by Lea Jade
That doesn’t even sound like a punishment.
“What about Nadine?”
Xavier frowns and twiddles Nadine’s brooch through his fingers. “My sister is complicated. I’m surprised she’s gone to all this trouble to arrange a coup, but it’s not outside of her capabilities. I’ve no idea why she involved you in all of this. There must be a reason.”
As much as I wanted to trust Nadine, she has already tried to get me killed–twice. I’ve no idea what I’ve done to her but it’s obvious she had no real interest in helping me.
She set me up with the grizzly just so she could steal my keys and break into the clinic, and then left me to fend for myself with an over intoxicated Eric. Xavier confirmed he found Eric passed out and high on some shape-shifting inducing drug not long after Jake carried me out of the club. The last drink Eric had was the one Nadine gave us. As much as women should stick together, I don’t like the thought of her using me like that.
At the far end of the vault tunnel, a shaft of light illuminates a couple of old storage room doors. One of them has a security guard outside of it. He stands when he sees us but says nothing as Xavier goes to the cell door and opens it.
At first the cell looks empty, but then a figure gets to his feet and emerges from the shadows.
It’s not Dylan.
“Dad?” I say, my voice barely a whisper as older version of my brother steps out into the light, his dark-shining eyes widening with recognition.
“Jess? Jessie? Is that... is that really you?” His voice cracks as he takes a few steps towards me, but I save him the trouble and head straight into his open arms.
“Yeah... Yeah, it's me,” I say, tears streaming as I hug the one person, I thought I’d lost forever. “I thought you were dead.”
“I know, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
“Mom is going to kill you,” I whisper.
“Then I can’t wait to see her.” He chuckles, a deep rumble reminding me of old times when I was still a kid and my dad was still my hero.
“As much as I love a good reunion, I have a fight to get to.”
I glance over at Xavier, not quite understanding. “What about my brother? Where is he?”
Confusion mixed with annoyance settles on the dragon’s face. “How would I know where your brother is?”
“I’m grateful for my father back, I really am, but you said you had my brother, Dylan Hunter?”
He exhales and shakes his head. “I said nothing of the sort. I promised you a Hunter and here you have one.”
“What have you done to my son?” my father growls, stepping between me and Xavier.
The older dragon twin rolls his eyes. “I’m afraid that is a question for my brother. Now, are we done here? The fight is happening as we speak, or don’t you care about your wolf anymore?” He turns and starts walking back the way we came.
Seeing Jake bloodied and broken fills me with panic. In the middle of the metal octagon, an obsidian-winged nightmare stands over my mate with not a scratch on him. Eric, mostly in human form, looks up as we enter. A devilish smile creeping on to his twisted face.
No, no, no, no...
I’m running to the ring before Xavier or my dad can stop me. As the bell dings, I push past the ref and the fight officials into the cage through the open metal door, getting to Jake first.
He’s on his knees, swaying, trying to stand. I reach him and take his arm, propping him up. A glance at the score tells me he’s lasted ten rounds already. Since this is a paranormal match and there are no round limits, mostly to take advantage of the accelerated healing abilities of shifters, after ten rounds there is an extended break.
For Jake to last this long without shifting or healing is a miracle. It also means he got my message.
I help get him cage-side just as the cutmen arrive, one of them grabs Jake’s other side and together we move him to the blue corner. If they look surprised to see me, they don’t react, I’m not usually on the floor. I’m just a physician not an expert hand wrapper. I’m also a woman. But they get on with re-wrapping Jake’s fists and applying the ice-cold enswell, while I get on with the stitching.
Jake still isn’t healing. He’s also not as conscious as I’d like.
“Jake!” I tap his face, trying to get him to wake up.
“Jess. You’re here...” He breaks into a smile. “I thought I’d lost you.” I’m not expecting him to reach for me, but he does, pulling me down for a kiss. The metallic taste of blood mingles with the essence of him. He kisses me like there’s a hurricane after us, like the world is ending, like there’s no tomorrow. Kissing him feels like coming home.
Every embrace and every touch he gives me, gives me hope. I know it can’t last. This is the calm before the storm, before I have to choose my pack and my own wolf.
Before I have to find Dylan… wherever he is.
Right now, I can’t choose Jake, but I can help him win.
I push him away and stare into the bright blue of his eyes. Just me being near him has strengthened his wolf, I can see that in the way he’s focusing on me. He’s healing, albeit very slowly.
“No buts, you need to claim me now.”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Dammit, Jake Cabot, you have to do as I say.”
“Are you really an omega?” he slurs.
I roll my eyes and lean into kiss him again, and then place my forehead on his, my tears mingling with his sweat and blood. The cutmen have already backed away, leaving us alone in the blue corner with a million pairs of eyes watching. Ring girls parade above us, showing the next round number. The countdown between the extended round ticks down. We have less than a minute to do this.
“Jake,” I say to him as I hold his face in my hands. “Claim me, please, for me.”
Something ignites inside of him as he looks into my eyes and he straightens. His wolf, lurking before, is suddenly up-front and topside, growling, eyes blazing the color of sapphires. My own wolf responds by surfacing and giving a low rumble in my throat.
