Jackson's Rise

by Tielle St Clare

  “Of course. Talk to him. It might help.”

  Dani looked at Jackson, her eyes filled with fear and uncertainty. He joined her at the bedside, urging her closer.

  “Talk to him.”

  “What if I’m not the voice he wants to hear?” she whispered. Now that she’d bullied her way into the hospital room, what if Reign didn’t feel the connection that she had? Admittedly it had only one night of sex but it had been really hot sex and it had been one long night. “I mean, shouldn’t his family be here? And what if he really has a wife somewhere?”

  “I’ll worry about finding his family. You talk to him. Remind him of what he’ll be missing if he stays away.”

  Jackson’s eyes twinkled.

  “I’m supposed to have phone sex with a guy who’s in a coma?”

  “It’d make me come back from the dead.”

  “Is there a problem?” Charlie asked from the doorway.

  “Uh, no. Just receiving some spiritual guidance.” Bracing herself for rejection from an unconscious man, Dani leaned down. “Reign?” What to say next? Jackson’s hand covered hers, encasing her and Reign’s fingers in his palm. The warmth gave her strength. “Come to back to me, Reign.” She lowered her voice. “Come back to us.” Yes, that sounded better.

  She took a deep breath and just started to talk, hoping her words would slip through the darkness and find him somewhere.

  * * * * *

  The silence in his head transformed, music infiltrating the calm. He fought to hear it, needing it to pour over him. The sound was soothing, soft and delicate, with hints of bass, pulses that matched the beats of his heart.

  Conscious of his frozen state, Reign savored the sounds, tracking the minutes, focusing as time became clearer. The music evolved into a voice. His beleaguered mind took a moment to connect the tone with the face. Dani. Whether his body moved or not, his soul smiled. She was here. With him. Whispering to him. Asking him to come back to her.

  Then her voice drifted away and panic tried to seize him but before it could take hold, the bass returned and this time he recognized the timbre. Jackson. He was here as well, his voice low and steady. The words didn’t make sense but he felt the compulsion to return just as he had with Dani’s pleas.

  He wasn’t sure how long he drifted, his mind fading in and out, his body fighting the wounds and the human drugs they’d put in him.

  Slowly he fought his way to the surface, needing to return—to Dani and Jackson.

  It was light when his mind broke through the surface and he was able to react, to move just a little. Just enough to open his eyes. For a moment he stared up in silence. Dani sat beside him, looking tired, her fingers clutched in his. She was reading to him. Harry Potter if he wasn’t mistaken.

  Focusing all his concentration on his hand, he squeezed her fingers. She squeezed back but didn’t look up and he realized his body had probably been reacting to hers even while his mind was blanking.

  “Dani.” Damn his voice was hoarse but she heard. Her head popped up and the book tumbled to the floor as she jumped to her feet.

  “Reign?”

  “Hey, kitten.”

  “I need call the nurse.”

  “Not yet.”

  Tears welled in her eyes and her grip tightened on his.

  “How do you feel?” she asked, her fingers stroking his hair.

  “Tired. Beat up.” He struggled to lift his head, knowing something was missing. “Where’s—” Even as he started to ask the question, he saw the answer, lying five feet away, curled up uncomfortably in a chair. A dark shadow dusted Jackson’s cheeks, like he hadn’t shaved in days.

  As if he sensed Reign’s stare, Jackson opened his eyes and blinked, looking around. His gaze landed on Reign and Dani and his mind cleared. His body tensed and Reign thought for a second that Jackson would lunge out of the chair. Instead he just smiled.

  “You’re awake.”

  “Yeah.” The energy to keep his head up was too much and Reign dropped back on to the pillow.

  “I’d better call the nurse.”

  This time Reign didn’t protest except to say, “Don’t let them give me any pain meds.”

  Dani smiled and shook her head. “Jackson’s already got that covered.”

  Reign didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant. Nurses and doctors arrived and he was caught in checkups and medical details.

