by Tigris Eden
Had the roles been reversed, the male would have lost both limbs for touching what was his. In the back of his head, he heard his father saying, “Asia is pack.”
His father was to blame for this fiasco.
He and Asia had been paired together as children. They’d grown up together. They’d explored sex together. There was history between them. But Asia was exactly that. History. Draven raked both hands through his hair frustrated with the entire situation. There was no right answer to the pickle he was currently in. Jes was his mate. She was everything. Asia was pack. Things were harder between him and Jes now that they were back on the compound. He was called away on numerous pack gatherings, since his return that Jes had not been invited to. He knew this alienated her, but he was powerless to stop it. To break away from tradition was a serious infraction.
Once they were mated, the pack would begin to accept her, she still wouldn’t be invited to gatherings, but he could circumvent that, by not attending as he’d done in the past. Pack law demanded that the pack come first. Especially for the future alpha. An alpha’s mate always stood by her alpha, taking a back seat to the packs needs. Jes wouldn’t understand that by him caring for the pack, he was taking care of her needs too. He knew his way of life would be a problem for her. But it couldn’t be helped now. They were mated. She was his. That Sam even followed his orders to quiet Asia showed the male had a lot of respect for Jes.
“Sam, take Asia to one of the cabins housing the single females. See to it that she stays there until dinner tonight.” Draven growled the directive not giving the woman a chance to voice her thoughts.
He needed to talk some sense into Jes, help her to understand where he was coming from. He took the stairs three at a time and quietly opened the door to their room. Their sanctuary, this was the only place that felt safe to her, he knew that. But they couldn’t spend their entire time in this room. She was on the bed, eyes already puffy from the tears that still wet her cheeks.
“Baby?” Draven crawled into bed with her and pulled her into his arms. Her hands pushed at his chest, and she sat back up. Her head bent, eyes closed.
“Don’t. Don’t come anywhere near me right now. I need time.”
She pulled in a ragged breath, once, twice, three times before she got up and walked to the other side of the room where she began to pace back and forth.
He knew she had a temper. There were days he loved her possessiveness and times he didn’t. It all stemmed from things not long passed. She had every right to feel this way, but she also needed to see things for what they truly were. He’d lost his memory and for a time, had been sharing his bed with his ex, Melissa. Jes had gone deep undercover to rescue him. Assuming the identity of a different person and he’d been an asshole of the darkest caliber to her.
Still, she pursued him until she was able to bring him back from the dark and into the light. There were times he felt the poison just beneath the surface, trying to break free and grab hold of what was left of his sanity. He’d swore he’d never hurt Jes again, but he had. He knew how Asia was, he should have stopped her, prevented her from taking advantage of the situation. Any type of contact without Jes being present to witness it for herself was unacceptable.
“I fucked up, I apologize.”
“Your apology doesn’t stop my heart from hurting or change my mind about leaving after the celebration.”
“Be fair Jes.” Draven whispered. Getting up from the bed, he walked to stand in front of her. Her eyes were so beautiful, a brilliant gold that sparkled in the sun’s light. The brown flecks and warm oranges burned brightly close to her iris’ making them shine. His own chest hurt when he saw the heartache in her eyes and the tears collecting at the corners, spilling down her lovely face. Draven grabbed her face in both his hands and rubbed his thumbs over the apple of her cheeks. Tears continued to fall onto Draven’s fingers as he brushed them away.
“I live only for you. My life is yours. You can’t take the best part of me. That’s you and Faith. I won’t let you leave me.” Pain speared his chest because she was in pain, he could only speculate at what she must be going through. He knew if the tables had been turned the situation would have escalated out of control.
“Then why was she in your arms? How could you even think that for one second I’d be okay with that? Her lipstick is on your mouth! Is the pack that barbaric? Do you have no care about my feelings? Allowing another woman to blatantly disrespect me is not okay.”
