Jake (The Clan Legacy)

by J. S. Striker

  Liar.

  So preoccupied was Jake in his thoughts that it took him a while to realize he was being followed.

  He was standing on the edge of a corner street, about to turn towards another part of the village to see if Raz was there when he felt it—the same dark presence that he felt earlier. Jake tried to keep casual, walking without stopping and putting his hands in his pockets. Quietly, he shifted his hands to claws, ready to attack should he be attacked first.

  “What are you doing here, pretty boy?”

  The presence behind him spoke, and Jake had no choice but to acknowledge it. He stopped and slowly turned around, noting the two strangers facing him.

  It was an old man and woman who looked more like siblings than a couple, and they were staring at him in fascination. They looked like your average people wearing country clothes, but there were two odd things in this scenario, really.

  First, they were old enough to be his grandparents—but instead of sleeping at this time of the night, they were here strolling around and looking so bright-eyed.

  Second…the darkness was coming from them.

  Other than the darkness, he could feel their curiosity as they watched him quietly, as if taking every inch of his sight in. He could also feel the hunger, which aroused the suspicion that he had when they were greeted by vampires on the gate earlier.

  This town was some sort of vampire haven.

  Anyone in their right mind would have panicked right off. But Jake wasn’t exactly known for his common sense, nor was he known for backing away at the first sign of danger. He thought of Gabby, who was safe and sound in the barn…for now. Then he thought of Raz, who was still somewhere around here plotting who knew what.

  Maybe it was time to do a little digging.

  Confident that the potion Raz gave still masked his shifter scent, Jake affected a pleasant smile towards the two.

  “I’m incredibly flattered to be called pretty boy,” he said. “But my name is Jake.”

  Obviously, his response wasn’t what the two expected. They drew closer, their footsteps hardly visible in their movements. When they were at least five meters away, Jake smiled again, waiting as the woman smiled back. It was supposed to be friendly, but all it gave Jake was a chill down his spine.

  “I don’t think we’ve seen you around here,” the man said, his tone gentle but probing.

  “I’m just visiting,” Jake replied politely. He directed the response to the man, but out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the woman’s gaze zoned in on his neck. His muscles ticked, and he gritted his teeth and tried to control that, too.

  “You should visit more often,” the woman said. “Why aren’t you with your friends?”

  And this was where things took an odder turn. The way the woman said friends made it seem like they were really interested and Jake scanned his mind for what to say. The woman stepped forward again, just a tad bit but enough to reach out towards him.

  “I didn’t come with anyone,” Jake said because, in his mind, he was still trying to protect Gabby.

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  The woman’s eyes lit up, their golden color swirling and changing slightly. This time, there was no hiding the hunger in her eyes. The man was calmer, but he was also looking at Jake now in a more interesting light, and Jake began to realize exactly what he should have said from the very beginning: he was with Raz and out for a stroll.

  The woman tensed, and Jake could feel the attack coming. He started slipping his hand out of his pocket—

  “Jake, finally. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

  Raz was suddenly there as if he came out of thin air. He was wearing a different coat this time—less stately and more casual, one that allowed him to blend in well with the village people. He glanced at the man and woman once, then dismissed them like he would servants. The woman obviously didn’t like this, bristling on the spot and eyes turning to slits as she regarded him coldly.

  “And you are?”

  Raz glanced in their direction again. “Someone highly connected to Lucinda. And you are?”

  Whatever fight had been about to happen vanished completely, and Jake watched as the two vampires immediately affected a demure expression and bowed. Then they backed off right away and walked out of there, leaving with their suffocating presence without a single word. Jake puzzled over the exchange, realizing it was a retreat but still unable to relax his claws.

  With a curt nod, Raz indicated for him to follow. Jake did so, keeping some distance between them as he tried to calm his senses and listen around. They were truly alone now.

  “Did I not tell you not to leave the barn?” Raz asked calmly.

  “She kicked me out,” was all Jake replied. “What is this place? What kind of vampires were those?”

  “They were both older than me. Possibly stronger. They lived in this village all their lives, and they only go out to hunt down food.”

  “Animals?”

  Raz shot him a look that asked if he was that stupid. Jake’s brows furrowed.

  “Fine. Not animals, then. And that’s fine with Lucinda?”

  “She doesn’t have control over villagers like this, not when there’s never been any reported incident that could jeopardize the supernatural community. Doesn’t the same apply to your kind?”

  Yes, it did. Dylan couldn’t exactly control every shifter in the world, either, but he did try to stop any excess violence from happening. That was just how their world worked, even though Jake didn’t like it.

  Still, the careless way Raz said it irked him, and he let it show now.

  “Maybe,” he replied to the vampire’s earlier question. “That doesn’t mean it’s right to just let it be.”

  “We’re predators by nature,” Raz shot back coolly. “Anyone who says otherwise is a hypocrite.”

  They stopped at another street corner, one that was relatively quieter and darker than the last. “What do you gain from helping us?” Jake couldn’t resist asking.

