The Mating (Black on Black, #1)
Page 24
What the fuck was wrong with her? Every instinct told her to go home to The Asylum, but she couldn’t. Pops might joke about her being his wild child, but she knew that she made it hard to love her. She never listened. Never did what she was told. Never thought shit out before she jumped in with all four paws. Serra knew that he was disappointed with her choices and those were only the ones he knew about. She would rather die a slow drawn out and painful death than let him ever find out why she had dropped everything, told no one and disappeared for years before ending up in NOLA. Not that this city was anything special, other than it was far away from everything that reminded her of that night.
Jumping onto the bed and pushing her head under a pillow, she tried to block out the images and the sounds that echoed and bounced inside her skull. Taking out the trash. Hearing a noise that didn’t belong. Being stupid enough to check it out. Gods, if she’d just turned around and gone back inside... Her eyes clamped tighter trying to block it out as the panic chewed at her gut like a rabid possum. Don’t think about it. Don’t go there. She told herself, but once that rabbit hole opened, she had no idea how to stop herself from falling through.
Not knowing where she was going, Serra rolled to the edge of the bed. Front paws hit the floor before her hind feet followed. She jumped, ready to attack when her tail swished against her leg. Fuck. She had to shake this! Eying the slightly gaping closet door, she pushed it open with her muzzle expecting, well she didn’t know what to jump out at her. Her breath left her nostrils in a rush. Dropping back onto her haunches she tilted her head to the side, before standing again and walking inside. Turning to bite at the wood, she pulled the door closed behind her.
Turning in a circle like a damned mutt before she lowered her body to the floor, she pawed at the bags of things from home, pulling them closer and hoping the familiar scents would calm the hammering of her pulse. It didn’t. Pushing herself back into the corner, she dropped her head to her paws and accepted that there was no escape. No more than there had been then. The air shuddered out of her, taking with it the hope of forgetting. Closing her eyes, she surrendered herself to the memories, letting them pull her under the surface to drown.
Her body shook. Cold sweat beaded on her skin, matting her fur. That night played back in slow motion. Being collared. Bones breaking. Clothes and skin tearing. Fighting with everything she had and that not being enough. Pain. Humiliation. Shame. It all descended on her in a tidal wave, dragging her under and trapping her there.
A growl rolled up her throat and over her tongue as she bolted out of the closet. She couldn’t relive what happened next. She wouldn’t. A silent scream of rage bounced inside her head, searching for a way out, but Serra refused to let it find a voice. Afraid that if it did, she would shatter and not be able to stop. Loping through the house, she threw herself into the pool, hoping the cold water would shock her out of this.
She couldn’t change what had happened but she sure as shit didn’t have to remember it. The cold water made her gasp. Her head sunk below the surface for a moment before popping back up. Shifting human, she swam for the edge, letting the frigid water numb her body and her mind before pulling herself out. Water trickled down her body as she dripped on the poolside tile, covering her face with her hands.
The wind picked up, blowing over Serra’s wet skin and making her teeth chatter. She could ghost herself a towel and dry clothes, but she didn’t care, still wrapped in the aftermath. Rafael had come, removed the collar and ghosted them to the place they had in NYC for when they visited.
Serra had never doubted that she was lucky when it came to her family and her uncle only reinforced that knowledge as he stayed with her, even after her body was healed, running interference between herself and Damion. He would pay for it later, and they both knew it. That was love. The staying with her for a solid month while she waited for a final fuck you, from the fates to appear in her eyes, was epic love. More than she had a right to expect and so much more than she deserved.
She’d been too weak to face anything. Her father. Living. Escape to Mato Tipila, their kind's sacred mountain home, had been her last resort before she chewed through a vein. And then she’d been spit back out and found herself in NOLA. Only then did she decide to stay put for a while, try to get her feet under her again and get her head unfucked.
