Chapter twelve
‘I’m a Bad Man’ Nine One
ROMAN CUT
I may not know this wild woman past her sexy body, smart ass mouth and wicked fighting style, but hearing her story lights a possessive fire within me. Even when I stood in the doorway, watching every man in the room stare at her sexy ass swaying in those deliciously tight jeans, my need to break their faces doesn't compare to how I feel in this moment.
Everything in me is begging me to find a Necromancer and bring this cowardly Cree back just so I can kill him once more. I really don’t give two fucks if the guy was under the influence of flowers or Dark Bloods, it makes no difference to me. He brutalized his pack, the very people who look to him for guidance and protection. He abused them, humiliated them and tormented them. That’s no Alpha. That’s just a pup playing the role.
Don’t even get me started on Jaz. She was forced to kill members of her own pack and forced to watch as others were commanded to do the same. In the human world, a revolt would have begun. Many against one would win, but in our world, that’s not how it works.
That is, until the anomaly that is Jaz Monroe came along. Her ability to disobey a command, to break the powerful chains of the Alpha’s power, saved her life and that of her pack. Yet here she sits, with her head bow as if she’s waiting for me to beat her down with my words for her actions. One look around the room, especially at the twins sitting across from us, tells me that no one here feels she did wrong.
I tip her chin up and keep her face out to the room, “Do you see any faces of judgement? Do you sense condemnation from anyone?” I turn her to look at me, to see the truth in my eyes, “I know you don’t because almost everyone here has come from a broken situation. I guarantee most of them, if not all, wish they could have done what you did. I’d like to bring that sorry excuse of an Alpha back and kill him myself.” I growl, my breath blowing her ashy strands of hair back.
Her eyes sparkle and her whole demeanor changes from timid back to her normal sassy self. I can’t say I’m a major fan of her attitude, but I’d take her snarky remarks and fuck you bearing over the despondent body language. Jaz may be a pain in the ass, but she’s my mate and no mate of mine will ever cast her eyes down. That is, of course, when I have her in submission in the bedroom.
I adjust myself without shame and her eyes flare before narrowing.
"You play a dangerous game, mate," She whispers huskily before straightening and trying to appear unaffected by me, "anyway, Beta Roland let me go but not before letting me know that Cree survived my attack. I thought you, Atticus, and Case were scouts sent to find me and take me back."
She gives me a grin that has me rolling my eyes, she must think she's gotten off the hook for the stunt she pulled on our tires. She is, but I won't be telling her that. In fact, I think a good ass spanking will be the perfect punishment.
"That's how I ended up slashing their tires back in Nevada," She stage whispers to Knix and Knox who both bite their lips and avert their eyes from me, "I almost got away too but this guy is like that chocolate cereal character,following his nose wherever it goes." The twins bust up laughing when she horribly mimics the cereal bird's voice.
"Enough, you little shit," I snap but hold no real heat in my tone, especially when she looks up at me with laughter in her eyes, "we'll talk more about that bastard later, right now I want you to tell me anything else I need to know about these Dark Bloods. Where did they come from, and what is their endgame? Jones said the creatures were yelling a Latin phrase in his head when we were attacked."
"Creatures?" Knox asks, his brows furrowed as he looks to me, "I've heard tales of creatures in New Orleans. They were created by some wannabe Witch."
His sister nods, "Yeah, Merelda Hound. She wasn't a wannabe though, that's for sure. From what I heard, she was powerful enough to kill the Nola Elders and play their parts with illusion magic. She duped everyone for centuries."
"This is true," I state, "but these creatures must differ from the ones she created because she was killed, releasing all the victims she held hostage under her influence."
"Last year, a man passed through our lands. He was one of the victims of Merelda. The story he told us was...fucking horrific to say the least," Jaz says, leaning against my side without realizing it. Our bond grows more and more by the minute, "I'm thinking these creatures are similar. Perhaps it's the same magic just different. Every Witch, from what I know, has their own magical essence, like fingerprints, similar but never the same. There was something about the creatures today, something that felt...I don't know, odd?" Her pitch raises at the end, turning her statement into an unsure question.
"Aside from their fucked-up bodies and ungodly growls?"
It's a rhetorical question but Jaz answers me anyway, "Yeah, like the magic around them felt familiar in a weird way. God, I sound crazy as hell, just forget it I was probably just freaking out." She shakes her head and rubs her forehead, but her words have me thinking.
When I was a pup in my old pack, there was a man named Pike whose mother died birthing him so none of us, not even he, knew his father, until the man passed through our lands. Pike felt the exact feeling Jaz is speaking of…adraw. The man quickly realized Pike was his son because he too felt a familial pull.
"I had lots of books on Witches. I can do some deep research on these Dark Bloods, perhaps even find the spell used to create these beasts. Perhaps their creator was trying to lure you away from the Alphas," Knix elbows her brother who muttersnerdunder his breath, "seriously, Alpha, I hate working the lunch line, put me on this and I won't let you down." I like Knix and Knox, they've been with us for a short time but they're good wolves. They bring more to the pack than take away. They're always first to offer help, and Knox has been the only one who hasn't been a bitch about the hazing all Prospects go through before becoming fully patched in. Plus, he’s fiercely protective of his sister which in my books, is a top tier attribute.
"Alright, put Loanie in to replace you and then get me as much information as possible on these beings," I look away from Knix's blinding smile as she hops up and runs off toward one of the club whores.
"Mm," Jaz makes a sound as she watches Knix speak to the blonde, "her name is Loanie? Like sheloanyher pussy to you often? Suits her, I've been calling her Cavernous Pussy in my head, or CP."
Knox chokes on his drink before coughing up a lung, "Annnnd that’s my que to leave. Alpha, Jaz." He nods and walks off chuckling as he goes.
"What the hell are you going on about?" I ask her as I stand, pulling her up with me and walking out the doors toward the front entrance. I want to give her a tour of her new home.
"Nothing important, just know that if I'm your mate and your ol’ lady, I fully expect you to keep your big dick, sexy eyes, and rough hands on me only, got it? I may not be from this world but honey, I know my way around a blade or two and I'll make sure you're a dickless President if you ever fuck around on me."
As soon as the last word slips past her lips, I spin her around to face me, "First of all, you couldn't cut my dick off if you wanted to. Secondly, don't make me out to be some little fuckboy. Thirdly," I smirk before ducking and lifting her over my shoulder, slapping her ass for good measure, ignoring her fists hitting my lower back, “you come on too strong, if you’re jealous all you have to do is admit it.”
“That's because I am strong, you big oaf. And I was not jealous, being jealous means, you don’t know your worth and trust me,cocoa pup, I know my worth.”
God, I hope that’s not some nickname she’s going to brand me with.Of its own accord, my palm lands on her ass with a sting, making her squeal as we pass by Cutthroat members who whistle and chuckle at Jaz’s predicament.