leda last, Sam?” Garrett knelt down to his level.
“Ta…ta…talking t…t…to Hunter.” Sam’s eyes shifted from Garrett to Janna. “You ha…ha…have to fi…fi…find her Jan…Janna.”
Hunter came running up. “What’s going on?”
“Wh…wh…what did yo…you do to m….m…my sister?” Sam punched Hunter in the hip. “Sh…sh…she won’t an…an….answer me.”
Hunter looked confused, then frowned. “Sam, I didn’t do anything to Leda,” he assured Sam who was panicked. “What in the hell is going on?” His voice took on a whole different tone.
“Sam said he can’t find her.” Janna filled him in starting to feel Sam’s panic as her own.
“Roxy is missing also.” Molly hurried toward them. “They are nowhere to be seen, and Roxy would never disobey your orders to not leave the area.”
Everyone knew the truth of Molly’s words. Roxy, being the only human, would never disobey.
Sickness hit Janna hard. “It’s them.” She looked up at Garrett. “They’ve come after me.”
“Leda!” Sam shouted as he tore off up the road.
Janna turned to see a small wolf stumble, go down, and then fight to rise back up. Hunter took off passing Sam. Sliding to his knees in front of the collapsed wolf, he picked it up and Janna knew without a doubt it was in fact Leda. Janna took off also, her heart pounding out a prayer that Leda was okay. If they hurt Leda because of her, she would never forgive herself for putting these people in danger.
Once Janna reached Hunter and the wolf, it struggled to get to her. Hunter laid Leda down at Janna’s feet. Janna knelt, putting her hand on the wolf’s head. “Leda?” Janna said above Sam’s crying. The wolf’s head turned toward Sam, a soft whimpering calming him instantly. Right before her eyes, the wolf started shivering and shifting. A mix of human and wolf scream split the air in a painful wail. Janna watched in fascination as the wolf shifted into Leda’s naked human form. Blood matted her hair as did bruising and welts all over her body.
“My God,” Janna cried out, getting a look at Leda’s battered, shivering body. Hunter took off his shirt, carefully wrapping her up best he could.
“They got Roxy.” Leda’s voice was weak and shaky as shivers of pain racked her body.
Marcus growled as he knelt down. “Where is she, Leda?”
“They’ll kill her if…” Leda swallowed hard as her eyes closed against the pain. “…if anyone but Janna goes. They want her.”
Cursing filled the air as well as growls and grunts of the men who gathered. “We won’t let that happen,” Garrett assured her. “Now, tell us where she is.”
Leda slowly opened her eyes and looked directly at Janna, sending her a look that at first Janna didn’t understand, but hearing Leda’s weak voice in her head, she realized that Leda was not talking aloud, but sending her a message through her mind. “If you don’t go alone they’ll kill her during the Reaping.” Leda’s voice sounded like a ghostly whisper in her mind. “She’s human and thinks you are too. You have to shift, Janna, once you get to her. Save her. I couldn’t.”
Janna sat back, stunned as Leda’s directions of how to get to Roxy faded away. She watched as Leda’s eyes closed again, this time from passing out.
“Le…Le…Leda!” Sam cried out, trying to get to his sister.
“She’s okay, Sam.” Hunter wrapped Leda up in his arms, lifting her. “She just passed out. I need to get her to shift so she can heal more quickly.”
“Take her to my place,” Garrett ordered, but Hunter was already heading that way.
“I know where they are.” Jonah watche
d as Hunter took Leda away.
“Where?” Marcus growled, his snarl making Janna back up a step.
“The Gorge. It’s the perfect place for a Reaping,” Jonah replied, his face a mask of anguish as if reliving a nightmare. “I’ll go. Jasper wants me.”
“No!” Janna shook her head. “They’ll kill her and it’s me they want. I’m going.”
“The hell you are.” Garrett grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. “No one is going anywhere, at least not until we figure this out.”
“Then it will be too late.” Janna snapped her arm away. “Don’t make this decision for me, Garrett. If something happens to Roxy because of me, I won’t be able to live with myself. It’s me they want.”
“Stop!” Garrett shouted, his eyes narrowed as everyone started to argue. He threw his head back releasing a howl that echoed through the streets. Wolves and men ran in from all directions. Garrett stepped away as they surrounded him.
