Is love enough to overcome a lifetime of orders and coldness?
Jago has known Corbin is his mate for a while now, but he gave him all the time and space he needed in the hope Corbin would decide he wants Jago. He knows it’s not going to be easy because of Corbin’s past and what he was raised to be, but he has hope. Then the creature that haunts the woods around pack territory kidnaps Jago, and Corbin comes to his rescue. It doesn’t mean all is flowers and rainbows between them, though.
Corbin doesn’t know what to do with Jago. He’s been raised to be cool and emotionless, and Jago is threatening that. Corbin doesn’t know how to be different, but the lure of having a mate and all it entails is calling out to him, and Corbin wants to surrender. The only thing stopping him is himself, but when he hears Zach and Jago talk about what Jago’s father has done to him, he finally caves in. Jago needs him, and Corbin can’t resist the mating instinct that’s growing inside.
Jago and Corbin mate and everything is right in their world—for a little while. Corbin is still trying to navigate his new relationship and to become more human when a menace both new and old rises on the horizon, putting him and everything he now holds dear in danger and changing their lives forever.
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Jago
Copyright © 2016 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0640-0
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Jago
Gillham Pack Book Nine
By
Catherine Lievens
Chapter One
Jago pressed his back against the cold stone. He never looked away from the creature that had taken him, but he couldn’t help but wonder why it hadn’t killed him yet. It looked like Kameron was right—the thing in front of Jago was intelligent, at least to a point. Jago wasn’t sure how much it understood, or if it was able to talk and explain itself, but he was about to find out.
“What do you want from me?”
The creature looked at Jago and grunted. Jago shivered at the sight of the fangs peeking from under the creature’s lips, but it didn’t look like the thing wanted to hurt him. Yet.
“Why did you take me?”
The creature stopped walking back and forth at the entrance of the cave they were in and turned to face Jago. Jago grimaced—even in the darkness, what he could see of the thing was something he knew he’d never forget. Black fur, twisted legs, long claws, and a face that would have looked almost human if it wasn’t for the fur and the way the nose and mouth looked like a half-developed muzzle. It was more elongated than a human face, but not as much as a dog’s. It made the fact that the creature was a mix of human and canine obvious.
The creature sat in front of Jago, far enough that Jago didn’t feel threatened—not much more than before, anyway. It didn’t answer Jago’s questions, though, so Jago decided to push. “So? What do you want from me?”
The creature grunted again, and Jago thought that was all the answers he was going to get, but instead the creature opened its mouth. “The alpha.”
The creature’s voice was broken and sounded more like a growl, but it was clear enough that Jago understood what it had told him. “You want Kameron?”
The creature nodded.
“Why?”
The creature shrugged. Jago squirmed, trying to find a more comfortable position even if he knew it wasn’t possible, not as long as he had to stay on the cold stone. He couldn’t feel his ass anymore, and he was shivering. At least the creature had waited for summer to kidnap him, but the cave they were in was still cold as fuck, and he was only wearing a thin T-shirt and a pair of board shorts.
“So you want Kameron because he’s the alpha. Why did you take me, though?”
“Friends,” the creature grunted.
“Because I’m friends with Kameron?” The creature nodded. “And you thought he was going to come to get me back?” Another nod.
Jago felt kind of crazy for trying to talk and reason with the thing in front of him, but it was either that or wait for it to kill him, and he wasn’t about to wait for death without at least trying to do something. He knew people were probably already looking for him, and the creature was correct in its assumption that Kameron would come and look for Jago. But it probably hadn’t thought about Corbin, and Jago felt kind of sorry for the creature, because he knew Corbin would be furious.
Not that Jago and Corbin were mated yet, or that they were even civil to each other. Corbin had gotten over the fact that Jago was his mate pretty fast, and he’d basically disappeared ever since. Jago saw him only in passing now, no matter how many times he tried to talk to him. But even with their strained relationship, Jago knew—or rather, he hoped—that Corbin would come for him.
“Why didn’t you take Zach?”
“Too protected.”
Yeah, that made sense. “Why me and not someone else?”
“You live with him.”
“And you thought that meant I was closer to Kam and Zach than anyone else.” The creature grunted in assent, or at least Jago thought so. “Sorry to tell you this, but you’re wrong. I might live with them, but I’m really just another pack member to them.”
That wasn’t strictly correct, but it was true that Jago wasn’t exactly Kameron or Zach’s best friend. He liked the alpha couple well enough, but his best friend was Craig. Jago didn’t really have that much interaction with Zach outside of the house, and even less so with Kameron.
The creature grunted again and got up. Jago realized a bit too late that the fact that he wasn’t that important to the alpha pair might mean the creature would kill him and try to find someone else, but it went back to the cave entrance rather than toward Jago.