Jes pulled back to look up at him with glassy eyes, her lashes thick with tears. Draven kissed her forehead and tried to soothe her without words. What could he say? How could he answer that question without coming off as an ass? In one, respect, she was right. But in the packs eyes it was perfectly normal. Turnabout was fair play because they didn’t see Jes and him as true mates.
“Baby, I completely handled that wrong.” He kissed the underside of her jaw to release some of the tension from her body. “I only want you.”
“Go and wash your mouth. Don’t kiss me with her lipstick on your skin.” Her voice was strong and void of any warm emotion. He knew his eyes were bigger than saucers when he realized he did kiss his mate with another woman’s lipstick smeared on him. Fuck!
“I’m sorry.”
He released her, walking into their bathroom where he scrubbed his face raw. He turned and saw the utter defeat in his mate’s eyes. There was confusion and anger, but what made him wince was the utter look of distrust in her eyes. Her eyes cleared, the gold replaced by red so dark her eyes were almost black.
“She’s a no go for me. Get rid of her.”
“She’s pack Jes.”
The dresser began to shake in the corner, and Draven pulled them both into the middle of the room. She was causing the furniture to move. Something Ann and Dravaggio had warned him about when her emotions ran high.
“Like that fucking sums up the whole of this conversation! Like your statement is final.” Anger vibrated her body with the force of a gale wind, Draven tried to hold her tight, but her emotions were slowly becoming unhinged making her stronger than him.
She jerked out of his arms and backed away from him. She knew his laws. Pack came first. It was a shitty law, something that lately was putting more of a strain on their relationship than Faith’s ceremony. They were both struggling with what it meant to be part of the pack. He’d been with the unit for so long he’d almost forgotten. Here on the compound it was second nature to him though. He’d never found anything wrong with protocol before. But seeing it from Jes’ perspective had made things painfully clear.
They needed to get back to his home in Texas if they had any real shot of being happy and making things work. But what happens when it comes time to take over the pack? He knew that day was coming but not anytime soon. His father had at least sixty, seventy years before his old age would even start to take its toll.
“Jes, you know it has to be this way when we’re here.”
She’d turned her back on him but quickly whirled in his direction, her eyes glowing fire now.
“Don’t! Don’t you dare fucking say it! If you say, ‘Pack comes first’ one more time, I cannot be held responsible for what I will do! You should have sat me down, talked to me. Not assumed that this was going to be okay for me.”
She was right, he should have talked with her, but somewhere deep down he knew she would have never agreed to come, and Faith would be detached from her wolf. He was a bastard for maneuvering her the way he did. But what was done, was done.
Draven stood still, unable to believe what he was seeing. The bed was hovering above the floor, and the dresser was now turning top over bottom continuously in the air. He had no doubt she could take the house down if she truly wanted to.
“I don’t make the rules! What the fuck do you want me to do?” Draven yelled back. He was trying not to let his temper get the best of him, but he was slowly losing the battle.
“Get rid of her Draven! Get rid of her!” She s
hook her head from side to side, body bent over at the waist as the window behind their bed burst into tiny shards, spraying inward and littering the floor.
Draven watched in horror as her eyes opened, showing him a black void. Black just like his had been. When he’d been taken and tortured, they’d done something to him, changing his personality, changing him, and a side effect had been the development of black eyes. He’d no longer been Draven Stone of the Shadow Unit, but Mr. Black, a sick, sadistic bastard that cared only for himself, and for the directives of his master. Why were her eyes black? Had someone or something gotten to her? There was nothing there, nothing. He watched as she took a deep breath and shoved past him into the bathroom, slamming the door. Everything in the room that had been spinning or hovering crashed to the floor with a loud thud.
“FUCK! Are you nuts? Is that it? Did I choose wrong? This is why wolves don’t mate with humans! Humans are all fickle!” Draven yelled, storming out of the bedroom.
