Wilde About Her (Wilde Pack Series)(29)

Make one wrong move and Diesel won't be the only one fighting for his  life. Chayton advanced slowly, a growl rumbling in his throat.

The others inched back, heads bowed.

Let him go, Chayton ordered. We have enough problems with the pack as it is.         

     



 

He's right. Jax, let him go! Aidan urged.

Jax's heart was pounding. Blood soaring through his vein. His body  enraged and then he felt Denim's screams. She was in danger. His mate  needed him. Reluctantly, he released his hold on Diesel.

If anything happens to Denim, I'm coming back to finish this.

Diesel roared while still lying on his side. This isn't over, not by a long shot!

Aidan nodded. Handle your business. We got this.

Jax raced across the forest to the treehouse. His joints hurt as he  walked into the room. His back throbbed from the altercation, but he  needed to get to his mate and ensure no harm had come to her. Troy was  close. He could smell her as a woman, not as a beast. After shifting  back into human form, Jax hurried into his clothes and bolted toward the  house. From the porch, he noticed the front door was slightly ajar, so  he stepped inside and shouted, "Denim, you in here?"

"She's in the kitchen. Why don't you come and join us?"

His heart sank. Troy was inside.

Jax came around the corner and stepped into the room. First thing he  noticed was the gun pointed at him. Troy stood by the sink, grinned, and  a hint of an incisor appeared.

"Please take a load off," she said and motioned toward a chair at the  table. "Have a seat." Troy's eyes looked weird. Wild and crazy as if she  might kill Denim and him at any moment.

Slowly, he moved toward the table where Denim was seated, twisting her fingers together in her lap.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, never taking his eyes from her.

Troy gave a rude snort. "Why do you think? We took a pledge to unite the  two packs, then you decided to go back on your word!" she said, pinning  him with an accusatory glare.

"Because I don't love you Troy. It wouldn't be fair to you or me. Why can't you understand that?"

"What the hell does love have to do with it?" she exploded with harsh  laughter. "What about family loyalty and building wealth? Our marriage  would have created a powerful dynasty!"

"I mated for love, not money," Jax hissed.

"With a human?" she shrieked incredulously.

His eyes shifted to Denim whose lips were quivering nervously. She was  trying to be brave, but he saw the fear in her eyes. If he hadn't known  it before, he knew it now. He would give his life to keep her safe.  "Troy, I didn't set out to fall in love with a human female. In fact I  did everything in my power to fight it, but some things just can't be  stopped."

Something evil darkened her eyes.

"Awww so sweet! Too bad she has to die." Troy swiveled around and  pointed the gun at Denim, but before she could pull the trigger Jax  leapt over and knocked her and the weapon onto the floor. The gun went  sliding. "Get off me!" Troy screamed as she scrambled across the worn  linoleum for the gun.

"Denim, run!" Jax shouted while they wrestled for the gun. He made the  mistake of taking his eyes from Troy and that was all the time she  needed to scratch his face and get the gun into her hand. Oh shit! He  sprang from the floor, and hurried out the kitchen just as several shots  were fired. Denim screamed and the only thing on his mind was keeping  his mate safe from a psycho she-wolf. Jax hustled her down the hall and  quickly pushed her into a library and shut the door.

"Babe, are you all right?" His eyes quickly scanned her face and body before he engulfed her tightly in the circle of his arms.

Denim hugged him, then pushed him away. "I'm okay but you're not. Look at your face and your shirt is all bloody!" she cried.

He was certain there were scratches and deep claw marks over his face,  back and arms from his fight with Diesel. "I'm okay, but right now I am  worried about you. I'm going back out there, but I don't want you to  come out this room until I say so," he warned.

Shaken, she stared up at me. "Jax, w-what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Just stay here!" he ordered. Jax pressed his lips to  hers, then shut the door and cautiously headed back toward the hall. By  the time he'd returned to the kitchen, Troy had shifted into a red wolf.  Her dark eyes focused while she snarled at him. Fuck! Stupid move! As a  human he had no chance against her.

