by A Lonergan
“You’re going to have a tummy ache,” I teased.
He rubbed his flat belly as he wiped the cake from his face. “Completely worth it.” His eyes darkened as he realized something. “You didn’t have to give me your dessert.”
“And miss you eating more than three grown men? I don’t think so. That was worth it.”
His eyes sparkled. I watched him as we put our empty trays on the garbage cans and walked back to our room. I didn’t want to test how far we could go. We would try another day. Lucas had a new pep in his step as we went down the hall. If chocolate cake could do that, what else would make him elated?
We didn’t speak as we neared our room. There was a healthy silence between us. Both of us full and satisfied with the turn of events through this captivity. I knew better than to grow to like it. I wasn’t naive to think Damian wasn’t dangling a prize in front of my nose. He would rip it away as soon as he saw fit.
I almost groaned when the smell of chocolate cake hit my nose. What torture. I couldn’t believe he still smelled like it. That was until we turned on the light and I noticed the slice of cake sitting on the table beside my bed. I unfolded the note slowly as I felt the same burning I had before.
You put others before yourself. It doesn’t go unnoticed. You have a friend in the cafeteria if you ever need anything.
Disappointment slammed into me as I realized I hadn’t gotten a good look at the woman’s face. But that was gone as soon as I dug into the cake and the chocolate coated my tongue. Maybe captivity wasn’t so bad as long as I was protecting others. I didn’t like to play games but I knew I had to risk it all with children involved. Bee and Sheeva both had families stuck in the middle of this. I was sure Lucas did too. Why else was he here?
I licked the spoon and sat the empty plate down outside the door of our room. Lucas was singing in the shower when I pulled the blankets up around my legs. It was time I got some answers from him on why he was here. It was only fair.
Chapter 26
Rafe
Axel watched me with his dark eyes. Now that the secret was out of the bag, he didn’t seem as angry with me.
“This could have been prevented,” He didn’t sound stern but disappointed. “She could have been protected if you had let me know.”
“Let you know and risk something happening to her if you aren’t on my side?” I crossed my arms over my chest. My wolf was docile in my head. Since I had outed our biggest secret and accepted Jade as my mate, he had calmed down. He no longer felt like I was fighting that part of myself. Wolves were weird.
Axel ground his teeth together and the sound made me cringe. I rolled my shoulders back as I prepared for the reprimand I knew was coming. “I am always on your side, just like I was on your father’s but things are changing and you aren’t the same Alpha he was. I can’t continue to treat you like a child. I should have trusted your judgment.”
I lurched forward in surprise. I swore my brows shot through my hairline. “Wait, what?”
Axel chuckled as he leaned forward at his desk. “You never treated Tracey any different for the dominant wolf inside of her and you still haven’t treated her differently now with the magic. You have always been a good friend to my kids,” His voice broke on the last word. Tracey’s brother had been missing for years and we all knew it was intentional. He hadn’t been loved in this pack like Tracey had been by me and the Guardians. The rest of the pack wasn’t as forgiving or progressive when it came to his sexual preferences. Tracey had insisted he not come out to the pack, but he had done it anyway. She had wanted to protect him while he needed to live his truth. “I should have trusted you but seeing your wolf so close to the surface when you are the calmest out of all of us… it set me on edge. I was afraid you not finding a mate was causing you and your wolf to go mad with it.”
I nodded my head. I could understand that. I had worried myself in those moments. My mind had gone to a dark place when I had smelled the sickness in the air that night. “I can see why you were worried, I was worried too.”
Axel stood up from the desk and patted me on the shoulder. “You are a good leader to our people. I’m sorry I didn’t see it before. We will get your mate back, but it’s not going to be a pretty fight.”
My gums ached as my canines elongated past my lips. “I prefer to fight dirty, Axel. You should know this by now.”
All he did was grin and this time, it met his eyes.
Knox met my stride as I left the main house. He had gotten a ridiculous haircut the previous day and I couldn’t stop looking at it. What had he been thinking? His hair was just barely past his shoulders and he had shaved off the sides of his head right above his ears. He looked like he had a mullet and a Mohawk at the same time. Tracey had about had a heart attack when she saw it before she couldn’t stop laughing. It was the only thing that had gotten a good emotional response out of her in days. He had it in a little bun at the back of his head and I wondered, as I looked at him, if he had done it for that reason.
Today he was in his fighting leathers and bringing that up wasn’t a part of the itinerary. Jokes couldn’t be brought to the war room. If we didn’t stay serious we would lose our advantage on all of it. Whoever had Jade didn’t know what we knew. He or she didn’t know that we left to keep people safe. They probably thought we were going quietly with broken hearts. Little did they know we were going to start a war.
Tracey rounded the corner with a little smile on her face. It was the first time I had ever seen her in fighting leathers, and apparently Knox too because his eyes about fell out of their sockets at the sight. I averted my eyes politely but smacked Knox on the back of the head anyway. We couldn’t be distracted. There were too many people at stake.
