45. Forty-Five
FORTY-FIVE
J ax
I kneel on the floor in Charles Thomas’s home office. In the middle of no more than nine fur hides, my mom and dad’s hides are nailed to the wall. As much as it hurts to see the proof of their deaths memorialized as trophies, I feel this deep sense of peace wash over me. I’m not sure who else was nailed to these four walls, but I know that I can finally lay them all to rest.
Pushing up to my feet, I walk forward and press the palms of my hands into the fur. My dad’s fur was a lot like mine. Mostly dark brown, looking black in the nighttime but holding that brown hue when the sun hits it just right. My mom’s was the complete opposite. Hers was the brightest white.
One of my best memories is of her playing in the snow with me. She’d hide in snow banks and wait for me to run by her. Every time she’d jump out of one, I’d screech with excitement and run between all four of her legs.
It didn’t matter that I wouldn’t shift until after hitting puberty. They still showed me exactly who they were and who I’d become one day. They spent every moment making sure I knew that no matter what, they’d love me for exactly who I was meant to be.
When I wet my lips, I can taste the salt from my tears as they slowly fall from my eyes. “I’m sure you watch over me every day,” I whisper. Then with a short laugh, I breathe, “I bet you’ve wondered what’s gotten into me the last few months.”
Dragging my fingers through their fur, I say, “I have no doubt that you’d love her despite the family she was born into. You’d probably love her more than you loved me.”
With a shuddering breath, I murmur, “I’ve fucked up a lot since you left, but I won’t fuck this up. Not with her.”
Stepping back from the wall, I drop my hands back to my sides and stare up at them one last time. Then, without pause, I grab the hammer Harley found for me and rip the nails free from the wall.
I bear the weight of eleven wolf hides as I walk from the office. Each one had a date beneath it. A date marking the night they were all killed.
They were killed for sport.
They were killed for social gain.
They were killed for nothing .
And as I set the hides in the back of my SUV, I make a silent vow to do everything in my power to bring the hunting ring to an end.
“Jax,” Luca says in greeting, holding his gloved hand out to me.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” I reply, giving his hand a firm shake.
He leans back against his blacked out Porsche, crossing his arms over his chest and staring up at the Thomas mansion in front of us. His platinum blonde hair stands out with his black on black attire. Never once have I seen him in anything but the most pristine suits. He’s maintained the most calculated control that any mafia boss ever has in the Kill Ridge area.
The man is quite literally fucking terrifying.
“That’s what we’re here for. I know if I called for help, you and your pack would be the first to answer and the first to show,” he states factually.
“We would,” I say, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“What’s the story here?” he asks, lowering his glasses to pin me with a piercing silver stare.
Scratching the back of my neck, I mumble, “May or may not have found myself in a messy situation.”
“Messy? We’re standing in front of Charles Thomas’s fucking mansion.”
With a weighted sigh, I say, “I fell in love with his daughter. And when he kidnapped her in the middle of the full moon, setting a trap he knew I’d come running right into, I almost died while his daughter killed him, her mother, and their family driver. That’s the short version.”
“That only explains three of four bodies,” he states dryly.
Feeling my lip curl, I growl, “Leroy Sanchez.”
Luca holds up a hand. “The name alone makes my skin crawl. No need to explain further.”
“Wait until you see the mess inside. Then we’ll see if you stand by that statement.”
He shrugs just as a bike comes flying up the driveway followed by a brand new BMW M5. When the car pulls to a stop just behind Luca’s, I can’t stop myself from trying to peek through the grill for a look under the hood.
“I want it,” I blurt. “Can I have it?”
“Oh good, the cavalry arrived, and they brought fancy cars for Jax to drool over.”
I glance over my shoulder to see Quinton walking down the steps. He holds his hand out to shake Luca’s before him and Tony slap each other on the back. Leo throws the door to the BMW open and steps out.
“What’s the plan here, Boss?” he asks, his question directed at Luca.
Luca tilts his head to the side and says, “Let’s go ahead and make it look like an accidental fire. Apparently, the daughter of this piece of shit isn’t cut from the same cloth. Accidental fire gives her the opportunity to claim through insurance for the property value. Then we don’t have to worry about robbing her blind.”
“I like that idea,” Leo says with a nod.
“Are we leaving the bodies behind then?” Tony asks casually.
Luca doesn’t answer, clearly thinking over the best option in his head. “Everyone except for dear Charles. I think it’s about time we send our dear little hunter crew a message.”
Clearing my throat, I add, “Maybe take the driver too.”
Luca shifts his cold stare to me. “She shoot the fucker?”
“I shot the fucker,” Harley says.
Turning my head toward the door, I see Harley standing with her arms folded across her chest. Despite everything she went through in the last several hours, she still looks like a walking dream.
