Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance

by Wood, Vivian

  A rush of adrenaline surged through his veins. Tessa was in danger, and that was unacceptable.

  Before Jace even realized it he was running, Maddie sprinting flat-out behind him in an attempt to keep up. As they made it into the forest Maddie was harried by the dense brush and trees, whereas Jace just went through everything like a steamroller.

  Minutes or hours or years streamed by as Jace ran full-out toward the cabin. He wasn’t conscious of anything but the slam of his heart in his chest and the harsh rasp of his breathing as he barreled toward his destination.

  When they reached a clearing surrounding the cabin, Jace skidded to a halt. Lifting his face, he scanned the area with caution. Of course Jasper would lure him here.

  “Come out, Jasper,” Jace commanded.

  A rustle, and then a huge blonde man dropped from a tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

  “Are you ready to accept my challenge?” the other man asked, his tone surly.

  “I will fight you, Jasper, but not until I’ve seen Tessa,” Jace responded.

  “She’s run off into the woods, if you can imagine. I figure we fight and the winner gets to chase her down and talk her into the bite,” Jasper said, seeming almost amused.

  “That sounds great. It’s too bad that I’ve already claimed her. She’s made her decision,” Jace said, trying for smug but failing.

  “I don’t believe you, Copeland. You may have claimed her back in the city, but you two haven’t taken the final step yet. If you’d bit her you’d be doing a victory dance right now, crowing about it. You always were proud of yourself,” Jasper retorted.

  “Jesus, Jasper. It’s been nearly fifteen years since we’ve laid eyes on one another. You don’t know me from Adam,” Jace growled back.

  “That doesn’t make me wrong about you,” Jasper said with a sneer. Both men looked up as Maddie crashed into the circle in her human form.

  “Maddie, go find Tessa,” Jace snapped.

  Jasper had gone still, staring at Maddie. She stared right back, challenging him. They both bristled, tensing to attack.

  “Leave my sister out of this, Jasper. She’s got nothing to do with this,” Jace growled, his voice dropping so deep it grated.

  Maddie’s eyes widened just a fraction.

  “You?” she said to Jasper. “You are here for her, too?”

  Jasper stayed silent, not daring to drop his gaze.

  “Tessa. It’s all about Tessa. Well I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the golden girl already belongs to my brother,” Maddie hissed.

  Jasper laughed, a cold sound.

  “My father was right. I should have taken you before you grew such a strong will. Too bad he’ll never know he was right. He would have loved to lord that over me.”

  “Was?” Jace asked, looking up at the other man.

  “I put him down two years ago,” Jasper said, making no effort to hide the pain in his voice.

  “Why didn’t you come to me? I would have helped,” Jace said, the anger bleeding away from his voice.

  “It doesn’t matter. I have to find Tessa,” Jasper responded, his voice thickened with old emotions.

  A soft rustle of leaves announced that they were not alone. A gorgeous white wolf ducked into view, trotting a few feet into the circle before stopping to take in the scene. She was breathtaking, marked on her forepaws and behind her ears with a luscious chocolate brown.

  Jace’s heart stopped, then began pounding out of control. The second he saw Tessa, a dual waves of relief and possessiveness swept through him. She wasn’t just some random Ascendant anymore, Jace realized. Somewhere along the way he’d stopped hating her smart mouth and stormy eyes; now he couldn’t even imagine her with anyone else. She was Jace’s female now, and he’d die before he saw her with anyone else. He couldn’t live with that.

  Swallowing, Jace pushed back the tide of emotion that threatened to overtake him. He didn’t have time to examine the exact nature of his feelings, but they felt a lot like love.

  He started to take a step toward her, only to be stopped by the click of a gun being cocked. Jace glanced up to find Jasper aiming a gun at Tessa, looking apologetic.

  “I’m sorry, Jace. I can’t let her go until I’ve got what I came for. I won’t leave here without a mate,” Jasper said, his misery plain in his expression and voice.