And Serra had, mostly. Until the hazel streaks had ringed her pupil declaring that she had a mate, but thank fuck that had tied her to Jared. The time waiting before she found that out, had been torture. Serra lived with the terror of that, the fear that her mate wasn’t the cranky panther wanted nothing to do with her and then the guilt that she prayed that it was Jared. The alternative was so much worse. The alternative would have been the end of her.
Everything had been good since then. She was happy and had a family of her own. She’d even faced Pops and been able to keep the secret that she intended to take with her to the grave. Sure there were issues between her father and mate, but Pops loved her, and Serra knew and trusted how much she cared about Jared. It would work out eventually, as long as neither ever knew.
Things were turning around, and then she’d seen that son of a bitch’s reflection in the glass. One of the three that she would never forget. One of the three that needed to die.
Jared ducked the punch, growling as a fist came at him again. Grabbing the man’s arm and pulling him closer, Jared brought his knee up making sure it hit him in the breadbasket. He grunted and tried to suck in air. Jared shoved him to the ground, turned and started across the lawn, knowing this wasn’t over. It was never fuking over.
Sure enough, another one was coming straight for him. Jared hadn’t slept in days. He hadn't eaten. All he wanted was to be left alone, but no. Everyone was out to prove how big and bad they were. He'd had enough.
“Fine, you wanna play? Let’s do this.” He braced himself for another fight. Gunshots from the guard tower rang out. Jared hit the ground. He wasn’t sure if it was his fault that they were fired on. Not that it mattered. He laid still. Someone grabbed his leg. Snarling, Jared rolled over and tried to pull free.
“Hello, fish. Since you’re down there, we might as well make sure you stay down.” Miko said with a cocky grin on his face.
Growling, Jared kicked him in the face with his free foot. His boot connected with bone. Miko growled. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose. Jared flipped to his feet. More shots rang out. Dodging bullets, he ran for the doors. He was almost there.
Miko’s gang was still coming for him. Having had his fill of this bullshit, Jared grabbed one of them and turned. The body jerked, taking the bullets and shielding Jared. When the shots stopped, Jared twisted the SOB’s head around like he was a bottle cap and pulled upward. The head came free, and Jared threw it at the others.
The men panicked. Some stood, slack-jawed while others puked. It gave Jared time to get to the doors and wait for prison SWAT to come. He knew what he’d done was going to buy him a month or two in the shoe. That shit was a round-the-clock free pass for raping and beating.
It didn’t take long for SWAT to cuff Jared and drag him into the bowels of the prison. As the door to the shoe opened, he was hit in the back of his knees, knocking him down. Once on the cold content floor, he wasn’t sure what is coming next but knew that it wouldn’t be good.
Instead of removing his cuffs, they add to them. The leg irons clicked into place and tethered his ankles and wrists together. Jared was thrown inside on his stomach. The door slammed closed behind him. In the darkness, the stench of piss and shit was all he was left with.
Laying under a tree, Jared came awake, looked around and tried to remember where he was. The stink of prison was still strong in his nose. He shook his head and ghosted home to check on the cubs. Stalking through the house, he looked for Serra. He could sense that something was wrong but she wasn’t here. He hit the room he used as a gym, knowing that he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. The nightmares were back. Thank you Zev for diggin
g all of that shit up and shoving it back to the surface. All he could do was hope that someday they would stop and not leave him broken.
Swapping out his clothes for sweats and a wife beater, he worked out until he could barely stand. Lowering the deadweight back to its cradle, he wiped his face on a towel and chugged a bottle of water. Tossing the damp terry cloth into the bin on his way by the laundry room, he willed his shaky legs to make it to the couch and maybe find out that Serra had come home. He was starting to worry. She wasn’t answering his mindlinks or texts. It brought back memories of Heather doing the same that he’d rather forget.
Jared dropped onto the couch and picked up the remote. His hand froze and his head turned, brows creasing with confusion when he heard a sound he wasn’t used to or expecting. Babies were crying loudly. Bolting from his chair, he raced to the cub’s room to see babies in their crib, not the black cubs that should be there.
