34. Jackson

34

Jackson

“Over my dead body,” the words slip from my lips, a quiet oath. If there is one thing that is certain, this motherfucker is not touching my girl or my cub. I’ll kill every man in this room before he gets one step closer. The control I’m struggling to hold on to shreds with the words heir and then purchase.

I slide Charlie to Reacher. We’d discussed this plan—what my men would do to keep her safe—and right now, that plan is in place. The truth of the past is about to be shared with my siblings, and I can do nothing about it but watch the cards fall with my next words.

Charlie’s eyes search my face as I put on my Alpha mask. “What... What is he talking about, Jackson?” It’s the soft word that fills the large room. There’s fear in her eyes. I break my stare, flit my eyes to my siblings, and then back to her. I steal my spine because I can not waiver.

I let my own laugh slip as if the jokes on him, and I step in front of my men and my mate. “Ax, let’s chat about heirs,” my arms cross over my chest as I take in the four men he brought with him, calculating where his weakness is. I hum, “Or how you’re not the rightful heir of the Umbra pack. We can discuss how you killed the heir’s parents and trafficked the baby to eliminate the threat to your power. How you’re the fraud?” His old face twists into an ugly sneer, and his feet step forward.

My eyes flit to Will’s, and a snarl pulls at his lips. I’m glad he is here for this. His past is dark, but at least he knows the truth of their deaths. Whereas Hunter and Holly have no idea where they came from.They have no idea we aren’t related.

Ax’s top lips pull up in disgust, “Give me the girl, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Why?” I turn to the room, my arms wide, “Why would I give into any of your demands when I destroyed any claim you think you have?” I laugh as I approach him, Hunter flanking me on the right. I growl, “You have no power here. You have nothing. We just established that your seat has no power, and I can prove it. I can prove all the wrong you’ve done.”

At the last statement, my dad presses into the room. “Jackson, perhaps we should…” If his next words are to give Charlie to Ax, my dad has another thing coming. My dad closes his mouth when I flash my teeth and stays behind Ax near the door.

Ax clears his throat with a smug grin, “You see, Jackson, you don’t get to where I am without an ace.” His words have a chill rolling down my spine because Ax doesn’t play by the rules.

“Bring him in,” he continues.

I shift back. My eyes roll to the ceiling because nothing could give him power over me.

Until a man with dark black hair is pulled through the doorway; his pale skin and dark eyes match…Charlies.

“RYAN!” She screams, thrashing in Reacher’s arms, trying to get to her brother. Ax pushes Ryan to a kneeling position and grabs his hair, pulling his head up and back. The ghost of a man in front of me doesn’t make a sound, but his dark eyes land on Charlie, and I see the slightest emotion flash across his face. His sunken cheeks and hollow eyes are proof enough that he’s been tortured.

My lips pinch as Ax says, “You see, I’ll always hold the power.” He brings a claw to Ryan’s throat. “Now, choose your family or your mate.”

The world stops.

Charlie shifts. Her tiny wolf snarls and bites at Reacher as he’s forced to let her go. Her tiny black wolf flashes across the room and attacks Ax.

My wolf surges forward to protect her, and chaos erupts. I helplessly watch as Ax wraps his large hand around her wolf’s neck.

‘We need to get to her,’ my wolf snarls. I see my dad standing behind Ax as he plunges a knife through Ax’s back. Giving Charlie just a second of a break as his grip falters. Ax throws her small, dark form to the ground and pushes Ryan towards her. Then, he attempts to pull the knife from his back. The guy next to my father doesn’t hesitate as he slices my father’s throat, and my dad falls. The moment he hits the floor, my eyes flash back to Ax, determined to finish what we started and dethrone the man who’s ruined everything.

Ax shifts to his raggedy-grey wolf and meets me halfway. Our paws and teeth clash. A crashing sound is all the distraction I needed to take his old wolf. My teeth snap near his neck as I throw him back with my paws. He slides along the hardwood, his claws digging deep grooves in, slowing his movements and positioning himself to leap again.

I push my back up, snarling at him; ‘ he dies now ,’ my wolf says as Ax leaps in the air, I roll along the floor under his paws, popping up just behind him. My teeth find purchase in his neck, and the warm liquid floods my mouth as I rip his neck to the side. I hear the pop of his bone beneath my teeth, and his weak body goes limp within my jaws.

I drop the now-dead wolf to the floor and slowly turn to take in the room. Wyatt and Reacher have two of the men restrained; the other three lay dead, along with my dad. But they aren’t the ones I’m looking for. I roar through the room as I realize she’s gone.