What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t make Asia leave. She was pack, and his father was alpha. But he couldn’t leave Jes feeling as if she didn’t matter either. Although he’d done a fine job of convincing her of that by saying things he didn’t mean. He couldn’t take the words back. He’d laid the words out there, brutal, but honest, even though he knew it didn’t apply to her. She wasn’t fickle, confused maybe, but her confusion had nothing to do with her love for him. It was everything else that was throwing her into mental mind games. It was a fucked up thing to say. He really was a bastard, and for that he was sorry.
Draven turned and stormed out of the room. He needed to think. He needed to come up with a solution that would help them both; otherwise, he’d lose the only woman he’d ever truly loved. Running down the stairs, he shed his clothes as he hit the front door. He didn’t have time for this shit. His daughter’s spirit walk was in two days. Jes’ parents were coming in tomorrow. His mother would kick his ass for the way he handled Jes. But she would also remind him about his duties to the pack. What the hell was he supposed to do about that? Before he could sort his feelings, his wolf began taking over. He tore a path down the side of the house in his wolf’s form and bounded into the forest. He was not going to lose his family.
# # #
Royce pulled up in front of Draven’s family compound. His brother and Bells had been in back enjoying the luxuries of the RV’s bed.
“You two decent back there? We’re here.”
Ditching the truck and taking the RV worked. The Agency was no longer on their trail. Instead, they were on their way to Oklahoma City. The family they’d taken the RV from had been on their way back home from the Grand Canyon. The father had been all too happy to sell them his RV, especially when they told them the story of the little girl who was waiting to see her mom for the first time. Liar. Yeah, so, he lied. It got the job done. Bells saw her first car hot-wired, not that they needed to but Royce couldn’t help giving into what she wanted. If it put a smile on his baby’s face, he was all for it.
Royce shut the engine off and hopped down from the RV. Faith came running from the side of the house, squealing with glee.
“Uncles! Aunty! I’m so glad you’re here!”
Royce picked the little bundle of joy up and tickled her neck mercilessly by blowing raspberries on her skin.
“Hey there beautiful lady.”
“Momma won’t come out of the bathroom. She’s mad. Daddy has gone out running. Y’ all gotta help. My party is in,” she held up her two little fingers and sighed dramatically. “Two days. I need everyone to have a good time. Uncle Royce, I want Justine Bieber at my party too.”
“What do you mean, momma won’t come out of the bathroom?”
Royce tried contacting Jes via their link but got nothing.
“They were yelling. Mommy told daddy she wants Asia gone, but daddy says Asia’s pack.”
“Who’s Asia?” Bells asked stepping out of the RV with Ronin.
“The lady that was wrapped around daddy.”
What?
Royce tried to sift through Faith’s mind but found he was blocked. That’s interesting. He’d never tried reading her before. But he knew his brother could. He looked to Ronin for some help, but he shook his head. He didn’t have time to ponder further why he was denied access, he needed to find his best friend and find out what the hell was going on.
“We better go check on Jes first.” Royce followed Faith up the stairs as she led them to where Jes had barricaded herself inside the bathroom. The bedroom was trashed.
“Jes?”
There was no answer.
“Baby girl talk to me. Tell your buddy Royce what’s wrong.”
“Get out of my head!”
Royce felt a stab of pain inside his skull that forced him to take a couple of steps back. Either Jes was getting stronger, or he was getting weaker. Bells turned to face him and gestured that he and his brother leave.
“She’s upset. Let me talk to her.”
Something shattered inside the bathroom, and the door began to bulge outward. Ann had warned them all this might happen. Her powers were looking for a way out. She’d built up so much emotion there was nowhere else to expel it, except outward.
“No shit!” Royce said pointing at the door that looked ready to explode. “Fucking shining moment on the other side. I’m waiting for Jack to bust in with a, ‘here’s Johnny’.”
“You’re not making this any better. Get out.” Bells scolded.
“OUT!” Jes screamed from her side of the door. She did not sound like the Jes he knew. Ronin left, and he stayed, not because he wanted to cause problems, but because Jes was his friend. She meant something to him.
