Jago

by Catherine Lievens

  “Jago, what the fuck?” Craig said, holding Jago close. Jago hugged his best friend back. At least Craig had no problems providing him with the comfort he needed, even though Jago wanted Corbin to do it. He wanted Corbin to hug him, to tell him everything would be all right, but he knew the closeness they’d had in the clearing in front of the cave was probably going to be the only interaction between them for a while. Corbin had closed in on himself again, and Jago knew it would take a lot of work to coax him out.

  “I’m fine.”

  Craig pushed Jago away from his chest and held him at arm’s length. He looked at Jago and grimaced. “You sure? You look... bloody.”

  “None of it is mine.”

  “Okay, great.” Craig hugged Jago again, and for once Thomas didn’t huff and puff in the background. “What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be at home, getting clean and resting?”

  Jago sighed and pulled away. “Yeah, I’m going.”

  “Oh no, you’re not. You can shower here, and I’m sure Elias left some clothes you can borrow.”

  Jago looked at Thomas, because he didn’t want to impose. He knew Craig’s mate still didn’t like him that much, and he didn’t want to create problems in their relationship. To his surprise, Thomas nodded. “Go take a shower.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Thomas huffed. “Yeah. I’ll grab some clothes and leave them on the counter. Just... I’ll make sure you’re already in the shower before coming in.”

  “You accepted your fate, huh?”

  Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. I can’t get rid of you, so I might as well accept that fact. It doesn’t mean we’ll become best friends and braid each other’s hair, though.”

  Jago barked out a surprised laugh. “We don’t have the length, but you could let your mustache grow again. I’m sure I’d be able to braid that.”

  Thomas pointed at Jago. “Don’t push your luck. I can still kick you out.”

  “But you won’t.”

  “No, because then he’d have to sleep on the couch,” Craig quipped in. “Go shower, Jago. You know where the towels are.”

  Jago nodded and hurried to the bathroom. He couldn’t wait to wash the blood off. He left his shorts on the bathroom floor and hopped into the shower stall. He turned the water on as hot as he could without boiling his skin and let the spray hit his back. It should’ve been more relaxing, but Jago knew it would take more than that. He’d been tense for a while, and his kidnapping and Samkelo’s death weren’t helping.

  He shook his head and pushed all thoughts away when he heard the door opening. He could see Thomas’ outline through the stall’s glass wall and watched as Thomas put a dark bundle on the counter, then hesitated. “Jago?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you want me to throw your shorts away or do you want to try and clean them?”

  “Throw them away, please.” There was no way Jago wanted to see them again, even though he’d liked them a lot. All the blood, but most of all, the memories that would be attached to a mere scrap of fabric from now on... Jago shivered and ducked his head under the hot spray of water. He scrubbed his chest. The water turned pink and Jago closed his eyes. He was used to blood—he was a nurse, after all. He was used to death, as much as one could get used to something like that. But why had Samkelo’s death hit him so hard?

  He did feel better when he stepped out of the shower, though, and he was glad to put on clean clothes, even if they didn’t belong to him. Elias and he were the same height and had similar bulk, so the clothes fit perfectly.

  Jago heard voices coming from the kitchen when he exited the bathroom, so he went there. He wasn’t surprised to see Corbin sitting at the table and Craig talking with him, but when Corbin looked up, Jago saw the surprised flash in his eyes.

  Corbin stood up and Craig looked at the door. He saw Jago, looked back at Corbin, and rolled his eyes. He put his hand on Corbin’s shoulder and pushed him down. “Sit down. You two still haven’t solved whatever problems are between you, huh?”

  Jago crossed his arms on his chest. “Not my fault.”

  “I never said it was,” Craig pointed out. “Sit down, Jago.”

  “I think I should go and talk with Kam.”

  “Unless you need to tell him he’s about to be attacked in the next half hour, it can wait.”

  Jago pouted, but he sat down. “What do you want?”

  “I want you two to talk.”