“Umm, okay.” He looked down at them, his hand scrubbing his face. The more they cried the more he realized that he was not prepared for human babies. A nasty stink hit him, rocking his head back on his shoulders. Picking up JJ first, Jared changed her. Theo was next.
He ghosted clothes on them and carried them to the living room. Lowering them to the floor, he stared at his kids. Why the hell were they in human form? Shaking his head, Jared watched them roll over and try to crawl off.
“Oh sure, you wait till Serra leaves to pull a Houdini. Not that I need her to deal with this.” He told the Cubs, trying to convince himself that in the short time that they’d been together, he didn’t depend on her as much as he did. It pissed him off. Especially when she disappeared and didn’t tell him where she was going and when, or if she’d be back. He put them in the playpen and went to find toys. Calling the sitter, he asked her to go and buy the list things he was about to text her.
Finally done with her meltdown, Serra ghosted home. What the hell was that sound? Wandering in from outside, she stopped in the doorway. She looked down at what smelled like the Cubs and turned her eyes to her mate. “What the hell?”
Jared shrugged. “Fuck if I know.”
“Oh.” Serra stepped closer to look into the playpen, arching a disbelieving brow when Justice cooed and kicked her legs. One corner of her mouth curled up, as she ran her palm over the soft dark curls on Theo’s head trying to sooth him. "Shh, Baby."
Edge walked in from the kitchen, the crying startling him almost as much as seeing the human babies in the playpen. His brows shot up. “Well damn. At least they’re cute.”
“I don’t know how they shifted to human form. I mean, I’m not sure why.” Jared crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the twins. Theo started to cry again. “Okay son. I’m sure you’re just as confused as I am.” He picked him up and wondered what to do. Hell, they didn’t even have formula for them.
“It’s really early for this, isn’t it?” Shaking her head, Serra sipped her Coke and texted her mom to find out what one fed human babies.
Jared nodded, put Theo down and went to see if he still had any baby bottles laying around. Finding none, he ghosted some in with formula and gave them to the twins. “Well, Daniel is gonna love changing diapers.”
Serra laughed and nodded. “Yeah, in the way that he won’t.” She watched the babies, still shaking her head. “So, baby proofing the house just moved up on my ‘to do’ list.”
He watched them eat. “Yes. Totally.”
She leaned against him and smiled softly, not letting how freaked out she was show. “They’re still cute as hell. We’ve got this, Babe.”
Jared wasn’t sure why she’d come back as soon as she had. Not that he knew where she’d gone or why she’s disappeared. No note. No call. Just an empty bed. Saying nothing, he just stared at the kids before lifting JJ to burp her.
Serra shrugged and sighed. Yep. It was gonna be like that. Pinching the bridge of her nose she knew she’d handled this poorly. She should have at least called and she owed him an explanation. Not that she had any intention of explaining what had her spooked. Serra would rather set her own head on fire and beat it out with a hammer than tell another soul what she’d been dealing with.
Ignoring the silence between them, Jared got the twins to settle down and went to start breakfast. “What do you want? I’m undecided,” he asked when she followed him into the kitchen. He plucked her empty mug from her hand and refilled her coffee. He waited a second for her to tell him anything, but got nothing. “I left you a present in the bedroom. If you want, I’ll go get it.”
Pulling the eggs from the fridge, Serra shrugged. “I’m in the mood for an omelet. I can make it two if you want one? Thanks.” She smiled up as he topped off her coffee and sipped. Yeah, his being nice just made her more aware of what a shitty mate she was.
Cracking eggs into a bowl, she glanced up when he came back from the bedroom. “You didn’t have to.” Her smile grew when he dropped a small box into her hand. Okay, now she really felt crappy. Opening the box, she turned the silver ear gauges, with tiny skulls in the center, over in her hand and kissed him. “But I’m glad you did. I love them.”
“Glad you like them. If you wanna do breakfast, I’ll do lunch. Dinner, I won’t be home for. I gotta pull a double.”
