“Of course it does. He’s my brother for crying out loud. You don’t think we know that. Jesus Shay.” Lucas threw his fry on his plate. “But, he’s the one that cut us out of his life, not the other way around. This is really none of your business Shay. If Jaxson decides to talk to you, then that’s different, but please don’t ask me questions about him. Ok?”
Shay looked at him and could see that she had hurt him. She hadn’t meant to. After all, he’d just probably saved her life. She just wanted to learn more, something, anything that would possibly help her understand. She reached out and laid her hand on Lucas’s arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. Really. You’re a good friend Lucas.”
He looked at her. “It’s okay Shay. Listen, I love my brother, but it’s just how things are. It’s how he wants them to be. He’s the only one that can change his ways. No one else.”
Shay didn’t agree with that. Maybe he just needed to let someone in, to help him see that he could be happy again. To feel alive. That there was more to life than just hiding away by yourself and living like a hermit. She decided that she would give Jaxson his space, but she was far from giving up on him, even though he had pissed her off.
Chapter 15
True to his word, after dinner Lucas had given her a ride to pick up her supplies at the local market and then drove her home. She was surprised that Lucas wouldn’t give her any information and it made her curiosity grow that much more. She put everything away and just wanted to relax with a glass of wine on the porch. Between the fight with Jaxson and the encounter with Kane, she needed something to unwind her nerves. She sat there on the swing and took a sip of her wine. She heard Sue’s door open and watched the woman sit down on her swing.
“Hey, Shay.” She said smiling holding up her bay breeze. That was her way of saying, Come chat with me.
Shay smiled. “Hi.”
She watched Sue pat the seat next to her. “Come on over honey.”
She walked over to Sue’s porch, sitting down next to the woman.
“So what’s new and exciting?” Sue asked.
Shay had no intention of telling her about her altercation with Kane. Not that she didn’t trust Sue. She just didn’t have the energy to relive it all over again, nor did she really want to answer any questions about him either. “Not much. Just relaxing. It’s such a beautiful night.”
Shay couldn’t stop thinking about what Jake had said to Jaxson. It was killing her not to know what he meant by Jaxson not being able to protect her, and she wanted to find out what had actually happened to Jillian. She looked at Sue and thought maybe she would know. After all, she had lived here her entire life and seemed to have the in on all the juicy gossip in town. It wouldn’t hurt to ask she thought.
“What do you know about Jake Hanover?” She asked without turning her head.
She could feel Sue looking at her. “Why do you want to know about him? He’s nothing but bad news. Stay away from him. Far away from him.” Sue said rather abruptly.
“I’m just curious. I spent some time at Jaxson’s house last week, and the two got into quite the fight.” Shay explained taking another sip of her wine.
“You were with Jaxson?” Sue asked raising an eyebrow.
Of course, Sue would zero in on that minor detail. Since the cat was already out of the bag, Shay had no reason to deny it. “Yes.” She said staring out into the night.
“Doing what exactly?”
“We spent some time together. Talking.” Shay said looking at her this time.
The old woman stared at her for a minute before starting to giggle, and Shay finally said, “What’s so funny.”
“Honey, that man hasn’t spoken to another woman in almost four years. He must find you very special if what you're saying is the truth.”
Shay smiled to herself. If you only knew the half of it.
She watched Sue become serious then and say, “There’s something not quite right with that boy. Jake that is. He’s evil, sadistic in my books.” She nodded her head like she agreed with herself.
“What do you mean? What did he do?”
Sue looked around as if to check if anyone else was around. Like she was about to spill a dark secret. “My husband passed away from a stroke three years ago. Oh, he was the love of my life.” She said getting lost in her words.
“I’m so sorry Sue,” Shay said, her heart going out to her.
Shay watched her drift off and reminisced. “We were close to Jillian you know.” She looked at Shay wide-eyed. “She was such a beauty. Just like you.”