“Can we get this over with?” she asks in a flat tone. “It’s starting to smell in there.”
Rolling my lips to hide my smile, I say, “Yeah, Davidson. They’re gonna take care of the whole mess for us.”
“Do we have to stay for that?” she descends the stairs, her nose scrunching at the mere thought of being here any longer.
“It’d be best if you leave, actually,” Luca tells her.
Harley directs her attention to him, her eyes widening a fraction. “You must be…” she trails off, her eyes flicking to me as she waits for an introduction.
“This is Luca Ferrari,” I tell her. “Luca, this is Harley Thomas.”
Luca nods, not even giving her a smile as he does. “Good to meet you. Sorry your family sucks.”
Way to beat around the bush .
“Pretty sure I’m the one who should be apologizing,” she mumbles with a nervous laugh.
His eyes narrow on the house again as he ignores her comment. Luca Ferrari is a man of barely any words and no warmth. He’s a cold, calculated mother fucker. No one in this city would dare go against him. Even the hunters keep a safe distance from him and his men.
“Alright, we will get out of your way,” I say, breaking the silence. “Call me or one of the guys if you need anything.”
“We won’t,” Luca mutters under his breath before pushing off the side of his car.
Jace and Declan come walking out the front door before Luca makes it to the steps. Neither of them say anything as they pass him on the stairs. Declan only dips his chin in acknowledgement. Alicia stops just short of running into Luca, her feet tangling over one another before she catches herself in the doorway.
“Sorry,” she hisses softly.
She presses her back to the door frame as Luca moves past her. He doesn’t even glance in her direction as he does. Once he disappears inside, Alicia locks eyes with Quinton, flaring her nostrils in irritation.
“Yikes,” Harley breathes as she comes up beside me.
“What?” I drape my arm over her shoulder, turning us toward my SUV.
“Alicia looks at him the way Jacob looks at Edward,” she whispers.
Opening the passenger door, I ask, “Fucking who?”
She gasps the most horrified gasp. “ You named my daughter after the Loch Ness monster? ”
I shake my head, still not picking up on whatever crazy she’s talking about. “I think we should get your head looked at, doe eyes.”
Harley groans, buckling her seatbelt after she climbs in. “We’re having a Twilight marathon. Because how dare you be a fucking wolf and not know any Twilight references. That’s just outrageous.”
“Are you talking about the book series turned into movies where some basic white bitch falls in love with a psycho stalker vampire?”
“First of all, you should probably know that I am one hundred percent Team Edward. You better watch out, hockey jockey. I currently know three vampires in the near vicinity that could easily take your place,” she teases lightly.
Raising my eyebrows, I lean in and whisper, “You really wanna go try flirting with Luca? I’m pretty sure his pure-blooded vampire father would roll over in his grave, one he’s not even close to being in, if he ever caught his son with the daughter of a hunter.”
“Ooo, pure-blooded vampire, huh? What’s that? Born a blood sucker? Never had to experience the pain that comes with changing? No burning insides?”
“You watch way too much TV,” I grumble, slamming her door shut.
The moment I open my door, after rounding the hood of my car, she immediately starts to go on a full tangent. “I don’t. I don’t watch TV really at all. You’d know that if you paid more attention to my study habits. I haven’t even gotten through the second season of The Vampire Diaries . If I had, I’d have more references for you. Better ones than Twilight , arguably. However, I have never watched Supernatural . Which I believe has all things spooky in its plot. Maybe we should watch that together. You can tell me if they get the wolf thing down to a T or if they also watch way too much TV.”
“Maybe you can see if Quinton will binge watch trash TV with you, Davidson,” I say, shifting into gear and pulling out of the driveway.
“No fucking way. You can’t call fictional television trash TV. Trash TV is reality shows like Teen Mom or Dance Moms .”
Stopping at the end of the drive, I drop my head to the steering wheel and groan, “Please stop. You can’t do this to me.”
Harley taps me on the shoulder. When I roll my head to look in her direction, I find her grinning from ear to ear. “What?” I demand.
“You thought I was showing my true crazy just now, didn’t you?” she asks gleefully.
Rolling my eyes, I turn onto the main road. “I already knew how crazy you were, doe eyes.”
“I’m not watching Twilight with you, am I?” she asks, still smiling.
“Seriously, ask Quinton. That’s right up his alley.”
“You think he’ll watch Teen Wolf with me, too?”
“Fucking hell. You’re joking, right?”
“Absolut—”
Her words are cut off by a loud explosion. I meet her gaze, having to split my attention between her and the road. With wide eyes, she turns to look over her shoulder. In the rearview mirror, I can see smoke rising into the early morning sky.
“I thought he was making it look like an accident!” Harley hisses at me.
I shrug, feeling her glaring into the side of my head. “Must’ve been a pretty bad accident.”