  “You can’t have her, she’s already mine,” Jace said, tensing for a fight. If Jasper shot at Tessa, Jace wouldn’t pull any punches. He’d kill his childhood friend on the spot, without a second thought.

  “Just let them go, Jasper,” Maddie demanded. Maddie was furious, her hands bunched into willing fists.

  “And what good will that do me?” Jasper rasped, his eyes glued to Maddie’s face as if soaking in every detail.

  “Let them go, and I give you my word that we will exchange bites,” Maddie said.

  The gorgeous white wolf let out a snarl, voicing her disapproval at the same time that Jace did. Jasper was quiet for a long moment, studying Maddie’s face as if to discover her intentions. He lowered the gun slightly, not looking away from Maddie.

  “Not good enough. If I let them go, we exchange bites now and figure the rest out later,” Jasper demanded.

  “No!” Jace shouted.

  “Fine,” Maddie agreed, licking her lips as she eyed Jasper. Jace could smell her fear and anxiety, coupled with a bright note of something less definable. Interest, perhaps.

  “It’s a deal,” Jasper said, his eyes trained on Maddie.

  “Fine.”

  Jasper lowered his weapon and beckoned Maddie over. She walked over to Jasper, her steps purposeful. She turned around, baring her neck. Jasper ran two fingers along the curve where her neck and shoulder met, eliciting a shiver from Maddie. The next second he struck, sinking his teeth deep until she cried out.

  Jace and Tessa both released guttural snarls, both moving in as if to attack. Maddie held up a hand, gesturing for them to stay back. Jasper released her and pulled back, examining his work.

  “I’m fine,” she croaked, wincing. “It’s done.”

  She turned to Jasper, who threw his gun to the ground. He had eyes for no one but Maddie, and when she stepped close to him his whole body shuddered with anticipation.

  Maddie didn’t flinch, slipping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. Her bite was incredibly fast, almost over before it began. She pulled back from Jasper a little bit, looking up into his face.

  The air was saturated with things unsaid. Jace swallowed bile as he watched his beloved Maddie in the arms of a man he’d come to loathe. True, she seemed well enough, and Jasper had once cared for Maddie above all others. Still, Jace had much higher hopes for his sister. A red mist began to haze his vision as he realized the whole problem could be solved if he just killed Jasper.

  Jace moved again to strike, but Maddie turned to him and let out a deep growl. Just like that, she took Jasper’s hand and they left clearing. Jace stood open-mouthed, watching the last fifteen years of his life go up in flames, a complete waste. He’d failed his sister many times, but this was an inescapable disaster.

  Jace couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but listen to the blood pounding in his ears. He watched as Maddie left hand in hand with none other than Jasper McDonough. He couldn’t decide if he was going to be sick or not; he felt as if he’d swallowed a thousand shards of glass.

  Fur brushed his leg, and then his hand. He looked down to find Tessa’s glorious wolf leaning against him, calming him. Even in this form he could read the sympathy and caring in her expression. He knelt to run his hands over her coat, awed by her fierce beauty.

  Her pelt was thick and soft to the touch, and he loved the feel of it. Her breathing was ragged, reminding Jace how difficult the first change could be. Tessa was overdoing it, and she could hurt herself if she stayed in her wolf form too long this first time.

  Jace took one last look toward the spot where Maddie had disappeared, and then conc
entrated on Tessa. Jace pulled the snowy wolf into his arms and carried her into the cabin. Laying her down on the bed, Jace knelt to put his face at her level.

  “Tessa. I need you to change back. Just remember what it’s like to feel like your human self. Remember the feel of your arms and legs, your neck, your hands. Remember it and just let go of your wolf,” he said, feeling desperate. Desperate to touch her, to know that she was going to be okay.

  Her form wavered and shimmered for several long beats before flashing to reveal her human form. Jace climbed up onto the bed and gave her a gentle shake, trying not to stare at her naked body.

  He pulled her close as he waited for her to wake. His heart swelled at her proximity, a feeling half pleasure and half pain. It caught him off guard. Jace had maintained physical and emotional distance from everyone except his sister, and yet here he was pulling Tessa close, waiting for her every breath. The worst part that while the anxiety was painful, a deeper part of him was thrilled to have a female in his arms. Not just any female, either. His female, he thought with an unwelcome surge of pride.