The war room wasn’t one that my father used often. My father had used it as a private study and my mother had never been permitted inside. Even though he had loved her fiercely, he had always said this place wasn’t a place for love. It was a place to plan, a place to fight for love and justice. If the men couldn’t keep it together over the woman I knew would be my second someday, then they wouldn’t be permitted to participate.
The only reason Tracey wasn’t my second now was because she refused to challenge her father over the title. But we all knew she outranked him and the other wolves in the pack. I didn’t mind her waiting, now that I knew where Axel stood in all of this, I rested easier. He had chosen to sit out of this meeting, he wanted his daughter there in his place. He would probably end up stepping down so she didn’t have to challenge him for the place. I could practically smell it in the air. All Axel wanted was for his daughter to do great things and he knew that he was in the way of that.
I stopped at the massive utility building that looked nothing more than a place to hold heavy equipment. The metal walls were dull with age but the thick wooden doors in front of me were bright and shiny like they had been polished recently.
I turned to my Guardians and Tracey. I placed a hand on the door reverently. “This is a place we go to fight for our love. Love isn’t permitted in here. Lust isn’t allowed. If you can’t keep your actions platonic while we are in this room, you will be asked to leave. I trust that you all have had the proper training to be here and know when to be serious and when to joke around. I trust all of you or you wouldn’t be here with me.”
I shoved the double doors open. The smell of whiskey and tobacco wrapped around me. I closed my eyes for a moment to let the nostalgia pass over me. Emotions would cloud my judgment and I didn’t need them to hinder me any more than they already had. I should have come here alone before this, but there was no one else I wanted to experience this with.
I had only been in this room once. It was the night before I killed my father and took his place as Alpha.
Chapter 27
Jade
Pancakes were usually my favorite. Especially when they were slathered in as much butter as I could get on them. Growing up in a vegan household made me appreciate the finer things
in life.
AKA butter.
But today, I couldn’t stomach them. I couldn’t bring myself to eat one bite. I shoved my tray away from me and watched with sickening fascination as Lucas devoured twelve pancakes and three cinnamon rolls. I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face as he finished off his second glass of orange juice.
He stopped mid-sip. “What?”
“One would think you haven’t eaten in years,”
He set the glass down hard and the juice sloshed over the side of the rim. His eyes went cold as he shoved his, now, empty tray away from him. “Maybe I haven’t.”
I leaned forward on my crossed arms. “I wouldn’t know.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you want to know, Jade?”
“How long have you been Damian’s prisoner?”
He pursed his lips together. “That’s a complicated answer.”
I cocked an eyebrow. If we were going to continue on like this, I had to trust him. Yes, I know about his family somewhat but I didn’t know why he was here. He still knew too much about me. I needed a friend but I was too afraid of getting close to someone here. What would it do to me? It would destroy me if I allied with the wrong person.
He sighed before he leaned forward. “I fell in love with Damian five years ago,” My heart stopped. He grabbed our trays before he held a hand out to me. I placed my hand in his hesitantly then he yanked me from the table. He looped his arm through mine as we walked. “We met in a coven during a sacred holiday. I thought he was a gift from the gods. I thought he was everything I had been waiting for. But he didn’t love me. He was looking for witches to aid him in his cause. He brought me back to his hotel room and I thought it was finally going to be my night, the night that everything was going to change. He jabbed a needle into my neck after he got me down to my underwear. Later he admitted it was in case I transformed immediately. He didn’t know what would happen, I was his first witch changed wolf. I was the first of his experiments.”
The burning returned in the back of my eyes. I couldn’t breathe as he continued to speak.
“I thought he was the sun and the moon, turned out he was only a man. An evil man that couldn’t turn himself so he sought out to destroy others.” He chuckled but the sound was flat. “He held me captive and away from others for five years. When they threw you into my cell, I didn’t know what to make of it. I still don’t.”
“He’s kept real meals from you this entire time?”
Lucas nodded his head. “Yes, after I tried to rip his throat out when I realized what he had done to me.”
It took me a few minutes to realize Micah was at our door. Now that I knew who he was, he no longer wore a ski mask. His lips twitched a bit when my eyes met his. I narrowed my eyes at him. He had helped me but I wasn’t sure if I could trust him either. I pinched the bridge of my nose. All of this was making my head hurt. If I was going to beat Damian I had to be ten steps ahead but he was five years ahead of me, possibly more.
“Good morning, Micah,” I cocked my head to the side in a greeting.
“Damian is requesting your presence,” His voice didn’t sound entirely happy about it and Lucas stiffened beside me. I pulled my arm from his and Micah held out his elbow like a true gentleman. What was going on here? Somehow I had gone from the prisoner to the princess.
Damian was waiting for me in a lavish sitting room on the other side of this jail. I wasn’t entirely sure what to call it all yet but it certainly wasn’t a palace, even if Damian’s rooms suggested otherwise. He stood up from his chair and practically glided to me. I felt Micah’s hand tighten briefly, in warning, on my arm before he released me to the beast.
