: Chapter 20

Jaxson

“And what about the Traverse City pack? Will they sign the deal?” I asked, thumbing through the papers on my desk.

I was working late because every other pack around was trying to squeeze my balls, and the LaSalle woman was eating up my time—even when she wasn’t around.

Why couldn’t I get that damn woman off my mind?

I couldn’t believe that she’d had the gall to break into my shop to steal her car. Her boldness and utter disregard for my authority were infuriating.

“They’ll sign if you agree to give them a ten percent share,” Barb said over the line.

Sam and Regina raised their brows at me. Clearly, that was too much, given that we were taking all the risks hauling black market car parts over state lines.

“Five percent. And I’ll throw in a crate of magic disablers,” I said.

There was a pause on the end of the line. “Eight percent.”

“Seven.”

“Fine,” Barb sighed. “I’ll fax over the paperwork tonight. Good doing business with you, Jax, as always.”

Sam grinned. “Not a bad deal. Way to get rid of those magic disablers.”

She was in a cheery mood after getting to kick the LaSalle boy’s punk ass. I deeply regretted not getting to see it myself. She could unleash hell when she had to, but generally, Sam fronted information for me. Everyone in town, whatever species, wanted into Eclipse, so her job at the bar allowed her to trade and barter with demons, devils, and fae all night long.

My cellphone rang, and I answered. “Yes?”

“Boss, there’s been several explosions over on 67th Street. From the reports, it sounds like the sorcerers,” Tony said.

You have got to be shitting me.

I growled. “The LaSalles?”

“No word. Heading over that way now.”

That was right by the Magic Moon Motel.

Savannah fucking Caine. It had to be her and that fucking cousin of hers.

“We’ll be right there. Don’t let her get away.” I hung up and clenched my fists.

This woman was a damned nuisance, and if I had it my way, I’d chain her to my desk where she couldn’t cause any more destruction.

The image of that made my wolf stir and my muscles tighten. Fuck. I scrubbed a hand through my hair and stormed through Eclipse, Regina and Sam in my wake.

At least they could tell the difference between when to follow and when to ask questions.

My phone rang again.

Savannah. Speak of the devil herself.

I punched the screen and growled, “You’re blowing up shit in my territory after my wolves escorted you out? Are you out of your goddamned mind?”

“Shut up and listen,” she said.

Fury coursed through me, and I clenched my phone. Something cracked.

“I was attacked at the motel by red-eyed psycho wolves. We’re chasing down the shifters now.” I heard the screeching of tires and the curses of her cousin in the background.

Fuck. Why hadn’t I been alerted that she’d been attacked in the motel? I had someone stationed there for just that reason, as I knew she’d be back sooner or later for her things.

“Stay on the fucking line and don’t let them out of your sight!” I shouted at the phone.

We burst out the back door of Eclipse while Savannah screamed the details of what had happened over her speakerphone. We jumped into my truck, and the beast roared to life. “Where are you right now?”

“Where are we, Casey?” There was a pause. “67th and Ironwood. Get your ass over here!”

I heard an explosion across the line, and it disconnected.

I hit the gas. The truck lurched forward, and the tires squealed against the pavement.

“If that asshole cousin of hers is throwing fireballs in downtown Dockside, I’m going to skin him and hang him on the wall,” Regina snapped. I wouldn’t put it past my second in command. She’d been my sister’s best friend and still had a score to settle.

“I’ve got to hand it to her, Jax. First her car, and now this? Savannah is a damn wild card.” Sam had a shit-eating-grin pasted on her face.

Did she actually like the red-headed monster? I growled and shot her a look. “Not now, Sam.”

Darkness seeped into my mind, and I tried not to break the steering wheel.

I told Savannah to go to the motel. I had people watching it. She would be safe. She said no.

Fine. I could adapt, so I’d redeployed those people to watch the Indies. Then she went to the motel.

One of us was going to be the death of the other.

Red brake lights filled the street ahead, so I veered into a back alley, swerving around a dumpster. A flash, followed by an explosion, echoed from the south.

“What the hell do they think they’re doing?” Regina yelled.

My phone rang again, and Sam answered it on speaker.

“Hello?” a man’s voice said. Savannah’s cousin. We had a mile-long dossier on the creep. “Where the hell are you guys? I knew you were slow, but come on.”

