Every day was the same. He would wake up in the queen-size bed in the cheap motel and try to convince himself that today was the day he would really leave. Leave the Appalachian Mountains, leave Covington, leave the girl he’d left his heart with.
And just like every other day, he’d spent today trying to gather the courage to pack up his truck and drive back toward Damon’s Mountains. Yet here he sat, in the dark of night, still in the hotel, still unable to leave.
But tomorrow would be the day. He’d made up his mind already and had worked himself up as he’d made his way through today. At the laundromat, he’d thought about her relentlessly. Thought about how he was taking care of her by leaving. At the diner where he’d eaten three burgers and two orders of fries, he’d thought about pounding her from behind against the counter in her house. The house Titan had destroyed. He’d convinced himself that was just the beginning if he stayed in her life. He was a destroyer.
If she’d been human…if only she’d been human. That’s what he’d been searching for, so he could avoid this bond he already felt tugging at him so hard. He had wanted a mate, but not love. Not devotion like this. He hadn’t wanted to tether Titan to anyone.
He hated the bear. Hated being a shifter. Always had, and always would, because Titan stunted his life. He cut his hope for happiness off at the knees and forced himself to keep his expectations low so that he wouldn’t be disappointed in life. Hope was a slippery slope for a man like him. Wishing for a bigger life than he was capable of would make his animal unmanageable.
Dressed in briefs and nothing more, he sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, face in his hands. He’d stopped looking in the mirror at himself. His face was too haunted, and it was all because of this decision.
Stay or go? Stay or go? Stay or go?
Where was his fucking urge to roam when he needed it?
His phone rang. Terror, hope, desperation, and urgency had him reaching for it in a rush. Maybe it was Annalise again.
It hurt to read her messages. He could hear the heartache in her words, but he was trying to be a good mate. A good mate? Fuck. He should’ve never come after her. He’d ruined them both with that decision.
The number on the caller ID wasn’t the phone he’d bought her, though. He’d been good and not responded to her texts. But this wasn’t her.
“Hello?” he asked gruffly after he connected the call.
“Grizzly.”
Fucking Ben.
“What do you want?” he asked, pissed to hear the alpha’s voice right now.
“A favor.”
Jax snorted. “I don’t owe you anything.”
“Are you still hunting Brody?”
“Maybe. If I am, it’s not for you. It’s for her.”
“Well, this favor is for her, too. And surely you know how hard it is for me to ask. You’re still in Covington. I’ve been watching you. Waiting for you to leave. You can’t, can you?”
“None of your goddamn business.”
When Ben sighed, static blasted across the phone. “I need you to come see something. Something I don’t know how to deal with. Something I need help with. It’s about Annalise.”
“When?” Jax asked, panic flaring through his chest. What if she was hurt? Or what if she’d run away?
“Now. Right now. Speed.” The line went dead.
“Shhhit,” Jax muttered as he stood and reached for his clothes on the back of the hotel room chair. Ben was an alpha just like Creed of the Gray Backs. He wouldn’t ask for help until something really bad happened.
The keys scratched the table as he grabbed them too hard, but screw it. Before he even had his jeans zipped, boots tied, or his shirt settled over his stomach, he was out the door and jogging toward his truck.
Please no cops. He couldn’t get pulled over right now as he blasted up the mountain road that lead to Red Havoc territory. His mind was racing with what could be wrong. Maybe Annalise was hurt, or sick. Nah, not sick. Shifters didn’t get sick like humans. There was a bright side to She-Devil he hadn’t thought about before. Okay, not sick. Maybe was lost in the woods? Why was this trip up into the mountains taking so long?
The truck nearly went up on two wheels when he turned right onto the worn, one-lane dirt road. He blasted past the old, dilapidated wooden fence with the No Trespassing signs and Turn Back Now signs that had been riddled with holes, probably from a shotgun peppering them.
When at last he skidded to a stop in the clearing in front of the Red Havoc cabins. He scanned it frantically to find a single panther shifter. Greyson. He was leaned against the ruined porch of Annalise’s cabin, eyes haunted. Inside of Jax, Titan was riled up, ready to steal his skin. Every instinct he possessed was blaring. Something was so wrong.
He threw the truck into park and cut the engine, then got out and bolted for Greyson. “Where is she?”
“This way,” the quiet man said solemnly, jerking his chin toward the mountains behind Annalise’s destroyed cabin.
When Greyson took off at a jog, Jax followed, zipping his pants as he went. No time to tie his shoes, he kicked out of them completely. He was used to running around Damon’s Mountains barefoot.
A panther screamed in the dark, and the sound drew chills from his skin. Jax slowed slightly. That was She-Devil, but he didn’t recognize the call. He couldn’t tell if she was hurt or angry. He ran faster behind Greyson, who had kicked up the pace the second another scream followed.
Up and up the mountain they ran until they reached the broken-down fence and the deer trail. It even smelled like Annalise. What the hell was she doing up here?
Greyson dropped in front of him and morphed into his panther like there was no pain at all. His cat took off at a sprint, and Jax pushed his legs harder to keep up. At a clearing, Ben stepped out in front of him on the trail. Jax skidded to a stop on the dirt path to avoid slamming into him as Greyson ran to join a cat fight.
She-Devil was at the middle of it, brawling. Slapping, hissing, ears flat, eyes like gold fire. The crew ducked in and out, taking slaps, herding her back toward Jax.
“What the fuck are they doing?” Jax lurched forward to Change and defend her, but Ben slapped a hand on his chest and pushed him back with a strength that surprised him.
“Look,” he said, tilting his head toward the edge of his territory, up where Jax had asked Annalise to meet him last week. Where his truck had been were four sets of glowing eyes. In the dark, four massive male lions paced the property line.
“She’s calling them in,” Ben said low.
“I don’t understand.”
Ben sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, stared at his crew as they attacked She-Devil again. “They’re trying not to hurt her, but she can’t cross that territory line or the pride will take her.”
“Take her?”
“She’s in heat. Went into it right after you left last week. Did you know she sleepwalks?”