Not on her watch.
She was done with Nash Jenkins. Her secret was out now, but it didn’t matter. She could control her tiger. Jesse would help her prove that to the Council.
Nash Jenkins had spent years turning her into a weapon. But now she had control of her own fate, and his weapon was about to turn against him.
She caught a brief scent and stood stock-still, her nose in the air. Waiting.
It came again. It was Nash’s scent, faint but clear. He’d been this way, and Jace had been with him.
Sophia changed her direction and ran for all she was worth, trying to get there in time.
Jesse stumbled through the woods, his pack mates supporting him. Kane had gone ahead, and by the time they reached the dirt road, he had a vehicle waiting.
“Jump in,” he said to his team. “Rory, you stay with Jesse until the medics get here.”
“Screw that,” Jesse said. “I’m coming. Jace and Sophia are both in danger, and if you think I’m going to sit here with my thumb up my ass while that’s going on—”
“I don’t have time to argue with you,” Kane snapped. “Get in if you’re coming, but if one of your broken ribs tears a hole through your lung and you drown in your own blood, don’t blame me.”
Jesse didn’t bother to point out he’d be dead, so he couldn’t blame anyone. He needed all his energy to climb into the Jeep.
They took off, following the directions for Jace’s last known location. No one had heard from him since Kane’s broadcast. Jesse kept trying not to picture Jace lying on the forest floor with a bullet in his head.
He was almost grateful for the razor-sharp stabs of pain shooting through him every time they hit a bump. It was the only thing that kept his fears from driving him crazy.
Sophia was getting close. Nash’s scent was getting stronger—the familiar scent of arrogance and old cigar smoke. Jace’s scent wasn’t as strong—he was farther away. She smelled blood, but not a lot of it. Maybe Jace was still okay?
Nash’s scent became powerful, and Sophia froze. There he was.
He was crouching behind a screen of underbrush, sighting through a rifle scope. He had someone in his sights. Jace? Or an enemy?
Sophia circled around until she could see what he was aiming at.
Jace Monroe was kneeling under a tree, wearing battle fatigues. He’d been fighting in human form. But he was tending a bleeding wound on a gray and black wolf. One of his pack was down.
And Nash was about to shoot him while he was saving another wolf’s life.
It was all Sophia could do to keep from growling. But she didn’t want Nash to hear her. She crept closer. What should she do? Come at him as a wolf? Or change back to human and beg for his help?
But there was no guarantee he wouldn’t shoot her. She was as much of a liability to him as Jace was, now. Maybe more.
She saw Nash take a breath and hold it, going perfectly still. His finger began to tighten on the trigger…
Without thinking, Sophia’s tiger burst out of her skin and sprang. She hit Nash just as he squeezed the trigger, and the shot went into the air. They rolled over, Nash going wolf, biting and snapping.
She heard shouting, and then people coming from all directions. She tried to disengage from Nash, but he bit her front leg and held on, prolonging the fight. She roared and raked at him with her claws, then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck with her teeth and shook him.
Her tiger wanted to kill him, but she wouldn’t. Not until she could make him confess to what he’d done.
He kept fighting her, though. He wouldn’t let go. Why wouldn’t he let go?
She could see guns. Jace, and people from the Nashville pack. Someone cocked a rifle and aimed at her. Then Kane was there, holding up his hands and yelling.
Jesse limped up behind him, supported on either side by two of his pack mates. Nash won’t let go! she thought, panicking. Why won’t he let go?
A bullet whined by, just missing her head, and she roared. Jesse yelled something, and then clutched his side, doubling over. Kane grabbed a trank gun out of somebody’s hands and pumped two darts into her.
Sophia recoiled back, and Nash opened his jaws and crouched, growling.
Kane dropped the gun, strode in and yanked Nash’s wolf back before he came at her again. The last thing Sophia saw before blackness overtook her was Jesse, slumped over, his friends lowering him to the ground and calling for a healer.
Chapter 23
Jesse woke up, wondering where he was. He’d lost count of the number of times in the last few days he’d passed out and woken up somewhere different, but if somebody somewhere was keeping track, he wanted to go on record that he was getting damn sick and tired of it.
