***The albino looked at the photo in his hand, his face etched with grief. The love of his life. His wife. The woman he’d been with for over a century. She was no more. Killed by the bloody wolves of Stanwood Pack during the battle that saw the collapse of his clan. That little girl had no idea what she and her savage bunch had taken from him. If she did, she wouldn’t have made a deal with him. His thirst for vengeance was definitely more intense than the need to live.The Jackal had been given an assignment. An assignment that was supposed to be very simple and easy. An assignment that was going to give him a second chance at life. A second chance? Really? Who said he wanted to live? How could he, after everything had been taken away from him? In any case, he was not fooled for even a second. Definitely not by some arrogant little bitch. The Jackal knew that the silly girl didn’t have any intention of allowing him to live. He didn’t need to consult zoltar to know that she was going
***The Jackal smiled with satisfaction when he heard Ryan’s hair-raising scream. He’d always wanted to go out with a bang. Well, what a bang. He was finally ready to meet his maker.His mission had been a simple one. With his gift of glamour, he was supposed to disguise himself as the Alpha of Stanwood Pack…Jeremy Stanton. Then he was to manipulate his mate, Ryan, to think he was having a dream. He wasn’t supposed to say a word to Ryan. All he had to do was give him a smile, a light caress, and a few pecks along the jaw. That was it. Although his powers had drastically diminished after the battle between the Wyatt Clan and the Stanwood pack, the Jackal wasn’t worried at all because he was supposed to be in and out of there in not more than two minutes. That was a piece of cake. He was The Jackal after all.But what the little bully didn’t know was that he had his own plan. His plan was to stick it to the Stanwood Pack who had wiped out his clan, by taking out both its alpha and his m
***“Ryan?” Paige breathed through her tears as she watched Ryan’s demeanor change right there before her eyes. Although she could still see the pain in his eyes, he suddenly seemed to have developed a…thick skin of sorts. He didn’t seem as he had just moments earlier…as if he was about to die. He looked…dangerous. “Ryan…” Paige wasn’t afraid of Ryan. She just felt uneasy. “I’ve called Dad and Phillip. I’m sorry for causing all this but we will fix it.” She spoke softly, trying to calm Ryan. She didn’t know whether it was working, but that was all she could do. “I don’t know how but I promise, we…”“Alpha?” Deloris called out softly when she appeared inside Ryan’s study, cutting off Paige’s tirade.The warlock’s eyes widened when she took a look at Ryan. Just one look told Deloris that something was very wrong. There was a wildness about him…almost as if he was having a hard time holding on to his control. He paced like a caged bull. The Ryan pacing before her looked nothing like the
***“Come on, come on, come on…” Stan kept muttering even as everyone’s eyes remained on the portal with rapt attention.One would have thought the roar coming from within the portal would scare the people gathered. Well, they rather looked expectant. They all knew that roar too well. It belonged to none other than their alpha. They had all missed him. And the fact that he was obviously angry wasn’t going to change that.Ryan realized he’d ceased breathing…but he was fine. He just wanted to see that face. That face that he loved so much. That face that brought joy into his heart. That face that made the world a better place for him. He just wanted to see his Jeremy. He didn’t have to wait for long. The only hitch was that the Jeremy that came out of the portal, was not who Ryan had been expecting despite the preceding roar. Not only were Jeremy’s eyes bloody red…showing that his Ojah power was in control, he looked as if he was ready to murder someone.Immediately he stepped out, the
***Everything that happened after Jeremy’s first sob happened so fast it was almost a blur. One moment Ryan was looking down at an emotional Jeremy, the next moment they were on their bed inside their suite. Jeremy didn’t even seem to know what was going on. He just sobbed. It was only when Ryan looked up and saw Deloris standing beside their bed that he connected the dots. She’d blinked them away from all those people.“I didn’t want them to see him like that.” She whispered.“Thanks, Deloris.” Ryan sounded as if he was in shock.“Take care of him.” She said, leaning down to kiss Ryan on his wet cheek. “If you need anything, get in touch with any of us.”“Gloria…”“She’s fine,” Deloris assured Ryan. “Just spend time with him. It’s late anyway. The others will have their turn tomorrow or the day after…don’t think about it.” With that, the warlock disappeared.Ryan draped himself over Jeremy and allowed him to cry it all out. After a long moment, Jeremy finally quieted down and drifte
***Gloria spent about two hours with them and then left. Stan, Paige, and Phillip stopped by after Gloria left, to check up on their friend and alpha. For once, Ryan saw the quiet side of his mate’s friends. Although they looked happy, they were very subdued. Before they left, however, they sat with Ryan at the dining area and told him what Paige had done. Ryan wasn’t amused and he didn’t mince words.“You shouldn’t have done that.” He admonished quietly, his intent gaze on the woman he’d come to see as a good friend. “The fact that it ended well doesn’t make it okay.”“I know, and I’m so sorry, Ryan.” Paige looked so regretful.Ryan nodded but he wasn’t happy at all. He remembered the fear. What if he hadn’t been able to pull Jeremy back from the brink of death? That had been too close. What the fuck had Paige been thinking, Ryan fumed. He now understood why Paige had been so broken about the whole thing. She must have felt so guilty, seeing Jeremy lying on the ground, motionless. R
***Jeremy woke to the feel of hair brushing over his shoulder and an arm slung across his tummy. From that delicious scent filling his nostrils, he just knew that the person sleeping beside him was none other than his mate. But how? For a moment Jeremy didn’t know where he was. He was on his back in a very familiar bed. His? The room was dark but from the face of the clock on the bedside table which glowed brightly in the darkened room, it was two-thirty a.m. He turned his head to look at the most beautiful person he’d ever laid eyes on and just like that, it all came rushing back…The Fort, the sudden excruciating pain in the chest, the high priestess, Ryan, the feeling of nothingness, and then Ryan again…he’d bitten him. Why his mate had felt the need to bite him, Jeremy didn’t know, however. He didn’t mind though because he would have made Ryan mark him too at a point anyway. But everything after Ryan bit him seemed fuzzy. He definitely didn’t remember getting into bed with Ryan.
***Jeremy stared his mate down. He wanted to fuck him and punish him at the same time. His eyes dropped to Ryan’s mouth, stared hard at those beautiful full lips...the lips that gave him joy… Then he pictured somebody else kissing those lips…“Fuuuuck!” Jeremy roared. He wanted to hit something. Turning abruptly on his feet, he stormed out of the sleeping area.Ryan watched his mate go and gave a deep sigh. He understood that Jeremy was upset but he needed to calm down and listen to him. Ryan left the sleeping area and went to the kitchen to grab a broom. Then he came back and swept the shards to one side so that Jeremy wouldn’t step on them and hurt himself. When he was done, he took the broom back to the kitchen and then went to the closet to pull on sweats and a t-shirt. Then he entered the bathroom.The sight that met Ryan in the bathroom, broke his heart. Jeremy was leaning over the vanity with his head in his hands. The desolation Jeremy was feeling hit Ryan with such intensity