  Jackson and Dani stayed out of the doctors’ way but they didn’t leave. Jackson watched closely. From the way the nurses and doctor included Jackson and Dani in their conversations, Reign had to believe they’d firmly established themselves with the medical staff. No one put anything into his IV without telling Jackson what it was and what it would do.

  Reign relaxed, letting his wounded body heal, drifting off to sleep. He was safe. Dani was here and Jackson was watching over both of them.

  * * * * *

  Reign shifted, trying to get comfortable. Damn, he needed to get out of this bed. One day since waking up and his body was well on the way to recovery. From what Dani had said, Reign had been out of it for two days. The medical staff said he’d been in a coma. He knew it had taken that long for his body to throw off the effects of the human drugs. From what he’d been told, Jackson had stopped the painkillers immediately after he’d arrived. Only then could Reign begin to heal at his natural rate. His metabolism didn’t work like a werewolf’s to heal him almost instantly but it would be faster than a normal human. He needed to get out of the hospital before the docs noticed.

  “Is it safe to come in?”

  Reign looked up and saw Charlie in the door.

  “Sure. Come on in.”

  Charlie tipped his head toward the chair. “Where’s your guard dog?”

  Reign hesitated. “Jackson?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He ran home to clean up.” Forcing a laugh, he asked. “Why do you call him that?” Surely he couldn’t know about Jackson’s tendency to get furry. The wolf wouldn’t be careless with that kind of information.

  “Well, damn, he wouldn’t let anyone in the room. Even questioned the doctors and nurses, demanding to know what they were giving you. You had to pass inspection before he’d let you close.”

  Reign chuckled. “He’s a little protective.”

  “Is he really a priest?”

  The chuckle turned to a choke. “Uh, sure.”

  Charlie’s eyes squinted down. “I didn’t think so. Does that mean Dani’s not really your wife?”

  “Is that what she said?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sure, she’s my wife.” The words had a strange, calming effect. Calming for a moment. Then the panic set it. He didn’t plan to marry. Not to Dani, not to anyone, ever. Cats didn’t mate for life. Unlike wolves. No doubt Jackson had already laid his claim to Dani’s future. The thought created a weird mix of emotions. He craved the sight of Jackson fucking Dani, his tight ass pumping as he rocked between her thighs. And the way she screamed when she came. Fuck that was sweet.

  But while one part of him wanted Jackson to be the one fucking Dani, the thought that he might be left out, not there, made his chest ache in a way that had nothing to do with the bullet wound in his side.

  “Where’s she at? She hasn’t left your side for three days.”

  “She’s missed a lot of rehearsals being here. I told her to go.” Charlie nodded and looked like he was going to ask more questions. Questions Reign wasn’t sure he wanted to answer or even think about. “Enough about that,” he said, pushing himself up in the bed. “What about the bastard who shot me? No one’s taken a statement. I haven’t given you a description. Are you even looking for this guy?”

  “We already got him.”

  “What?”

  Charlie shrugged. “Day after you were shot. This guy Winston calls up, confesses, tells us where the gun is, tells us where he is. Practically begs to be arrested. We walk in and the idiot’s surrounded by illegal drugs. Doesn’t even try to hide them.
Confesses again and then starts telling us about every illegal thing he’s done since he was sixteen years old.”

  “Is he trying to get a deal?” Reign wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. He wanted the bastard to pay, not only for what he’d done to him but because of the damage he’d caused the Cats’ society.

  “No. Doesn’t want a deal. Practically begged to be taken to jail. He’s a weird bird. When we found him, he kept asking us if the wolf-man was gone and pleading for us not to let the wolf-man get him.”

  “Wolf-man?” Reign hadn’t meant to repeat the words but they just slipped out. Fuck. What had Jackson done?

  “That’s what he said. Thought he was going for an insanity defense but everything else about him is completely sane.”

  Reign forced a laugh. “Well, maybe he’s been using some of his own product.”

  “That’s what we figure.”

