“What did you do?”
He stiffened, and then rasped, “I killed them all. Every last motherfucker who had a part in my family’s death died. And then, I left my pack, a pack I had loved before that bastard took it over, and never went back. I don’t regret it. None of it.”
“Good,” Raven whispered, her hand going up to slide into his hair. She was quiet for a moment, and then said, “You make me so damn proud to be your mate, Jaxson.”
He couldn’t believe this woman was his. Wondering how he had gotten so lucky, he hauled her up so she straddled his waist and growled, “Show me.”
16
Jaxson tugged Raven close for another kiss, running a hand down her back. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised. He hated leaving her even for a minute, but he was late for a meeting with Angel and the team.
Raven clung to him, pressing tightly against his body. He groaned, moving his hands down to cup her ass and pull her up into his thickening erection. He couldn’t get enough of the woman.
“Get a room, you two,” Sable teased, slipping past them in the hallway.
“Please do,” Dax growled, right behind her. “I don’t want to watch my sister being felt up in the halls where I live.”
Raven giggled, standing on her tip toes to kiss Jaxson on the cheek. “Like we don’t all know what you and Sable were doing just a few minutes ago, big brother.”
“In the privacy of our own bedroom,” he groused, shaking his head, but Jaxson saw his eyes were full of laughter.
“We won’t be long, Sis,” Rubi said, shutting her door behind her as she joined Dax and Sable at the end of the hall.
“Let’s go, wolf!” Dax hollered, holding the door to the stairwell open for Sable and Rubi.
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Jaxson asked Raven, leaning down to rub his cheek against hers. “I hate leaving like this.”
“I’ll be just fine,” Raven said, pushing him away with a laugh. “I’m going to go check on Alanna. Rubi told me she’s in this building, too. She shares a place on the main floor with her friend, Fallon.”
“Okay, but you do not leave this building, understand?” He had a feeling the General wasn’t done yet. Raven was too valuable to the bastard, even if he didn’t fully understand why.
“I am only going to go talk to Alanna,” Raven promised. “She’s in apartment three on the first floor. If I’m not here when you get back, I’ll be there.”
Jaxson wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. “I’m sorry if I’m being an overbearing ass, Raven. I just… I can’t lose you.”
“You aren’t going to lose me,” Raven murmured, kissing his neck. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
Jaxson hugged her close for a long moment before sighing and giving her one last kiss. “Be back soon, sweet mate.”
A brilliant smile lit up her face as she stepped back, waving to her brother, who still waited at the end of the hall. “Take care of my man, Dax, or I’m going to kick your ass!”
Dax threw his head back and laughed, “Don’t you worry, little sister. I’ll take care of your pup.”
Jaxson stalked down the hall, stopping just long enough to slam a fist in the dragon’s ribs before sliding past him into the stairwell. Fighting the urge to glance back one last time to see if his beautiful mate still watched him go, he gave in and glanced back, his heart expanding when she waved to him, blowing him a kiss. This fucking meeting better be quick.
Raven knocked lightly on Alanna’s apartment door, glancing down the hall when the outside door opened and a woman walked in, a small child in her arms. She smiled at Raven, saying hello shyly, before slipping through the stairwell door out of sight.
Knocking again, Raven waited impatiently for the bear to answer. She could hear noise in the apartment, knew someone was there, but for some reason they weren’t opening the door.
“Alanna, it’s Raven.” When there was no reply, she called, “Please let me in, Alanna. I just want to check on you.”
She sensed a presence on the other side of the door, and then it was opened by a tall woman with short, black hair that was a bright pink color on the tips. Her dark grey eyes glanced behind Raven furtively, and then she opened the door wider to let Raven in, shutting it quickly behind her.
“Alanna’s resting,” she said softly, motioning toward the kitchen. “I’m Fallon, her friend and roommate. Would you like some coffee?”
Raven could smell the other woman’s apprehension, but was confused as to why. “No, thank you.” Holding out a hand, Raven said, “I’m Raven.”
“I know who you are.” Sighing, Fallon ignored her outstretched hand and motioned to the kitchen again. “Please, come in and have a seat. I need some coffee, even if you don’t.”
Raven frowned, but walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. “Is everything all right?” she asked tentatively. She waited impatiently until the woman got her coffee and sat down across from her before asking again, “Is Alanna okay?”
“No, she’s not.” Fallon took a deep breath, before saying, “Anytime Alanna uses her healing abilities, this happens.”
“What?”
“She doesn’t want anyone to know.” Fallon stared down into her cup, holding it between both hands. “What she does, helping people when she can, is important to her. She doesn’t want them to know what it does to her. The toll it takes on her.”
“Tell me.”
Fallon lifted her exhausted gaze to meet Raven’s, and she whispered, “The repercussions of using her gifts doesn’t normally set in until an hour or so later, but when it does, she needs to be somewhere safe. Her body becomes leaden. She can’t move, can’t eat. It’s a fight to even get liquids down her.”
“Is she in pain?” Raven asked in horror, even though she was afraid she already knew the answer.
