SIXTY-ONE

Jaxson

WHEN WE ARRIVED at Jared's place, I had to take a piss. Bad .

A few beers, a haunted hayride, and then a car ride with maybe another road soda. Yeah, I had to take a leak. One of the best things about being a male, besides not having periods—though pregnancy does intrigue me—is us guys can pee standing up.

The small log cabin was already overflowing with people, and I knew Jared's place only had two bathrooms, so when we parked, I quietly cut away from the group to drain the lizard. Not on the front lawn or the back lawn of course. I may shift into a wolf, but I'm not an untrained dog. There were plenty of woods surrounding Jared's house, so that's where I headed.

I release a low groan of relief as the pee surges out of me with a force in line with the restraint I've had by holding it in. Pretty sure I now know what peeing like a racehorse feels like. I aim a little farther away, making sure there's no splash back on my sneakers. "So much better," I say on a long exhale, shaking out my dick a few times. Bending over, I start the work of shimmying my athletic pants and shorts up my legs. Normally I'd just pull the waistband down, but these fuckers are tight and pinched balls is not something I really want. As such, they're a little hard to get on, but you know I checked out my muscular man legs in these tights before we left for the hayride, and they look damn good on me. Can't wait for my playmate to see my ass in them.

My thumbs are hooked under the waistband about to crest over my rump, when I feel a prick or a sting on the exposed flesh. "What the fuck!" I yelp out. Whipping around, I scan the area, my hand rubbing my suddenly tender cheek, feeling a drop of liquid on the skin. Did I get pee on my hand? Not seeing anyone, I quickly pull my pants the rest of the way up.

Blondie rises, and we look around, his eyes seeing through the dark spots where the lights from the stars and the waning moon don't reach. I sniff the air. "Billie?" I mumble at smelling her scent. But, sniff , sniff , it doesn't smell right. Like its old and a little off. Did she mask it?

"Playmate, you playing a game with me?" I drawl out with a grin and start walking in the direction of her altered scent. What did my little nerd do to change her scent? "Not so scared of the woods now, are you?" I tease stepping deeper into the forest. An image of her crouched on the floor between Ethan's legs for pretty much the entire hayride flickers through my mind. She kept repeating, I'm fine. I'm having a great time. Best Halloween ever!

Hearing a giggle, I move deeper into the woods and stumble over... something. My hands quickly reach out, having to brace myself on a tree. My vision spins, and a flush of heat spreads over my chest and up my face. Something doesn't feel right. I shake my head and start to walk again. "Billie, you there?" I call out. The words feel heavy on my tongue and sound muffled in my ears.

"Over here," she almost purrs. Is her voice off too?

Well, if my own voice doesn't sound right, I guess it's not surprising her voice doesn't either. I keep moving deeper and trip over... a root? "Shit," I curse, falling into another tree. I've never been this clumsy. In fact, I'm pretty damn graceful. I may not be a dancer, but I've got the agility of a ballerino, which is why I don't understand how I've fallen twice in the last... however long. Time seems... time's relative, right? It's relatively... different at this... dizzy. A wave of dizziness hits me, and my mind is swimming because I don't have these types of thoughts. Man, I do not feel good.

Pushing back up, I go to take a couple more steps, and not only does my natural grace seem to have left me, but my strength is gone as well. My legs feel heavy as if I'm moving through wet cement or upstream against the flow of a river. Even breathing is a chore. Suddenly a jolt of tension seizes up my muscles, and my hands clench as my body slams into another tree. Looking up, I catch movement just ahead. Squinting my eyes, I see what looks like my mate's new light-blue O'Sullivan's hoodie. At the sight of her, I sigh in relief. She's here. "Billie," I mumble, leaning against a tree. "I don't feel right," I whine and, totally trying to get some extra cuddles, I add in a little sniffle.

"Right here, honey," she calls out. When did she start calling me honey? I go to take another step but end up sliding partway down the tree.

"Don't worry, baby," she says, coming over to me. "I've got you. Your real mate has you."

"Looove my playmaaattee," I slur.

Knock, knock . . . Xander?

Knock, knock . . . what's happening . . . Ethan?

Little Fox here. Blondie, where are you? Over.

Blondie . . . here. Somethin's wrong, don't feel right . . . slow.

Little Fox, why are you linking when you're with me? Over.

Little Fox here. Blondie, I'm not with you! Where are you? Whoever's with you IS NOT ME! Over.

Smells funny, not like you . . . old . . . fake . . . Heavy. I feel so heavy and hot . . . Need help.

WHERE ARE YOU? Open your eyes. Let me see what you're seeing. Over. Xander demands.

Alarm bells ring in my head, breaking through the haze clouding my senses. Blinking my eyes open, I look around, and everything's really blurry. Blondie helps keep the link open. He doesn't feel right either. Turning my head with effort, I see woods and stars and darkness and there's something on my arm. A hand... not—

"You're not my mate," I try to yell but it comes out like a slur .

"Yes, I am," She Who Is Not My Mate says. "Look at my hoodie. Who else wears this? I smell like me, don't I?"

"No," I growl, swinging my other arm across my body, trying to slap her away from me, only to find myself falling face-first onto the ground. My entire body feels like it's somehow made of lead and disconnected from me at the same time.

Stay with us Jax, we're coming. Stay awake. Wolf-E, stay in the link, find out where he is.

My body's not responding, and Blondie is howling in my head. I feel someone flipped me over onto my back. A hand brushes dirt off my face—a feminine hand that's too big to be my mate's tiny one. I manage to jerk away.