I tightened my grip on the wheel, wishing it were his neck.

“We’re right behind you, asshole,” said Sam. “We just heard the explosion. Pro tip: stop unleashing a firestorm on our town, or we’ll return the favor.”

“Message received. They turned right and we’re heading north on Razorback. Just passed Donahue’s Grill House. Hey, they opened one over here?”

“Casey, focus!” Savannah’s voice cut across the line.

“What are they driving?” I asked.

“Tan Oldsmobile. Looks like a real piece of shit. Maybe you should steal it and hold it for ransom in your shop,” her cousin said.

To my wolf, that man was just a mouthy steak with a bad attitude.

I gunned it down 64th Street. If my calculations were correct, we might be able to cut them off. Regina cursed as we sped through a red light, narrowly missing a collision with a Beamer.

Two blocks ahead was the Diagonal—our shortcut to intercept. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, distracting me from the anger that clawed in my chest. I had to put it aside for now. If we could catch one of the rogue wolves, it would solve most of our immediate problems. I’d beat the information out of them. We’d hunt down their allies. And once it was done, I would be mercifully free of Savannah Caine.

The truck careened right as we peeled through the intersection onto the Diagonal.

“Tell me where you are, Savannah,” I growled.

“This is Casey here. Savannah’s busy driving like a bat outta hell. We’re just passing 64th Street and Louie’s Strip Joint. That looks promising.”

Just where I needed them.

“Seatbelts on,” I said as I shifted gears and hit the accelerator. Two blocks, and we’d be coming right up—

A tan Oldsmobile came into view as the lights in the six-way intersection turned red.

I hit the gas, and we rocketed forward. Shock crossed the face of the shifter in the passenger seat of the Oldsmobile just before my truck T-boned them.

The grating of metal was deafening, and I braced myself against the wheel. The Oldsmobile slid across the intersection sideways before stopping. Steam rose from the hood of the truck, but the grates on the front had absorbed most of the impact.

I sucked in air and felt around my neck. A broken clavicle.

I glanced over at Sam and Regina, who were smiling wildly. Sam popped her arm back in its socket and hopped out.

It was good to be a wolf.

I ripped my crushed door off its hinges and extracted myself from the wreckage.

Screeching tires echoed behind us.

“Holy shit!” Savannah’s cousin was hanging halfway out the passenger-side window, pumping his fist into air. He was a fucking lunatic. Then again, he was Laurel’s son. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Two masked male shifters climbed out of the crumpled Oldsmobile, and with a burst of speed, I circled around the rear. The one in the front seat was dead. Neck broken.

The rogue shifters put their backs together as Regina and Sam closed in around the wreckage, their claws extended.

The two shifters took one look at them and me, and then sprinted down the street, heading north.

I grinned and tore off after them. I liked a good chase, and tonight, I had some steam to blow off before ripping Savannah a new one.

But they ran fucking fast. Faster than possible.

What the hell was going on?

Sam and Regina shifted into wolves but still couldn’t catch up.

My wolf roared with rage as they rapidly pulled away from us. I started to shift, and my shirt ripped, but Sam growled and snapped.

I understood her intent, as I could speak without words to the wolves of my inner circle: We’ll hunt. Don’t let the LaSalles blow anything else up.

I snarled but slowed. She was right. I had to get the LaSalles out of pack territory before they were spotted. The destruction Savannah’s cousin had likely caused was sure to draw attention.

Savannah was peering into the smashed Oldsmobile. Her cousin hobbled out of the car and leaned against the hood as I approached. His foot was injured, and I could smell the repressed pain streaming off him. He deserved more for unleashing hellfire on my city.

“You were told to leave, and yet, you came back,” I growled, smelling the faint traces of wolfsbane on her.

Did this woman have a death wish?

Savannah spun and met my gaze, her eyes blazing. The skin on her cheek was red and swollen where she’d been struck. Rage and protectiveness flooded me, threatening to spill out.

I’d beat the hell out of the shifter who’d hit her.

“What are you doing here?” I roared.

Savannah flinched and I could smell her fear, but she planted her feet and stared me down, giving me that ridiculous look she used when she thought she could make me bend. “I needed my stuff, so I came back and was jumped. In. Your. Territory.”

Anger burned through me, and my claws itched to come out. How did this woman know exactly how to drive me over the edge?