At least this time he was in a comfortable bed.
He stirred and sat up. Immediately, there was a howl of delight and Rafe pounced on him, knocking the breath out of him and sending a jolt through his injured ribs.
“Terin, he’s awake!” Rafe called out. “He woke up!”
“Fuck, Rafe, you’re suffocating me,” he said, but he hugged his friend back just as hard. “Where are we?” he asked.
“At that asshole Nash’s Southern Pretentiousness Theme Park. You’ve been unconscious for a whole day. Terin! He’s awake!”
Rafe’s mate, Terin, came in from an adjoining room. “No, really?” she asked in her soft voice. “You were so quiet, I almost missed it.” Rafe just grinned at her.
She gave Jesse an awkward hug. She hadn’t been in the pack long, and she was still uncomfortable with all the physical affection.
“Where’s Sophia?” he asked, looking around. Then he remembered the evidence he’d worked so hard to preserve. “And my clothes? Please tell me someone got the SD card out of my jeans.”
Rafe said, “Of course we did. Nobody throws your clothes away without going through the pockets. Ever since that time I borrowed your jeans and got them torn up in the barbed-wire fence and trashed them with that memory stick still in the hip pocket.”
He turned to Terin and pulled the sleeve of his t-shirt up. “Jesse was pissed. His wolf bled mine. I still have the scars. See?”
“You deserved it,” Jesse said. “I had to start all over on that app.”
Rafe nodded. “But hey, I learned my lesson. Go through the pockets before throwing the clothes in the trash. I found your evidence and gave it to Jace.”
Jesse nodded in relief. “Thanks, bro. With what I’ve got, we can bring Alexander Grant down.”
“Damn straight,” Rafe’s eyes darkened. “Man, Jess,” he said. “When we got that video from Grant…” A growl started in his chest. “Nobody does that to my bro.”
Jesse thumped Rafe affectionately on the shoulder. “I knew you guys would come for me,” he said. “I told Sophia—”
He broke off as Rafe and Terin exchanged looks. “Where’s Sophia?” he asked. His stomach lurched. “She didn’t get hurt, did she?”
“Not exactly,” Terin said gently. She gathered her long, platinum hair into a pony tail and pulled it over her shoulder. A sure sign she was nervous.
“Rafe?” Jesse said.
His friend pressed his lips together. “Okay, well. She’s kind of—still a tiger. Nash is keeping her sedated.”
Jesse’s wolf started growling. “Sedated where?”
Rafe was looking at him dubiously. “Um, in the barn? In a…”
Terin slipped her arm around Rafe’s shoulders, and he squeezed her hand. “In a cage,” she said.
“Fuck!” Jesse said. He flung himself out of bed. His ribs protested, and he stood still, trying not to breathe too hard.
“They can’t put her in a cage,” he said. “She’s been abused. She’ll freak out when she comes to.”
“Yeah, already done that,” Rafe said.
“She’s gone rogue, Jesse,” Terin said. “She can’t change back, and she attacks anyone who goes near her. They had to cage her, she fought so hard.”
Jess
e shook his head. “Nash did something to her, then,” he said. He turned on them. “Why the hell did you all let them do this?”
Rafe ran his hands through his hair. Terin quietly found Jesse a pair of pants and handed them to him. He put them on as Rafe said, “I hated to see it, man. But we couldn’t do anything. Nash is her alpha, and Kane is her promised mate, and he agreed, so—”
“Screw that,” Jesse said. “She’s my mate.”
That stopped everyone.
“Get out,” Rafe said. “For realz?”
“For realz,” Jesse said drily. “I’ve got to get her away from Nash. You have no idea what he’s done to her.”
Rafe got up and put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Dude, you can’t just storm in there and let her out. The Council’s here.”
Jesse froze. “The Wolf Council?”
“The Shifter Council,” Rafe said. “And the Wolf Council. Everyfuckingbody in the world is here. We’re lucky we even got a place to sleep. This thing you uncovered—a black market ring trafficking in shifters? It’s a big deal.”