  Jace had never had such a pure moment of wanting. It was physical, yes. But there was more, a deeper and more satisfying level of being with his female that pulled at him, relentless. He wanted her for more than the sum of her parts, and it was driving him crazy.

  Tessa’s eyelids fluttered, revealing her intense gray gaze. A smile creased the corner of her mouth as she looked at Jace, her expression slumbrous.

  “You came. I wasn’t sure you would come,” she said, rubbing her face against his knee like a cat.

  “Of course I came,” Jace said, trying not to sound offended. Jesus, if she thought that… he really had been nothing but a bastard to the only female he’d ever cared for since childhood. He pushed the thought away.

  “Well, it’s just…” Tessa said with a yawn, pulling one of the blankets over her body and sitting up.

  Jace leaned forward and brushed a kiss against her lips. Tessa gave one of those breathy little sighs that he just couldn’t resist, and then he couldn’t resist kissing her a second time. She did that to him, made want more with every touch, every kiss. He pulled back after a moment, regretful.

  Chapter Thirty

  “We should go. I’m sure you hate the sight of this place by now,” Jace said, keeping his tone gentle.

  “I can think of places I’d want to be less right now,” Tessa said with a smile.

  “Like Bourbon Street?” Jace joked.

  “I was thinking of Brookline, but Bourbon Street is definitely on my list too.”

  “Where is Brookline?”

  “It’s the part of Boston where I grew up. It’s very private.”

  “I’ll take that to mean very rich,” Jace said.

  “Pretty much.”

  Tessa tensed and waited for the inevitable questions: what’s your family like? Do you have any siblings? Pets? It was the conversation she’d struck up with James back in Boston, the night he’d kidnapped her. That’s how The Legion had known to kidnap the one person Tessa would die to protect.

  As usual, Jace surprised her.

  “Yeesh. This must all seem pretty broke down to you,” Jace said, waving a hand to indicate their surroundings.

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I left because I didn’t want to live there,” was her reply.

  “I can see how you would find that lifestyle tiresome.”

  Tessa turned and looked at Jace, scanning for signs of sarcasm. She found none. His face was unshuttered, as if his statement was nothing but an appraisal of Tessa’s character. A positive appraisal, at that.

  “What?” he asked. “I’m just saying you seem more of a Prius girl than a Mercedes C Class kind of girl.”

  “How do you know I drive a Prius?!” Tessa demanded, shocked.

  Jace rocked back in the chair with a chuckle, the movement rippling down his long frame. Damn if he wasn’t just hot as hell. That laugh sent a little shiver up the back of Tessa’s neck, and she had to work to pull her gaze away from his mouth.

  “It was just a guess,” he said with another shrug.

  Tessa flopped down on the bed, rolling her eyes. Jace pulled up a chair, seeming to take up the entire room. He somehow folded his limbs to fit in the over-sized chair, and watched Tessa with a thoughtful expression.

  “So you don’t like people who are better informed than you are. I found a sore spot, I guess,” Jace teased.

  “Know -it-alls run in my family. I can’t even say who was the worst, my mother or my sister.”

  “And here I thought all women were supposed to have daddy issues.”

  Tessa snorted.

  “Not the ones who were daddy’s little girl. My dad worshiped my mom.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s how most families are run. My mother may have been smaller than my father, but she had the final say. Her veto power was unassailable.”

  “Was… like past tense?” Tessa asked, recalling the lone family photo she’d seen at his house.

  “Our parents died when I was fifteen and Maddie was eight. We were fostered into this pack after they died. Maddie and I were the lucky ones, if you can believe it,” Jace said, tensing as he talked about the past.

  Tessa knew that she should let it go, but she couldn’t.

  “You didn’t have any aunts or uncles to take you in? No one in the pack?” Tessa pressed, unable to believe that anyone would turn away two orphans.

