55. Jax

55

Jax

Anna was nowhere to be found. Even though I knew for a fact that it wasn't Anna screaming, that was all that I could think about. She was not here by my side.

My fault. I was so worried about her that I'd crossed a line and pushed her away. Again.

When would I learn my fucking lesson?

The scream sounded again, and I was on my feet and racing from my house. Maeve, London, and Emerson were all gone since we'd taken a break. My wolves were appearing from buildings and trees, following the sounds of the screams. They led me along a familiar path.

The path that would lead me straight to Irene's cottage.

The witches.

"Cam!" Maeve's voice rose above the trees followed closely by her roar. Filled with fear, I ran faster. Irene. I'd brought her back and promised that I would protect her. Now, all I'd done was surround her with people who could hurt her.

I broke through the trees toward the house. Maeve was crouching near her witch who was struggling to a standing position. Blood poured down her arm.

"Cam," I snarled and raced to her side. "Irene? Ava! Janelle!"

"They're not here," Cam whispered as she fell back to the ground.

Maeve shifted and crouched over her witch. "Heal yourself. Your father could do it."

With a wry laugh, Cam grabbed the older woman's hand. "How many times do I have to remind you that I am not my father."

Wolves approached from the tree line. "Get me a healer or a witch. Now," I roared. They disappeared, and I leaned over Cam. Maeve snarled at me, but I didn't pay any attention. The wound was deep.

Werewolf claws.

"Who did this to her? One of your wolves attacked her!" Maeve shouted at me.

Ignoring her, I pressed my hand to the wound. "Cam, do you know who attacked you?"

The witch didn't respond.

A shadow passed over me, and I looked up to see Irene hurrying our way. "What happened?" She asked as she knelt down.

"I don't know. Where are the other witches?"

"I don't know. We all needed a break from each other. My cottage was getting tinier by the minute," Irene muttered as she pushed my hand away and examined the wound. Pressing a hand over it, she closed her eyes. " Hesserati ," she whispered.

At first, nothing happened. Muttering under her breath, she shifted around and took a deep breath. "Hesserati Avit."

Slowly, the wound started to knit together. Irene shuddered and fell back.

So her magic had returned. When she caught me staring, she immediately averted her eyes.

"She'll still need to see a healer. I could feel the infection in the wound."

Rising, I picked her up. "I'll get her to the infirmary," I told Maeve. "You can come with me. And you, Irene. I think maybe you should come with me as well."

"Jax," she whispered.

"Not now." My witch had been keeping the truth from me. First Bridget tried to kill my mate. Now my witch, who I'd risked everything to save, was lying to me. I had the most powerful wolves staying in my house. What the hell was I going to do when they started questioning my leadership?

The way things were going, I was going to have to start questioning it myself.

Saul met us halfway to the infirmary with a stretcher, but other than being unconscious, Cam was fine. After examining her, Saul confirmed that she did have a deep infection, but she would be fine after some antibiotics and rest.

Maeve never stopped glaring at me. "So your witch has magic, and you have a wolf attacking witches. Did you lure us all here so you could kill all our witches?"

"This meeting was not my idea, Maeve," I countered calmly. "And Irene is clearly not at full strength, but I will be having a word with her."

"If she dies, I blame you," Maeve hissed.

Things were going so well. I walked out of the infirmary, grabbed Irene by the elbow and maneuvered her out of the infirmary. "Explain," I hissed. "Now."

"I am not hiding anything from you, Jax. My magic is returning. Slowly. I'm hardly at full power, and I'm not much use to anyone. I used to be able to do a healing spell in my sleep, and now it practically saps all my energy." Tears filled her eyes. "I'm not hiding anything from you, but we are surrounded by witches and wolves that cannot be trusted. I can't be taken again, Jax. I won't be. I have nightmares every night. You cannot imagine the pain and fear involved in stripping a witch of magic."

Glancing away, she wiped her tears. "I'm sorry that I exposed myself in front of Maeve and that it will fall on you. Cam would have died otherwise."

I believed her. "Does this mean that your magic will return to full strength?"

"I don't know. My instinct is to say that if it was going to, it would have done so already."

"I'm sorry, Irene. I hope you're wrong. Could you detect any magic in Cam's wounds?"

Irene turned back to face me. "No. Possible poison, but nothing magical."

So a wolf. It didn't necessarily mean that it was one of my werewolves. There were others on this land. Guards attached to each of the alphas.

Emerson's guards.

"Jax!" Anna ran to me. "Jax, we heard a scream. Irene? Are you all right?"

It was fucking déjà vu. Right behind Anna, Emerson strolled with a strange smile on his face.

Fury rose up inside of me, but now was not the time.

"Cam was attacked by a werewolf," I said, my eyes on Emerson.

"Cam?" The other alpha's eyes widened in surprise. "The witch? Is she all right? Where are the others? Janelle!"

"They weren't there, although, I would have thought they would have been back by now.

Cam's scream was full of magic." Irene frowned and glanced at the woods.

"Where were your guards?" Emerson demanded. "Where are any of your guards?!"

Irene paled just a little and glanced at Anna. "They were called away. Two stayed behind.

One followed Ava and Janelle into the woods. The other was at the house. Oh, God, I didn't even think of that."

"Which one?" I growled. And who the hell had called them away?

"Tag."

Tag. He was a solid guard. Trustworthy. Immediately, I tried the radio. It was dead.

Not possible. It was at full charge just an hour ago. "Jenson wouldn't have left you," I told Irene. "Not a chance."

"I…" again, Irene looked at Anna. "He left us with guards."

The door opened, and Saul broke through. "Jax. Come quickly."

I raced through the door, and Anna followed behind me. Saul grabbed her arm. "Not you, Anna."

"What are you talking about?" She jerked free and followed me.

Cam was awake and sitting up in bed. When Anna and I walked in, she shrank back.

Maeve snarled. "You."

"You're reaching the limit of how much disrespect I can take, Maeve," I snarled back.

"Your witch is harmed, but if you growl at me one more time, you won't be welcome here anymore."

"Not you, alpha. Your mate. She attacked Cam. She killed that other witch."

"What?" Anna's eyes widened. "Why would you say that?"

"Cam saw you!"

I looked at Cam who was visibly shaking. "Don't let her hurt me. Please," she whispered.

"Cam, I never hurt you. I was nowhere near you," Anna insisted. "I swear."

"You weren't at the meetings." Maeve took a step toward her. "You've been doing this. It ends right now."

Immediately, I stepped in her path. "You make one more move towards her, and I will consider it an act against me. Are you prepared to go to battle with my clan, Maeve? I suggest you think of that very carefully."

"She is a killer. She's the daughter of a killer. You're blinded by her, Jax. Get out of my way. You'll learn to live without your mate. I did."

"Maeve." Emerson stepped in the room. He was behind Anna. We were fucking surrounded by enemies. I grabbed Anna and pinned her against the wall behind me. Snarling, I called on my wolf.

"Calm down, Jax. I'm not here to hurt Anna. I'm here to set the record straight. There is no way, Maeve, that Anna attacked your witch. I can vouch for her. I was with her when we heard her scream."

"Doing what?" Maeve challenged.

Emerson just smiled, and I released my wolf.