“You knew Jillian? Jaxson’s wife.” Shay said stunned.
“Of course. I watched that little girl grow up and blossom into a beautiful lady. She was like the daughter we never had. She always baked us pastries and other little goodies. Her dream was to open up her own shop. She would fatten up my George and Jaxson would always just laugh. Oh, how he loved that woman.” She said trailing off again getting lost in her thoughts.
“I have never seen two people more in love than Jaxson and Jillian. They were inseparable growing up, and no one was surprised when they got married. We all thought they would live happily ever after. But, when she died, something inside Jaxson died too. I’ve never seen someone so devastated, so broken before.” She paused taking a sip of her drink.
“So, what exactly happened to her? Was it Jaxson who found her?”
“It was actually my husband George who found her.” She said quietly. Shay didn’t press, just gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. “George used to shoot crows down off Jaxson’s property. Where it ends on his land and meets with the Hanover’s ranch. He liked to get his practice in before duck season opened up. Plus, it got rid of the nuisance for Jaxson. Nobody minded. My George saw the whole thing unfold before him. Thank god no one saw him or they would have killed him too probably.”
“Saw what?” Shay asked pressing her for more. It sounded like something out of a movie.
“Jillian. She was out picking blueberries. She loved to bake with fresh berries. George said he heard her scream, so he followed the noise. He wasn’t a young man anymore, so it took him a bit to get to where she was. But, he was too late to help her. He found them just as Jake had just finished raping her in the field. He was about to fire a warning shot to scare Jake off when he heard Jaxson calling out for Jillian. She struggled against Jake, but he knocked her down again, and just when she went to yell out for help again, George watched Jake snap her neck.”
Shay’s hand came up and covered her mouth, to stop herself from letting out a gasp. “No. No. Are you sure?”
“My George doesn’t lie” She snapped. “Besides it wasn’t a secret that Jake had a thing for Jillian. We just never thought he’d go that far.”
“Did you go to the police?” Shay asked
“No, wolves have their own code, their own justice system. We tried to tell Jaxson’s father, Nelson Avery, what happened. He is the Alpha and controls this area, sets the rules and so on. He said he required proof, but we had none. By the time we went back to the field, her body was gone, and so was the evidence. It was just George’s word against Jake’s. Nelson believed George, but without proof, his hands were tied.” Sue shook her head in disgust. “And then Sherry, Jake’s sister came forward claiming that she had been with Jillian and that they had been attacked by rogue wolves that were in the area. She was full of shit!” Sue shouted out loud her chest heaving with emotion. She took a few steadying breaths and looked back at Shay, anger still evident in her eyes. “Sherry had some bruises and cuts on her arms and legs but nothing she couldn’t have done to herself. Not to mention that Jillian couldn’t stand Sherry, so it didn’t make any sense that the two of them would have been together. In the end, nothing happened because we couldn’t prove their lie.”
Shay looked at Sue shocked. “Oh, my god. Does Jaxson know the truth about what happened?”
“Nelson ordere
d us to never tell Jaxson, or anyone else for that matter, the truth unless we had solid proof and according to him, George’s word wasn’t good enough.” Shay began to protest, but Sue held up her finger. “But, neither George nor I felt right about that. So we sat down with Jaxson anyway and told him the truth.” Tears pooled in Sue’s eyes and threatened to spill over. “George and I are human, so we aren’t quite bound by the Alpha’s laws the same way the wolves are. They have no choice in the matter; they are compelled to follow the Alpha’s orders. But, George and I have always respected Nelson’s direction…up until then. Jaxon deserved to know the truth! We loved that boy so much as if he were our own. I have never seen someone so distraught before, like everything inside of him had died. That poor boy has always blamed himself. He still does.” She wrung her hands together. “To this day, I question whether we did the right thing.”
“Did he believe you?”
