Claiming The Alpha (Wild Obsession #2)(4)
Author: Adriana Hunter

Nikki’s throat convulsed as she swallowed, and she made a retching sound. She wanted another shower to wash away the lingering effects of the guy’s eyes crawling over her body, leaving behind almost a palpable coating of pervert slime.

As far as Nikki was concerned, quitting time could not come soon enough.

Chapter Three

Jax was dressed, downstairs in the living room, the members of his pack assembled. He had the journal in his hands and the weapons he’d found upstairs on the coffee table. The guys were milling around and he patiently waited a moment for them to settle. But they were restless and then all pretense of patience went out the window.

“Sit down.” His voice was louder than he’d anticipated, but it was strong and deep. The pack members were instantly quiet, slipping into chairs and onto the large couches.

“I’ve made a discovery about what’s been killing people in the city. I found my father’s…Luca’s journal…” He held up the book. “And I’m pretty sure I know who…and what is doing the killing.”

Finn started to speak but Jax held up his hand. “Not until I’m finished.” Finn sat back, a faint scowl in his face, but he remained quiet.

“There’s an entry here from my father, and his brother, Arden. In that entry, my father describes a fight Arden had with a lycanthrope. A fight in which he was injured. The fight…and the injury happened just at sunrise, as Arden was changing, so he ended up with a mortal injury in human form, more or less. According to the journal, his throat was almost completely torn out, leaving a huge gapping wound and massive blood loss.”

Jax noted briefly that the group was completely silent, all eyes fixed on him. Good. About time they paid attention to what he had to say.

“My father tried to take care of his brother’s wound, but Arden was caught mid-change, between werewolf and mortal, and apparently the lycanthrope bite kept Arden from returning to mortal form, or returning to a werewolf. It also kept my father from healing him in any way.

“They’d brought Arden back here to the house and sometime during the next few hours, he disappeared without a trace. They suspected he’d crawled off to die, but there was no proof. They never found a body. The only thing they did find was matted gray hair on a broken window ledge and a…” Jax opened the journal. “A ‘rotting foul stench that permeated the room and the bedding.’ Apparently they packed Arden’s belongings in a box and stuck it in the attic, where I found this.” He held the book up by the spine.

“The attic smells like the stench in the alley, like the wolf-thing we encountered. Arden’s belongings are dumped all over the floor up there.” Jax paused, meeting every eye in the room.

“I think it’s Arden. I think he’s come back from wherever he’s been for all these years, and for some reason, he’s on the attack. And I think he was here, in this house, looking for something of his.”

There was a stunned silence in the room followed by a nervous murmur. Finn cautiously raised his hand. Jax nodded at him.

“And do you think Arden is a lycanthrope? That’s what he became?”

“I don’t know if he became a lycanthrope, or some aberrant cross between that and a werewolf. It’s clear from the journal that he never fully changed back to human form, which may account for the deformed appearance. But it’s not clear what form he was in when he disappeared. The last anyone saw of him, he was dying in an upstairs bedroom, half werewolf, half human.”

Jax noticed grimaces on the face of many in the pack. To be caught mid-change was a horrible thought. To endure that kind of pain, to not be able to shift back to either human or wolf, was almost unimaginable.

The pain alone would be enough to drive someone insane. Combined with being trapped in a body that was neither human nor werewolf while severely injured and on the verge of death and it would push someone…anyone over the edge.

“So how do we kill it…him.” The voice came from the back, from one of Bec’s reengage pack members, lurking in the shadows.

“Depends on what it is. Lycanthrope, sever the head from the spine. Werewolf, you know the drill, silver bullets or silver knife…all of the things we avoid. I have the weapons needed.” He paused, pointing to the table in front of him.

“If it’s something else, we improvise. But most importantly, we do not take this thing on ourselves.”

“But Bec said…”

Jax held up his hand, his eyes fiercely fixed on the man who spoke. “Bec is not the leader of this pack. I am. And if you’re in my house, you’re in my pack. If you don’t agree with what I say, you’re free to leave.”

He met the eyes of each member of the pack in the room, men and women alike. They all held his gaze for a moment before dropping their eyes in respect and obedience.

“So, this is the plan. We scout it in groups of no less than three. We do not do this alone. Head out, after dark. And those of you who are still in contact with Bec’s pack, tell them this. If they go after it alone, for the kill, they are asking for death. They need the packs with them. Plain and simple. I know what I saw and I know what that thing is capable of. This is not the time for heroics.”

“And if you do find it, find me. If it’s from my family, I want to take care of it myself.”