Jonah stood back, his eyes kept leaving Garrett to look down the street. Janna edged her way up to him. “Take me,” she whispered to him. “You and I both know that if I don’t show up, they will kill her and this will be your only chance to avenge my mother’s death. You’ve done this before, Jonah. Take me, because if you don’t, I will find a way to go alone.”
CHAPTER 13
Walking through the rocky woods, Janna’s foot slid on a slippery rock. Her hand slammed down on a pointed boulder making her wonder if that was how this place got its name, because the damn rock gorged the hell out of her hand. She couldn’t believe Jonah had gotten them away from Garrett, but he had. By now, he knew she was gone. If she survived this, there would be hell to pay because Garrett was going to be pissed, but better him pissed than Roxy dead. Roxy was there because of her and that was something Janna couldn’t live with, whether Garrett understood that or not.
She continued down the path Jonah directed her to go. She knew he was near because he said he would be, but he was trying to keep downwind so the bastards who held Roxy couldn’t smell him. Leda had also given her directions, which she told Jonah, and he helped her until they needed to separate.
Hearing voices, she stopped, pressing tightly against a tree. Her eyes searched to see if she could spot Jonah, but there was nothing but trees and rocks. Closing her eyes, she gave herself a pep talk. She could do this. She had to do this, and if she had to shift, she could do that too, even though she had no idea how. Dammit, why didn’t she do it last night when Garrett wanted her to?
“I thought I smelled something.” A voice snapped her eyes wide open. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
She tried not to cringe away when he grabbed her arm, dragging her through the tall weeds and rocks. Walking under a large boulder, they ended up in a clearing. Her eyes immediately found Roxy who was standing with a few other people who looked scared to death.
“No!” Roxy shook her head. “Run, Janna.”
“Oh, she will be running very soon.” Jasper stepped out, his smile growing larger at the sight of her. “Look, Evan, your pledge is here.”
Memories of her mother being murdered flashed through her brain, making her shake in rage. Talking herself down, she had to remain calm. Soon this bastard would get his due. Very soon.
“Let her go.” Janna nodded toward Roxy. “Leda said if I came, you would let her go.”
“Who? That little pain in the ass wolf we sent crawling back?” Jasper laughed loudly. “Well, we changed our mind. One of my boy’s took a liking to the little human and decided to mark her for his pledge. She will be joining the Reaping tonight.”
“You’re a bastard,” Janna spat. She failed to react in time as his backhand hit her so hard her lip split instantly. She felt her beast clawing just below the surface, her body began to shake to the point it scared her. She forced it away. She wasn’t ready. What if she lost control? Plus it wasn’t the time to shift; if she could get alone, maybe, but not now.
“You don’t talk to our alpha like that.” Evan went to backhand her again, but Jasper stopped him.
“Hold on, son.” Jasper dropped his son’s hand. “I have a few more questions to ask before you damage her.”
Janna tried to keep her eyes on Jasper and his son, but all she wanted to do was look for help. It seemed her plan, and coming in and saving the day, was a bust. She was in deep shit and wasn’t afraid to admit it. She just hoped Jonah hadn’t lost her and was still out there close.
“So Jonah is still a coward?” Jasper tilted his head, watching her closely.
“Jonah who?” Janna asked, showing no emotion at Jonah’s name.
He took a step closer to her so he could grab her face in a cruel grip. “Do you think I’m a fool? You know exactly who Jonah is.” He leaned closer to her, the madness in his eyes hard to miss. “Jonah is the reason your mother is dead.”
“No, you are the reason my mother is dead,” she hissed with hatred, and then actually spat in his face.
This time, Jasper backhanded her and punched her hard in the stomach before wiping the spittle from his face. Grabbing her hair, he pulled her more into the clearing. “Just like your mother.” He jerked her around using her hair. “Too brave and stupid for your own good.”
The pain and talk of her mother was making her beast howl inside her head with rage. Raising her hands, she tried to pry his fingers out of her hair, but his grip was too tight.
“Jonah!” Jasper’s yell echoed through the trees. “I have your whore’s daughter. I would have thought you would try to play the hero again. What a disappointment you are to let your whore’s daughter die because you’re a coward.”