“Deal.” Humming to herself, Serra made with the whisking of the eggs and pulling stuff out of the fridge to add to them. She nodded and bobbed her head to the music in her melon. “I’ll hold down the fort. Might have to go take care of something later, but it can wait if Edge is with you.”
“I have a sitter coming to watch them, so no worries.”
Serra flicked the hair back from her eyes, running through her list of things to do and smiled up as she searched for the fry pan. “Good. It shouldn’t take long.”
He pulled a Monster from the fridge. “Okay. If you need me, I’ll be ass deep in the stock room helping Brenton and Brax.”
“If ya’ll get slammed, I can help out. I grew up in a bar. I have a little experience.” She snickered and poured the eggs into the pan, pulling the assorted other fixings closer. “Tonight is bad, but any other time.” She swatted his ass playfully when he walked by.
“I appreciate the offer.” Jared sat his ass down on a stool and waited for her to tell him where she’d been, but wasn’t surprised when she didn’t. “I will talk to Reese and Brock about it.”
“Cool.” She folded the eggs over the filling and waited for the cheese to melt, before sliding it on a plate and holding it out to him.
Sighing his disappointment, he kissed her cheek and took his plate to the table.
Serra joined him, she could smell his disappointment and it hurt. Setting her plate down, she leaned back in the ladder back chair and pushed the hair back from her face. “I should have called. I’m sorry.”
He looked up at her, surprised. “Where did you go?”
“I was at my house.” She picked up her fork and pushed the omelet around her plate before cutting it. “I had to deal with some stuff from before we met.”
Jared arched a brow. “Anything I need to know about?” He eyed her wondering what she wasn’t saying.
“Just old baggage, Baby. Someday, when we’re really bored, I’ll tell you all about it.” She covered his hand with hers and forced her smile to show in her eyes as the thought, when monkeys fly, shot through her head.
“Again,” Ve barked, shaking the blonde curls out of his face and clapped his fingers against his palm in a way that read, ‘Bring it, Pussy.’
Daniel growled and tried to lift his ass off the mat. He was exhausted. He should have stopped hours ago, but he needed to get out of his head after his visit to Paula’s. She hadn’t slammed the door in his face. She hadn’t opened it at all. Instead, she sent some GQ looking mother fucker named Caleb out to tell him to go away and stay that way. His blood boiled, remembering the smug look on the SOB’s face. Daniel itched to scrape it off with a cheese grater, but Ve had hit him up by text. This was the better option
. The smarter one. And he could commit murder anytime.
Dropping back on his ass, Daniel sucked air and held up a finger to give him a minute, shaking his head at Ve’s laugh and catching the bottle of water tossed at him. The God had been kicking his ass and calling it training for what felt like an eternity. So what if the clock said it had only been six or so hours.
“My nieces hit harder than you.” Ve mocked him.
Daniel gave him a look and unscrewed the cap to take a long drink. “Your nieces are fucking Valkyries.”
“You’re point?” Ve shrugged and offered his hand.
“That I’m not,” Daniel grunted as he was pulled to his feet and his legs turned into rubber bands for a moment.
“I still don’t see your point, Kid.” Ve blinked at him like he was talking in a foreign language.
“Forget it,” Daniel growled and pulled up the hem of his white wife beater to wipe the sweat from his face. “Don’t you ever sweat?”
Ve tilted his head and arched an amused blonde brow. “Not until shit gets real, Kid. Not until shit gets real.” He stared at the cub. Daniel was about to drop. They were done for the day. He ghosted in a towel and tossed it to Daniel, smirking. “Bring on a frost giant, and maybe then. Same time tomorrow?”
Daniel’s entire body sagged with relief. “Yeah, sounds good.” He almost fell over when Ve clapped him on the back.
“Unless your grandma won’t let you come out to play,” Ve teased.
“Fuck you. What the hell were you thinking, coming to the house?”
“Hey. I’m no one’s dirty little secret, Whelp.”
“Whatever. They’re leaving in a few days anyway. They’ve asked me to go back to Ireland with them.”