Jago relaxed just a bit and hugged his knees to his chest in hope of getting warmer. It didn’t help much, but it was better than nothing. Jago was still curious, and since the creature didn’t look like it wanted to eat him, he decided to try to get more out of it. He didn’t think Kameron’s first thought would be to try not to hurt it, and he knew the creature would be lucky to make it out of the upcoming confrontation alive.
“Why do you want Kameron?”
Jago waited for an answer, but the silence lengthened. He thought the creature was done with answering, but it shifted and looked at him again. “Need to take him.”
“Why?”
“Master asked.”
Jago closed his eyes. That sounded way too much like something Corbin might have said, and he hated it. He opened his eyes again and looked at the creature. For once, he didn’t see a monster, but rather someone—something—that hadn’t asked to be like it was. “You were born
in a lab.” It wasn’t a question, but the creature nodded.
“What... what are you?”
The creature shrugged. “Me.”
Jago wasn’t sure whether the creature was being sarcastic or just honest. “Yeah, I... sorry. I meant, what happened to you? Did they create you? Did they want you to be like—like this?”
The creature looked outside from the small opening of the cave. “Yes.”
“They made you.”
“Yes.”
“Did they... want you to be like this?”
The creature looked at Jago again, and Jago felt the need to move backward, even though he knew he couldn’t. He knew he was dancing with danger, that the creature could snap at him and kill him like it’d done with Ronald Teague and the council member. He probably should have kept his mouth shut, but Jago had never liked doing the obvious.
“No. I was... a mistake.”
Jago swallowed. “I’m sorry. I... what’s your name?”
The creature seemed to relax a bit. “I don’t have one.”
“What do people call you?”
“Monster. You.”
“That’s... sad. Do you—can I name you?”
The creature cocked its head. “Why?”
“Because I don’t think you’re as bad as we thought you were.” Jago wasn’t sure this was actually true, but he hoped it was.
“I killed.”
“I know, but you’re not the only... person I know who killed. You’re not even the only person I know who killed because you were ordered to.”
“All right.”
“All right? I can name you?”
“Yes.”
Jago thought about it. He didn’t think anyone but himself would ever use whatever name he’d give the creature, so it shouldn’t have mattered. He could have called it John, or Jack, but he couldn’t help but think about Corbin when he looked at the creature, and he needed it to be more than just a product of the labs. “Can I take my phone out?”
The creature cocked its head. “Why?”
“I’m not going to call Kameron. I just want to look for a name for you.”
“All right. And call Kameron after.”
“You want me to call him?”
“Yes. I want him to find me. I need him to.”
Jago nodded and moved slowly. He took his cell phone out, and of course, he didn’t have signal. “I need to come closer to the entrance.”
The creature thought about it, then nodded. It stepped out of the cave and Jago stood up. He wiggled his legs and grimaced at the pinprick pain, then slowly moved toward the entrance. He peeked outside and closed his eyes against the light. When he opened them again, he noticed the creature was hovering close, but still not close enough for Jago to be scared.
He looked at his cell again and opened his browser. He did a quick search and found what he was looking for, then dialed Kameron’s number. Kameron took all of two seconds to answer. “Jago? Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It... it didn’t hurt me.”
“Tell me where you are.”
“I’m not sure. It’s a cave. It’s not far from the house, though.”
“We’re looking for you. We’ll find you, don’t worry.”
“I know. What about Corbin?”
Kameron sighed. “He’s already gone. He disappeared as soon as we realized you were gone.”
The creature growled and Jago took it as a request for him to hang up. “I need to go. I’m... try not to hurt it, okay?”
“Jago, wait!”
The creature growled again, and Jago hung up. His phone started to ring seconds after and the creature growled. “Put it on the ground.”
Jago obeyed, still moving slowly.
“Go back in.”
“I...”
“Go back in!”
Jago obeyed quickly and sat at the back of the cave again. It looked like his captor was losing his patience, and he didn’t want to try it more than he’d already had.
* * * *
It had taken Corbin very little time to find out where the creature had taken Jago. He could’ve found the creature easily any time he’d wanted to, but Kameron had never asked him to, and he’d had no quarrel with it, so he’d left it alone. Until now. It shouldn’t have taken Corbin’s mate. It shouldn’t have taken Jago.
Corbin was in a tree to the left of the cave Jago was in. He’d already calculated four ways to disable the creature, but he wasn’t sure which one he’d use yet. It depended on what the creature had done to Jago. If Jago was safe, then Corbin would be quick and efficient. If Jago was hurt... Corbin knew a lot of ways to hurt people, and he wasn’t afraid to use any of them.