The group remained for a while longer, asking questions, Jax doing his best to answer them, before he broke them into smaller groups. They eventually drifted out of the living room, heading upstairs or outside. The mood was subdued and there was residual tension in the air. It was never easy hunting down one of their own, for whatever reason. And if it was family, if it was Arden, it made it extra hard for Jax.

The study had been where Jax’s father had written in his journal. Jax went there, taking a seat at his father’s desk. He’d avoided this room since he father had been killed. It held too many memories and reminded him that he wasn’t nearly as strong as his father had been, and that he wasn’t leading this pack the way his father would have wanted him to.

But he sat at the desk and opened the journal, reading further back through the entries his father had made about him and Arden. It was many hours later when he raised his head, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. What his father had described between him and his younger brother Arden was so similar to Jax’s relationship with Bec. The constant sniping, the challenges, the one-upmanship from his younger brother, always to prove he was capable of being alpha male, capable of leading the pack.

And then further back he found something else. A description of an incident between Arden and Luca, something that happened shortly after Luca became alpha male. Not a physical fight, but over a woman, a girl Arden brought to the pack, with the intent of making his mate. But something had gone wrong, horribly wrong, when he tried to change her and she ended up dying. Luca’s entry explained that no one understood what had happened, but Arden somehow blamed Luca for her death, for not being able to save her. Her name had been Nichole, and she had been the love of Arden’s life.

Jax closed the book, running a hand over his face. The journal explained a great deal. But it left almost as many questions as it answered. But if the thing killing was Arden, and he strongly suspected it was, killing him was going to be a challenge. And it was going to take more than just him and his pack. He was going to need his brother.

Explaining that to Bec though might prove to be almost as difficult as killing Arden, but Jax hoped Bec had enough sense to listen to him. He’d have to track his brother down and make him listen. Force him, if necessary. He only hoped it didn’t come to that.

*

Ryan’s client finally left, leering at her again on his way out. Nikki shuddered involuntarily, hoping the guy was a one-time customer and not a regular.

The rest of the day dragged on, nothing happening, no one else coming to see Ryan. It was early evening when Nikki ventured a peek behind the curtain. She expected to find Ryan…doing something. But he was lying on the tattoo table, mouth open and snoring softly, sound asleep.

“Fuck this,” she muttered beneath her breath. He’d never know if she was gone. She got her purse and left, walking down the steps into the soft twilight.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d walked out on a job, other than quitting the club. But that was different; Mack had pushed her into a no-win situation. She wasn’t quitting Ryan’s shop, not yet at least. But it was only a few hours till the shop closed and Ryan could make it without her.

The twilight was soft around her, the sky muted pinks and soft blues, glimpses of white clouds visible between the buildings. It was actually a nice night for a walk and she slowed her pace, breathing in the air. Even with the gas and car fumes, cigarette smoke from the guy she passed, the garbage in cans in front of the row houses, the air smelled fresh and faintly green. It had never occurred to her to think about things like how the air smelled or the phases of the moon, at least not before she’d met Jax.

She shook her head. Maybe she was going soft, losing her edge, whatever edge she thought she had. Lori was the tough one, able to take care of herself, sometimes taking care of Nikki. Images from the alley came back suddenly, of Lori covering her with her own body, shielding her from whatever the hell that thing was that wanted to tear them apart. Only Lori would try to mace a wolf and think she’d come out on the winning end.

The thing in the alley. She and Jax hadn’t had a chance yet to talk about what that thing was. Was it a werewolf, like Jax and Bec? It didn’t look like them and if that’s what smelled so bad in the alley, then it didn’t smell like them either. She’d have to remember to ask Jax about it, if he knew who or what it was.

She didn’t see him until he was almost on top of her and she gasped, hand to her mouth, heart leaping into her throat.

“Jax! What the hell? You scared me.”

He had her in his arms and against his chest in a heartbeat. “Sorry, Nikki. Really. I thought you saw me, but apparently you were a million miles away.” He held her a minute before kissing her, sending a little thrill down her spine.

“I was.” They’d fallen into step, Jax holding her hand as they walked. They were almost to Lori’s apartment and she pulled him across the street and up the stairs to Lori’s apartment.

“How did you know I was done with work?” They climbed the stairs and she fumbled for her keys in her purse.

“I didn’t. I was going to stop by, kiss you senseless and invite you back to my house later. But there you were, walking down the sidewalk. My lucky day.”

She turned, smiling up at him as she opened the door. “Lori’s already gone to work. We have the place to ourselves, until a hell of a lot later.”

He had her back in his arms before she finished the sentence, his lips on hers, gentle and sure and sending all kinds of tingles through her body. She wiggled against him, winding her arms around his neck.

“You’re in a good mood,” he said. He nuzzled her neck, breathing deep, like he always did.