"Honey, don't pull away. It's me, your true-mate." Amber... it's Amber. What the fuck is she doing here?

I try to say the words that I'm screaming in my head— Get away! Get away ! —but all I can manage is a "Gggeeeee."

"Honey," she purrs her lips kissing my face. I try to move around and get her lips off me.

STOP! STOP! I scream in my head because my mouth is no longer working. Not my mate! Not my mate!

I'm coming, Jax. I'm coming. We're coming!

Ethan assures in the link.

Ethan! Fuck, please, E, I can't move! Not my mate! Not my mate!

I feel her hands on my waist, her fingers pulling on my tights, and... I can't do anything. Why can't I control my body? Divine, please, stop this! I don't want this! I don't want her!

"It's okay, Jaxson, honey," she says, her voice coming in and out like a radio station at the end of its reception range. Her hands touch my upper thighs. "Just need to remind him who he really loves."

Billie!

I scream in my head.

He loves our playmate! Our playmate!

"Soon, baby," she coos, her hand stroking my flaccid dick. Her other hand pushes my shirt up, exposing my stomach. My flesh feels like it's burning up, and the cool night air is a relief. Until I feel her lips press down. "Soon we'll be bonded like we always were meant to be." She murmurs against my stomach, nuzzling her face up higher, closer to my heart, while her hand continues to try to work my uncooperative dick. I inhale a shallow breath, only to choke on Amber's narcissus and peppermint scent, tasting the intensity of it, knowing it as the scent of her own arousal. I want to crawl away. I want to cry. She's scent-marking me, and I can't do anything to stop her.

Then I feel a prick on my upper thigh, and a flash of molten heat races through my veins. Within seconds, the cool night breeze on my nipples has become a sexual caress, and my paralytic spine itches with the desire to arch into it. Pressure builds in my low back and balls. My cock starts twitching in her hand, and I feel a tingling in my canines.

Soul-dying dread ices down my heated spine, and my body shivers—or it feels like it wants to shiver. No! No. Please, divine, no! Don't let this happen.

What did she inject me with?

Ethan

I caught a glimpse of the caller ID when Xander pulled his phone out, and his shock was a mirror to mine. From what Xander's gran and mother have told us, Cortney hasn't been in public much lately, and the open pack meeting was the first pack function she attended since her assault in the garage. Cortney may not be a girl who wears dresses and heels all the time, but she usually dresses for the occasion, and her hair and makeup are almost always done. At the pack meeting, she was hidden under a ball cap, her long platinum hair was pulled back in a messy low ponytail, and she had one of her father's old hoodies on, her body curled up inside of it as she sat on the pew, leaning into her mother. Though we've seen a change in Bruce and his family, and they've all officially accepted Xander as their alpha, I'm still on guard when it comes to Cortney. I'll never forget her trying to kill Billie before any of us knew for sure if she was our true-mate.

After Xander gave me the order to find Jax, Billie and I split up and moved through the party to look for him. With the five of us dressed in all white, he should have been easy to spot, but I couldn't find him.

Then we linked up, and what I heard, what I saw, the state of him—it stopped my heart. It stopped my world.

Jax. Not Jax.

He saved Xander and me. He gave us life when our souls were dying inside child-sized bodies.

Nobody. Hurts. Jax.

I do what I need to. I turn off my emotions. I flip the switch and prepare for battle. My wolf stretches and readies himself. Knowing I won't be able to hold the shift off for long, I haul ass out the back door and away from the glow of the campfire. Sprinting deeper into the woods, I strip off my clothes with swift efficiency. My pants and shorts are around my calves when the link is filled with Jax's screams piercing through my mental armor, causing emotions to bleed from behind the protective shield I've erected. Hearing him scream at her to get off him, that she wasn't his mate, and begging for the divine's help—my heart cracks, and my wolf determines it is time for him to take over our body, shifting us.

Sniffing the air, my wolf and I try to find Jax's scent, which is hard with the outdoor fire. My wolf focuses in on the hint of cinnamon, and we race in that direction. The desire to close out of the link so I can close down my emotions flashes a dark circle in front of me, like the safety of the den for a wolf pup. But I can't do that. Jax wouldn't leave me. He'd be there at my side because he'd rather share my pain with me if it meant I wasn't alone. I buck up and stay with him through the link. Whatever happens, he won't be alone.

Jax, talk to me, what's going on—stay with me. – I beg in the link

Not my mate! Get Amber off me! I don't want her! Can't move, not my choice. He slurs and cries.

You're not alone. I'm here with you. We're coming for you.

I can hear him screaming in his head, in the link.

NO! NO! NO! Get off me, I don't want you! NOT MY MATE! Fuck, body, just move. Just do something! WHY CAN'T I MOVE? I DON'T WANT THIS! I DON'T WANT YOU!

Fuck, I can hear him, his thoughts his helplessness at being semiconscious but not able to move his body. I feel his anger, frustration, and anguish at having someone take control of his body, doing things he doesn't want done, but not being able to do anything about it. My wolf howls out into the night, letting out what we're feeling for Jax and Blondie. Letting out the cries and roars of pain and the defiance that he can't. That they can't.

The smell of our mate mixes in with the air as we pace toward Jax's scent, and we catch up to Billie sprinting through the woods. My wolf's howls must have startled Amber, as she starts making more noise, becoming more desperate and less careful with her violations. Billie sends a snarling roar into the night— a message. My wolf nods to her, acknowledging that Little Fox wants to take the lead on this. He's her true-mate.