  Jago opened his mouth to protest, but Craig held a hand up top shut him up. “Look, I have no idea what’s going on between you two, but you need to clear the air. Corbin lives here, and you come by often. You can’t keep on avoiding each other.”

  Jago ran his finger along the wood knots on the table. “Like I said, it’s not my fault. He’s the one avoiding me. Seriously, I just came to say thank you for saving me, and he ran away from me. Again.”

  Craig looked at Corbin, who looked like they were discussing the weather rather than something as important as mates. He looked bored, and that made Jago feel bad. As if he didn’t already feel that way more than enough.

  “Corbin, why don’t you even want to talk to Jago?”

  Corbin looked at Craig, his eyes cold. “Why should I?”

  “I thought we already had this conversation. I’m not saying you have to mate with him, just that you could at least listen to what he has to say.”

  “I have.”

  “And?” Craig encouraged.

  “Are you ordering me to talk to him?”

  Jago shivered. He’d thought that maybe after what happened, Corbin would be a tiny bit less cold. He’d hugged him after Samkelo’s death, and he’d held his hand earlier, even though he’d fled right after it. He hadn’t exactly been all warm and fuzzy, but that wasn’t what Jago expected from him anyway.

  “No, I’m not. You know no one can order you around anymore, Corbin.”

  Corbin rose, the chair squeaking as it moved. “I already heard what he had to say.”

  He started to walk away, but Craig snatched his wrist. The glance Corbin gave Craig scared Jago, because he could see Corbin wouldn’t have any problem hurting Craig just to make him let go. Craig didn’t seem to care, though.

  He was taller than Corbin, and bulkier, but Jago knew that between the two, Corbin was the dangerous one.

  “We’re only trying to help you, Corbin,” Craig said in a steady voice. “But we can’t do that if you don’t let us in.”

  “I don’t need help.” Corbin pulled on his arm, and Craig let go.

  Jago watched as his mate left the kitchen, then sighed. “It could’ve gone worse, I guess.”

  Craig shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  Jago shrugged. “For what? You tried, it didn’t work. Nothing to be sorry for.”

  “I wish I could do more, for both of you. Corbin... he’s not doing that well.”

  “It’s only been six months. After eighteen years as a puppet, you can’t expect him to heal in only a handful of months.”

  “What worries me is that he’s not even trying.”

  Jago looked at the door. “Yeah, I know.”

  * * * *

  Corbin walked out of the house and ran into the forest. He needed to talk to Kameron, and he needed to do it now.

  When he arrived at the alpha’s house, though, Kameron wasn’t there. Zach was, and he let Corbin in. “You need Kam?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can I ask why? Maybe I can help you.”

  Corbin followed Zach toward the kitchen. Zach gestured at him to sit at the table and opened the fridge. “Water or lemonade?” he asked Corbin.

  “You choose.”

  Zach took both a bottle of water and a jug of lemonade and put them on the table in front of Corbin. He took two glasses from the cupboard, sat on the other side of the table, handed Corbin a glass, and got himself some lemonade.

  Corbin watched all of it, his own
glass still empty. When Zach didn’t seem to be about to give Corbin either option, Corbin looked at him. Zach smirked and gestured at Corbin’s glass. “Take whatever you want.”

  Corbin looked at the bottle and the jug. He knew what Zach was doing. The alpha mate had been doing it ever since Corbin had arrived in Gillham. He was giving Corbin a choice, and Corbin had to make that decision on his own.

  He hated it.

  Life had been so much easier when he had a master who chose for him. He just had to follow orders. There were no emotions, no weird movements in his stomach when he watched Jago, no disappointed expression on Jago’s face. Corbin didn’t have a worry in the world except the one to obey.

  Now, it was the opposite. He had too many choices, thousands of them, from the most simple one of what to drink to life-changing ones like deciding whether to give Jago a chance or not. Corbin was confused, and he hated it.

