19. Anna

19

Anna

Saul pulled so many samples from me that I felt like a pin cushion. He did eventually have to stop once Jax's growls started to sound more animal than human. When I offered to go to a different room, Jax's hand wrapped around my arm and refused to let go.

For a weak shifter, he was still very strong.

"This will do for now," Saul said. "I'll be in the lab if you need me. Do what you can to keep him human. Makayla started having issues with shifting, and I imagine Jax will too. Remember, the longer he stays human, the more time we have."

I sent Amelia on a trip to round up as many items of entertainment as she could find and climbed into the bed with him. He was so damn pale, and I feared that I wasn't going to be able to hide my panic for much longer.

"You can do this. I stayed a human for months once," I reminded him. "But then, I always did suspect that I was a little stronger than you."

Jax rolled his eyes and shifted to make room for me. I was careful not to mess up any of the wires and tubes poking into him. "I hate you for what you did," I told him.

"Thought…it was…a bullet…"

"It doesn't matter. You would have done the same thing if you'd known exactly what it was. That's the kind of wolf you are. A fucking hero. I used to think maybe you were secretly horrible and being punished by having me as a mate."

"You are…wonderful. Not…a…punishment."

"Uh-huh. Says the man who can't string a full sentence together because of his mate. You're here because of me and my insecurities. If I hadn't left with Emerson, we'd never have been here."

"Saul…needs to…be here."

"So, you're saying things worked out for the best? Who the hell would use London's pack as a Petri dish? It is the smallest. And the most isolated. But London has a good relationship with all of the packs. Any one of them would send help if he'd asked. What's the point of all this anyway?"

Jax didn't say anything, not that I expected him to. Amelia returned with books, a deck of cards, and a tablet along with a plate of food for me. "I brought some for Saul, but I'm sorry, Jax. He said no solid foods for you."

"Any rumors swirling around that we might be interested in?"

Amelia nodded and perched on the chair. "London had to make an announcement about the drug. Some of these idiots think you brought the drugs with you, but most have noted how weird Makayla has been lately. Most are hoping for a speedy recovery. Jenson has called all of us several times. They can feel you weakening in the pack bond and they're freaking out. Kenzi hasn't given them any specifics but just said that you were sick."

"Tell…the truth," Jax said in a labored breath.

"And tell them that Saul is working around the clock. No one needs to panic, and no one is dying."

Amelia nodded and studied me with a strange look on her face. "What?"

"They're feeding from you," she said finally. "Can you feel it?"

"What do you mean they're feeding from me? Through the pack bond? I can't even feel the pack bond." I looked at Jax. "Can they do that?"

He just nodded, and I looked back toward Amelia. "Is that helping them? And helping Jax keep his strength up? If so, they can take whatever they need. I really don't feel a difference."

Phone in hand, Amelia left. I grabbed a deck of cards. "Let's see how good you are at Go Fish, Alpha."

"How do…you know Go…Fish?"

"Parker's introduction into card games was a weird one." I shuffled the deck. "For the record, I play a mean game of Slap Jack."

"Of course…you do."

We were only a few minutes into the game when Kenzi returned with London. There was a spark of satisfaction in Kenzi's eyes that I liked very much. "You found him?"

"Yes, and no. He's dead. He went deeper into the woods and killed himself. He left a suicide note saying that he did it for his family."

"His family?" I arched an eyebrow and looked at London. "He's one of yours?"

"He is indeed," London said heavily. "Daniel was one of our distributors. He traveled so much along the mountain that I always waited for the day he'd ask me to go rogue. His family has been part of my pack for generations, but he doesn't have a mate or any children. He does, however, have three sisters, all mated, all with children. They admitted that they all received checks from a company they've never heard of and instructions to leave the mountain and start a new life somewhere else."

My heart skipped a beat. London didn't strike me as the type to be a bad alpha. "He thinks something is happening. Emerson is dead. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing!"

The last word came out as a little squeak, and I cleared my throat. Jax put his hand on my back, and I tried to get everything under control.

"We're talking to the other distributors to make sure there aren't any other unplanned surprises and looking into the name of the company on the checks," London said in an angry voice. "I will find out how this happened."

Before they left, I called Kenzi back. "Are you feeding from my pack bond?"

"Sure am," she said cheerfully. "And woman, you taste a little weird, but you pack a punch."

"I don't even know how to take that," I said honestly. "Will you talk to Jenson and tell him to make sure the pack stays calm. They can keep feeding from me, but I don't want their panic to upset Jax even more."

Behind me, Jax grunted, and I waved my hands. "Yeah, yeah. It's your job to take care of them and they can feel whatever they want. We all know. Just relax."

"I can stay here if you want to go stretch your legs or something," Kenzi volunteered.

I'd promised Jax that I would stay, so I sent her away and crawled back into bed with him. I could tell he was weakening, and his eyes were starting to get a green tinge. "If you stay human, I'll read to you," I said as I picked up the first book in the pile. " Sating the Midnight Lust, " I read and grimaced. Jax chuckled, and I gave him a mocking hard look. "I should have known something like this would keep your attention."

I settled against the pillow and opened the book. "The day had gone tits up for Sadie Harris," I read. "She caught her boyfriend with his cock jammed down his secretary's throat. Even worse was that her boyfriend was her boss, and his secretary was her best friend, so in the span of however long it took for him to blow his load, which was never that long, she'd lost her boyfriend, her job, her housing, and her best friend."

Who taught you to read?

The sentence echoed in my head, and I frowned. Where had I heard that? It seemed almost recent, but that was an absurd sentence. Who would care who taught me to read?

I pushed it aside. "There was only one thing for her to do. For the past six months, her boyfriend, make that ex-boyfriend's, next-door neighbor had been telling her that he had a job that paid better and would make better use of her brilliant mind. Marketing for his brand-new kink club, Midnight."

Who taught you to read?

"Sound it out, Andrea. You can do this. Just like yesterday. What sound does the w make?"

"Woo! Like Woof!"

A sweet chime of laughter. "Very good, sweetheart. Now the rest."

"W-e-r-e-w-o-l-f. Werewolf! That's what I am!"

"That's right, but you're so much more than that. Oh, Andrea. One day you're going to find out just how special you are."

"Special how, Mommy?"

"Don't distract me! You were the one who wanted to read this whole book before your father came home. What's the next word?"

"If she was…" the words started to blur right in front of me as a face floated up in my mind. Long dark hair, black as a raven, with pale smooth skin. Her eyes were dark, but they were warm and kind. She was pretty. So pretty.

Who taught you how to read?

"Anna?" Jax asked, panic in his voice. "Anna…what's wrong?"

Pain pulsed in my mind, like a warning to turn back. There was a strange light inside me that I'd never seen before. I knew instantly what it was.

Magic.

How was that possible? I couldn't have magic inside of me. It looked angry, and it tasted old. So old.

And strong.

Every atom in my being was screaming at me to ignore it. Focus on the words in the book. Just read to Jax to save him.

Who taught you how to read?

"My mother," I whispered. My whole body seemed to catch fire, and pain shot through every nerve. I couldn't even scream. The vision of her disappeared, and darkness took root.