Chapter 3

JACKSON

Meeting Blaine was almost enough to dispel this heavy feeling that the secrecy surrounding this mission was causing. I was thankful that things had gone the way that they did thus far. He deserved to have a life that was filled with happiness and freedom. A life on the run did not provide that. Now, he would be able to live his life for himself.

We were currently driving through the backwoods of Virginia. I had no idea where we were going, but I would find out soon enough.

The further that we drove, the more an uneasiness spread throughout me. It made no sense to me though, so I just kept my focus on the blurring scenery.

“Jacksy, I need you to listen to me carefully,” Brynn said, meeting my eyes through the rearview mirror.

I nodded for her to continue. Perhaps now she would be kind enough to fill in some details. Anything at all would do. I was not even that picky.

“In about twenty minutes, you’re going to find out why this trip was necessary and why we brought warriors.”

She paused, clearly trying to choose her words carefully since she knew that even a misspoken word could indirectly affect the reality that her visions showed. Her brows furrowed in thought for a moment before they smoothed out again.

“You need to keep a level head. Don’t react by instinct but by training. If you can do that then everything will turn out the way it needs to,” she said cryptically.

There was a clear warning in her words with a meaning that I could not fully dissect. Thus, I did not even try. It was likely that my mind would implode if I attempted to do so. Brynn was the master of cryptic, but I could not fault her for it.

I sighed and nodded in understanding. There was happiness and hope shining in her eyes before she returned her attention to the road in front of us. Whatever was about to happen had some level of happiness associated with it, so it could not be bad. Right?

This part of Virgnia was absolutely beautiful. Flowering Dogwood, Red Maple, and Ash trees were just some of what I had seen so far.

Some wolves preferred city living if they had to choose. However, most wolves preferred to live somewhere surrounded by nature. We were part animal after all, so it was only natural for us to find comfort there.

Brynn pulled off onto a dirt road that led us through the trees. It was late-afternoon, and the sun was hanging in the sky, bathing the landscape in its light. There was an unmistakable beauty to it.

The car stopped underneath the cover of trees. She gave me a smile before getting out of the car. I followed suit and waited as everyone joined us.

“I don’t know exactly what we’re walking into, so everyone must keep their eyes open and be cautious. What I do know is that there’s potentially one vampire, but I don’t know if there’s more. We’ve all been through training with Valis’ coven on how to fight vampires. Remember that while they can move faster than us, they still have the same vulnerabilities as we do when it comes to their bodies. We’ll leave out in this form, but if you have to shift once we’re there then you can. Just not before I give you the signal,” Brynn said to everyone.

One look at Theo’s face told me that he had been kept in the dark as well. This was exactly what he wanted to walk into with his pregnant mate. A potential fight with at least one vampire.

‘Heavy sarcasm noted,’ Zeus deadpanned.

I left them to their little glare-off and grabbed some comfortable clothes from my bag that would give me enough room to move about without being as restricted as I would have been in jeans.

Brynn was wearing her bulletproof clothing to protect my niece. It was clear to see that Theo still was not happy to have been left in the dark, but she must have said something to pacify him because instead of anger in his gaze, it was now filled with heat. 

“Here you go,” she said, tossing me something from the trunk.

My hand easily caught my favorite weapon. It was a bladed staff. The staff part was about two feet long with thirteen-inch razor-sharp blades on either end. Its lightweight material allowed for quicker and more accurate movements.

My father had always been a proponent of us familiarizing ourselves with a weapon of choice because it was not always possible to rely on our wolves in a fight. This was the weapon that I mastered. Theo mastered daggers and was a great shot.

Once everyone was ready, she led us deeper into the woods.

‘Step as quietly as possible,’ she reminded us.

It was not doable to miss each twig and leaf crunching beneath our feet, but we did the best that we could given the circumstances.

Brynn held her hand up in the air to get us to pause. I could feel her pushing her aura outwards, obviously trying to sense something specific. Her hand angled slightly to the left before she lowered it.

We continued on for another five minutes before she stopped us again and had us get down on the ground. This meant that we were close enough that we needed the element of surprise and would be spotted by walking.

Brynn had me come up right next to her but did not tell me why. Her arm wrapped around my shoulders, holding me in place. I realized why she did it five seconds later when a breeze blew by us.

The most tantalizing scent I had ever come across was carried straight to me. Plum with notes of citrus made it intoxicating and mouthwatering. Zeus was internally growling as he inhaled more of it. It filled us with a desire to follow it and find the source.

Why would my mate be out here though? Reality crashed into me when I remembered what was going on. The elation that I had felt of finally finding her was replaced with bone crushing fear of her getting hurt.

‘Remember to react with training and not by instinct. We will protect her, but if you distract her, then she could get hurt. So, you and Zeus have to rein in the need to run into the fray. Understood?’ Brynn asked me softly.

I swallowed hard and nodded my head. Zeus was nodding as well. We did not even know her yet, but we both knew that we would do everything to protect her. I had always wondered what type of circumstances would accompany meeting my mate. A situation such as this had never even come close to being a possibility.