  So he chose not to drink anything and folded his hands together on the table. It didn’t get the smile off Zach’s face, though. If anything, it grew even wider. “Oooh, you’re a rebel. I like it,” Zach told Corbin. “But you do realize that by not drinking anything, you still made a decision on your own, right?”

  Corbin had realized it, but he ignored Zach’s words. It wasn’t like he never made decisions. He just didn’t like having to, not when it came to important things. Water or lemonade wasn’t important.

  Zach drank half his glass and looked at Corbin. “What can I do for you?”

  “I want to become an enforcer.”

  The smile that had been on Zach’s face ever since they’d sat dimmed. “Why?”

  “Because I can help. I was trained for it.”

  Zach put his glass down and stared at Corbin. “You’ve been here for six months. Why are you asking now?”

  “School is over. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Have fun. Read, watch movies, go out with your friends. Fall in love.”

  Corbin snorted. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not allowed. It would involve feeling things, and I can’t do that.”

  Zach cocked his head. “Who says you can’t?”

  “Master.”

  Zach tapped his finger on the rim of his glass. “Isn’t Kameron your master now?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard him tell you that you couldn’t feel.”

  Corbin ground his teeth together. “He didn’t.”

  Zach beamed. “I don’t see what the problem is, then.”

  “I could be useful. I could take the missions no one wants. I could kill for the council, and I wouldn’t have problems doing it.”

  “We don’t need more enforcers.”

  Corbin pressed his palms on the table and leaned forward. “You always need more enforcers.”

  “Nope. You know Kameron wants you to have a normal life.”

  Anger rose in Corbin’s chest, but he pushed it down. “I can’t have a normal life. That’s not what I was created for.”

  Zach narrowed his eyes. “Who cares what you were created for? The Glass Company is gone, the guy you called master probably is, too. You are the one to decide for yourself now. You can do whatever you want. You can have friends, you can travel, you can have a family. You can be happy. Why can’t you see that? Would you really be happier if you still were used like a weapon?”

  “I can’t be happy.”

  Zach threw his hands in the air. “It’s seriously like talking to a wall.”

  “Send me on a mission. I’ll show you how useful I can be.”

  “No. You won’t be an enforcer, no matter how many times you ask.”

  “I could leave.” It was the last leverage Corbin had. He didn’t really want to leave. In the pack he had a house, clothes, a bed. He had everything he could want, and people knew about him, so he didn’t have to think about hiding himself and trying to behave normally.

  Zach waved at the door. “Then go. If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you.” Zach leaned forward and stared at Corbin. “We’re giving you an opportunity, Corbin. You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to, but we won’t use you as a weapon, ever. You’re so much more than that, and I wish you could see it. I do. Kameron does, Craig does, even Thomas does. Jago does. Why don’t you give yourself a chance? Why don’t you give him a chance?”

  Corbin didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that Zach wouldn’t give in, and that meant Kameron wouldn’t either. Corbin needed to convince Zach.

  A door opened in the distance and someone walked toward them. Corbin recognized Kameron’s footsteps and sank against the back of his chair. He needed to tell the alpha what the creature had said, and then...

  Then he could leave.

  Kameron entered the room. He looked grim, but his expression lightened as soon as he saw Zach. Zach got up and went to kiss his mate, and Corbin looked at them. Could he really be as happy as they were? Could it be as easy as giving Jago a chance?

  He liked Jago, even though he’d never tell anyone that. Jago was always happy. He smiled and laughed a lot, he was caring, and beautiful. Corbin knew Jago would give him a chance if he let him. But did Corbin really deserve it?

  Jago gave life. Corbin gave death. How could they be together?

  “Corbin. Ready to talk to me?” Kameron asked as he sat in the seat Zach had freed. Zach poured water in his empty glass and pushed it toward Kameron. Kameron looked at his mate and smiled, and Zach smiled back. They did all this without exchanging a word, yet even Corbin could tell they loved each other.

  And for the first time in his life, he wanted that too.