“When she removes someone’s pain like she did yours, she can’t help but feel it herself. It isn’t the same as what you felt, not to the same extent, but yes, she is in pain,” Fallon explained. “She told me once that it is as if she is absorbing your pain, but as she is taking it from your body, only bits and pieces of it are actually getting into hers.” Fallon shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this. Before Alanna, I never even knew these kinds of gifts existed. I still don’t understand hers. All I know, is that when she does something like this, when she helps someone in need, it’s a struggle for her afterwards.”
“I am so sorry,” Raven whispered, regret filling her. “If I had known, there is no way I would have allowed her to heal me.”
“Which is why she never says anything,” Fallon murmured, her gaze going back to her cup. “Alanna feels this driving need to help everyone in pain. She calls it a gift, I call it a curse.”
“You are afraid it’s going to kill her someday.”
Fallon raised her head and gazed at Raven solemnly. “She’s been in her bed since she helped you, Raven. This is the worst I’ve ever seen her. Alanna is kind, gentle, but has a backbone of steel. I’m afraid she is going to come across someone someday she feels the need to heal, and it is going to break her. Because no matter what I say, or what anyone else says, Alanna will do what she says is her calling. When she does, she will be lost to us.”
“No,” Raven protested, rising to her feet. “I won’t allow it.”
“You won’t be able to stop her.”
“Watch me,” Raven growled, stalking from the kitchen and following Alanna’s scent to her bedroom. She knocked softly, before opening the door. What she saw inside made her stiffen, her hand tightening on the doorknob.
Alanna lay unmoving in her bed, her skin so pale it was almost as if it was translucent. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and her cheeks were hollow, her body appearing even smaller than Raven remembered. A tear escaped, sliding down her cheek as Raven realized this was her fault. The sweet bear was lying in that bed, suffering, because of her.
Crossing the
room, Raven sat in a wooden chair that was beside the bed and covered Alanna’s hand with hers. “Why?” she whispered, a tear escaping at the thought of what the little bear must be going through. “Why did you help me, knowing this would happen to you?”
Alanna’s eyelids fluttered, and then Raven was staring into dark brown eyes. What shocked her was they were filled with warmth and compassion. “Because you have lived in agony for a very long time, dragoness. My suffering will go away in a matter of days. The pain will go away, as will the weakness, and I will be fine soon.”
Swallowing hard, Raven reached out and gently stroked a piece of long, brunette hair away from Alanna’s face. “Well, my friend, I will be here for you if you need me.”
“There is no need.”
“Yes, there is,” Raven said, smiling gently. “You have done so much for me at great risk to yourself. I don’t know how I will ever repay you.”
“Your friendship is all I need,” Alanna said softly as her eyes drifted slowly shut.
“You will always have that,” Raven vowed.
17
Jinx stood high on a hill overlooking the White River Wolves compound. He’d been given orders, ones he had no intention of completing, but he knew he wasn’t the only one the General would send. He had some tough decisions to make. He had vowed to end the General, stopping his reign of terror and bringing down his entire operation. He’d been cold as ice, letting no one get in the way of his final objective, until Angel and her team entered the picture. Yes, he had helped several captives in the past, had avoided kill orders when they were for innocent lives, relocating them with new names and identities so the General wouldn’t find them, but not once did he endanger his final objective while doing it. Until now.
There was no way out of the predicament he found himself in now. He’d let his emotions get in the way, let himself feel for the first time in a long time, and it was too late. Raven was an innocent. She was mate to a member of RARE, which made her part of the White River Wolves pack now. His pack, if he accepted the open-ended invitation to join given to him by Chase Montgomery, his mother’s mate. All he had to do was say yes. He wanted to more than anything. He was tired of being alone. He wanted to know what it was like to be a part of a family. To have friends. To find someone to love and have a mate of his own at home. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen. His time had come. He had a decision to make, his life or Raven’s. To him, there really was no choice.
Movement caught his eye, and a cold grin settled on his features. No, there was no choice, but before he could follow through with what needed to be done, he had to dispense of the threat to the dragoness here at the compound. He welcomed the fight. And it would be a good one. The General hadn’t pulled any punches. He’d sent one of his best assassins, as if he somehow knew Jinx would not follow through.
Jinx ran swiftly through the forest of trees, losing sight of the woman as she moved stealthily toward the center of the compound. That conniving son of a bitch was good. Sending this particular assassin after Raven the same time he sent Jinx. The General knew she was the only one who had a chance of besting Jinx on her own, and if she failed, then Jinx would rid him of what he considered a problem anyway, because he’d already stated that he didn’t trust her. Vixen. This was going to be one hell of a fight.
The bitch was already in the middle of the compound before he caught up with her. Refusing to play the assassin game, slipping in and out of places without people seeing him, Jinx decided fuck it, and walked right down the middle of the street, shoulders back, head held high. Vixen was not going to get her prey today, no matter how hard she fought, and he was tired of sneaking around. Bring it out to the open, he thought. It wasn’t like they were going to be able to keep what was about to happen quiet, anyway.
Holding one hand up when two female wolves glanced in his direction as he neared the park, he said, “Get those pups indoors. Now!”
“Jinx? What’s going on?”