I crouch down and tilt my head, pulling the collar of my shirt out and brushing my hair out the way for him.
“Oh, Jess, this is going to hurt,” he whispers in my ear. I know it’s going to hurt. It’s going to damn near kill, but I don’t care. Jake claiming me is the only way.
He takes my face in his hand, looking into my eyes like he’s trying to see into my soul. “You really want this?”
“If you don’t stop asking me, I’m going to bite you instead,” I growl.
“There will be… consequences.”
Jake claiming me will be a double edged sword; it’s the only way stop him disconnecting from his beast and bleeding to death, but it will also tie me to him so that if he dies I might not survive either.
And if that doesn’t kill me, my mother will.
Whatever the cost, it’s our only chance. “I know, I’m ready.”
“Are you? It’s better to do it while we mate. It will hurt less.”
My beast agrees. She wants to crawl on her belly and offer him more than a bite, and I almost get on all fours and hitch up my skirt, but we’re in a room full of thousands of people… even I have standards. That’s a no.
I can’t help but laugh. “No time for that, the fight, remember?”
Is that a blush I see? He smiles, looking around, face slightly red. “Oh, right.”
Half a minute left. He needs to claim me now.
“Jake, do it now.”
He nods and pulls me on to his lap, burying his face in the crook of my neck, taking a long breath as though breathing me in. A rumble in his throat has my heart beating too fast. He drops sweet kisses along my neck until I’m moaning softly, wanting to push myself against him. Even my own wolf is howling for more.
If I’m not careful, I’m going to pass out just from the swell of emotions I feel.
His teeth graze my skin, making my wolf whimper. Then he puts his mouth on the flesh of my shoulder, just where
the bone is. It needs to be near the bone so his scent will take, deep and permanently.
He needs to leave a mark.
Entwining my fingers through his, I’m almost prepared for the force of him biting down. Almost.
With a guttural growl, he bites down, and a jagged pain claws its way through me, making me gasp and cry out. I cower, trying not to pull away while his jaws are locked on, teeth digging into bone.
As blood pounds in my ears, air rushes from my lungs until I feel like I’m being ripped apart. There’s a roar of energy and then I’m falling. He growls and tightens his hold, keeping me upright with strong arms around me. All I can feel is his energy bleeding into me, marking me deep, taking and giving at the same time.
I close my eyes, shutting the arena and everyone around us out.
Finally, after a lifetime of holding on, he lets me go. I feel him lick my wound while I’m loose in his arms. I’m like a rag doll, falling to pieces, part of me floating off somewhere in my head, the other half unable to breathe.
“Shit, Jess. Are you ok?”
Somewhere in the distance a bell rings.
A bell… The fight!
My eyes snap open and a I draw in ragged breaths, clenching my fists as I cling on to him. He lifts me carries me over to the octagon entrance, and hands me to one of the fight officials waiting outside. There’s blood everywhere. I feel Jake put something soft on my wound, to staunch the flow, and then he brushes something off my face—my hair.
“Jess? Can you hear me?”
I nod and grit my teeth. “Just... the pain.” I close my eyes and then open them. The hurt is almost too unbearable. Poor Jake is looking at me like I’m dying. I probably am.
“Tell me, what can I do?”
I move my head, trying to shake it but it hurts too much. The pain makes my eyes water. I look into his own eyes and can’t help but notice how pale and blue they are, like the reflection of the sky in snow in winter.
“Go, fight,” I manage to say. I’ll be fine.
He nods and disappears, the cage door closing shut.
“Jess!” I raise my head to see Jake smiling at me through the bars. “I love you!” He shouts over the crowd.
My eyes water but I can’t help the corner of my lips curling into a smile.
“Can you walk, Ma’am?” I nod, still smiling, and hold the towel to my wound as the official helps me over to one of the folding chairs cage-side.
Gradually, the bleeding stops and my breathing returns to normal, and finally the pain starts to subside too, leaving a weird energy coiling throughout my body, making everything tingle. As the loudness of the area comes back in a whoosh, and my eyes draw to Jake in the center of the ring.
As long as Eric doesn’t shift, Jake will be fine.
I can see from the way he’s pummeling the younger twin, he’s not going to let him. There’s a heat to my blood I’ve never felt before. A feeling of being able to tear down walls and run marathons. A rage that threatens to consume me whole. An urge to kill.
The rawness of it pulls me awake, alert and alive as if for the very first time and then I realise, it’s not my feeling or desire—it’s Jake’s.
Chapter 16
Jake
Memories, not mine, surface. Memories of me in Jess’s eyes as a younger, more light-hearted Jake. I’m with her brother, Hunter, talking in the kitchen while she steals in for a midnight snack. I’m on the porch with her father when she comes home after school.
All these memories she has of me from a time before, when I wasn’t a killer, fill my head as the connection between us sparks to life.
As Eric falls under my signature knock-out blow, just like everyone else has done before him, I feel Jess’s attention on me. And it feels like I’m standing on top of a mountain.