I strode up to her, my body shaking as I fought for composure. My wolf wanted control. He wanted her to submit. I wanted her to submit.

And something else.

Her heat flooded into me, and her pulse pounded in my ears. I could taste her sweat from here, so fucking sweet. “I told you to stay out of my territory tonight. When I tell you something, you’d better listen.”

Her cousin scoffed as he limped around the car. Broken ankle, I noted. I’d have liked to break the other.

“I do what I want. I’m not a wolf. I’m not beholden to you,” Savannah hissed, though I could sense her trepidation.

“Apparently, you want to fuck up as much shit as possible.”

She grabbed my partly torn shirt. “Well, I guess we know one thing: your plan to use me as bait would have worked. Except without my cousin, they would have grabbed me and been long gone before you knew what had happened.”

My body shook. She had no idea how close I was to shifting. Nor how close I was to picking her up over my shoulder and dragging her back to my place to lock her in my spare bedroom. At least I’d be sure she wouldn’t be causing trouble.

I closed my eyes and asked my wolf for patience. “If I would have known you were going to go to the motel, I would have guarded the goddamned place. How am I going to fucking protect you if you always do the exact opposite of everything that you’re told?”

She crossed her arms. “Well, I lived. And it looks like they got away. I thought you were fast, but…”

I had to step away. Just for a second. Just until I could get my wolf under control. Now was not the time for them to meet.

My chest rose and fell as I sucked in a deep, calming breath. I knew in my gut that the masked wolves were going to escape. They were amped up on something and moving far faster than a werewolf could.

The one in the car was dead. That meant that as much as Savannah infuriated me to the core of my being, I needed her.

I turned back and stepped up into her face. “Your situation is perilous. You need to help me. Scry on the she-wolf that attacked you. Tomorrow.”

“I’ll scry for you on the she-wolf, but”—she paused and narrowed her eyes, like that would somehow have some effect on me—“I’ll bring the scrying potion.”

My mind reeled. She agreed? If I’d known that all it would take to get Savannah to work with me was a little fright, I’d have done it sooner. Myself.

It was time to press. I shoved my hand in my pockets and loomed over the red-haired woman. “I’m glad you found your senses. You’ll meet me at Eclipse tomorrow at one p.m. We’ll scry, and if that doesn’t pan out with enough information, you’ll come with me to meet a seer.”

“Wait a sec, I didn’t agree to meeting a seer. Why would I do that?” She cocked her hip out and frowned. Even with a welt on her cheek and her hair a mess, she looked delicious.

But my patience was thin. “Because scrying might not give us the answers we need. We must do everything we can to stop these rogue wolves, for your sake and my pack’s.” I leaned close, whispering, although no one who would care was close enough to hear. “The seer is how I found you. She warned me that I had to protect you. She’s available tomorrow night. You’ll go.”

Savannah glanced over her shoulder at her cousin, who was resting his busted foot on the bumper of their car, looking amused. He shrugged.

“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow. Until then, I’m going back to the motel to get my stuff. I assume I won’t be jumped there again, but feel free to tail along.” Her eyes lingered on me for a second, and then she spun and headed toward her cousin’s car.

Protectiveness surged inside me. “You should stay here tonight. I’ll put you up in a different hotel, somewhere safe.”

She opened the driver’s door and paused, regarding me with obstinance. “Not a chance. I’m safest with my people. My family.”

My wolf rose, and my claws extended. “I can’t protect you there.”

“You can’t protect me here, Jaxson. Nobody can. I’ve been on my own for a while now. I’ll take care of myself.”

Her sadness and anger hit me like a punch to the gut. She was alone and had no one she trusted in this new world.

Savannah slammed the door and drove off, and my emotions ripped into me like claws. Frustration. Rage. Possessiveness.

Why did I fucking care if she was miserable? She was just a means to an end. The key to getting the answers I needed.

The seer’s prophecy wound around me like a python strangling an unsuspecting victim in the night. If you do not stop them, she will be dead before the full moon rises, and with her, the future of your pack.

The moon was up, and nearly full. Three nights left.

I scrubbed a hand through my hair. The fortune teller had drawn three tarot cards to foresee my future. The Moon for our adversaries. Strength for the woman. And the third had been for me.

The Hanged Man.

That fate seemed inevitable now. Savannah Caine was going to be the end of me.