Bells lifted her shirt allowing Bena to peel from her back. It was no secret he and the bird did not always get along. Sometimes the bird loved him, but most of the time she disliked him.
“Bena go and play with Faith.”
Faith smiled and followed the phoenix down the hall.
“You too, handsome. Get ghost. Ask Mara to put on some tea.”
“Fine.”
# # #
“Mutherfucker!” Jes screamed repeatedly.
She knew she was getting out of control. But mental? Her? Never! She was emotional, and her hormones were out of whack and her powers were out of control, but mental? Never that. It wasn’t her fault she’d caught her man holding on to another woman and wearing said woman’s lipstick. Was she being irrational? Hell no! She wasn’t going to play second fiddle to the damn pack. Fucking pack law could suck her big toe and choke on it.
Was pack always going to come first? If it came down to her and Asia? Then what? It had better be no fucking contest, that’s what. But what if he didn’t choose her? What if he chose Asia, simply because she was pack? Now you’re being irrational Jes. She scolded herself, knowing the seeds of doubt were growing vigorously from within and trying to take root.
“Jes honey. It’s Belinda. You want to come out and talk to me? The guys are all gone. I’ve asked Royce to ask Mara to make some tea for us.”
Like that was going to solve the huge ass elephant that was swollen in the room. The entire situation was bloated. Why couldn’t he have pushed the other woman away? He’d just peeled her off of him, and if she had to relive that moment again, she was going to seriously maul the bitch. Maybe it was instant just like he said. Too damn instant for her. It wasn’t like she’d seen Asia mid-flight to Draven, no, there were too many seconds in there where he could have made the right decision. The correct decision.
“I need to be alone Bells.”
“No, you need a friend. Come on honey, open the door.”
“I might hurt you, or worse, Faith.”
“I sent Faith out with Bena. Tell me what happened?”
There was movement under the door. Jes could hear Bells coming closer.
“Draven happened that’s what.”
“Honey.” Bells whispered softly.
The tears unchecked
again, started running hotly down her cheeks.
“He… He was wrapped around a woman… Or more aptly she was wrapped around him! She kissed him, the lipstick was on his lips. On his lips Bells.” Jes wailed and her power once again broke free shaking the sink free of its pipe. Water sprayed everywhere, drenching her clothes, soaking the floor. Great, just great! Jes stood and grabbed towels out of the cabinet throwing them on the puddle of the floor before turning off the water from the valve. She was crazy, just like Draven said. But crazy in another way. If he thought for one moment he could smooth talk his way out of this he had another thing coming.
“Did you say lipstick? As in not your lipstick, but another woman’s?” Bells asked incredulously.
“Yes!” Jes slapped the wet tile on the floor with her hand. She wanted to break something. Anything as long as she could exhaust herself. Maybe then she wouldn’t be such a hot mess.
“I’ll kill him myself! You hear me Jes!” Belinda pounded on the door. “Bury the fucking body! Then I’ll lend you hulk one or hulk two. We’re besties honey. That’s what friends do. Help each other out. But you gotta give whomever you choose back after you’re feeling better. I can only go so long without my fix.”
Jes bit back a smile and wiped her face. They’d always said they’d help the other commit murder if it was necessary, and share the spoils. Her friend was in a giving mood, not that she’d really take her up on it, but it was still sweet.
“Yeah, bury the fucking body.” She whispered back. She wasn’t going to let Draven get away with choosing the pack over her. She wasn’t being selfish, his pack shouldn’t be able to get all of his time. They needed to share him. He needed to remember family comes first. Jes took two calming breaths. He could have stayed and dealt with her crazy. Any man who was in love would do that right, through thick and thin, not bail with his parting remark of their relationship being a mistake.
Jes couldn’t help but wonder. Had they made a mistake? Was this why things were going haywire? Maybe his wolf hadn’t been correct in choosing her. Whatever the reason was they were going to confront it head on.