  He wanted to be loved, just once. He wanted a man to look at him like Kameron was looking at Zach, with acceptance and love in his eyes. He just didn’t know how to do that.

  So he splayed his hands on the table again and looked at them instead of looking at the alpha. “The creature said it was a product of the labs. Apparently, it was a previous version of myself. It was controlled by a man named Tom. I don’t know who it was talking about, but Jago said you might.”

  “Tom?”

  Corbin looked up and nodded once.

  Kameron looked angry. He looped an arm around Zach’s waist and pulled him close, until Zach sat in his lap. “Shit. I didn’t think we’d ever have to deal with that asshole again.”

  Zach patted Kameron’s chest. “I know.”

  “Can I ask what happened?” Corbin inquired.

  Kameron sighed. “Tom was a prominent member of this pack before I became the alpha. He didn’t take me killing the old alpha and taking away his privileges well, and he kidnapped Zach. He sold him to the company, and we’re lucky it was Craig who was sent to retrieve Zach, because Craig brought him straight home. We haven’t heard about Tom ever since, no matter how hard we looked for him.”

  “I see.”

  “Apparently, he’s still after the pack.”

  Corbin nodded. There was no way he could leave now. He owed Kameron and Zach, and deep inside, he wanted to protect Jago. And he would.

  * * * *

  “Jago? Can I talk to you for a second?”

  Jago sighed and looked up from his latest painting. Zach was hovering close, looking nervous as fuck, and Jago’s mind immediately thought the worst. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt? Do you need my help?”

  Zach held his hands up. “No, no, everyone’s fine as far as I know. I just wanted to talk to you.”

  Jago put his paintbrush down and cleaned his hands as well as he could with the rag he kept close. “Should we go inside?”

  Jago had been working in the backyard. He’d taken advantage of the setting sun to continue his painting, and the fact that the air was cooler at this time of the evening was a bonus he didn’t mind.

  “We can stay here if you want to,” Zach proposed.

  Jago sat on the upper step of the porch and Z
ach sat next to him. Jago knew something was up—Zach was too nervous for it to really be nothing important. This couldn’t be good. “Is it Corbin? Is he leaving?”

  Zach chuckled. “He’s not going anywhere, although it’s not for lack of trying. We fought about it the day your... friend died. Corbin wanted to become an enforcer, and I told him no.”

  Jago pressed his shoulder against the banister. Less than a week had passed since that had happened, and Jago felt guilty about not thinking about Samkelo. They hadn’t been friends, they hadn’t even known each other, and to be honest, Samkelo had scared the bejesus out of Jago. Still, Samkelo had had a soul, and Jago was glad he’d been able to give it even just a bit of comfort before he died. “He wasn’t my friend.”

  “Yeah, well. I can’t remember how you named it—him.”

  “I know you think it’s weird. He wasn’t even human, and he killed a pack member. He kidnapped me.”

  Zach sighed. “No, I get it. I can’t say I fully understand it, but we know a bit more about him now, and I get why you wanted to help.”

  “You do?”

  “With some help from the pride, yes. Isaiah was put to work, and with what your friend—”

  “Samkelo.”

  “Samkelo,” Zach repeated.

  “It means acceptance, or at least it should. I didn’t really have the time to check.”

  Zach smiled softly. “You’re really something.”

  “I hope it’s a compliment.”

  “It is. Definitely.”

  “So, you were saying?” Jago didn’t want to be complimented. He knew he’d done a nice thing, and he didn’t need it to be acknowledged.

  “Right. With what Samkelo told you and Corbin, we managed to find more about him, especially once we added the name of the Glass Company’s board member who disappeared into the mix.”

  “What did you find?”

  “That Samkelo was an experiment. The labs mixed human and animal DNA, and we already knew that, but the result wasn’t always what they wanted or expected. Most of the creatures born were killed or died, but a few survived and were used for experiments, mostly. The company used what they found out to work on new specimens.”