3. Jax

Chapter 3

Jax

J ax watched from the shadows, frustrated that Thea would put herself in such a vulnerable position. Why would she think meeting a strange man in the dark was a good idea?

He'd figured out pretty quickly she was impulsive, not always thinking things through before she acted.

Gritting his teeth, he tensed his body, slowly moving closer. He wasn't ready to reveal himself, his need for her suffocating and inconvenient. He should be out hunting with his brothers, scanning the area like they were trained to do. But instead, his beast had picked up on her scent, and there he was, waiting. He stayed, watching as if her very existence was what tethered him to his.

They had the entire city, and yet he always found her. It was like a compulsion, a sense of peace that had him moving towards her like a storm she had no idea how to shield.

"Give me the fertility statue. Now," the man snarled, and Jax stiffened, fists aching with how tight he held them.

"Take it." Thea shoved something towards the man. "It's yours, arsehole." The man looked down, eyes bulging from his sockets as he released a puff of pained air .

She'd kicked him in the balls.

Good girl.

Thea shoved herself to the side, but there was a flash of silver as a knife sliced along her arm. The scent of her blood almost had him bursting from his skin, but she was already moving, running.

‘Anything in your sector?' Titus asked, the mental connection open between those on rotation.

‘Fucking boring night,' came Axel's reply. ‘Not even a single hound. Anything at your end, J?'

Jax rolled his shoulders, stepping out from the shadows. ‘Nothing,' he replied the same way before locking himself out of the connection. He had a few minutes before they realised, and would come searching. He had to make every second count.

His steps were silent as he approached the soon-to-be dead man. He'd collapsed to his knees, the knife coated with Thea's blood glistening on the floor beside him. Jax came to his side, the man looking up with a sneer.

"Fuck off, you cunt," he groaned, cupping his balls.

Jax picked up the knife.

"Hey man, what the – "

With a precise movement, Jax struck the blade into the centre of the man's throat. He wasn't a man of many words, and he found that seemed to terrify most people. He didn't feel the need to explain. Especially to the man who'd hurt his mate.

Gurgling, the man's mouth gaped before he finally tried to touch the knife. With shaking hands, he gripped the handle, eyes wide. Jax didn't stop him, blood trickling from the wound far gentler than a shot to the carotid. He'd chosen the spot specifically, not wanting his death to be too fast. No, Jax wanted to watch him gasp for breath, for panic to bleed into his gaze .

Jax wanted to feel something.

The man tried to speak, eyes rolling back in his head as he collapsed facedown with a thump. Crouching down, Jax pocketed the knife. He debated allowing his beast to take over and eat the guy, but quickly ignored the idea. He needed to check on Thea, and being his beast wouldn't help the situation. Instead, he rolled the man over in search of his wallet, but there wasn't one. He didn't even have the money promised for Thea, which meant he'd always planned to take it from her by force.

Without a care, Jax picked him up, opening the mental connection with his brothers.

‘Still nothing,' he said in an uninterested tone as he carried the nameless man over to the closest bin, tossing him inside like the piece of crap he was before quickly slamming the lid. He was still alive, but not for long.

‘What the fuck was that about, J?' Axel hissed. ‘You know you're supposed to stay in contact.'

Jax wanted nothing more than to shut the connection again.

"J, you good?"

Jax turned to find Titus standing there, arms crossed. It took a second for his beast to recognise Titus as a brother, and not as just another Daemon. "Fine."

Titus's dark red eyes flicked to the blood glistening on the floor, and then back again. "You sure?"

"You should be asking Axel that."

Titus clenched his jaw. "He's just having a hard time at the moment."

Jax nodded, understanding Axel's sobriety was a moving spectrum. He was abstinent, but that didn't mean he didn't get cravings.

"You ready to move onto the next sector?" he asked, wanting to finish their job as quickly as possible.

Titus saw too much, but he didn't comment. "Sure, let's go."

It was hours later before Jax could make his way toward Thea's, his beast riding him hard the entire time. Taking a moment, he looked up at her balcony, the light on despite no movement. She had a habit of falling asleep with the lamp on, her sleep restless unless he covered her in darkness.

He knew he shouldn't be there, and he used to stay in the alley several floors below, satisfied to watch her through the window. But things had changed, his need for her growing.

Lifting himself up, he climbed from one railing to the next, swinging himself between each balcony until he reached hers. He only planned to sit by the glass, to close his eyes for an hour and rest before leaving. But he reached for the door anyway, opening it silently. Heat encompassed him like a welcome embrace. Thea lay asleep on her bed, the sheets wrapped around her bare legs as she lay on her side, hugging a pillow. Her book had fallen from her fingers, landing on the sheets beside her. Very carefully, he moved it to her nightstand.

She wore a long vest, but it had risen up enough to display her tattooed sternum, the bottom of her breasts a tease he forced his eyes away from.

They were smaller than his hands, which made them the perfect size for his mouth.

A small bandage wrapped around her arm, surrounded by black and white floral tattoos that decorated both her arms, fine lines not too dissimilar to his own glyphs, but different to the bright colours and shapes that stamped her legs.

Groaning, she scratched her nose, drawing his eyes to the scar on her upper arm, where a bullet had exited. He wanted to touch it, to feel the roughness compared to the rest of her skin. Except he couldn't.

Reaching over, he clicked off the light, and immediately her frown relaxed. Unable to stop himself, he moved a piece of hair, the colour no longer her usual pink, but a pale silver that seemed to glisten even in the darkness. He wanted to entangle the rest in his fingers, to pull her until she draped her warmth across him until both their pulses matched the same rhythm. The urge was so strong, he released the single strand and stepped back.

Thea's cat lifted his head, his yellow eyes slitted as he slept by her shoulder. Before he could wake her with a yowl, Jax lifted and brought him to the sofa. The cat immediately settled on his lap, eyes closing in contentment. Jax had never been so jealous of a fucking cat.

Fur brushed beneath tight skin, and Jax gave the beast his sight. Not enough control to shift, but enough beast could fulfil his own need for her.

MINE, his beast growled, claws pricking at his fingertips.

Jax stretched back, surrounding himself in her scent as he closed his eyes, and prayed for sleep he knew wouldn't come.

But at least he was near his mate.