by Mandy Rosko
Obviously, she knew what that was.
Katie gasped, her body unwinding just as she felt the strength being sucked out of Jax’s body. He groaned, and Katie yelled when she felt the both of them suddenly drop.
Jax landed on his ass on the ground, a wince on his face. “Ow.”
Katie blinked. She was out of breath, her heart still pounding, and she was a little sweaty. “Are you okay?”
The most handsome, lazy smile spread across Jax’s face. “Better than okay. You?”
Before Katie could answer, she heard the sound of a twig snapping.
She and Jax immediately looked to the side, and spotted an enormous cougar stalking towards them.
Chapter 8
Jax saw the big cat and knew it wasn’t just an animal looking for a snack. He felt the immediate sense of intelligence behind those eyes as he shoved Katie off his lap and rushed to his feet.
The leaping attacking he expected didn’t come.
The cat simply stared at him. It sat down as well, as if the creature was planning on licking one of those large paws and washing its face.
Its eyes glanced down to Jax’s cock, still exposed.
Jax growled, kicking out of the jeans. “Cut it out. Like you’ve never seen a dick before.”
He ripped his T-shirt off from around his neck, tossing it away, not taking his eyes off the cat. “Katie, run back to the house.”
“No.”
Jax growled. He couldn’t argue with her, not when there was an immediate threat just standing here, watching them.
“Are you here about Anna? Where is she?”
The cat still didn’t answer. It tilted its body to the side a little, clearly looking at Katie.
Jax stepped to the side so he was blocking the cat’s view of his mate. “Don’t even think about it. Shift like a man and tell me where Anna is!” He clenched his fists, his shoulders tight as he stared at the cat. He itched to rush the damned thing and attack it for daring to just sit there and not answer his questions. “If it’s a ransom you want, Garret will pay it. Are you trying to work out a deal? Something on the side from Dennis?”
It was no use. The shifter in front of him wasn’t going to change so it could speak. It just stayed in its pure animal shape.
The cat turned its back on him. The fucking thing actually turned away from him.
Jax’s scales and claws came out. He roared and ran for the animal. Katie’s small hands on his shoulders as she suddenly put herself between him and the cat were the only things that stopped him.
“Jax, wait! Calm down, wait!”
Jax looked up, spinning Katie around so she wasn’t directly in the way of danger, but the cat was gone. It hadn’t turned back and it had slipped through the trees and shrubs.
It was still there somewhere.
Jax grabbed Katie’s shoulders. “You need to go back home and tell Garret about this. Another shifter was on the territory.”
“He didn’t hurt us, though.”
“It doesn’t matter, he’s not supposed to be on the territory.”
“Jax, if he wanted to kill us, he could have done that easily when you were inside me. He could have snuck up to us and just gotten it over with. He had to know what we were doing.”
Jax bit his lips together. That was something of a good point. He didn’t have anything to say to that. He wasn’t even sure if the cat was from Dennis’ rogue pack.
But where the hell else could he be from?
“We need to go. Come on.”
Jax wasn’t about to risk that he was right, and the cat was really just waiting to spring a trap.
“You don’t have to hover over me. I know we can’t stay here.” Katie picked up Jax’s T-shirt. He would have left the clothes behind, but he took his jeans before Katie could reach for them.
“Jax? Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jax clenched his jaw. He shook his head, glancing behind him. “No. Start running. Right now.”
Katie looked at him, a distrustful expression on her face. “You’re not going to run after the cougar while I go back home, are you?”
“No.”
He wouldn’t take the risk she would just come back and interfere in a fight. Knowing her, that was exactly what she would do. “I’ll go with you. I know this spot, so I can lead Garret back here. He can tell me if he recognizes the scent. He, Dane, and I can figure out what to do after that.” He looked down at Katie just then, cocking his head to the side when he realized she was staring at him, a light frown pulling at her brows. Usually, that meant he’d said something wrong. He already had an idea of what it was. Whatever it was, he didn’t have time for it. His first, second, and third priority was getting Katie to safety. “You can be mad at me later. I don’t care, so long as we get you back home alive.”
“And that I can never run along the territory again.”
“As long as Dennis’ rogues are out and about? No.”
Jax noted the way Katie’s fists clenched. She didn’t speak to him after that as together they ran back to the house.
Katie should have known this would happen, that Jax would let his alpha side take over as he railroaded what Katie wanted and needed in favor of safety. She just hadn’t seen it coming because he’d always been so gentle with her. He tended to back off on the things Katie was upset about.
Now that he’d planted his flag, it seemed that was no longer something he was going to bother with.
She clenched her fists on her lap, sitting on a chaise outside the mahogany door where the alphas were discussing what Jax had seen.
The room was mostly soundproofed. Katie could only hear their muffled voices. No one was yelling, yet. That was a good sign, though Katie could still make out the hint of distress in Jax’s tone.
Had what happened out in the woods really riled him up that much? He had to be taking this idea of a threat on the territory too seriously, right?
