chapter 3

Anna

I sank as low as I could against the floor. Had I let my wolf out, she would have clawed through the floorboards, certain she wasn’t worthy of being on the same level as Jax.

At his low laugh, my skin flushed with humiliation while my mind raced. For three years, I hadn’t seen him, and it wasn’t like he’d stopped by when I wasn’t at work. I lived above the bar. I was always here.

I figured he’d just left me here to rot with the bar. Maybe part of me hoped that by making this bar profitable, I’d gain his attention. Prove that I could be a capable member of the pack.

Nothing. Not a peep. It was obvious he couldn’t care less about me. Was he finally here to do what he should have done three years ago?

What would happen if he’d decided to marry? It wasn’t common for wolves to marry someone else if they were mated, but it did happen. Would he need to kill me?

Or maybe he’d figured out how to remove our mating bond. There was a witch attached to the clan. Maybe it was possible.

“Get up,” he sighed. “Now.”

He didn’t push any of his power in his voice. He didn’t need to. My wolf would have slit her own throat if he’d just casually mentioned it was something that would make him happy.

I slowly stood but kept my gaze to the floor. Silently, I waited.

“Look at me.”

Shit. He was here because of me or has decided to entertain himself while he was here.

Either way, I was not going to just be able to slink out of the bar unnoticed.

Still, I didn’t dare speak. It was all I could do not to cry as he looked me over with distaste. Behind him, two of the three guards smirked. The other looked on with curiosity. Him, I recognized. He’d been there when Jax eviscerated Dirk.

He’d held his claws against my neck while I watched. I never did learn his name.

“Stabbing customers is no way to get repeat business, is it?” Jax asked as he twirled the knife between his fingers.

“Considering that Fanged Smile is now turning a profit, maybe you shouldn’t question my techniques.”

I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth any more than I could stop my wolf’s reaction. Immediately, I was on my knees again, presenting my throat.

Is that smart mouth of yours going to be worth your death?

Parker’s voice in my head, laced with disappointment. If he could see me now, he’d be furious with me.

The bar was deadly silent. When Jax leaped over the counter, I closed my eyes and waited for the fatal blow to come.

Instead, I heard the ring of the cash register. Confused, I opened my eyes and watched as he pulled out the day’s receipts. He grunted as he sifted through them and closed the register.

After what seemed like forever, he turned to me.

“Get up.”

Once again, I pulled myself to my feet. If I started adding a little hop at the end, I’d be doing burpees and getting some killer abs.

I could feel his gaze on me. “Bar’s closed for the day. I want everyone out.”

Danny shifted behind me, and I turned to leave. “Not you, Anna. And Danny, you can wait for us in the office. I want a word with you before I leave.”

Oh, good. He wanted to kill me without an audience. At least it wouldn’t be public.

The bar was slow to empty. Clearly, everyone was hoping to see my humiliation. Finally, it was just the two of us with his one guard. “You remember, Jenson, I’m sure.”

I remembered him. I just never knew his name. Parker’s lessons on pack hierarchy came to mind. Jenson was Jax’s second-in-command. His power curled around me, not as seductive as Jax’s, but sharper.

A lot like those claws that were at my neck.

“Pour us some drinks, Anna.”

Woodenly, I did as he asked; he settled back on the bar stool and studied me. “You know, when Parker told me that you wanted to tend bar, I figured you had a death wish. A month later, this was my most profitable business. Apparently displaying Dirk’s daughter is the fastest way to get rich.”

Bile rose in my throat, but I kept my mouth shut as I sat two beers in front of him. He’d known what I was doing?

Parker must have told him. It made sense that he was reporting to his alpha.

“Haydenwood Brewery?” Jax growled. “You realize that’s a Snake River Pack beer, don’t you?”

“No.” I finally dared to look at him. “I don’t know anything about any of the packs. I know that it’s popular.”

“Parker didn’t educate you?”

“I think Parker’s only mission was to make sure nobody killed me. He did that fairly well up until he died.” I couldn’t help but let bitterness rise in my voice. “I don’t even think there was a funeral for him.”

“There was. You weren’t invited.”

Pain curled deep inside me. The old geezer had been a real bastard at times, but he’d also been far more kind than anyone else in my life. “Maybe it’s time you stop toying with me and just tell me what you’re doing here.”

“Fanged Smile is mine. I can come and go as I please. I’m starting to think I need to come by more often.”

Wonderful. I really needed to curb my tongue and become as boring as possible. “You are right, of course. Parker was a bastard, but I’m sad that he’s gone. Are you replacing my babysitter?”

Jax grunted but didn’t say anything. As he sipped his beer, I took a deep breath. “Please. I don’t even know how he died.”

“Suicide.”

“Suicide? No fucking way. You’re wrong. So wrong.”

With his beer halfway to his mouth, Jax narrowed his eyes and stared at me. “Shut up.”

“No, I’m sorry. I can’t do that. Parker wouldn’t commit suicide. He wouldn’t…he wouldn’t leave me.” Tears rose in my eyes, but I struggled to hold them back. I was weak in almost every single way that mattered, but I couldn’t be weak now. One person had shown me some decency in my life. He’d been drunk, abrasive, and incredibly offensive at times, but he’d respected me.

I would not let his death be written off as suicide. I just couldn’t.

“And here I was thinking that Parker killed himself because of you,” Jax said harshly.

“That I put him in charge of a woman I should have killed years ago, and in doing so, I stripped him of all his friends and family. He killed himself because he had nothing but you.”

If he was aiming to hurt me, his aim was dead-on, but I didn’t back down. “Parker told me that his son had been away for years before I came here, so you can’t pin that on me. And we both know that Parker didn’t have friends. What makes you think he killed himself?”

“Because he put a gun to his head and left a note.”

My hands started to shake, so I clasped them behind my back. “And what did the note say?”

“Wondering if he killed himself because of you, my dear?” With a smirk, he drained his beer and stood. “I’m here to promote Danny. He’s your new manager, and as you call it, your new babysitter.”

Bile rose in my throat. Of course Danny was the new manager.

“I quit.”

Jax cocked his head. “No.”

“You can’t keep me here against my will.”

“I can, Anna. Did you think this was a job? This is your prison, my dear. You leave when I say you leave. Do what you’re told, and maybe it’ll be another three years before I see you.”

I could run. I didn’t know much about the clan politics or the local packs. They were all independent of each other. The king exiled Shadowed Moon Mountains a long time ago. There was no higher authority than the alphas, but they controlled nothing out of their own territories. I could blend in with the pack-less rogues. I knew these mountains like the back of my hand.

It wasn’t the first time I’d considered running and picking my life up as a rogue. I might not make it more than a few years before another wolf ended my life, but it would be a few years of freedom. That was all I wanted.

“If you run, Anna, I will find you, and I will make sure that where I put you next will make this place look like a castle.”

Jax and Jenson stopped and headed for the door. Helplessly, I watched them go.

“You don’t understand. You don’t know the things Danny will do to me,” I called after them.

My mate didn’t even look over his shoulder. “I do.”