79. Jax

79

Jax

"You fucking what?" I snarled as I stood.

A figure cleared her throat in the doorway. "I believe he said he was assessing whether or not to kill me and pointed out that it was unlikely any of you would do it. Well, except for Jenson. Not a ton of love lost there," Anna said with a small smile as she walked in. "I apologize for interrupting. The baby and I were just getting a check-up from the healer."

"That's no excuse."

Stopping short, Anna cocked her head. "It was your suggestion. Order, really."

"Not you. Him. There is no scenario where it is okay for any wolf to come onto my land to kill my mate. Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." I was pulsing for the violence. Any reason to let my wolf come to the surface and work out the tension between us. I'd fucking paint this room with Elonso's blood.

"Well, we'd hardly have an alliance if you killed the alpha, especially a new alpha," Anna remarked calmly as she walked around the table and put a hand on my arm. "And right now, we need the strength and the numbers. Besides, everyone here at this table has thought about how simple things would be if I were dead. There was a point when even you thought about killing me, Jax. Don't deny it."

"Anna…"

"The point is that if we're going to get through this, and we are going to get through this, then we need to do it together. Elonso is on the same page as everyone else here. Killing me is a last resort."

"It's not a fucking resort at all!"

Clearing his throat, London pulled out a chair for her. Shit, I should have done that. "You're glowing," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah, that's what people keep saying. It's really just a clammy sheen from throwing up," she muttered. "So, what did I miss?"

"London lost two wolves. London and Lunessa all but hate-banged each other on the table. London doesn't trust Elonso, and now Jax doesn't trust Elonso," Jenson summarized helpfully.

"Shit. London, I'm so sorry about your wolves."

"Thank you."

Somehow, that managed to break the tension, and I slowly took my seat. Everyone relaxed, but I wasn't going to forget about this.

"Anna is not wrong, and I'm not saying that to avoid a fight. When this is over, Jax, I'll be more than happy to let you get in a few licks, but I suspect Maeve is trying to separate us. We've long operated as individual clans, and that worked for us. We've never faced a threat like this before. When Emerson returned from the meeting, he scoffed at the idea that anyone thought it was possible for us to ally, and he's not wrong. It's just in our nature, but I think we need to make it a reality. Maeve has been freely sharing information about the two of you."

"What kind of information?" London asked tensely.

"That you and Jax have spies in my pack. I'm not dumb. I know we all are keeping an eye on each other's packs, which makes me wonder how Maeve went this long without the two of you knowing."

I grimaced. "It's no secret that Maeve is in complete control of her pack. London and I have been trying to penetrate it for months. We don't even know the state of her wolves, and my…connections, are silent. They have been ever since Maeve returned from here. She either figured out who it was while she was here, or she's known all along and decided to kill them before she upped the game."

"The latter," London replied. "Because Maeve hasn't been in my territory in decades, and my contact is also silent. Not that they were giving me any information anyway. Nothing that would hint to this."

Anna drummed her fingers on the table. "She got outside help for the viruses. It's possible she's bringing in the witches without her clan's knowledge. It's possible they're all innocent of whatever she's planning. It's also possible she's been testing her serum on them and they're under her control. Or under the spell of magic."

"Or just support her," I pointed out. "It takes a lot for a pack to turn on their alpha, but Maeve can be very influential when she wants to be."

Elonso nodded. "In addition, Maeve told me that she has turned two of London's wolves and that he can't be trusted."

"What?" London exploded as he rose. "Lies. There's no way anyone would betray me!"

Jenson put a hand on the alpha's shoulder and hauled him back. "Whether it is true or not, that is not the point Elonso is making. Maeve is whispering in his ear but not ours. Losing Emerson's support has put a kink in her plans, and she's trying to make up for it."

"Or she's trying to distract us," London growled. "And he's the tool she's using to do it."

Elonso nodded. "Either way, I will not play her games. I think we all have a long way to go before we can truly trust each other, but when it comes to stopping the abomination that is Maeve, I am willing to trust the two of you, and I hope that you feel the same. In that regard, I do not come empty handed. As I explained to Anna last night, all while not trying to kill her, I might add, I found Emerson's private safe in his room. I've brought every single piece of paper for us to analyze together. Some of them are records of correspondence. Some are journal entries. Many of them are in a language that I don't understand, and a good bulk are spells. From what I can see, Emerson had zero plans of handing Anna over once he caught her."

I frowned. "He wasn't going to give her to Maeve? Then why the hell did he have his witch spell his whole clan?"

Elonso shrugged. "My guess is that he was playing two different wolves. One to appease Maeve, who was clearly more powerful than him, and one to serve himself. In any case, I'm hoping we can figure out Maeve's plan through this. Emerson was always excellent about figuring out an escape plan."

Next to me, Anna inhaled sharply. I reached down and took her hand and was thankful when she didn't pull away. "I knew he was obsessed," she said quietly. "But he's known Maeve's plan for years. Dirk probably knew who I was the whole time, and he didn't give me over to Maeve. He promised me to Emerson. What are the chances he did that thinking that Emerson would keep me safe?"

I didn't like her line of thinking, but it did make sense. Emerson was obsessed with her. He expected her to marry him and be his mate, not to be used by Maeve. "So, Emerson is your hero now?"

I regretted the words as I said them. Anna pulled her hand away and didn't even look at me. "If I'm right, then he's had years to figure out how to make me…well, incompatible for the spell, for lack of a better term. Do you really think the answer might be in those papers?"

Evalina was already flipping through them. "Latin. Greek. Ancient Egyptian. There's no translation, but I know that idiot didn't translate them. Either he hadn't gotten around to it, or they were useful and he didn't want anyone else to know, so he memorized them. Or kept the translations elsewhere. I can translate most of these, but it'll take time, and I'll never get it done with you four shouting at each other. Lunessa, with me. Anna, you knew Emerson best, so you can come with me as well. Gentlemen, try not to kill each other."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Elonso asked. "You look familiar."

Evalina just smiled, showing off her missing teeth. "I'm someone more powerful than you can even imagine, and I will not see the end of this battle. Keep that in mind, wolf cub, and focus on saving this mountain."

Anna didn't even look at me as she left, and Evalina slammed the door behind her. London frowned. "What the hell did she mean by that?"

"Later. Let's start going through some of this paperwork, and then we're going to have Amelia analyze it as well. There's not a chance in hell I'm leaving the safety of my mate to the man who would have rather killed her than let her be happy with someone else."