22. Jax

22

Jax

"No."

I growled into the phone. "You don't get to tell me no. I'm your alpha."

"And I'm not a wolf," Irene said succinctly. "Look, I like Lunessa. And I love Anna. I owe her everything, and if you'd told me what was happening sooner, I might already have an answer for you. Three weeks!"

"For the record, I was in a coma for two of those weeks. Her vitals are good."

"Great. Give me more time."

"But I don't know what's happening inside her mind. Sometimes her heart is racing like she's terrified. Other times it's calm. If I can't find a way to pull her out soon, she could go insane. Her magic is eating away at her, Irene."

"Half a witch," Irene whispered. "I've been inside her mind, Jax. I never saw a single spark of magic. Hiding magic is incredibly powerful. Most of us find other ways to get around it. There's no way she did this as a child. She wouldn't have had the training. Someone cast this spell with her magic, and that is…Jax, I can't imagine what we're up against, but I don't think involving more magic is a good idea. The Darkwyn Coven..."

"I don't trust them either," I interrupted as I looked down at Anna's face. She still looked like she was sleeping. Reaching down, I touched her and tried to feel her through the mating bond. It wasn't dark. It was just vacant. "But I don't think we have a choice. If you could get here faster…"

"I can. I'll make that part of my deal with Lunessa. She won't tell the other witches, and she'll take me with her. That's the only way I'll do this," Irene cut in. "I come, or she doesn't."

Four witches on London's territory. He was not going to like this. I thought about what Saul said.

Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

"Jenson isn't going to like it."

There was a pause at the other end. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said delicately. "Why would Jenson care if I leave or go? It's not like he has any claim on me. Half the time, he can't even look at me."

Despite the situation, I found a way to grin. "I just meant he won't like having me, Kenzi, and you gone. What did you mean?"

"I'll call you when I've heard from her," Irene grumbled and hung up.

Sitting on the side of the bed, I placed my hand over her chest to feel her heart. "I'm doing everything that I can. We are doing everything we can to help you, Anna. I just need you to hang on. Whatever you're seeing, whatever you're experiencing, I love you, and I will find you."

As usual, there was no response. My chest hurt at the thought of what was happening to her. Nightmares. Most of her life was a nightmare. She'd survived that.

She could survive this. I had to believe that. If I didn't, I would be the one who went insane.

There was a knock at the door. I opened it already knowing who was on the other side. Cindy. "You asked to see me."

"I need to leave for a little bit. Talk to London and some others. Saul is getting some food, and Finn and Kenzi are helping some of London's guards interview his wolves to see if there is anyone else who might be a traitor. I don't want to leave Anna alone.

Her eyes widened just a little. She wasn't bound to me. Not yet, so I was just asking her a favor. A favor of someone I didn't know well enough to trust yet.

"What about Amelia?"

"She's part of the errand I'm about to run. I don't know how long I'll be gone. All I'm asking is that you sit with her. You can read or talk or watch television. Just something so she knows she's not alone. If anyone else comes by…"

Cindy nodded. "I'll protect her. My wolf is stronger, and I'm better. Thank you. I know I'm your last option, but I appreciate being an option."

"I thought it might also help you to see her. I've been told that I need a project. It occurred to me that you might as well. I had London loan me a cell phone." I pointed to Anna's bedside table. "Our numbers are programmed in as well as London and Cruz. If anything happens, I'm number one on speed dial. I'll pick up."

"Are you expecting trouble? I was told that this is more of an inner demon than an outer demon thing."

I swallowed hard. "We still have enemies, Cindy, and this time, I don't know who they are. I don't want anyone taking advantage."

Once Cindy was settled, I walked over to Amelia's door. She looked just about how the rest of us did. Blood shot eyes and a tangled mess. "Take a walk?" I asked lightly.

Nodding, she slipped on a pair of sneakers and closed her door. London was spending most of his time in the office attached to his house, but I wanted to know what she had to say before we talked to him, so we strolled along the grounds.

"Have you eaten?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Finn keeps cramming food down my throat. I think feeding everybody is how he's coping."

I couldn't help but smile. "I think he's just feeding you."

"Oh."

"How are you doing?"

With a small sigh, she ran a hand through her dark ponytail. "I should be asking you that."

"Too bad I asked you first."

"It's strange. I've felt so bereft without my bond to you, but now that Anna's is there, I can sense you through her, but now I can't sense her. The bond is there, but she isn't? I'm so fucking worried. This isn't like someone kidnapped her. She's literally holding herself hostage with the one thing that can't touch her. How do you fight something like that? We just got her back, and she was going to make a home with us. We were becoming friends. Good friends. After Bridget's betrayal, I didn't even realize how much I needed a friend." Tears filled Amelia's eyes. "I guess I feel helpless, but I've been keeping busy."

Stopping short, I took her hand and pulled her into an embrace. Our pack bonds weren't there, but we could still take comfort from each other. She shuddered and then stilled in my embrace. It occurred to me that I'd isolated myself since my wolf had mutated. I hadn't wanted my monstrosity to touch anyone else. When was the last time I'd embraced any of my wolves?

And Amelia was mine. Even if the bond was gone. She, Finn, Kenzi, and Saul were all mine. I needed to do better. They helped me focus. They gave me strength.

"Tell me what you found," I said when I released her.

"I've examined the bug planted on London's computer with the rest of his tech team. It looks like it was planted onsite, so I'm guessing that asshole traitor did it. They've already started tracking where it's submitting information, but I think it's bouncing signals all over the place. It would take a long time to track it. Too long. I have another way, but it's pretty illegal."

Illegal was a strange term for her to use. "What do you mean? I don't think London has a law in place for this."

"Yeah, but it's not London's laws I'd be breaking. If I get caught, I could start a war."

"Let's head to London's office, and you can explain it to me."

London, it turned out, was completely on board. "I don't care what it takes," he growled from the other side of his desk. "I want the perpetrators found."

Amelia looked up at me hesitantly. "I would be violating the other packs by hacking into their system and seeing if they're receiving the information. We don't even know if it is one of our packs. It could be the humans or another pack in the country. It's a lot of risk for what is probably nothing."

"Don't care. Do it."

I cleared my throat. "She won't be doing anything without my say-so," I reminded him. "And she would be accessing your system as well."

That gave the other alpha pause. "You think I did this to my own pack?"

"No, but one of your wolves might be involved. Another one of your wolves."

London narrowed his eyes. "And I suppose she won't be checking yours?"

"Actually, I've already talked to Jenson about it," Amelia piped up. "I can walk him through an internal hack which won't take much time, and we won't lose any information. I'd tell you to do the same, but I don't know if there's anyone you can trust. I guess I could walk you through it…"

"Don't bother."

The voice spoke before there was a crack of magic and two women appeared in the office. Irene gave a little shriek and fell into Amelia. Lunessa smiled smugly down at London. "He doesn't have any tech skills, do you, my dear? You're practically a Luddite."

London roared. "What the fuck is this?" He pushed a button on his phone. "Get me my guards. I have a witch to kill."