Page 77 of Between Imminent Fates

“Why, we’re watchingBridesmaids, Blair.”

The flair of humor in her voice died on her lips. The vampire’s blank stare at the screen was sobering. Celeste bit the inside of her cheek. The air had grown stagnant between them, and it was everything she could do to speak the truth.

“I don’t know,” Celeste admitted. “Trying to go back to life, I guess.”

“Nina’s gone,” Blair replied. “But she isn’tgone. Zeke is throwing himself into his work but won’t admit what happened to her. I’m worried that he’s half a step away from losing it completely.”

Any answer failed her.

Pulling at the hem of her sweater, Celeste could only shrug and drown herself in the rest of her now tasteless alcohol. “I don’t know how to help him.”

No one did.

Chapter Three

Jax

Three weeks had passedsince the day Key had vanished, and Jax had attempted every method known to man to find her. Barring criminal activity, every avenue he could explore had been exhausted, but nothing had proven fruitful.

Beneath his skin, his wolf paced endlessly, a half step away from becoming the rabid animal he feared. Jax had taken to nightly runs to burn off the excess, and even when he came back weary and fatigued, the animal’s agitation wouldn’t abate.

He’d given the new commanding officer his notice the day Key had disappeared. With the way things had been shaping up, remaining in the military would be close to impossible—and even if he’d wanted to, Key simply took precedence.

The way she’d looked when she left that day was imprinted on his memories. Despair, fear, sorrow: all of it had told him that she wasn’t coming back from where she was going.

Cursing beneath his breath, his hands fisted at his sides. He should’ve done something more—should have kept her here. It didn’t matter if she’d been the pivotal piece of it all. The woman shouldn’t have had to bite the bullet and lay herself on the line.

Before she’d gone, he had begun to realize just how much she meant to him. There was no going back to the way life was before. Key was his, and when she had left, she’d taken a piece of his soul with her.

Jax laced up his running shoes, well aware of the Husky’s groan. The pair of them had already been out this morning, and Zeus wasn’t in the mood to go again. That was perfectly fine; Jax could run faster without the dog at his side.

A knock on the door made his hands still.

In the corner, Zeus perked. Instead of running to the door, the dog slowly rose to his feet, hackles up, and then tucked tail and slinked over to hide behind the couch.

The odd behavior made Jax reassess.

Preparing himself, he opened the door to a massive man with tea-green eyes and an intensity that seemed to sear skin from bone.

Deep within him, Jax’s wolf sat up and took notice, but not in fear or anger. The beast recognized something in the other man he’d only sensed in one other.

Family.

His guest was another werewolf. Speechless, he frowned when the stranger locked eyes with him. The effect was immediate. A crushing weight slowly settled on his shoulders, and his wolf whined. Though Jax’s training warned him to hold eye contact—to keep his attention on the threat—the beast below his skin won out. Despite how he briefly warred within himself, his wolf tucked tail and lowered his head in submission.

“Good.” Deep tones sounded from the male who’d already proven his dominance. “At least your wolf can recognize me as alpha.”

Not knowing what to do, Jax stood still, his eyes on the ground. When a hand connected with his shoulder, a gentle grip squeezed in camaraderie. Looking up, he found the tangerine color of a wolf’s gaze locked on his own.

“I’m Aidan. Are you Jax Hunter?”

“Yes sir.”

“Bitten by a rabid wolf at one of the facilities we torched?”

Sucking in a breath, Jax nodded. “Yes sir.”

A faint smile flashed on Aidan’s features but dissolved just as quickly. “We’ve been looking for you. Can we come in?”

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