  * * * * *

  Jax glanced around the corner before he walked in. Reign was asleep, his eyes closed, his head tipped to the side of the hospital bed.

  Jackson stepped inside, approaching the bed, preparing to check the IV. He wanted to make sure they hadn’t given Reign any painkillers. The human drugs were death to a Cat’s metabolism. As he squinted to read the tiny words written on the bag, Reign’s eyes snapped open.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” he demanded.

  “What?” Jackson snarled back, his wolf instinctively responding to the attack.

  “You went after Winston. In your wolf form? What were you thinking? What if he tells someone?”

  Anger, irritation, rage—the emotions combined and boiled up inside Jackson. He felt his teeth extend. “He won’t.” The words came out more growl than spoken.

  “He might.”

  “Trust me. He’s so freakin’ scared, he won’t be able to talk without babbling for years.”

  “He’s already talking. What if someone decides to believe him? What were you thinking?”

  The rage, the fear at seeing Reign in the hospital bed, at seeing him so close to death bubbled to the surface. All the emotion he wasn’t allowed to show because it wasn’t permitted by society erupted.

  “I was thinking about, imagining, what it would feel like to rip his throat out and eat his heart. I was thinking about killing the man who’d hurt my mate.”

  The word seemed to surprise both of them.

  “I’m not your mate.” Reign sat up, his lips pulling back.

  “Fuck that. You belong to me and to Dani. Just accept it.”

  “Fuck you. I belong to no one. Not you. Not Dani.”

  Dani stood in the doorway and tried to ignore the pain that ripped through her chest when Reign declared he didn’t belong to her. And Jackson…mates? What the hell did that mean? Sounded like some weird werewolf ritual that she probably should know about.

  But that was for later. Now she had to face Reign and Jackson.

  A pissed off Reign and Jackson. Male anger. The convenient reaction to all things frightening or irritating.

  She stormed inside, exhausted from a grueling rehearsal. Preparing to break up a battle between her lovers.

  “Both of you stop it.”

  Neither man—uh, male—reacted.

  “Bullshit,” Jackson snapped. “You belong to me and you sure as hell belong to Dani. Tell me you can walk away from her.”

  “Who I can walk away from and who I can’t is my business,” Reign snarled. “And you’re not involved, so keep the fuck out of my business. I don’t need…”

  This was going nowhere. Dani thought about screaming—that would get their attention but it would also get the attention of every person on the floor and given that neither male looked particularly human at this point, she didn’t need others to come running.

  She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and yanked it up, baring her breasts.

  Both males stopped and stared, mouths dropping open, eyes popping wide.

  She pulled her shirt down, snapping them out of their breast-induced trance.

  “Good to know that works.” She blinked her eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. So both men were already planning their escape. “Now, the first thing we have to do is get Reign healthy enough to go—” Home. Except he would be going to his home. Not hers. “To leave the hospital. The doctor said he’d be stopping by this afternoon and if you’re well enough, you can go home.”

  The furious blinking of her eyes wasn’t working but there was no way in hell she was going to cry in front of these two men. Not now.

  She pulled her shoulders back.

  “And both of you should consider that maybe, just maybe I don’t want to ‘belong’ to you. I don’t want to belong to anyone. Before you start laying claim to me, you’d better check with me first.”

  She looked around the room. She’d planned to stay with Reign for the afternoon, wait for the doctor. Screw it. She flashed another glare at the two men then spun on her heel and stalked out.

  “Assholes,” she muttered as she hit the doorway.

  “Fuck.”

  Reign nodded, agreeing with Jackson’s pithy assessment.

  “I should go after her.” Jackson said it but he didn’t move.

  “Probably best to let her calm down a bit.”

  “Yeah. Besides, you’re the one who needs to apologize.”

  Reign sat up, the sheet falling between his legs and baring his thigh. “Me? What about you?”

  “Me?” The shock on the wolf’s face was almost laughable. “I’m the one who wants to keep her.”

