Chapter 29 – CAMILLE
CAMILLE
My heart skips a beat as Jax’s hand tightens around Raven’s throat. His eyes have gone dark at the edges. His wolf is in full control. I can see it in the way his eyes have gone unfocused, the way his body has locked up tight.
“Jax.” I keep my voice calm. Moving slowly, I place my hands on his chest. His heart hammers under my palms, too fast, too hard. “Look at me.”
He doesn’t respond. Raven’s face has gone puce, his cheeks looking swollen, and his eyes bulging. His hands grip Jax’s, trying to pry his fingers away, but his struggles are weakening, his wolf retreating in the face of a threat he’s too scared to face.
I ease closer and stroke my hands up Jax’s chest, applying gentle pressure as I press my body to his. “Come back to me. I’m right here.”
A growl rumbles through him, vibrating against my hands, before I feel the tiniest shift. A flicker of recognition. His gaze slides from Raven to me, just for a second, but it’s enough.
“That’s it.” I keep my voice soft and soothing. One hand slides up to cup his face. “I need you to let go now. For me.”
His grip loosens a fraction, and Raven sucks in a wheezing breath.
“Good. That’s good.” I stroke my thumb along Jax’s jaw, and his eyes return to mine, this time, focusing on me completely, and not the man he’s trying to kill. “Let him go. He’s not worth it.”
Finally, Jax’s fingers uncurl, even as he continues to glare at Raven, who crumples to the floor, gasping and coughing. He scrambles away until his back hits the wall, one hand massaging his bruised throat, shaking his head in disbelief at being manhandled like that.
I doubt he’s ever met a wolf like Jax.
The marks on his neck are already darkening to purple, perfect impressions of Jax’s fingers against his skin, but with enhanced healing, they’ll be gone by morning.
Raven’s usually perfect hair is disheveled now, and his neatly pressed clothes are wrinkled and askew.
He doesn’t look so smug now, and he certainly doesn’t look like a tough guy enforcer.
“He’s insane.” Raven’s voice is hoarse, raw. “He tried to fucking kill me.”
I step in front of Jax, keeping my body in contact with his.
“You were asking for it, goading him.” I look toward Zane, then back at Raven. “You knew exactly what would happen, and you did it anyway. You just didn’t think you’d get your ass handed to you.”
Raven’s lips press together, displeased with my blunt assessment, but he doesn’t correct me because he can’t.
“That doesn’t excuse—”
Was he always so whiny? Or is this new?
“Your wolf pissed himself. Just admit it. An enforcer’s wolf, submitting to a so-called feral one. That’s why you’re mad.” I reach behind me and take Jax’s hand in mine, and he bands one arm around my waist from behind, breathing me in.
Raven’s mouth opens and closes before Zane clears his throat, and Raven’s attention goes to our superior instead.
Raven struggles to his feet. His legs shake slightly, and he uses the wall behind him to support his weight. “Who attacks someone like that in front of the head enforcer? He’s moon mad, or on the verge of being.”
I meet Zane’s eyes across the room. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
Something passes between us. He knows. Maybe not the exact details, but he understands what’s happening here, that we’re mates. He just doesn’t have a clue how to deal with it when he already has more than enough problems of his own.
The door bursts open then. Dean rushes in with Lynn right behind him, and takes in the scene, Raven holding his throat, and Zane looking slightly shell-shocked. His expression goes from concerned to exasperated.
“So much for getting your shit together, brother.”
Jax closes his eyes, and I can feel how disappointed he is in himself.
“What happens now?” Dean looks at Zane, all business, alpha instead of big brother, then shoots Raven a look that could make even the most arrogant of wolves curl up in a ball and hide. “And if you suggest locking my brother up, we’re going to have a different problem.”
Raven opens his mouth, but Zane speaks first. “Protocol says I should take him for assessment and treatment.”
We all know what that means, an evaluation to determine if he’s too dangerous to live. The sterile words don’t hide the cold reality. Jax’s life would hang in the balance.