“I hope you have been enjoying all the extras lately.” Damian wrapped his fingers around mine and pulled me to a balcony that overlooked the mountains. There were two white rocking chairs to the left of us. He sat down in one before he motioned for me to sit in the other.
“Yes, the chocolate cake has been delicious,” I motioned down to my white shirt and jeans. “Having actual clothing is also a bonus. We no longer stick out like sore thumbs when we leave our room.”
Damian faced me with zero emotion on his face. I didn’t like that I couldn’t read him. What was he playing at? “Lucas told you about me.”
I kept the surprise off of my face at the change of topic all of a sudden. I didn’t know why I was surprised to begin with, he had eyes and ears everywhere. Of course he knew.
I nodded my head. “Yes, he did.”
Damian leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I would love to tell you that I’m not a monster. I would deny the claims if they weren’t true. But they are.”
I kept my eyes on the mountains while he spoke. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, I knew if I did this entire charade would come crumbling down around me. I had to remain stoic. I rubbed my hand over my mouth before I allowed myself to talk. Like the action would keep me from revealing all of my secrets.
“Why would you do that to him?” My voice broke. There was no denying the hurt in my voice. There was also no point in hiding it. But what I couldn’t do was attack him with my hands or my words. I had to be diplomatic about this.
“He was the perfect specimen,” He chuckled like he knew a secret I didn’t know. “Born of wolf shifters but having no wolf.”
Chills ignited along my arms. That’s what Lucas had meant when he had said his family would be delighted. He was more witch than he was wolf. I looked at Damian as something started to dawn on me. The corners of his lips quirked up.
“He wouldn’t tell you who they are, but I have a feeling you already know. He knows who Rafe Crimson is, little wolf. Rafe is the one that protected him from all the others.”
I pressed my palms into the tops of my thighs. It was the only thing I could do to keep myself from flying across the space between us. It all made sense. He had shackled me to Tracey’s brother. But was it to torture me or to torture Lucas? And what of Rafe? He had protected Lucas? Why hadn’t Lucas said anything?
“He tried to kill himself, did he tell you that?”
I nodded stiffly.
“All this time his family has thought he has stayed away willingly.” He rubbed his hands together like he had won a larger prize than Rafe Crimson’s head. I couldn’t imagine how he would act if he got that. “I originally planned to kill him after letting him live this way for five years. Can you imagine living in your own filth for five years? I’m surprised he still has a wolf anymore, he has had so much wolfsbane pumped into him.”
Blood roared through my ears as I tried to fight the urge to rip him to shreds. I tucked my hands together as I peeked claws breaking through the tips of my fingers.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to tell him how she’s a witch now? Oh, how the tables have turned.”
My head snapped up. He knew she was a witch now?
“I scented her change in the woods after you convinced them to leave. It's funny how powerful magic and powerful emotions can override everything else.”
Then something else clicked into place.
“She was a social experiment too?”
He smiled and his face transformed into something beautiful. Something deadly. “Oh yes. You see, Lucas still has his magic shimmering under there somewhere. His wolf didn’t destroy it like I hoped it would.
Chapter 28
Tracey
The food on my plate smelled good. It was my favorite, after all. My mom had gone through the trouble of cooking up an entire southern comfort meal for me. They had hoped it would help bring me back to myself. But as I stared down at the food, I didn’t feel like myself. I could still see the magic around us shimmering softly. Granny had confirmed that this was how the witches saw the world. Everything was interconnected by the strands of magic. The first few hours had given me a headache and Granny had insisted that I would get used to it. Eventually, I would be able to block it out completely and see the world normally again. But it would tak
e years of concentration and practice. Years I didn’t have.
“How long have you known Jade was Rafe’s mate?” My father scooped up a massive serving of mashed potatoes and plopped it onto his plate before he moved onto the gravy beside it.
I looked down at my own untouched potatoes. “I have known since Rafe knew.”
The fork in my mother’s fingers clattered to her plate. “Really?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal. I don’t know why you’re surprised. Rafe and I have been best friends since we were children. He is the only one that accepted the dominant wolf under my skin. He’s the one that invited me into his band of misfits and trouble.”
My dad smiled as he cut into his chicken. "We absolutely shouldn’t be surprised, you’re right. But I wish you would have told me. I could have helped.”
I pushed the potatoes around my plate. “I will not betray my Alpha or his trust.”
“Yes, but I could have accepted the fallout from everyone else. I could have helped the pack accept it, rather than fuel the raging fire it became.”
“You’re perfectly happy with the way things are now, now that he told you she’s his mate?” I set my fork down carefully beside my plate.
“Why wouldn’t I be? We should be celebrating.” He grabbed my mother’s hand and tucked it inside of his massive one.
“He changed her against her will, did everyone forget about that?” I was on Rafe’s side until that had happened. I had agreed that he needed to get to know her. I had agreed that I would find out everything there was to know about Jade, but he had still violated her. He acted against her and didn’t care about her consent. I understood why but I doubted my father did.