He heard his sister, but didn’t acknowledge her except to say, “Get everyone out of here, Jade. It’s not safe.” Pulling his sword from its sheath, he stopped in the middle of the street and called out, “Vixen! I know you are here. Show yourself!”
The woman stepped from the shadows, twirling a sai in one hand as she sauntered toward him. The weapon was deadly — a dagger with two sharp prongs curving outward from the hilt. Vixen’s weapon of choice, and she knew how to use it. “Jinx. Fancy meeting you here.” She wore black leathers that fit her like a glove, a sleeveless black shirt, and black boots that went up to her knees. Her dark eyes glittered with excitement and malicious intent as they traced over him. “Although, I have to say I’m a little surprised.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Jinx slowly began to move his wrist, bringing attention to the way his sword swirled around him. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“What the hell is going on here?” Chase Montgomery demanded, as he came out of the building to their right, stalking toward them, his face a mask of pure anger. He had every right to be mad as hell. They were endangering his pack, and no alpha would stand for that.
“Jinx? Who is this?”
Jinx ignored Angel, his full attention on the woman in front of him. He couldn’t afford to avert his gaze. It would get him killed.
“Her name is Vixen,” Steele said, moving up beside them. The whole fucking RARE team had come to join the party, along with many of the White River Wolves. At least, they were smart enough to stay back. “She’s one of the General’s assassins. A very dangerous one.”
“Aren’t they all dangerous?” someone asked.
“Not like Vixen.” Steele told them. “She will tear your heart out and move on to the next target in the blink of an eye.”
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Chase demanded, taking a step in their direction.
Steele stopped him, a hand on his arm. “You need to let my son handle this, Alpha. Trust me, he’s the only one who can.”
“Son?” Vixen asked, arching an eyebrow. “The General’s pet has a daddy?” she said snidely.
Jinx didn’t respond, slowly twirling his sword as he watched her move closer to him. He was aware of the crowd they were attracting, but his gaze narrowed on the woman in front of him. She was the one who really mattered. “You can’t have her, Vixen.”
“I have my orders.”
“He’s not getting her.”
“I’m pretty sure you have the same orders I have, Jinx. Tell me, are you disobeying your master?”
“I have no master,” he growled, baring his teeth, but refused to let her bait him.
“What are they talking about?” he heard someone ask.
“She’s here for Raven, isn’t she?” Rubi snarled. “She isn’t getting her!”
“No,” Jinx said, his voice low and deadly, “she isn’t. I made a promise, and I fully intend to keep it.”
No sooner had the words left his lips, then Vixen made her move. She was faster than he anticipated, and he almost didn’t move quick enough, the sai missing him by mere inches. Feinting to the left, he brought his sword around in a circle, aiming for the sai she held, but she was already gone.
“You know this is pointless, Jinx,” she said, pulling another sai from her boot. “The General wants his property back, and what the General wants, the General gets.”
“My sister is not his fucking property!” Rubi snapped, making a move toward them. It distracted Jinx just enough that the next swipe Vixen made managed to slice through his forearm.
Steele wrapped his arm tightly around Rubi’s waist and swung her around to drop her next to Dax, snarling, “You will keep her next to you so that she doesn’t get my son killed! He cannot afford to have his attention divided.”
“Awe,” Vixen purred, her lips in a pout. “Did the big bad wolf get a boo boo? Would you like me to…”
Jinx struck, his sword lightning fast, drawing blood as it came away. When Vixen’s eyes widened, her lips parting slig
htly in surprise, he muttered, “He’s watching you, ya know?”
Her hands tightened on her sais as she crouched down low, one in front of her, one pointed to the ground. “Why would he do that?”
“Late check-ins.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she growled, “Ebony. She’s been creeping around my facility a lot lately.”
“Yep.”
“That bitch.”
“She’s not the only one.”
Vixen flew at him, slicing and dicing when she got near. Jinx grunted as the blades bit into his skin, leaving deep cuts, and then she was gone. She thought she was safe, but he didn’t waste any time. He was on her before she came to a complete stop, and then the fight was on. Soon, it was obvious they were pretty evenly matched, which shocked the hell out of him. He’d known she was good, but had no idea just how good. It was almost a struggle to keep up with her, a fight that drew blood on both sides, until she made one fatal mistake, and then he was on her, his sword to her throat.
“Do it,” she snarled, blood flowing from several deep wounds, coating the ground she lay on. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To take me out for that son of a bitch? Fucking do it!”
He almost did. He was so close, but there was something in her eyes, something he couldn’t look away from. Misery, suffering, turmoil, guilt. Suddenly, he knew. That mistake she made wasn’t a mistake after all. She wanted to die.
“Please, Jinx,” she rasped, realizing he knew the truth now. “I can’t do this anymore. The killing, murdering, I just can’t. I’m ready to leave this life.”
As he stared at her, bleeding out on the ground, he realized that everything she was feeling right now was the same he felt. He was so fucking tired of it all. Slowly, he removed his sword from her throat and slid it in the scabbard at his back. His entire body ached, and he was covered with his blood, as well as hers. They were fighting a fight neither of them really wanted anything to do with.
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