Terin chimed in. “The problem is, since they’re here, and so many people saw Sophia shift and attack Nash, he had to admit to the Council that her tiger is a rogue. They’re trying to…well, they’re trying to see if there’s any hope for her.” Terin’s eyes were full of sympathy. “If she can’t change back…”
They’d put her down. Jesse went cold inside.
“She can change back,” Jesse said. “I’ve seen her.”
Rafe said quietly, “Then why doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know,” Jesse said. “But I’m going to find out.”
He was only a few steps down the hallway when he saw Kane coming the other way. Kane froze for a second when he saw Jesse, and then moved forward, slow and unblinking, like a wolf stalking his prey.
Crap. Jesse did not need this right now.
Behind him, he heard Rafe. “Uh-oh. Terin, find Jace.”
Kane stopped in front of Jesse, a little too close. His fists were opening and closing, his eyes locked on Jesse’s.
“You didn’t keep your hands off her,” Kane said. “She’s my promised mate, and you had a responsibility, and you couldn’t keep your fucking hands off her.”
Normally Jesse would have stepped back, tried to dial down Kane’s fury. But he didn’t have time for this shit. He stepped into Kane’s space, chest out, his stance dominant. “This is what you’re worried about? Your problems with me?” Jesse’s voice was shaking with fury. “She’s in a fucking cage. And you put her there. Do you have any idea what that’s doing to her?”
“She’s rogue, you asshole,” Kane said. “Was I supposed to let them shoot her?”
“You were supposed to help her,” Jesse said. “That fucker Nash has been abusing her all her life. He knew she was a tiger. Knew since she was a little girl. He terrified her until she panic changed, over and over. Hell, he made her kill people he wanted to get rid of!”
Jace said from behind him, “Is this true?”
Jesse swung around to face Jace. “She told me about it when we were in Grant’s cell. That, and the fact that Nash used the threat of turning her in to the Council to try to make her do whatever he wanted. Including destroying Silverlake and taking our territory.” He gave them a brief outline of what Sophia had told him about Nash’s plans for their pack. When he was done, both Jace and Kane’s faces looked like thunder. Alpha energy crackled through the hallway.
“That could explain why she tried to kill him,” Jace said.
“She didn’t try,” Jesse snapped. “I’ve seen her tiger in action, and if she’d wanted to kill him, he’d be dead.”
Kane frowned. “Then why did she attack him?”
Jesse rounded on him. “Probably he was trying to kill Jace. But I intend to ask her, if you’ll all kindly get the fuck out of my way.”
Jace ran his hand through his hair. “Hold up, Jess. We can’t just charge into a Council meeting and call Nash a liar.”
“I can,” Jesse said. “You can watch. I’m going to go to that barn and get Sophia, and then I’m going to make sure Nash gets what’s coming to him.”
“I’ll take care of Nash,” Kane said. “She’s my promised mate.”
Jesse’s wolf started growling. “She’s my mate,” he said.
Rafe muttered, “Here we go.”
“What did you say?” Kane drew himself up to his full height.
“We bonded,” Jesse said. “She’s my mate, and you can cut out the posturing. If you want to fight, we’ll have to do it later. I have a tiger to rescue.”
Kane stared at him, refusing to move. Jace touched his shoulder, and Kane just shrugged him off, not taking his gaze off Jesse.
Then Kane said, “I want to talk to Jesse alone.”
Jace ran his hand through his hair again. “Kane, this isn’t the time.”
“Just talk,” Kane said. His eyes glittered. “The challenge is for later.”
Jace narrowed his eyes at Kane, and then said, “Jesse, go with him.”
Jesse wanted to punch him. He wanted to punch them both. They were keeping him from his mate. “But Sophia—”
“Is passed out cold. She’ll be fine for five more minutes. Go with Kane.” There was alpha juice behind the order. Jesse didn’t feel compelled to obey, which surprised him, but he did realize it meant Jace was serious. Out of respect for his alpha, he went.
