(Climb that tree. Roll in that creek. Mark your territory. Drag your mate out and fuck her under the shade of the fir trees.)
Jacob wet his lips and tightened his grip on the steering wheel as the Beast strained at its leash. Down. He saw Holly in his mind’s eye, tried to imagine what she was doing now. Probably just finished up the last of her classes and was on her way home. Was she there already, curled up on the porch with a book, waiting on Jacob for dinner? The thought settled warm in his chest as though the sunset herself had pressed her fingertips to his heart, and his Beast quieted again. As soon as this job is over, princess, he thought to himself. I’m coming.
Brent seemed slightly agitated, fidgeting around in his seat and checking his phone compulsively, but Jacob thought nothing of it. Knowing Brent, he probably had a hot date with a honeypot waiting on him. His brother always did have piss-poor taste in women. His order was always a pretty face with a side of risk. Greedy, sticky-fingered Linda Catz. Belly-shirted Belinda Moore. That pole dancer from who-knows-where. Just another reason why Jacob was grateful for ever-stable, sane Holly. Better to get out of that mess while he still had what was left of his dignity.
The asphalt came to a bumpy finish and the truck growled on, spitting up gravel and sand. When they came up to Wolf’s Creek, Brent said, “Hang left.”
In Wolf’s Creek? Jacob knew Etna like the back of his hand. “There’s no one up here,” he said.
“That’s what the directions say,” Brent said, but Jacob got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something didn’t add up here. They rumbled down a narrow path and came to the end of the road in a dense thicket of trees.
Jacob killed the engine. There was no house here and no one waiting for them. His hair stood at the back of his neck, senses heightening instantly.
“Aw, shit,” Brent swore. “There’s supposed to be someone here.”
“It’s a trap,” Jacob said. His eyes scanned the woods for some kind of activity.
“You wanna turn around, boss?” Jacob could feel Brent’s eyes on him, looking for some kind of direction.
“No.” It would be so easy to turn around now. Tuck tail and run. But that wasn’t how Jacob operated. His Beast didn’t back down from a fight. As far as he was concerned, there were two ways around this. The first was run away and pray it didn’t happen again (which it would, because running showed weakness and put a target on the whole clan’s back). The second was to meet his confronter face-to-face and nip it in the bud, even if that meant breaking a few bones in the process. His Beast was alive, running through his blood, and he could hear every small rustle in the trees, smell every little animal that scurried across the muddy woodland floor. He hopped out of the truck and said, “Let’s see where the surprise party is at.”
Brent followed obediently behind. As long as his Beta had his back, Jacob was prepared to face whatever they threw at him.
A snap of twigs made him jerk around and come face to face with…Miranda. And a sleek and svelte cougar at her heels. The large feline weaved through the trees, slinking closer, the muscles like water along its back. Cougars. Wonderful. If ever there was a beast that could put up a good fight, it was a cougar.
“Boys,” Miranda said, her smile sharp enough to cut glass. “So glad you could come.”
“What is this, Miranda?” Jacob pressed, less amused. Brent hung quietly by his side, ready to defend his Alpha the second Jacob said the word.
“Call it a redistribution of power,” Miranda said. “Face it, Jacob. Your Beast is eating you alive from the inside out. It has been for a very long time. You’re a danger to yourself and your clan.”
“So this here is a coup,” Jacob said, arms folded over. “You’re cutting the head off the snake. Can you believe this, Brent?”
Brent said nothing. Jacob glanced over at his Beta and felt something cold wash through his veins. “Brent.”
“No, boss. Can’t believe it.” But Brent was echoing his words, forcing them out like he was reading from a script.
The sharp sting of betrayal was replaced by a much more palpable anger. Jacob grabbed Brent by his shirt and yanked him forward, growling in his face. “What’ve you done, you brainless coward?”
“Y’don’t know what you’ve been like, Jacob!” Brent snapped, pulling back. “You’ve pulled away from the clan. Y’don’t let anyone in. Every time I try to help, you push me away. You’re losing it, brother. And the clan can’t go down with you. Just say you’ll step down and we’ll walk away. The crown is killing you.”