83. Anna

83

Anna

"Jax! Jax, no!" Shifting back, I screamed until I was hoarse, but there was no stopping him. Evalina head fell to the side, her eyes staring at me blankly. The witch standing next to Jax looked outrage, but before he could touch him, I raced across the boundary and placed my hand on him. The magic surrounding the witch immediately died.

"Ternary," he hissed. "I'll be back for you."

With the snap of his fingers, he was gone, and the rogues that were left turned and bounded into the forest. I crouched down next to Evalina. "What did you do?" I whispered to Jax. "What did you do? What did you do? I promised her that she was safe. She was my family. My only family!"

My mate stared stonily down at me for a moment before looking up. I followed his gaze to see Lunessa screaming and firing up some magic. It pulsed and flew at Jax who didn't move a muscle. At the last minute, I deflected it and watched, pain coursing through me, as London and Irene pulled a sobbing Lunessa off the battlefield.

I waited for something, anything, from him to indicate that he was sorry or to explain why he did it, but he just picked Evalina up and carried her off the battlefield. "You all fought well today," he roared. "Proof that we will not be taken down so easily. Collect the dead. Show respect to ours. Burn the rogues and traitors."

The wolves flew into action, and Jax walked away, Evalina still in his arms. Swallowing hard, I followed silently behind him. We walked all the way to the infirmary, but I couldn't go inside with him. I couldn't watch him tell Saul to put her in the morgue or for Saul to ask if we wanted an autopsy.

Jax had killed her. Snapped her neck. I'd promised her we'd find another way. I was starting to get to know her as family.

Bile rose in my throat, and I raced to the house and up to my room. In the bathroom, I fell to my knees and hurled. I didn't even notice that I wasn't alone until I felt washcloth pressed to one of my wounds.

Moaning, I fell back against the tub and pushed Jax's hand away.

"You're injured. You need to see Saul," he said tightly.

"You could have dragged her away. You were right there. Even in human form, you were stronger than the two of them. Lunessa and Irene were there. They could have stopped the witch."

Rinsing the blood off the cloth, he returned and tried to press it against my wound again. "You shifted quickly. Is that safe for the baby?"

The baby? So now he could say the word he's been avoiding ever since he learned the truth? "Give me something, Jax. Some reason that you felt you had no choice. Please, give me that."

"I'll bring Saul to you," Jax said as he stood and turned.

"Don't do this. Don't shut me out. I deserve to know, Jax. I've supported every decision that you've made. Just tell me. Just give me a reason why you couldn't buy us a little more time."

When he left without saying a word, I felt the void between us grow wider. Our foundation was crumbling. He'd killed Evalina, and now he wouldn't even talk about it with me.

Dragging myself into the tub, I turned on the water. Before it could heat up, a blast of magic hit me and the already cracked tile broke even further. Whipping the curtain away, I stared at Lunessa. She was pale and shaky. We had wards in place to keep her from popping in like this. She'd somehow rammed through them.

"Lunessa," I whispered. I'd never seen her like this. Her eyes blazed gold as she gripped the bathroom counter to steady herself.

"Did he tell you why?" she demanded. "Did he tell you why he did it?"

My heart broke for her. Evalina had been her mentor for years. The woman had made mistakes, mistakes Lunessa might not ever forgive, but that wouldn't stop her pain.

"You know why he did it," I said hoarsely.

"To save you." Magic started literally smoking off her. Her magic had never been black before. I steadied myself. She might not be able to hurt me with magic, but she could make the whole house fall around me. "There is nothing he would not do to save you."

"I'm sorry, Lunessa," I said softly. "I truly am."

"You're not sorry enough, but you will be. She was your family, and you're here about to take a nice hot shower while showering me with fake platitudes."

They weren't fake, but she wouldn't hear it if I tried to tell her. "What do you need to do to me to feel better?"

Her eyes widened, and the smoke dissipated. Her knees buckled, and when I reached out to help her, she snarled at me. "I don't need your help, Anna. I think you've done enough. You want to know why Jax can't stand that baby growing inside of you? Before he killed the head of the cult gunning for you, they gave him a prophecy. The son will kill the mother. Your baby is going to kill you, Anna, and Jax is dying inside because this time, he can't figure out who to save."

She stumbled out of the bathroom, and I stood there, next to the shower, until the water ran cold. I wanted to believe that she was lying, that she was just lashing out in anger, but it made sense. It explained every one of Jax's actions.

But I also refused to believe that it was the truth. A man about to die would say anything. The compound blew up. It was unlikely there would be anything helpful there, but I needed to get information somehow. I needed to know the truth.

When Saul came, I let him dress my wounds. I asked him where Jax was, and he told me that he was personally visiting the families of all the dead. We'd lost so many people. I should be doing the same. Instead, I was pretending that everything was fine.

I packed one of the special wolf bags. Nothing that would weigh me down. Two changes of clothes. A lot of energy bars and a canteen. A knife and a flare gun.

I waited until I was certain that Jax wasn't coming back that night. It hurt that he might be avoiding me, but that meant I could put a good bit of distance behind us.

Then, walking right up to one of the patrol units, I gave him a weary smile. "Hey, Jameel. You doing all right?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, his voice still a little shaky. "Been a tough night."

"That it has." I held up my bag. "I've got a ritual I'm going to try and perform about a mile out."

His eyes widened. "You're going alone?"

"No, of course not. Lunessa and Irene already popped out. It's a three-witch ritual. I should be back in a few hours."

Poor thing. He was so young. I hoped Jax would go easy on him when he discovered the truth. He was so trusting as he nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Just Anna," I said. "Be safe, Jameel."

I darkened both my pack bond and my mating bond so Jax wouldn't feel it, and then I walked out of the territory and away from the love of my life.