Page 16 of The Tracker's Revenge
The dagger, on the other hand, I would be rid of it soon, and it would become someone else’s concern. The werewolves had dealt with the monstrous hybrids in the past, and they would deal with them now if there were more of them. The Pack Rule would keep the dagger safe and prevent its use. Maybe it was even a good thing that Stephen had the cup, and we had the dagger. Because who was to say one of the Pack Rule members couldn’t get nefarious ideas, too? A werewolf had joined Bernadetta on a quest for power and control of the city, after all.
The door behind me opened, and I glanced up. Jake came in, moving lithely, his steps barely making any sound on the many rugs that covered the floor.
I’d been standing in front of the fireplace, staring into the ashes, lost in my thoughts without realizing it. I turned my back on the mantle and the portrait of Eric’s wife and daughter that hung above it.
“Hey,” I said, admiring Jake’s silver gaze. Its iridescent quality was still as mesmerizing as it’d always been. He’d captured me with those eyes so long ago and still held me.
God, does he have any idea what he does to me when he looks at me that way?
“Hey,” he replied just as eloquently.
He was dressed in a three-piece suit that attempted to match the color of his eyes but failed. He stopped in front of me, all 6’2” of him. His broad shoulders effectively blocked my view of the rest of the room, and he became everything, like a sun blotting out the rest of the universe.
Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but it sure felt that way.
His presence could eclipse everything. I had allowed it to do just that before, and I was trying to be careful not to let it happen again. Though, it was damn hard. Especially, when he reached into my soul with those eyes. There was such tenderness in his expression, such longing.
Today, he had been away with his grandfather, Walter Knight, learning about his role during the Pack Rule meeting. As the future leader of the Knight pack, Jake would have a seat among the Pack Rule members, and apparently, Walter had wanted to school him on the proper way to behave during the proceedings.
“So, are you a Pack Rule expert now?” I asked.
He shrugged. “My grandfather doesn’t think so, but I’m sure I know enough.”
“That boring, huh?”
“Pretty much. He took it upon himself to teach me a history lesson on our family’s involvement in the St. Louis Pack Rule and then proceeded to enlighten me on the arts of politics and diplomacy, and how I should use both to screw everyone over.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow is right.” He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Why are you hiding here?”
After Eric announced that Jake and Ulfen had arrived, I’d come here, knowing that there would be a lot of posturing between the three alphas, and a fourth wasn’t needed to make the moment more intense.
Also, I’d feared they would rehash what happened this morning, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Instead, I’d wanted to clear my head—not that I’d accomplished it. There were a million thoughts in my mind, reproducing like crazy viruses, which I suspected were now launching a biological assault on my body because I was starting to feel sick. There was so much going on that it was like being in a constant flight-or-fight state. My skin itched. My fingertips ached as my claws threatened to unsheathe. It was like waiting for freaking Armageddon.
Seeing Jake here didn’t make things easier. His engagement with Allison Blackridge was still a thing as was the unbreakable pact he’d sworn, the one that mandated him to carry through with the wedding whether or not he wanted to, all to forge a strong alliance between the Knights and Blackridges.
He’d promised to find a way to break the unbreakable, to be with me, but I worried he might do something stupid to accomplish it. He and promises just didn’t jive. And as much as I would hate to see him marry that watered-down blond, I would rather lose him.
His death just wasn’t an option.
Gah!Thinking about this whole thing always made me furious. It made me wonder what I would do if I saw Allison Blackridge again. Murder didn’t seem too far-fetched, and at this rate, life in prison didn’t either.
“I’m not hiding,” I finally said.
He made a sound in the back of his throat that let me know he smelled the lie. He stepped closer and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his gaze roving over my face and doing unmentionable things to my baby-making instincts.
I was dying to kiss him, to savor the curve of his lower lip so luscious and tantalizing that it must be a sin, but I knew the moment I tried to press my mouth to his, he would turn away.
“I can’t,”he’d said.“I know that if I kiss you now, I won’t be able to stop. I will take you and make you mine in every way I know. It wouldn’t be right. Not with this engagement and pact hanging over my head.”
So instead, I rested my head on his chest, soaked in his warmth, and listened to the powerful beat of his heart.
One of his hands slid down my back, and pressing his nose to my hair, he inhaled. My skin pebbled as a shiver ran down my spine. His own scent flooded my sensitive nose, making me aware of the overpowering tang of desire wafting off him. With a sound like thunder in his chest, he pushed my hair aside and buried his nose in the crook of my neck. His lips trembled over my collarbone.
“Jake,” I said in a heady breath and slid my hand over his pec.
Abruptly, he captured my hand in his and twirled me around so that my back was to him. He wrapped one arm around my waist and held me in place, his chest heaving against my back, his erection pushing against my butt. I threw my head back and moaned.