“At first, no. He refused to hear anything we had to say. That surely George had been mistaken and Jake had been trying to help Jillian. But, George had no reason to lie. We had no feud with the Hanover’s. Deep down, I think he did. It was just too much for him to accept at the time. He had just lost the love of his life in the most brutal way, and then on top of that, we were telling him that it was at the hands of his own family. He knows what that man is like. He’s pure evil. Not a good bone in his body.” Sue spat. Her face was sad as she stared off into the distance. “He hasn’t spoken to his father since. And we are to blame for that. Sometimes I wonder if it was best to just stay quiet.”
“Jesus Christ. That explains everything.” Shay said as the hidden meaning behind Jake’s words finally became clear to her.
“What do you mean?” Sue asked.
Shay hadn’t meant to say it out loud. But, there was no sense in keeping from Sue. “The other day when I was with Jaxson, Jake showed up yelling. He was irate because Jaxson had his horses, even though Jake had let them run wild and free. Anyway, they got into it, and Jake called Jillian a slut and said that Jaxson couldn’t take care of his women. Well, his exact words were ‘Hopefully you can protect this slut better than your last one.’”
She watched Sue’s hand go to her mouth in shock. “My god. Poor Jaxson. What a horrible thing to say! Jake will get what is coming to him. I truly believe that.”
Shay now understood why Jaxson had gotten so angry, but she also couldn’t believe that Jake had the nerve to say that to Jaxson after what he had done. Why taunt him like that, when he’d gotten away with it? Surely, he knew that Jaxson would try to kill him for that. He was obviously a psychopath.
Chapter 16
Shay had woken early that morning to another nightmare. Only this time, it hadn’t been about Ana or Kane. It had been about wolves. More specifically it had been about Jaxson and Jake. She had been on one of her usual runs, only this time it was at night. The moon was full, illuminating the trails enough for her to see.
Everything was going fine until the fog rolled in. She didn’t notice it at first, but then it got so heavy that she could barely see two feet in front of her. Then the air turned unseasonable cold, and it was the middle of July. She could feel her panic rising as she felt like the fog was closing in on her. She lost track of where she was because she couldn’t see any of her normal landmarks.
She thought she heard the sound of water running and thought maybe she could find the river and find her way back home. As she slowed to a walk, her pulse began to race, and her heart thundered in her ears. It was eerily quiet for the middle of the night. There were no sounds of the wind in the trees, or owls hooting in the night.
She could see every breath as she desperately tried to make her way out of the dense fog. And then she heard it. The sound that made her blood run cold. A howl. There was something sinister about the howl, not the typical braying at the moon. This was menacing and purposeful. And it was close. Shay’s intuition kicked in, and she knew she had to get out of there fast.
Adrenaline had her legs pumping faster than she’d ever run before. Somehow, whether it was pure happenstance or instinct, she made it through the woods and out of the fog. She ran onto a dirt road that split between the woods she had just come from and a large field with waist high grass. It looked vaguely familiar. But, she didn’t have any time to consider why she recognized the field because she heard another howl. It sounded if it was right behind her.
She glanced frantically around trying to find a place to hide. If she stayed on the road, the wolf would see her immediately. She couldn’t go back into the woods because the fog was the heaviest there and that’s where he was. She didn’t know how she knew it was a he, but she did. The wolf was hunting her. She had no choice but to duck into the field of tall grass and hope she could get far enough in to hide.
She thrashed her way through the tall grass and weeds. Thick brambles tore at her clothing and scratched her face and arms drawing blood. But she kept going. Soon she heard another loud bay and then large paws crashed through the woods behind her. She had barely made it 100 yards into the field. But this would have to do because he was coming. If she didn’t try to find a place to hide, he would hear her.
She ran a few yards more, but then the noise stopped. She could no longer hear the wolf crashing through the brush, only the sound of her loud breathing. She immediately crouched down low until she was flat on her belly. She couldn’t see the road anymore, but that also meant he couldn’t see her. She held her breath as she waited in anticipation for his next move. She hoped he would go on down the road.
