by Helen Scott
All he saw when he looked at me was power and the ability to sire a line of alphas that would be just as destructive and backward as he was, ones that would catapult the world into Ragnarok. And I wasn't just talking about one of the steps toward it either, I knew down to the marrow of my bones that if he sired any pups on me then they would be the downfall of not just shifter kind, but everything. They would represent everything wrong with the world.
The closer he came the more I wanted to run, but I couldn't, not yet. For now I needed to play along. "That is a better offer than you've given me before," I said, trying to act like I wasn't preparing to knee him in the balls if I had to.
"You'll be treated like a queen by my side, not reduced to living in tents in the woods or hiding in caves," Jax said as he reached a hand up and cupped my face, rubbing his thumb over my cheekbone. "You're mine, Antonia. Mine and mine alone and the whole world will know that soon enough."
He was lying, not just about me being his and his alone but about me being treated like a queen. I could see it in his eyes, in the way he wanted to claim my power as his own so badly that he'd do and say anything. When he was done with me and had what he wanted I'd be a discarded toy, left for anyone to play with. As he touched me I wanted to jerk away, the feeling of his skin on mine like acid, but I didn't.
When I didn't respond he leaned down and kissed me. I let him. This was part of the plan after all. To get him to let his guard down enough that he was too focused on me to notice what was happening to his men. His tongue swiped against my lips and I opened for him, pushing all the feelings of revulsion down. As soon as I did he groaned like he'd just won and his tongue slipped into my mouth, trying to tangle with my own. Only I couldn't bring myself to respond. I wondered if this was what Tate had somehow foreseen in his dream. Was he watching now? Was he terrified that this was real?
A scream pierced the silence and I bit down until I tasted blood. He screamed then, the sound soothing the rage in my soul slightly. It was his hand around my throat that got me to release him and not bite his tongue clean off.
I tried to knee him in the family jewels but he blocked it and I knew I'd telegraphed the move too much. My oxygen supply was cut off and my pulse was pounding in my ears as he held me there. His gaze burned into me with a darkness that was all consuming until it felt like it was just the two of us standing there.
"You think you can trap me? You think that you and your little mates can take me and my men? I have an army at my back and you have five pathetic assholes who don't even realize that they've already lost. I'm the one holding you now. I'm the one who's going to be touching you, fucking you, for the rest of your life. I was going to give them a quick, clean death. My mating gift for you, but now they will suffer. I'll peel the skin from their bodies and suck the marrow from their bones as the birds feast on their carrion." His wording was strange, as though Fenrir was actually there with him, trying to take over.
"Feeling poetic today?" I croaked.
"I'm feeling victorious," he hissed in my ear as he spun me around to see the fight. Until that point he'd been dominating my vision and with him holding me by my throat I hadn't exactly had a lot of leeway to look around. "You think Serenity's wolves stand a chance against mine? Yes, I know about your shitty little alliance. We have guns, grenades, and all manner of weapons that we aren't afraid to use. Now you're going to stand here with me and watch the world burn. This will just be a taste. There's nothing you can do to stop what's happening. Nothing you can do to save any of them. Everyone who followed you here today will die and anyone who doesn't bow to me will die, and that's all on your pretty little head. You could have accepted my deal and they would have lived, but now they are going to die and their remains will be left here to rot."
I tried to let his words wash over me, to keep the faith in our plan, but watching Serenity's warriors getting struck down was hard. A few were supposed to go down, yes, to make Jax think he'd won, but not this many. This made it seem like the worst was actually happening.
We were losing. And I'd just handed Jax the thing he wanted most.
Me.
31
Nina
I heard the horn sound and knew that the second round of Serenity's pack was coming in. We'd held back some of the fighters so that they weren't all overwhelmed by Jax's men. We didn't have numbers on our side so we had to fight smarter, not harder.
Jax's hold on my throat was still tight enough that if I struggled he could easily cut off my oxygen supply. I couldn't just stand on the sidelines though. They needed me to fight as well. We needed every single person we could get, which meant I had to get away from Jax somehow.
I stomped on his instep and with the combat boots I was wearing I actually felt like I did some damage, until he laughed in my ear.
"You think that's going to make me let you go?" He growled the question in a way that sent a chill into my bones.
The pop of gunfire sounded in the distance made my stomach twist. "You're cheating?" I snarled.
"I'm winning and I'm not letting some ancient traditions get in my way. I'm going to clear away all this clutter, strip us back to what we were originally meant to be. We will rule over humans and I will rule all of the packs and this," Jax paused and gestured to the fight in front of us with a sweep of his hand. "This is just the beginning."
That was it, I couldn't wait any longer. If that meant that I had to fight naked, so be it. I elbowed him in the diaphragm causing him to grunt in pain and lean forward while I had a little leeway with his hand around my throat I slammed my head back against his. It was enough to allow me to break free and put some distance between us.
More gunshots sounded in the distance and I hated it. We were at a disadvantage because we were playing by a different set of rules. Anger burned through my veins as we stared each other down.
"Your men won't survive this fight. The only ones that will survive are you and Serenity because you're both too valuable since you can birth the next generation. We will keep you alive through any means necessary. If I have to keep you both chained to a bed and force fed then that's what I'll do."