  “My master is mated to a dragon shifter. That’s just how things are right now, and I’m going with the flow and maintaining my power.” The vampire said it with no hesitation that Jake had no choice but to believe him. For now. “Go back to the barn, Mr. Kismet. Protect your master. If you’re reckless one more time, I won’t be around to throw around Lucinda’s name.”

  Jake shot him one last look, which the vampire returned. Then, without another word, they drifted off in separate directions, with Jake feeling like he just left with more questions than answers.

  *****

  When he returned to the barn, it was empty.

  Jake cursed in his head and immediately looked around, frustrated that he wasn’t able to see it in the beginning. There were no signs of struggle, which meant only one thing, really: she’d run away again.

  He wasn’t worried she was going to get away from him. He was worried about her bumping into those two oldies, with Raz not being there to protect her. Realizing that he was yet again about to fail at his job, Jake tried to think of where exactly Gabby would go before he proceeded to go back out.

  A familiar squeak behind him stopped him in his tracks.

  Relief poured out of him, then annoyance at where the hell she’d been hiding herself. He turned around to admonish her—

  He froze.

  Gabby was staring at him in shock.

  She was also very, very naked.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The transformation into a monster always left Gabby feeling depleted right after, her energy drained out of her faster than she could recharge it. She felt that weakness now seeping into her bones, and it was all she could do not to stumble as she stood up from the area where she blacked out.

  It always happened that way, with Gabby never really recalling what she did or how she did it when her inner darkness came out and transformed her. All she knew was that upon waking up, she would often find dead bodies all around her and blood all over h
er hands. It got to the point where she had to hide herself from the rest of the world when needed, which had her mother thinking she was some kind of introvert who simply knew how to put on a friendly face for business purposes.

  Oh, if only her mother knew the truth.

  She’d probably have her daughter killed on the spot.

  As it was, Gabby learned that her case was rare—mostly because she was the only one alive. A long time ago, she’d been bitten by a rogue wolf shifter while out partying in some club before she was left alone for dead. She’d been a teenager back then, and all she could remember were the red eyes of the wolf and the pain of the bite before darkness took over. When she woke up, she was surprised to find that she was alive, with minimal wounds that already healed overnight. She thought that was the end of it.

  She was wrong.

  A certain darkness began developing inside her—one that made her lose consciousness every once in a while, only to wake up with corpses of animals surrounding her. Because she was young and scared, she hid it. It happened enough times that Gabby finally found the courage to chain herself up in a makeshift prison and videotape herself.

  What she saw in the video when she woke up after still gave her chills now.

  She watched herself turn into a rogue half-wolf, half-fox creature, one with violent tendencies, fangs dripping with saliva and blood-red eyes. She watched as she attacked the cell bars and the chains over and over, trying to get away and injuring her skin and bones in the process. The thirst for blood and the kill was insaitable.

  Then news came out—that of the old vampire leader’s first-in-line named Killian betraying him by trying to create a rift between shifters and vampires in the form of experimental rogues: the exact one that bit her. More news came out about how vampires and shifters were teaming up to clean all the rogues and the incident up, so as not to leave any of that senseless violence behind. The puzzle fell into place, and Gabby realized at that moment exactly what she needed to do.

  She chained herself up whenever she could.

  She also hid her true self from the rest of the world.

  It worked at first, and despite the loneliness and the frustration of keeping the darkness a secret, she’d been able to deal. Then the kidnappings started—something that she attributed to her wealth at first until they started extracting her blood. The kidnappers never really got anywhere, because her mother often always found the most efficient men to rescue her before anything else could happen. Then, a year ago, she decided that maybe she could use it to her advantage and allowed herself to get kidnapped while trying to charm it up with Raz.

  Her agenda had been to let them experiment on her and use her blood however they wanted—whether they used it to produce more of her kind, she’d planned to deal with later. She just knew that if they were to experiment, surely there had to be a cure they could also make—and she desperately wanted it.

  But her plan had resulted in bloodshed as she ended up transforming during the rescue—and killing the shifter bodyguard who rescued her. What had started out as brilliant became the most painful memory of her life, one that had her grieving at night for the man who’d become her friend.

  Now Gabby was at a standstill, with still no idea what the cure could be and feeling weaker than she’d felt in a long time. She cursed this weakness and tried not to hate herself as she removed her chains, stumbled out of the horse box, and tried to get her bearings.

  She squeaked when she saw Jake standing inside the barn with his broad back facing her.

  Everything happened in slow motion after. First, Jake froze in his walking, obviously hearing the sound she made. Then he turned around, and at first, she saw the explosion about to happen and knew he was annoyed that he hadn’t spotted her in the barn right away—he was probably thinking that she’d snuck out on him.

  Then his expression changed to shock when he saw her state of dress, and it was only then Gabby realized that she’d torn through her clothes earlier and was wearing…nothing.

  Something flared in his hazel eyes, darkening them to that green color again. She watched as desire rang so loud and clear that she could almost taste it in the air and even reach out for it. Her body responded, and she reasoned out that it was because she was closer to her beast nature at the moment, and beasts always tended to be lustful.