Kane led Jesse back to the guest suite where he’d woken up. As soon as they were inside with the door closed, Kane shoved Jesse against the wall with enough force to set his ribs throbbing again.
“Kane!” Jace yelled through the door. “Talk only!”
Kane shoved his forearm up under Jesse’s chin, pinning his shoulders to the wall. “You know what I hate about you?” he hissed. “You get everything I’ve ever wanted without even trying. Jace was always your friend, even when you were a runty little whiner. I wanted him to be my friend, but I didn’t know how to be friends. My dad taught me only fighting gets you respect. You three were this tight little group, and I was alone. And then the pack got split up, but you three landed together. And I was still alone.”
Jesse was stunned. Kane never talked about his feelings. He never showed he cared about anything. “Kane,” he said.
“Shut the fuck up,” Kane said. “I’m talking. We’re not having a girly sharefest. I was alone for years, and you have no idea how fucked up it was. I did things…”
He broke off, shaking his head. “I’m never going to have a true mate,” he said. “The only thing—the only thing I care about is the pack. So I try to do this one thing for the pack. Bring in this alliance, make us financially secure. And you just have to fuck that up for me too.”
He shoved his arm against Jesse’s throat, and then let him go and backed off, his chest heaving as if he’d run ten miles.
Jesse rubbed his neck. “This was never about you, you asshole,” he said. “I didn’t even know who Sophia was, that first night. She never told me her name.”
But Kane wasn’t listening. He was pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair.
“It’s the right thing,” he was muttering. “The right thing.”
With startling suddenness, he stopped and faced Jesse. “Does she love you?” he asked.
Shit. She’d never said it. But she’d said she wanted to be with him.
“I love her,” Jesse said.
“I don’t care about your damn feelings, Omega. Does. She. Love. You.”
Jesse was tempted to lie, but he couldn’t. Not about this. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think so. I hope so.”
Kane shook his head. “I should tear you apart,” he muttered. “But if Nash really did all that, then she deserves way better that he’s given her. Fuck knows why she’d think that’s you, but if she really loves you, I’ll void the contract and withdraw my rights as her promised mate.”
He headed for the door, then turned. “But
I still don’t like you,” he said.
He walked out.
Jesse stared after him, open-mouthed. Jace and Rafe walked in a moment later, looking equally stunned. Of course they’d been listening through the door. Shifter hearing.
Rafe said, “Kane wants to be friends with us?”
Jesse stared at him. “That’s what you took away from that?”
Jace shook his head. “Focus, Rafe,” he said.
He turned to Jesse. “Nash is meeting with the Council right now. If you’re determined to talk to them, I guess I better go with you.” He looked Jesse over, and then added, “Put a shirt on.”
“No point,” Jesse said, already walking. “I’m just going to bust out of it when I kill Nash.”
Jace sighed, and followed him out of the room.
Chapter 24
Jesse’s plan to release Sophia was derailed halfway to the barn, when he ran into Nash Jenkins and representatives from the Shifter and Wolf Councils on a terrace in the formal gardens. The Council members were dressed for official business—dark pants and button-down shirts, with colored robes over them, denoting their animals and ranks.
Jesse’s blood ran cold when he saw that. He strode up to Nash and grabbed him by the front of the shirt, lifting him almost off his feet and kicking his cane away before he could use it on Jesse. He’d had enough of shock treatments for a while.
“If you had them put her down,” he growled, “I swear to God I’ll kill you where you stand.”
The group around Nash froze in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse saw Jace just shaking his head.
“Mr. Travis!” A nondescript man in a blue robe stepped out of the group behind Nash. “Kindly unhand your host.”
Jesse knew Zane Brezit. He was the Chief Negotiator for the Wolf Council, and Jesse had worked with him before.
“Is Sophia still alive?” he asked, not letting go of Nash. Nash knocked Jesse’s hands away and straightened his string tie, his face red with fury.
“She is,” Brezit said. “But you must know that a rogue shifter—especially a tiger—is a very serious matter.”
Tiger Mate (Silverlake Shifters Book 3) Page 15