Jax lunged for me and I dodged to the side, sprinting away from him toward the battle. He obviously couldn't sense that my bonds with my mates had changed, otherwise he wouldn't have been talking so much about killing them, since he'd know it would kill me too. I was pretty glad about that. It would be my secret, my get out of jail free card, literally. It might be by death but that would be better than being stuck as Jax's broodmare.
As soon as I got to the treeline I knew we were in trouble. Bodies littered the ground both ours and theirs. It was easy to tell the difference because our men had gone full Rambo with their facepaint and gear. Or maybe it was Commando. I'd only ever seen those movies as reruns on TV and they all blended together after a while.
What was important was that I could tell who was down from our side and who was down from Jax's as I stepped over the bodies. I couldn't slow down, couldn't check to see if anyone was alive or dead, hell I couldn't even tell if any of them were my mates they were all covered up so well. The only thing I knew was that my mates were still alive. If I stopped to check the bonds then I'd leave myself vulnerable, so that was all I could be sure of for now.
A rustling in the trees had me pausing and pressing my back against the nearest tree trunk as I prepared to fight. I didn't think it was Jax, he'd still been standing in the middle of the clearing outraged the last I saw him, but it could definitely be one of his men.
The last person I was expecting to see was Charlie, the woman who had been friendly in Thomas' pack. "Charlie?" I hissed not knowing who else was around.
She turned and when she saw me her eyes went wide.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
"It's a long story. Short version I'm the new alpha of what was Thomas' pack and when I put helping you and standing up to Jax to a vote you won. Someone from Serenity's pack reached out when they hear
d we were looking for you."
My brain seemed to blank for a second as I took in her words. "You're an alpha?"
She grinned. "I fooled everyone. Being an alpha female is way too much work so I made everyone overlook me."
Gunshots sounded from somewhere else in the woods and as Charlie spoke into a microphone that I hadn't even noticed my brain seemed to kick back on. "The good guys have camo face paint, bad guys have guns, obviously," I said a little breathlessly as my mind was still processing the fact that she was an alpha. She relayed my words quietly into the microphone and listened to whatever was said back through the earbud.
Once I thought they were done I asked, "What happened to Thomas?"
"You did. When you rammed him into that tree it gave him some internal injuries that we didn't notice until it was too late."
Well, fuck. "I'm sorry," I said, not knowing how else to respond.
"Don't be. Dude was too busy sucking Jax's cock to be any good to the pack," she said with a growl. "Now, tell me whose ass I need to kick."
"Antonia..." Jax's voice filtered through the trees and I couldn't help but search him out. "Come out now and I'll spare your mates lives. Howl for her, Micah, unless you want a repeat of the last time you and I spent some quality time together. No? How about you, Blake?"
The mention of Micah and Blake's names had my gut clenching and when my eyes finally landed on the figure in the clearing it was obvious he wasn't alone. Instead of having his hand around my throat it was now around Micah's and I knew he wouldn't hesitate to tear it out if given the opportunity. He had a buddy holding Blake as well, gun to my mate's head.
Both of them were clearly injured. Their clothes had what looked like wet patches staining them in a way that could only be blood, and I didn't think it could have come from someone else. My guess was that it was whatever injuries they had that had allowed them to be captured. They could both easily be dead within seconds if I didn't respond.
I wasn't about to let that happen. My mates and I wouldn't die at Jax's hand.
I glanced at Charlie over my shoulder. “Behind you,” I called and she spun at my direction, lashing out at the man who was approaching her. He was apparently missing his gun and was choosing to try and capture one of the female wolves that were fighting. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he was successful. I couldn’t walk away until I knew she was safe. She took him down with a two punch combo and turned back to me, blood lust rising in her eyes. When she turned back to me I said, "Take out as many of his men as you can. Don't stop for anything."
She gave me a worried look but nodded. I turned away and reached down into my boot where I'd stashed a blade that Serenity had insisted I take with me, just in case. I pulled it out and felt the wait of it in my hand, a cold comfort for what was about to come.
I ducked and wove through the trees until I was about to walk out of the protection of the forest. Without hesitating I raised the blade to my own throat and stepped out into the sunlight. The warmth of it hitting my skin felt at odds with the chill that had seeped into my bones and my heart. If my mates died now that was it.
"Jax," I called as I walked toward him slowly, but surely. "Let them go or I'll slit my own throat."
"You wouldn't. You don't have the balls to do it," Jax said as he grabbed at his own crotch as though I needed a demonstration of what testicles were.
I pressed the blade further against my skin until I felt the tip pierce the surface and a droplet of blood roll down the long line of my neck. "Wouldn't I? I love these men more than anything you can ever imagine. You hurt them, then you hurt me. Now let them go before I take the decision out of your hands."
Jax was silent for a long moment staring me down. I stared back, unflinching as I let him see how dedicated I was to this course of action. I wouldn't back down. The guys knew it. I knew it. And now Jax knew it too.
"They aren't worth anything to me anyway," Jax said as he tossed Micah to one side and nodded at his soldier to do the same.