Seconds ticked by and panic began to rise in the back of her throat as the silence stretched. Surely, she would have heard him by now. She had to suppress the urge to rise up and try to look for him. She had watched enough horror movies to know that was a mistake. But, she knew she was a sitting duck if she waited here. She began to slither slowly on her belly careful not to disturb the weeds and grass around her. Thankfully, they weren’t as thick where she was so she could maneuver around them.
She had made it maybe ten feet when she heard the laughter. Shay froze. This wasn’t the sound of a wolf; this was a man. But, not just any man. It was Jake.
“Come out, come out wherever you are!” He taunted. “I know you can hear me. I can smell your sweat; it reeks of fear.” He laughed maniacally. It was clear to Shay that he was insane. “Why don’t you make this easy on yourself and just come to me.” He paused for effect. “Because trust me, I’ll enjoy the hunt so much more.
Shay had two choices. She could stay here and hide, knowing that he would eventually find her. Especially, if he switched back into wolf form, he could just follow her scent. Even she could begin to smell herself as the sweat rolled off in torrents. Or she could make a run for it. Shay had lived in fear long enough when her relationship with Kane turned physical. She would be damned if she would play the victim again.
Slowly, she began to rise up into a crouched position. She could still hear Jake talking, taunting her, trying to get her to respond and give away her position. That was fine. She needed him to keep talking because it gave away his position to her. She could tell by the way his voice was fading away that he was headed away from her. She made the quick decision to raise up high enough to see if she could spot him.
Careful not to disturb the weeds around her, she raised her head up just high enough to get a view of the road. At first, her heart dropped because she couldn’t see him at all. But, then he started calling to her again from her left. She swiveled her head and could barely make out his human form. Something about him being naked made him all the scarier. Thankfully, he had his back to her. This was her chance.
It was now or never. She bolted upright and sprinted as fast as she could in the opposite direction of him. She didn’t dare look back to see if he noticed her. She just kept running.
She knew the moment he spotted her because he let out a wild whoop that quickly changed into a horrifying howl. She didn’t stop to tur
n around to see if he was chasing her, she could hear him coming. She had a bit of a head start, but he was closing fast.
Faster and faster she ran, panic and adrenaline pushing her beyond her limits. She flew over the damp ground, leaping over fallen logs and hopping over rocks and stones. Vaguely, her path began to look familiar. She began to recognize certain landmarks. This was the way to Jaxson’s place. With renewed vigor, she raced for Jaxson’s house praying that he was home and that she would make it in time.
Her breathing was labored, and her lungs screamed, but she didn’t dare quit now. She broke through the tree line and onto the path racing past the horse barn. She made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder and nearly stumbled. Jake had closed the distance rapidly. He had just been toying with her before. He was within five yards of her and gaining fast. She did the only thing she could think of. She screamed her head off.
“JAXSON!!!! JAXSON HELP ME!” Her screams ripped through the night.
That only seemed to exhilarate Jake more because he began to snarl at her. He was mere feet behind her, his large jaws snapping at her heels. He took a swipe at her leg with one large paw and missed, but it was enough to make her stumble. She screamed as she went sprawling in the dirt. She tried desperately to scramble to her feet, but she felt a large paw in the middle of her back shoving her down.
His razor sharp claws tore through her thin t-shirt and dug into her skin. She cried out in pain. The pressure from the weight of him was almost unbearable. She thought her ribs would crack at any moment. She could hear his panting as he leaned in close, his muzzle right next to her ear. Drool dripped down his sharp canines and dribbled down her cheek. She was too frightened to be disgusted.
She closed her eyes waiting for the bite, waiting for him to snap her neck with his powerful jaws. Instead, he took a long slow sniff of her hair and howled. It was as if he was calling to someone. Oh God, please don’t tell me he’s calling his brothers. Shay wanted this to be over quickly. She couldn’t handle if they tossed her around like a play thing between them or worse.
His Vengeance Page 12