The more he talked of her mother, the angrier she became. “You’re the coward, you bastard.” Janna challenged. “You killed an innocent woman. You’ve known where Jonah has been this whole time, haven’t you?”
He let go of her hair pushing her away. “Shut the bitch up,” Jasper ordered, but Janna saw she had hit a nerve.
“Why don’t you shut me up, Jasper?” Janna growled, her eyes narrowing. “Or are you too big of a pussy, just like you were too much of a pussy walking into Garrett Foster’s town to find Jonah yourself? Instead, you had to kill an innocent woman and, mark his daughter all so you could draw him out from his pack, because they’re more powerful than you.”
Murmurs spread through his pack at Janna’s words. “Shut up!” Jasper growled, his eyes growing bright with anger.
Janna didn’t know who he was talking to, her or his pack, who were starting to look at Jasper in a new light.
“She belongs to the Foster Pack?” one of them said, looking around the wooded area before glaring at Jasper. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Did you say his daughter?” Jasper stepped toward her, a gleam of evil in his eyes.
That took her back. Had she said that? Realizing she had she tilted her head in pride. “Yes, his daughter.”
“So this isn’t just a Reaping?” another one asked, his eyes also nervously shifting through the woods.
“I said shut the fuck up!” Jasper screamed, his control slipping quickly.
“No, it’s not,” Janna answered for Jasper. “He killed my mother because of his vendetta against Jonah. And all of those people over there are under the protection of Garrett Foster, my mate.”
“Son of a bitch,” one of them cursed. “I’m fucking out of here. I have no beef with the Lee County pack.”
“Go!” Jasper didn’t even look his way, his eyes still on Janna. “You really think I give a fuck whether you stay or go? The rest of you get ready for the Reaping.”
“Maybe we better…” Evan began until Jasper smacked him across the face.
“Don’t ever turn on me.” He finally looked away from Janna to his son. “I will not hesitate to kill you for turning on your own blood. The other fools can leave, but you will stay by my side or die by my hand.”
Okay, Janna knew right then and there Jasper Simone was crazy. She had to stop this Reaping
one way or another. She noticed four of his pack had up and took off. Only five remained, other than Evan and Jasper.
With Jasper’s attention off her and on Evan, she headed toward Roxy and the others, but Jasper grabbed her around the throat and squeezed.
“Let her go!” Jonah’s voice was all it took for Jasper’s hand on her throat to loosen. He pushed her away.
Glancing toward Jonah, she was shocked yet relieved to see Garrett, along with the whole pack walking toward them. Garrett’s eyes briefly met hers; she could tell he was livid. His eyes raked her battered face and his eyes brightened to the point they glowed with fury. She tried to let him know with her eyes she was okay, but he looked away. Her heart sank. She had made a big mistake coming here. She should have trusted him.
Jasper looked toward Garrett. “You must be Garret Foster, alpha of Lee County.”
“I’m the man who is going to kill you for touching my mate,” Garrett responded, rolling his shoulders as if getting ready to do just that.
Janna saw fear flash across Jasper’s face, before he quickly hid it. “Take care of him, Evan,” Jasper ordered. When Evan didn’t step forward, he turned to look at his son. “This is your chance. Make me proud.”
Evan stared at Garrett, not looking confident. Garrett stepped forward and continued going until he stood face to face with Evan. Even when a few other men in Jasper’s pack tried to stop Garrett, he just tossed them aside as if they were nothing.
“Give it your best shot.” Garrett’s voice boomed in the quiet woods, echoing through the trees as he stared down at Evan, then his glare shot to Jasper. “But know this. After I kill him, I’m coming after whoever laid those marks on her body. Anyone willing to let me know who will die next?”
Every single one of Jasper’s pack pointed toward him.
“Kill him!” Jasper ordered his son.
Before Evan could even make a move, Garrett punched him repeatedly in the face before picking him up throwing him against a large boulder. Evan slid down the rock, his eyes opened in a death stare. Garrett turned toward Jasper and pointed at him. “You’re next,” Garrett promised, but took his eyes away from him for a second. “Doesn’t look like you have much loyalty, Jasper,” Garrett growled.
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