  Deep inside, Gabby knew she was lying to herself.

  She ordered herself to move, to step away and break whatever tension was building between them—had been building between them since they tangled with each other. But she was frozen in place, absorbing his emotions until it doubled up inside her and had her whole body quivering. Her nipples hardened, and something hot throbbed in her core, primal and strong.

  Then his gaze changed to make way for concern, and Gabby knew she was done for.

  She could stand hate. She could even stand desire and use it to her advantage. But the genuine concern from him was hard to take, making guilt rack her up and swallow her whole. It was what had her opening her mouth, intent on saying something—anything—to soften the situation.

  But Jake made the noise first when he cleared his throat. Then he was the one who stepped back first and looked away.

  “Gabby…” he said gruffly, his suddenly low voice sending those shivers scattering again.

  “Sorry,” she blurted out. “I was about to…shift and find a river. It’s too hot in here.”

  His frown said he didn’t believe a word she said. But he didn’t pursue it, instead walking towards the door and waiting until she was dressed. When she was, Gabby cleared her throat.

  “Did you…find anything about Raz?”

  Jake nodded, not looking at her. “Yeah. He saved me from potential disaster.” Then he glanced in her direction, and his gaze was unreadable again. “Get some rest, please. We might need it.”

  Gabby watched as he slipped out the barn and left her alone again.

  She still felt weak, but the adrenaline rush of their encounter kept her standing up and fueled with…something. She was tired. She was confused. Jake was the person who should have been a bastard, but here he was, the first guy to show concern when most would have just tried to get it on with her in that instant. He didn’t push either, when he had every right to, considering she’d gotten him involved in this situation whether he liked it or not.

  What was she supposed to do with him?

  The door opened again, and Gabby looked up, intending to make peace—or at least, some kind of truce.

  Her eyes widened when she saw the old man take her in with hungry eyes—not the lustful kind of hungry, but the predatory kind. Then he was leaping towards her in a blur, fangs coming out. Gabby shifted—or she tried to—when she understood that her transformation must have removed the scent-masking potion and had the vampire smelling her.

  Horror filled Gabby when she realized she had no energy left to shift.

  Then the first strike of pain came in.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  She’d been naked.

  She’d been naked with sheer longing in her eyes, and what had Jake done?

  He’d controlled himself for the first time in his life.

  The idea made him shake his head, even as he stood outside the barn area and tried not to think about it. It should have made him feel like some knight in shining armor, but it didn’t. All he felt was sheer frustration and the idiocy as he remembered the disappointment in her eyes the moment he backed off.

  She wanted him. He wanted her. Instincts were telling him that this wasn’t going to go away soon.

  So why was he still fighting it?

  In the back of his mind, he knew exactly why. At the forefront of it, he also knew why he shouldn’t. They warred with each other and only escalated the frustration, and he had to fist his hands to avoid hitting something. There was nowhere to go to vent his frustration, either, because he was pretty sure Raz would kill him if he disobeyed one more time.

  Ironically enough that
made him want to be contradictory.

  But he had Gabby to think about, and the repercussions would be bad on her—she had a secret, she had some kind of problem, and it was obvious it was killing her inside.

  And just like that, his thoughts were back to her again and the connection they just seemed to have.

  Maybe they could talk it out. Maybe he could be civil for one minute in his life. Willing to risk it, Jake waited for his hands to relax. Then he was turning back towards the barn, intent on making amends.

  He smelled the blood the moment he opened the door—strong, cloying. In an instant, he was shifting his hands and ready to attack when he heard the first grunt. He saw the vampire first, with Gabby fighting him off. It was the same old man who tried to attack him earlier. Damn it. He’d been followed. Which meant—

  Jake turned just in time as claws swiped at him from another direction. There was a hiss, and the old woman was there, leaping from the wall and no longer able to hide the sheer hunger on her face. Jake’s claws dug into her side, getting a swipe in before the vampire jumped back. Then the vampire leaped again, and Jake had no choice but to shift to half-wolf and attack with all his strength.

  Had it been both the man and woman attacking him at the same time, he wasn’t sure he could have made it. He could barely fend off the woman herself, but he did have the upper hand as he injured her pretty good the first strike. Then it was only a matter of grappling her down and finishing her.

  So he killed her first, quick and clean and efficient. When he was done, Jake turned to see how Gabby was doing.

  Blood flowed out of her stomach area, and the man had the upper hand on her. Jake’s eyes widened, shocked that she hadn’t even shifted. She was holding a pitch fork and holding the man off, clear she was about to lose the battle.

  The vampire jumped into the air and straight for her head, and Gabby twisted her body to the side. The creature kept attacking her, but she kept evading it using light body movements and quick jerks. She managed to get a few plunges in, blood spurting out. She even used the knife he gave her. But the vampire never slowed, attacking her faster until she crashed to the ground and had to use the fork to push him off. Then, when the vampire was on the ground, she climbed on top of him and plunged the fork deep into the vampire’s neck.