With Micah and Blake out of immediate harm's way I let out a slow breath. I didn't sigh with relief like I wanted to because Jax was a wild card and I never knew what he might do. After I lowered the blade from my throat I said, "You'll never be able to have me. I'll kill myself before I let you take me again. Whatever this is, it's over. Now."
"You think you can kill yourself before I can stop you? You think I wouldn't capture and torture your mates to make them pay for your death?" Jax demanded, his anger rising. The red splotches on his neck were climbing up his cheeks.
"My mates and I have a bond you'll never understand. If they die I die and vice versa. None of us will ever be tortured by you again. You'll never gain a foothold in this world again, Fenrir. Go back to your cave and your chains. We don't want you here."
Crows and ravens that had started gathering in the trees without us noticing cawed loudly at my words. Whether it was approval or not was yet to be seen but I decided to be a bit cocky and said, "See, even the gods are on my side. Who is supporting you? No one. You're alone and you'll always be alone, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering you were willing to kill your own cousin."
I wasn't sure how I knew it but I knew I had to rile him up, had to get him so outraged that he wasn't thinking straight, and then I'd have the advantage. He'd be so driven by his emotions, his anger, that I'd be able to take advantage of that, as long as I could remain calm.
"Do you think Sam would even want you anywhere near me? You think he'd trust his little sister to you?" I scoffed.
I knew the moment the red blotchiness hit his eyes because the roar that he let out shook the ground. His wolf seemed to form around him in a black cloud of rage. My jaw dropped at the sight of him.
He wasn't just big.
He was massive.
No, he was the size of a rhino or a small house.
I thought when the guys said he was big they meant normal big, like, yeah, he's large, but still a regular wolf shifter kind of size. This was mythical proportions though. It seemed like each of us had something, he was big, and insane, while I was fast and lighter than air sometimes.
Was I supposed to stay calm and fight him, yes. Did that happen? No. I freaked out and shifted because who wouldn't freak out when faced with a wolf the size of a barge.
The sounds of gunfire and the fights happening all around us faded to nothing as my adrenaline roared in my ears. I had no doubt the fight was still raging in the woods, but I couldn’t spare a single brain cell to think about it as I was faced with Fenrir.
At least in my wolf form I was faster than he could possibly be. I darted to the side as he charged forward and dug my claws into the ground to slow myself and quickly change directions. As Jax turned and tried to run at me again I was already running past him, launching an attack at his side. My claws dug into the flesh by his ribs, and I bit at his shoulder, but he shook me off like a dog shaking off raindrops. I flew through the air and landed hard enough to knock the air from my lungs.
As I was trying to remember how to breathe Jax loped toward me, his hulking form shaking the ground with every footfall. The closer he got the more desperate I became to get air back into my lungs, and yet the more difficult it became to actually accomplish that task.
A whine off to the side had me turning to see Micah shifting into his wolf though it appeared more challenging than usual and I had to think that was due to whatever his injury was. Seeing him trying to get to me, forced me to my feet, whether I could breathe or not.
I staggered to one side, away from Micah, drawing Jax with me. He had a swagger to him that suggested he thought he'd already won, much the same as his human counterpart had. That would be their downfall though. They were too confident in their victory and didn't give us enough credit for how hard we were going to fight.
As my lungs started to work again I moved my body, pushing it to the maximum I was capable of. For every breath I took I sped up even further until it felt lik
e I was made of nothing but air. I circled Jax again and again, spiraling ever outward, until a cloud of dust had risen from the ground, blocking him off from everyone else. I pushed myself as fast as my legs could go, and felt something click into place within me.
Now I was ready. Now I truly believed. I was the daughter of Freya. I had the blood of a goddess running through my veins, there was no other way to describe what I was able to do with the speeds I was reaching. I was moving so fast that Jax couldn't track me, I was kicking up enough dirt and dust that he couldn't even see past the circle I'd created around him.
Freya wasn't just the goddess of beauty and fertility, she was also the goddess of war, sex, and magic. I wasn't just a woman because I could bear children. I was a woman because of all the aspects of my soul I brought into the world. All the dark and the light. The love and the war. And right now? I was war personified.
He charged at the wall of dust a few times, but never caught me, never even came close.
When I had been going in circles for so long I was almost dizzy, I launched myself at Jax, shifting while I flew through the air, not slowing or hesitating for even a split second as my fist connected with his abdomen, the sick, wet, squelching sound that erupted around me a moment later had me wanted to backpedal almost immediately, and yet I couldn't quite move, the momentum that had propelled me forward was still carrying me and it was only when I felt it slow that I realized what had happened.
I had somehow managed to punch through Jax's abdomen. It was a miracle I'd missed his spine. I'd been going so fast that I hadn't really been able to aim anything just threw myself in his direction. By rights my hand should have been broken from the impact, but since I just hit his stomach there had been nothing hard to stop me.
The slickness I felt on my hand was the coating of blood from the injury I'd just caused. As quickly as I could I pulled my hand free. I didn't want to be attached to him if I didn't have to be, and having my arm through his abdomen was definitely attached. Once I was free I shook my hand, trying to get some of the blood off but that wasn't the only thing that came off.