Katie hadn’t always felt the need to let her wolf out and run on a whim, but now that she knew it was there, having the option to do it taken away from her was irritating as all hell.
Still, she had been the one to spend the fifty years they had known each other keeping her distance. Jax had always seen her as a little delicate flower, and in some respects, maybe she was, but give her a gun and she knew how to protect herself better than some of the betas.
She hadn’t had a gun out there. If Jax hadn’t come for her, she would have been completely helpless against anything and everything that cat shifter could have done to her.
Katie pressed her fingernails into her palms. Maybe she’d judged Jax a little too harshly when he’d insisted on coming back.
Though she was still pissed when he wanted to speak with Garret and Dane alone.
Even though the alpha supposedly wanted to talk with Katie, Jax got the first word, and he was able to shut her out of Garret’s office while Dane, Garret, and Jax all had their precious boys only meeting.
She had been there, too.
“They’re not done yet?”
Katie looked up. Miranda was there, looking down at her with that pitying expression in her hazy eyes.
Katie pressed her lips together, turning away from the woman. “No.” Miranda was alone. That wasn’t normal. “Where is Lois?”
The two were usually together. Not that Katie cared for either of them, but if Lois was around, she could be the distraction Miranda was clearly looking for.
“She’s got a deadline, I guess. So she’s working on her computer.”
She wouldn’t be for long if what Katie had heard about the woman was true. “She’s a talented artist?”
Miranda seemed to take the question as an invitation to sit. “Yeah, she’s really great. The stuff she does is amazing.”
Katie nodded. “I see.”
If only Katie had seen what that cat shifter had looked like in his human form. Then she could tell Lois what he looked like. It would give Garret and Jax someone else to look fo
r.
They both stared at each other in a long, drawn out, awkward silence.
“I know you don’t like me much. And Lois.”
Katie tensed at those words. Was this woman serious? She wanted to talk about this right now? Why would she want to talk about it at all?
“If I don’t like you, what does it matter?” Katie felt her inner hackles rising. “You are the mate of my alpha. So long as I’m respectful and do my duties around the house…unless you’re really that vain that you care about what other people think?”
The sigh that came from Miranda was loud and noticeable. “Not so much as any other person, but I do care about what you think.”
Katie didn’t understand this woman, but she would play this touchy-feely game for now. “All right, why do you care what I think? We don’t know each other, and have no reason to care about each other.”
“I have a reason to care about you.”
Katie clenched up. She nearly looked at the other woman, but forced herself to hold back before she gave too much of herself away. What reason did she have to care? Did she know anything? Did she know about Katie’s past?
Katie wanted none of her sympathy. This entire conversation was making her irritated as all hell.
The door handle suddenly clicked, and Katie launched herself to her feet as Garret, Dane, and Jax came out of the room.
Garret walked. Dane marched, fists clenched as if he was on a mission.
“What? Hey!” Dane nearly bumped into her as he passed.
“He has to hurry,” Garret said. “The hospital wouldn’t release Joey the last time we asked, but he’s coming out of there whether they like it or not.”
Meaning Dane was going to kidnap him.
“Why wouldn’t they release Joey?” Miranda asked. “Was his leg that bad?”
Joey had been bitten hard by Dane when Dane had been in his bear shape. His monster bear shape. Even if Katie was armed to the teeth, she wouldn’t pick a fight with him when he looked like that.
He’d been frustrated because he and Lois hadn’t yet come to an understanding about their relationship. Dane and Garret had been having a good old alpha fight to try and get some of his irritation burned out of him.
Lois, the fool, hadn’t realized what was going on, and had nearly gotten between two alphas. Joey had saved her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back. Dane hadn’t liked that. It was never a good idea for a male to grab a shifter’s mate and yank her around. Dane had lost control, and the bear had attacked.
Luckily, he was alive. Unluckily, his healing wouldn’t be fast enough to warrant him recovering at the lodge. He had to go to the hospital. That had been almost a week ago.
“It was bad, but the doctors were just being pests, and I think they’re a little too fascinated with how quickly he’s recovering, which is bad in and of itself.”
Dane was definitely going to kidnap Joey. Omegas didn’t heal as fast as betas and alphas. Sometimes it was as slow as a regular human’s, and sometimes it didn’t happen at all.
Katie was glad the kid was recovering. At least that was something to be glad for.
“What about the cougar Jax and I saw in the woods?”
Garret’s sharp eyes locked in on her.
Katie tensed, not having expected her alpha to look at her like that. “You didn’t have to go so far out on the territory if you really wanted to run that bad. You could have stayed closer to the house. Something could have happened.”
“Nothing happened. Jax was there with me.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“Garret, nothing happened.”
Miranda’s words shocked Katie. She hadn’t expected that this woman would say anything on Katie’s behalf. Katie finally looked at her. Miranda stood tall, though she was only a couple of inches taller than Katie. She smiled at her mate, but there was something of a warning in her voice. Something Katie never would have expected to come from her mouth. Not directed towards Garret, at least.
“It’s for her safety, and the safety of the rest of the pack,” Garret said, putting his hand on his hip, staring down at his mate as though she had lost her mind.
