Pack failed.” Reed tried to control his voice, but he had a
feeling Jax could sense the tremor in it.
He’d seen first-hand what Jax did
to those who failed him, and it wasn’t pretty.
All the lines on Jax’s face stood
frozen in place by barely controlled rage. He looked monstrous, but he managed
to hold back his wolf from surfacing immediately.
“You disappoint me Reed, but I’ll
admit you have guts, coming back to me to tell me you’ve become Carlos Medina’s
bitch. Did you think I’d be merciful because of your twisted sense of honor?”
Reed didn’t bite. The laughter
didn’t bother him as much any longer. He only smiled.
“I expect nothing but the worse
from you, Jax. I’ll take any punishment or torture you’re about to give me. I’m
ready to die.”
Jax growled. Something he had said
had ticked the Alpha off. For a brief second, Reed thought he saw a fraction of
regret cross Jax’s features, but it was quickly gone. Despite his years of
service, Reed knew Jax couldn’t afford to show weakness.
“Let’s see if you can still keep up
that front of yours when I rip you leisurely to shreds, Reed.”
****
“Jax is going to kill him, Carlos. You really okay with that?” Don asked.
“If he wants to die so badly, let
death have him,” Carlos sneered.
“Reed doesn’t strike me as a man
who wants to die, Carlos,” Derrick pointed out. “I didn’t know him well because
I didn’t spend a lot of time in the Starr Mountain Pack, but Reed always seemed
distant to me, like he was looking at something none of us could see. I think
he’s always been looking for you, Carlos.”
Carlos glowered at his newest
enforcer, but for once, Derrick didn’t back off, despite knowing he was
treading on dangerous ground.
“What does he strike you as then?”
Carlos asked.
Derrick’s dark eyes were unusually
sober. “He strikes me as a man who wants to be forgiven, but he knows you’re
not going to give it to him.”
“Reed’s always taken the easy way
out,” Carlos pointed out in disgust.
“I don’t think it’s easy, going
back to a man like a Jax and admitting failure. It’s like slapping the Alpha in
the face and telling him you’ve just fucked his enemy,” Don said unhelpfully.
“We’re done discussing this,”
Carlos growled. “Shouldn’t you assholes be preparing the rest of the pack and
keeping the townsfolk safe?”
Don gripped his shoulder. “Carlos,
your mate came back to find you. He knows he’s done you wrong, and he’s trying
to make up for it. Are you really going to allow him to go to his death?”
Carlos stared at his friend. If it
wasn’t Don, he would have mauled the person right away, but he couldn’t afford
to give in to his rage. He had a pack and a town to protect, and judging from
the reports of the scouts he’d sent out, the Starr Mountain Pack badly
outnumbered them.
They could run like cowards, but
running would leave the mortals of New Haven as collateral damage. No. Carlos
wouldn’t run and neither would his pack. New Haven was his town and the home of
his pack, and he knew every single one of his wolves would stand by his side.
“It’s just an afterthought. Come on
guys,” Don added, leaving him to his thoughts.
The house was quiet, and for once
he didn’t like the silence. Carlos found himself in the garage, pulling out old
boxes he couldn’t bear to throw away. One box contained all of Bonnie’s old
things. Her clothes, toys, and books.
Another contained a small box of
Reed’s things. Carlos wasn’t sure why he’d thrown everything else his mate left
behind except this box. Perhaps he’d been deluded into thinking Reed would
someday come back for them.
He
did come back, didn’t he?
Feeling unsettled, Carlos’s hand
dug out a broken picture frame from the box. In the photo the three of them
were smiling. Bonnie had her arms wrapped around Reed’s neck while Carlos’s
hand was casually and possessively around Reed’s