Her strength, her love, has returned me to the world of the living, woken me out of a bad dream, brought me back to life. As the pieces of my world that were broken reform and become whole again, I see not only the past but a future with the one person I’ve known for all of my life.
My mate, Jess.
Epilogue
Jess
“And the winner is… the long defending champion of the East Side Pit, who took on and triumphed over the deadliest dragon of them all, The Raging Wolf himself, Jake Cabot!”
The crowd, already wild, exploded into a frenzy after Jake won. Then it all happened so fast, or at least it felt that way. Snatches of it are all I really remember…
Jake, holding the title belt in the air as the ref and officials stood next to him, grinning at me, while behind him Eric lay sprawled on the mat unconscious. Xavier disappearing from the viewing box. And my mother and father running into each other’s arms outside the arena.
Bets were paid and lost, but no lives were taken. Eventually, though, the Pit closed down as many complained about the line-up changing with such short notice. Sponsors pulled out and rumors circulated that Xavier took everything that night and is now in hiding from both the club’s debtors and his own family.
I’ve heard from Nadine that Eric is no longer this side of the Atlantic. His family called him home to face the music and atone for what he did to his family’s fortune. Nadine took over Purgatory and has turned it into a roaring twenties speakeasy and burlesque club. She keeps in touch from time to time, gossiping about her family, but I still don’t trust her.
My dad, once we got him home, filled us in on what happened that night when he and Jake went to the club all those years ago. He was almost killed by the twins, that part was true, but he survived. But when he woke up two weeks later, after succumbing to a healing coma induced by his wolf, he was locked in a cell in the vaults of the club. Jake was there too, until the Eric came and took him away.
My brother is still missing. Strangely, a copy of all the evidence surrounding the missing fighters arrived in the post one day, from Russia. No note, but I have a feeling it’s from Xavier. Jake and I are using it to track down what happened to all the shifters who survived but disappeared soon after losing in the Pit. Jake is going to help me take the case to Council who might be able to shed some light on the people Eric was dealing with, so I have hope we’ll find Dylan soon, or at least what happened to him.
While it’s true that Jake didn’t go peacefully that night, no one really knows what happened after that or how he lost his memories. Because of that, Jake can’t be part of our pack. No one completely trusts him even though I know in my heart he didn’t betray us. Mom says he’s going to have to earn it the hard way. We’re still allowed to date, but only because my dad convinced my mom that Jake is a good guy and not because we’re mated for life or anything.
Still, I’ve asked Nadine if she can find out what happened to Jake that night. I’ve even written to the Russian address in case it is Xavier who sent me the evidence. Jake says it doesn’t matter, he doesn’t need to be part of a pack, but I know it kills him to be an outsider.
There is one thing I haven’t told Jake yet, that I hope that will bring everyone back together. Even if we never find out what happened to my brother or get Jake’s memories back...
Jake offered to drive me to Boston. I have a meeting with Council there and a Vale witch representative after they received my letter. I’m nervous about the whole thing, but the best thing about being claimed by Jake is the calming affect he has over me and my wolf.
Occasionally, thoughts and senses assail me that aren’t my own. I know they’re not mine because they’re bloody annoying at times.
Like now.
I’m trying to sweep a stealth gaze at Jake as he drives, but failing miserably. He catches me, flashing me a grin, his eyes straying, lingering over my body before focusing back on the road. His attention, as usual, is accompanied by thoughts that make even a wolf blush. But then I feel the urge between my legs and whatever I was thinking, however important, just falls away.
So this is what it feels to be a man.
A smile eases on to his m
outh, reaching his eyes. He thinks I’m funny.
“Stop making me feel what you’re feeling... and keep your eyes on the road,” I chide, squirming in my seat, trying not to let loose a smile.
Jake laughs, looking and feeling both contented and happy.
Fates. This will take some getting used to. It’s kind of similar to what happens between pack members, but instead of words, I can sense his emotions and access his memories without trying. And he can with mine.
I know he’s driving but I as soon as I wonder how much he can sense, I have an urge to test it.
I take a breath and let the all the strangeness of my condition flow through the connection. Jake’s face becomes a mask of confusion for a split second, his eyes widen and then he breaks into the biggest of smiles.
“You’re kidding me... since when?”
“Since about a week after we left the Pit, I think.”
“So, all that sneaking around paid off?”
I wrinkle my nose, smiling all the same. “Yes, I guess.”
“Do you know...”
“It’s a boy, I’m sure of it.”
He reaches over and puts his palm on my stomach, stealing looks at me as he drives.
“How about Dylan?”
“Yes, I think so too. Dylan Cabot.” The sadness inside of me has nowhere to go, making tears leak from my eyes. “Crappy pregnancy, I’m an emotional mess!”
Jake’s gaze turns soft and he smiles. “We’re going to find him; this is only the beginning.”
I nod, wiping away the tears. “I’m just glad I’m starting with you,” I say, knowing in my heart of hearts it’s true.
Thank You & Free Teaser
Thanks for reading Raging Moon.
If you’d like to find out what happens to Nadine, Eric and Xavier, or for updates on future books in the Broken Bad Boy Series…