Katie really didn’t want to get in on this. She didn’t want to hear Garret talk about all the things Jax was thinking. How she couldn’t handle herself. How she would be in danger if she did something as innocent as go for a run in the woods surrounding the house. Territory that was hers as a member of this pack.
It was hers, and yet she couldn’t freely use it because of Dennis and his stupid men.
Katie clenched her fists.
She took a deep breath before letting it out. This didn’t matter. This was nothing. She’d been through worse, and she wasn’t going to lose her cool over this.
Jax was looking at her as though he expected her to say something to him, to argue about this treatment.
Katie had nothing to say, so she turned around and walked away.
Chapter 9
Jax watched his mate walk away. He had no idea why she was reacting like this. Normally, she was more level-headed, and the dragon inside him demanded he take action, that he set things straight with his mate.
“Jax, wait.”
He stopped cold, slowly turning back around. “What is it, Garret?”
Garret looked at him, then in the direction Katie had stormed off in. He crossed his arms. “You didn’t tell me what you and Katie were doing when you were in the woods together.”
It was a rarity that Jax felt the rise of his alpha nature spiking inside him. At least when it came to Garret. Garret was a good alpha. Stern when he needed to be, and calm when he needed to be. Jax didn’t often challenge him.
He did so now. “Because it’s not any of your damned business.”
Garret’s nostrils flared. That was the only outward sign he was irritated.
Jax turned to walk away again.
“Jax.”
Jax clenched his fists, turning back in the direction of the man he’d sworn his loyalty to.
Garret glared at him. “You fuck this up, you hurt her, and it won’t matter how much of a friend you are, understand?”
Oh, so he was just a friend now? The pack was supposed to be family.
“I understand.”
“Uh, what’s going on?”
Jax tensed. Garret’s shoulders sagged. Jax had forgotten Miranda was there. It seemed Garret had as well.
“I’ll explain later.”
Jax clenched his teeth at the alpha, but he kept his trap shut.
Garret was just going to tell her something so…private? Sure, Miranda was his mate and everything, but Garret shouldn’t be speaking of those sorts of things without Katie’s permission.
Whatever. He was done with this. Jax turned and marched off. He waited for Garret to call out to him and stop him again, but it never happened. The alpha kept with his mate, and Jax was forced to find his own so he could settle things down before anything got worse.
He went to her room. It was one of the smaller rooms and didn’t have an adjacent bathroom, unlike a couple of the other rooms in the lodge.
Jax hesitated before knocking.
If he could finally convince her to share a room, and a bed, with him, they should also share a shower. It seemed like a nice enough fantasy to have, but one Katie had vehemently denied the both of them long ago.
He hadn’t brought it up since.
He pounded his fist on the door. Being nice and patient hadn’t brought them anywhere. He wasn’t going to let her slide back into this state. She was torturing them both.
“Katie? I know you’re in there.” He could detect her scent. It was fresh. She’d just come this way.
“Go away, Jax.”
He banged his forehead against the door. Probably a little too rough, if the crack he heard in the door was any indication.
Katie cursed. At least the sound of her footsteps stomping towards the door was a positive sign. Jax even smiled a little when sh
e yanked the door open. She glared at him with her fangs bared, looked at the indentation and crack in the wood, then glared at him again. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He kept right on smiling at her. “There’s the Katie I know and love.”
Her eyes turned into dangerously bright slits as she pulled her fist back, far and wide enough that he knew what was coming before she struck out at him.
He easily dodged her little fist. Just as he quickly, he dodged her second one.
“Hold still so I can hit you!”
“Earn the right to hit me first.”
“That makes no sense!”
She was angry, but this was good. He ducked out of the way of her second punch, letting her use him to get all that angry energy out of her body. He let her do this for several minutes before Katie, panting for breath and cheeks flushed from exertion, opened her mouth and released a terrible-sounding scream.
Jax’s eyes widened. His entire body tensed as he stared at his woman. A few people poked their heads out of their rooms to see what was going on.
Dimitri and Zelda were in the same room, both naked, and both with unimpressed and irritated glares in their eyes.
Jax snapped at them. “What the hell are all you looking at? Go back to your rooms!”
Most everyone did as they were told, but that annoyed stare didn’t falter from Zelda or Dimitri.
“Geez. You know you’re like a cartoon character when you’re mad?” Zelda asked, prompting Dimitri to tense behind her. “Watching your mouth flapping like that is—”
Dimitri slapped his hand over Zelda’s mouth before she could continue. “Sorry about her, Jax. She’s not in much of a good mood right now.”
“Neither am I,” Katie muttered, crossing her arms.
Was she aware that she made her breasts look higher when she did that?
“Go back to having sex for all I care. Just ignore us when you hear us.”
Zelda struggled somewhat in Dimitri’s grip, her hands swelling and enlarging, claws coming out, but Dimitri just nodded and pulled her back into the bedroom.
At least someone was getting along with their woman, though Jax had to wonder when that had started happening. “I wonder if they’re mated?”