He’d been bred to be a weapon, and while he’d lived what everyone thought of as a normal life since he’d arrived in Gillham, he didn’t have any problems being a weapon again. And this time, he was the one making the decisions, not his master.
He was used to viewing the world around himself in cold, unemotional terms, but that was starting to change, and Jago was one of the reasons. Elias was another, and Corbin had sworn to himself he’d do anything he had to in order to protect the two men who had made him feel like he was human for the first time in his life.
Jago had looked fine when he’d stepped out of the cave just long enough to make a phone call, but that didn’t mean he was. Corbin waited for him to go back inside before leaping from the tree. He grabbed a sturdy branch on his way down and used it to catapult himself toward the creature.
The creature felt him coming, and Corbin landed lightly and ran toward it without even pausing. His boots pounded the ground as he got closer, and he saw the creature tense and ready itself for impact. Corbin had an advantage on it, and he didn’t mind using it.
He grabbed his gun from his holster and pointed it at the creature. He shot, but the creature moved out of harm’s way. Corbin smelled blood, though, so he’s gotten at least a superficial hit in. He shot again, until he got all the shots out, then dumped his gun for hand-to-hand combat. He knew he had to avoid the creature’s claws and its fangs, and he knew he’d be able to do so without problems.
They faced off and circled each other. Corbin waited for the creature to make the first move, because he knew it would. It might have been born in the same lab he’d been born in, but it had never been trained as well as Corbin had. It had never been used as a killing machine, and Corbin would take advantage of that.
The creature lost its patience and lunged for Corbin. He waited until the last moment, then moved to the side. The creature passed by him and stumbled, but it regained its balance with little trouble.
Now that he’d seen it move, Corbin knew he would win. The creature was untrained and acted on pure instinct. It had no chance against him.
It lunged for Corbin again, but this time Corbin didn’t move away. He grabbed the fist that came his way and crushed it in his hand. He felt the bones crack, and the creature howled as Corbin turned on himself and used his hold and his movement to wrench the creature’s arm backward at the elbow.
There was another sharp crack as the joint broke, and the creature howled again. Corbin noticed Jago peeking at the cave’s entrance, and he shook his head at him, hoping Jago would understand he was telling him to stay out of the way.
The creature’s arm was hanging by its side, utterly useless, but that didn’t stop it from trying to punch Corbin again while he was distracted by Jago. Corbin heard Jago cry out just as the blow connected with his face, tearing the skin of his cheek. He moved backward just in time to avoid the claws the creature angled toward his eye.
Corbin shook the pain away like he’d done hundreds of times and intercepted the next punch. This one was claws out, and Corbin grabbed the creature’s wrist. The creature was breathing hard, and it whimpered in pain when Corbin punched it.
He knew he should’ve felt something—pity, maybe—but
he didn’t. Mercy, and every other feeling associated with it, was a concept he hadn’t been taught. It was foreign, and the only thing that mattered to Corbin was winning. Failing wasn’t an option, had never been one, and he didn’t feel anything when he extracted his knife and sank it into the creature’s stomach the next time it came at him.
Corbin saw the flash of pain in the creature’s eyes, but he didn’t feel anything, not even regret. He knew he’d just about killed it—there in the deep of the forest, it wouldn’t be rescued soon enough to survive. And Corbin didn’t care.
Corbin pushed, and the creature fell on its knees. Corbin slid the knife out as it fell and was about to hit again when Jago cried out. “Don’t!”
Corbin froze. Jago wasn’t his master, and he couldn’t order Corbin to do anything, but Corbin still felt the urge to do what Jago asked. He let his hand fall to his side as Jago ran toward him, but when Jago tried to kneel next to the creature, he quickly put the knife away and grabbed Jago’s arm.
Jago looked at him, and Corbin didn’t know if he was angry. He couldn’t read Jago’s expression, even though that was what he wanted most right now.
“Let me go,” Jago hissed.
“I can’t.”
Jago tugged on his arm and tried to make Corbin let go, but Corbin wasn’t easily dissuaded.
“Let me go.”
“It could hurt you. Even if it’s dying, it could scratch you, or bite you, and you might die. I can’t allow that.”
“He won’t hurt me.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know. Look, you can keep an eye on him if you want to, even tie his hands together if you want, but you have to let me go. Please.” Jago leaned forward instead of trying to get free. Corbin took his weight without a problem, and a tingle of something moved in his stomach.
Jago looked up at him, his eyes damp. “Please. No one deserves to die alone. Not even him. He’s like you. He never had a choice. You managed to get out of it. You were lucky. He wasn’t.”
Jago Page 1