  “Yeah but you wolves have to realize that not everyone is meant to be mated and that human women like to be asked.” It was impossible to keep the smug tone out of his voice. It wasn’t often he was in the right about relationships. Jackson looked at him and seemed to come to the same realization.

  “Fuck.”

  “Exactly.”

  That drained the fury from the room. Reign stared at the empty doorway. He was better but he wasn’t up to chasing after a pissed off woman. And God, what would he say when he caught up to her? He sagged back on the bed. His energy was returning and it was time to get back to life.

  Jackson leaned his forearms on the railing, his head hung down. Before Reign realized what he was doing, he reached up and scraped his fingers through Jackson’s hair, pulling it away from his face. His sensual nature came through and he repeated the caress, enjoying the way Jackson’s hair felt on his skin, sliding through his fingers. Jackson leaned into the touch, almost purring.

  You’d think the man was part Cat. Reign decided not to voice that sentiment. He didn’t feel like another snarling fight. He’d leave it for later when he could do something with the wolf’s irritation…like get him bent over the bed.

  “What are we going to do?” Jackson asked, lifting his head.

  * * * * *

  Dani stormed out of the hospital, the heat hitting her as she left the building. After a moment to get her breath back, she let the warmth settle back into her bones. It had been too damn cold in the hospital anyway.

  She started toward her car—her feet aching from five hours in high heels—intent on going home, drinking a glass of wine and snarling at the TV. That would make her feel better. Arrogant assholes. Both of them. They weren’t going to decide who she slept with. She decided that.

  Her phone began playing Duran Duran’s Notorious as she shoved the key into the lock. Her front teeth snapped together and her head dropped back. Max.

  Max, it turned out, had gone to Alaska, hoping to see Jackson. Somehow the two had crossed in the skies. She kept expecting Max to call and say he was home but for some reason, he didn’t appear in a rush to leave Alaska.

  Probably found some woman.

  The song started up again and she hit the screen. Since they’d made contact, her phone was the way the twins were connecting with each other. Normally, she didn’t mind but normally she wasn’t pissed at one twin. Usually she’d been pissed at the other twi
n.

  Taking a quick breath, she lifted the phone to her ear.

  “Hi, Max.”

  “Hey, Dani. How are you doing?”

  One lover wants me, one doesn’t. I’m exhausted, confused and pissed.

  “Fine,” she said instead of letting Max enjoy that little rant. She didn’t ask how he was in return because at this point, she wasn’t sure she cared.

  Max must have read the irritation in her voice because he went straight to the point.

  “Is Jax around?”

  She looked up at the hospital, four floors up, where Reign’s room faced the other way.

  “He’s inside with Reign.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment chimed through one word. “Could you have him call me?”

  Dani’s messaging service. “Sure.”

  Not really caring that she might annoy Max, she pressed her thumb against the “end call” portion of the screen. She and Max hadn’t talked about the fact that she’d made their breakup final by leaving him a voice mail. Neither seemed to want to bring it up and she was good with that.

  She glared back up at the hospital. Max hadn’t said it important or urgent. But still…despite the fact that she was pissed, she wanted to see Jackson and Reign. Going home didn’t fit her style. She didn’t back down from fights. She wanted to have it out, even if she had to do it in a hospital room.

  All the better. They’ll be close to medical help if I deck one of them. She shoved the phone into her purse and stomped back into the hospital. The elevator was thankfully empty so she didn’t have to fake being pleasant to anyone. She nodded to the nurses—well familiar with her now—and zigzagged through the halls to Reign’s room. She stopped just outside the half-closed door and took a breath.

  “What are we going to do?” she heard Jackson ask.

  “About Dani?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Despite the fact that they seemed to once again be planning her life without consulting her, she held back, wanting to hear this great plan.

  “I’m staying,” Jackson said. “Until she kicks me out, I’m staying.”

  “You’ve only known her—”

  “Less than a week. I know. I knew that first night. Knew something was different.”