13. Jax

13

Jax

She wasn't telling outright lies, but she wasn't telling the truth either, and that meant that she couldn't be trusted. Still, we made it through most of the day without attracting any rogue wolf attention.

Occasionally, she would stop and stare. I did the same, but I never could see what she saw, so eventually, I stopped and just studied her. Nothing about her motivation made sense. She could have told me how to release the traps and in return, I would have given her the freedom she wanted.

Maybe.

I could just as easily drag her back to my territory when this was done. Did she think herself safer from me the closer we got to the witch coven?

There was nothing that would keep me from her if I decided to keep her.

Deep within me, my wolf rumbled. It was not a warning of danger, but rather a warning for me. Ever since Anna had come into my life, my wolf and I had been at odds with each other. He wanted his mate.

I wanted to protect my clan. At the moment, we couldn't both have what we wanted.

"Trap," Anna announced with a strange tremble in her voice. "Give me a minute."

I tried to focus on the area around us. Anna was on her knees in front of a rock, but her back was completely to me. I wanted to watch her work, to try and figure out how she triggered them.

When I took a step, she snapped her head around. "Stop moving!"

I was at least three feet behind her. If she wasn't triggering the trap, then I wasn't in any danger, was I? "Explain what you're doing," I commanded.

She'd turned her head back around, but I could practically feel her roll her eyes at me. "I'm trying to focus. I can't undo the trap until I know how it works."

"And how are you going to undo it? A spell?"

"Hmm. Something like that."

A vague response that skirted around a lie. Wolves couldn't do magic. I took another step, and she gasped. Immediately, I stopped. "Alpha," she said through gritted teeth without turning around, "I realize that you tend to give the commands rather than follow them, but if you could please stay there, I would appreciate it. Your death still brings me my freedom, but I suspect there would be a price on my head from your pack."

"Am I in danger of dying?" I asked mildly.

This time, she did turn her head around. "Come closer. We could find out."

Privately, I smiled. Parker had told me that her human was surprisingly stronger than her wolf, but most of the time, he'd just complained about her mouth. Beneath that sass was a real challenge.

After a moment, she rose. "All good here." She didn't bother looking back at me as she continued on her way. It was strange, following her. By hiding her in Parker's bar, I'd done my best to forget her, but that wasn't possible.

Now, watching as she looked around and cautiously moved, I realized just how much I was going to learn from her.

Maybe nothing useful, but I was already used to the way she walked, both in the sun and in the shadows. I was used to the way she breathed when she slept, and the way she felt in my arms.

How she looked naked and wet.

Fuck. I shoved it aside and glanced around.

Quiet. Wisteria Wood was too damn quiet. For a place that was supposed to be crawling with rogue wolves, we hadn't seen any signs of one.

That didn't stop the hairs on my neck from going up. I knew firsthand that just because you couldn't see a wolf didn't mean that one wasn't around. The absence of any signs was an alarm bell.

Several miles later, I knew that I couldn't ignore my instincts any longer. We were being watched and followed. From the way Anna was looking around, I could tell she felt the same, so when a man stepped out onto our path, I was already prepared to kill. His first word stopped me in my tracks.

"Anna," he greeted warmly. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Well, wasn't this interesting?

"Marsh. You're here. In Wisteria Woods."

There was no caution in her voice. No indication that she saw him as a threat, but her entire body had frozen. It did nothing to ease the tension inside of me.

"It's as good a place as any to call home," he said, still friendly as he looked at me. "Who is your companion?"

We studied each other, but I knew that for him, it wasn't the first time seeing me. He'd been following us for half a day and had either concluded that I wasn't powerful enough to be a threat or his need to talk to Anna was great enough to risk.

I had a feeling it was the former. It was difficult, but I sucked in my power as much as I could. He, on the other hand, let his ooze out. He was strong. Cocky, too. Most shifters would be wary in a place like this, but he was nothing but confident. He thought he had some power here.

I wanted to shred his pretty little face to pieces.

Instead, I waited to see what Anna would do. Killing him now would be easier but also draw too much attention.

"Saul, this is an old friend for my father,' Anna said steadily. "Marsh, this is Saul. He's my mate."