‘We will army crawl forward. The female is the innocent that we need to protect. However, we have to be careful because she could get caught in the crosshairs if we aren’t,’ Brynn told everyone.

Everyone echoed that they understood, so we started to crawl forward. Despite being pregnant, she was kicking ass with this crawling. Theo could not help himself by glancing at her ass every so often. He always took every opportunity that presented itself.

We stopped as we came to a small ledge. There was a downwards slope of about fifteen feet before it leveled off into a clearing. The sound of multiple people running caught our attention.

A woman was the first to break through the tree line. It was too hard to tell much all the way up here, but I bet that she was absolutely fucking gorgeous. She took her backpack off and put it out of the way, grabbing a knife from it. Then she moved to a place where there was nothing behind her at all but open space. She was preparing herself for whomever was after her.

Brynn placed her arm around me again, both comforting me, and restraining me some. I was thankful for both reasons. So, I took in the comfort and let it wash through me.

Five men followed through the tree line, clearly not as fast as she was. They were breathing hard, but she was not. I would not even ponder why that was until this was done and over with. They all looked intimidating with their muscles and tattoos, but she did not cower in front of them at all. Zeus and I were immediately proud of her for that.

“Decided to accept your fate and stop running. How thoughtful of you. What an obedient bitch,” one bastard said.

I bit my lip to suppress the growl that wanted to break free for calling her a bitch. He would leave this life with his head detached from his shoulders. Oh, I would have a lot of fun ripping his very life away.

Zeus was mentally going over all of the ways he could kill him, and which one would be the most painful. I would have to hand it to my wolf. He was a creatively sadistic bastard when he wanted to be. This was one such time.

“I accepted my fate long ago, but it was not to stop running. I just wanted the extra room for when I kill you,” she said, shrugging her shoulder as if it was as mundane as taking out the trash.

The bastard did not like her retort. I, on the other hand, definitely liked it. So did Zeus. It was clear to see that she was fierce.

What they might have failed to notice was that her body was slowly getting into a defensive stance. She was doing it slowly so as to keep them as unaware as possible. Also, her gaze never directly moved away from the bastard, who was most likely the leader, but her eyes shifted ever so slightly to ensure that everyone remained in her line of sight without making it obvious.

“You can’t take all of us. Give up, and we’ll take it easy on you. Or hard if that’s what you’re into.” He licked his lips while eyeing her like he was a starving man.

The only thing keeping me still was the warning that Brynn had given me. Zeus was adding even more torture to the list with each offensive thing the bastard said to our mate. Ripping his spine from his body actually sounded like a fun time.

She scoffed at him. “You think that you five will be any challenge for me. That’s a laughable thought. The only thing of mine that you’ll be touching is my blade when I use it to gut you.”

Zeus growled softly at her comeback. I was right there with him. To hear such a threat made with the voice of an angel, well that was perfection in its finest.

‘Wait for my signal. If not, it will get her killed,’ Brynn relayed to all of us.

“Enrique,” the bastard said.

The guy who must have been Enrique shot forward. My mate did not look bothered at all and waited until he got close enough for her to spin around quicker than I had ever seen someone move and shove the blade into his stomach and ripping upward before pulling it out. He screamed bloody murder under the effects of the pain. She spun a kick, causing his body to fly a good ten feet away. He hit the ground and did not move another muscle. One down and four to go.

“Daniel,” the bastard called out through gritted teeth.

Daniel seemed a little more wary than Enrique had been because he just saw her take him out without breaking a sweat. He discreetly pulled a throwing knife out of his back pocket. His arm drew back, and the knife released at a very quick speed. However, her reflexes were even quicker as she moved her knife to block its trajectory.

She smirked at his attempt, which simply angered him. I could guarantee that she did it on purpose so that he would act on his anger instead of his rationality. People’s anger fell within two categories during a fight. It propelled them, giving them adrenaline to focus their senses. Or it blinded them and would lead to their destruction.

He was definitely blinded as he rushed forward. Another knife was pulled out of his pocket, and he raised it the moment that he was in front of her. The only reason that I could figure for her not moving before he got to her was that she found an opportunity to take him out too.

Her arm arched and came down swiftly. Daniel’s hand fell to the ground, and he was in complete shock that he had stopped moving and was just staring at it. That was a very dumb thing to do in a fight because she took his distraction, and her knife sliced across his neck deep enough that there was no coming back from it. She kicked his body backwards. Blood spurted and gushed from where his hand used to be and from his neck.

I believed that we were all in a bit of shock with how fucking lethal she was. She just took out two enemies with ease. Brynn was over there fangirling, but I figured we all kind of were.

The two remaining lackeys advanced at the same time. They were moving to opposite sides, trying to cage her in.

The bastard went down the middle, but he was more methodical about it. He believed that she would focus on him more than the other two, hoping that it would be her downfall.

My claws extended, and I dug them into the ground to literally ground myself. I was fighting against every instinct within me that demanded that I slayed them for even thinking about touching her.

‘Get ready,’ Brynn called out. ‘Jackson, stand up and shout out your claim.’

That was all that I needed to hear. I was immediately on my feet, ready to fucking fight for her.

“MINE!” I yelled out, voice echoing all around us.