“No.” I snap. I’ve been to those places before, and I know what happens to 95 percent of the wolves that go in. They never come back out. They’d test him, push his limits to see how far his control extended. Eventually, he’d crack.
“I can put it off. I have enough to deal with for now,” Zane adds quietly, stressing his displeasure at having to make such a call. “You saved Camille. It’s the last thing I want to do, but my hands might be tied.”
A dark chuckle breaks the awkward silence.
“Of course.” Lynn’s voice drips with scorn. “Enforcer first, decent person second.”
She steps closer to Zane, and despite the height difference, she doesn’t seem intimidated one bit.
Zane’s jaw tightens. “That’s not—”
Lynn steps closer to him. “You have a mind of your own. You’re allowed to use it. What’s the point of having all this power if you can’t use it to do the right thing?”
They lock eyes, the tension between them hanging heavy in the air. This is about more than just Jax.
My head spins. The room tilts slightly. The adrenaline from last night is crashing, and exhaustion is pulling at my bones. I’m done with all this alpha posturing and the testosterone filling the air.
“I need...” I press a hand to my forehead. “I think I need to lie down...”
Jax is at my elbow immediately, giving everyone else in the room a furious glower . “Everyone out. Now.”
“But…” Raven starts.
Dean’s deep rumble joins Jax’s in telling Raven nobody cares what he thinks.
“Out. Now.” Dean’s alpha authority bleeds into his voice, and nobody is going to argue with this man right now. “Camille nearly drowned. She needs rest, not this circus.”
I lean into Jax, playing up the weakness as I look up at Zane. “I’ll keep Jax by my side. You have my word.”
Zane studies me for a long moment. Then nods. “Twenty-four hours. We’ve got the full moon, then the final. No more trouble.”
The threat hangs in the air.
They all file out. Raven is still muttering threats, and Lynn and Zane, carefully not looking at each other as they storm out, Dean shaking his head. The door closes behind them, leaving us in blessed silence.
I wait, listening to their footsteps fading down the hallway. Raven’s complaints grow distant, his scent in the room fading.
“Let me see.” I turn to Jax, taking his hands in mine. The shackles are cutting deep, silver poisoning preventing any healing. Blood has dried in rusty streaks down his forearms. “We need to get these off.”
He stays silent as I work, using a spare key he points out to open the locks, but I can almost hear the questions spinning around in his head.
The first shackle falls away with a clang against the floor. Jax’s skin is worse than I expected, raw and blistered, and weeping clear fluid. The second follows, revealing matching damage.
“This is bad.” I examine the wounds more closely. “Why did you leave them on?”
After I left him.
He doesn’t answer.
I clean the wounds carefully, using saline to flush away any dried blood and debris. The silver salve comes next, spreading cool against the burns. It will neutralize the poison, letting his healing finally begin.
“You lost it.” My voice is gentle, not accusing. “Even with Zane here.”
“He was bothering you. He touched you.” Simple. Like that explains everything.
And maybe it does.
“Raven’s being an ass, and I know he was provoking you.” I raise my eyes to his as I wrap bandages around his wrists. “But you can’t give him the satisfaction of reacting like that. Not when they’re already watching you.”
His hand comes up to cup my face. “He had no right. He was acting like you were still his, even though I could see his mark.”
I wince. That’s exactly what he was doing.
“He’s just annoyed that I’ve moved on. We’ve been friends for so long. I think he assumed I’d always be single and… there for him. He never expected me to find my mate.” I lean into Jax’s touch, making sure he knows I’m his.
Tomorrow, under the full strength of the moon, tempers will be short, hormones high, and Jax and Raven will be almost guaranteed to tangle again when their wolves have the reins.
I grip his hands tighter. “You need to show everyone you can control yourself.”
Jax looks at me like I’m crazy. He had no intention of running.
“You can do it.” I press my forehead to his. “Then Zane can argue that you’re fine.”
I kiss him softly, once, twice, pulling him closer, begging him to try.
“Just twenty-four hours,” I say. “On your best behavior.”