  “My entire family was killed. The Den was firebombed during the night, and most of those who made it past the bombs were gunned down. Only a few survived out of the whole pack, and they were all cubs. The adults died protecting us,” Jace said, his eyes going dark as they drifted upward, remembering.

  Tessa sighed, wanting to kick herself for having asked such a painful question.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t— I shouldn’t have asked,” she said.

  “It’s in the past. But you can imagine that Maddie and I are very close. She’s a brat, but she’s my best friend, you know?” he said, a sad smile flickering across his face.

  “I do know. My sister Camilla is also a brat, but I love her to pieces. She can give really great advice if you can get her to listen.”

  Tessa flushed as Jace’s gaze swept over her, studying her. He was quiet for several long beats before he spoke.

  “Just ask. I don’t mind.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You want to know who killed my pack. Am I wrong?”

  “No. I just don’t want to dredge up things better left in the past,” Tessa said, biting her lip.

  “I think I need to tell you. It explains a lot about why I prefer to avoid humans,” Jace said softly.

  “Humans?” Tessa asked, her voice trembling a bit.

  “Yes. A group of extremists found out about our pack, and they tried to exterminate us. My pack wasn’t the only one attacked. There were a lot of violent attacks in the South back then. Bombings, abductions, attacks on lone Shifters who lived away from their pack. The extremist group was die-hard and had some really nasty methods. They called themselves the Legion.”

  Tessa’s heart dropped like a stone. The Legion had murdered families, including children. Their claim to be the good guys had been ridiculous to begin with, and Tessa had never suffered any illusions about their true nature, but this was something else. They’d hurt more people than just Tessa and her sister. Rage built in her throat, tears pricking her eyes.

  “Hey, hey. It’s okay,” Jace soothed, sitting down on the bed next to Tessa and wrapping an arm around her.

  “It is not okay!” Tessa whispered, and the dam broke. Tears streaked down her face, making Tessa even more miserable.

  “I mean, it’s not your fault,” Jace said, pulling her close. “No one knows what the Legion even wants. They’re just a bunch of fanatics living in the woods, hunting something they don’t understand. I can’t blame every human in the world for that, much less you.”

/>   He gave her a half-hearted smile. Trying not to scare her, Tessa thought.

  Tessa took a deep breath, and Jace filled her senses. That faint smell of mint and almond wrapped itself around her as tightly as his arms did. Her skin heated sweetly, and suddenly Tessa couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Jace.

  Say something. Say anything. You have to tell him, she thought.

  “You don’t understand,” Tessa mumbled into Jace’s chest.

  I’m pretty sure the people who killed your family are the ones who are going to kill my sister unless I betray you.

  “You’re a Shifter now,” Jace replied.

  “But I’m human, too. You can’t pretend that I’m not, Jace. I’m no different than the Legion.”

  Tessa tried to pull back to wipe her eyes, but Jace held her fast. She tilted her head back to look up into his face. Their eyes caught, and all the heat she’d pushed down rose back to the surface. If she didn’t do something, she would explode into flames.

  Jace stared right back into her eyes with a soft smile, and then said the words she so desperately needed to hear.

  “I could never hate you, Tessa. You’re a lot of things. Even if human is one of them, it’s okay. I like humans a little better for having made you.”

  Tessa gave a weak laugh, some of the tension leaving her body.

  “I bet you tell all the human girls that,” she said.

  Her eyes dropped to Jace’s mouth, lingering. Jace threaded his long fingers into Tessa’s hair, angling her head so that their gazes met again.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me right now?” he asked.

  Tessa bit her lip to stifle a little noise of excitement that bubbled up in her throat. Jace gripped her hair harder and pulled her head back farther, exposing Tessa’s throat.

  Her heart beat a frantic tattoo as Jace leaned down and ran his nose against the slim column of her throat. He paused at the hairline just below her ear and took a deep breath, then moved up to blow a gentle breath into Tessa’s ear.

  Tessa let out a little gasp. Her spine straightened, pushing her ear closer to Jace’s mouth.