"I don't want to hurt you, Troy. Go home," he said calmly, trying to  stall for enough time to come up with a plan. The animal snarled,  showing large teeth. There was no way he could race into the other room  long enough to shift. Troy would have attacked long before he'd had a  chance to completely transform. "There's someone out there for you. It  just isn't me."         

     



 

She advanced and Jax backed up, hoping to be able to run into the  kitchen pantry if he could just manage to get the door open. Her wolf  was quicker. She batted at him with her paw, tossing his body across the  room and he hit the counter. Excruciating pain shot down his back.

"Jax are you … " Denim's voice trailed off as she walked in and spotted Troy in wolf form.

"I told you to stay out!" he said sharply. How was he going to hold off Troy and protect Denim at the same time?

"I'm sorry. I heard her thoughts," she whimpered. "She's going to-"

Despite the pain, Jax jumped in front of his mate. Troy growled, leaped  up onto the kitchen table and glared down at them. Jax's wolf pushed  toward the surface. His tailbone ached and he could feel his teeth  starting to grow uncontrollably.

"Open that door!" he panted and continued to block Troy from coming  closer, but she sprang forward landing on all fours, knocking him onto  his back. Her teeth were aiming for his shoulder. "Get in the closet.  Now!"

Denim screamed just as Troy's razor-sharp teeth sank into his shoulder.  Jax cried out while Denim dashed over to the pantry, flung open the door  and jumped inside. Pain radiated through his body as he pushed Troy out  his away and punched the wolf in the face with a frying pan that had  fallen to the floor. Troy was the enemy, but she was still a female. The  last thing Jax wanted to do was hurt her, but he would if Denim's life  depended on it.

Just as Troy recovered and lunged again, Jax avoided the attack, then  rolled to the right and scrambled into the pantry hitting the shelf,  knocking several canned goods onto the floor. Before Troy could leap  inside, Denim yanked the door shut.

Troy snarled with outrage on the other side.

"You okay?" he asked, drawing Denim into the circle of his arms again.

She nodded and Jax could feel her heart pounding heavily beneath her  breasts. "I'm okay." He flinched and she drew back and stared at the  puncture wound at his shoulder.

"You're hurt!"

"I'm okay," he assured her and gritted his teeth, and she applied  pressure to the wound. "Nothing a few stitches can't repair. Right now  all I care about is your safety."

Troy started clawing madly at the door trying to get inside. It was only  a matter of time. "What are we going to do?" Denim asked.

"There's only one way out," Jax said, then released her. His wolf was  close, and he wanted out. "Stand back. Once I've finished shifting, open  the door and don't you dare leave this closet. Do you understand?"  Jax's voice had gone so low he sounded like he was growling.

Eyes wide with fear, Denim nodded.





21



Denim moved to the far corner of the pantry, allowing Jax plenty of  room. He yanked off his clothes and went to the floor on all fours. She  watched in astonishment as his limbs shifted and fur, the color of  spools of gold, began to cover his body. And then his long teeth  appeared, canines sharp enough to rip a man apart. Right before her  eyes, claws grew from the ends of his fingertips. By the time he was a  big beautiful four-legged wolf, Denim decided there was absolutely  nothing to fear. Not with Jax to protect her. Tilting her head, she  stared up at him. Now that he had shifted, the closet was a tight  squeeze.

Open the door.

She nodded and as instructed, she turned the knob and waited as Jax  crouched low, then leapt, surging forward out into the kitchen.  Immediately she shut the door. Within seconds, Denim heard loud  wrestling and the crashing of furniture. Was he okay? And how in the  world was she going to explain any of it to Pappy?

Hey Pappy, there were two wolves wrestling around the house.

She was sure that story wouldn't come as much of a surprise since he always believed wolves roamed around Justice.

She heard another loud crash followed by a high-pitched yelp and then  there was silence. Despite Jax instructing her not to come out, Denim  grabbed a knife from the sink, then raced toward the noises coming from  the living room. Panic took her. She had to know if Jax was okay. As she  rounded the corner, she spotted the red wolf lying flat on the area rug  with Jax's large front paw pressing down against her throat. The  she-wolf was gasping for air.