Chapter Three
“Fuck.” Betrayal struck through him like a hot blade of a silver knife.
Pregnant.
Of course she’d probably be pregnant. She was mated, wasn’t she?
“Jaxon, I need to get home.” Her gaze darted to his, and he saw something flicker through her eyes.
“I’m sure your mate… husband… whatever will understand that you’ll be late.”
“No, he won’t.” Her hand went to the arm where he’d seen the bruises.
“Ginny, those bruises aren’t from some sex game, are they? Does he… abuse you?” What the fuck kind of monster was she with? How’d she pick that over him? How could a male abuse his mate? It didn’t make sense.
“It’s none of your business, Jaxon. It really isn’t.”
“Protecting civilian Weres is my business. You are a civilian Were, so this is my business.”
“I’m not in the state of Arkansas. So this technically falls outside your jurisdiction. Which makes me not your business.” She lifted her chin and wrapped her arms around herself like armor.
“What state do you live in?”
“Louisiana.”
He felt his blood boil. Knowing how big a dick the Pack Master of Louisiana was, Jaxon figured he wouldn’t force any of the Weres to stop abusing their mates.
“Have you ever thought about leaving?”
“No. I can’t do that.” She shook her head and glanced down the empty driveway. “Right now I’ve got to figure out how to get home.”
“I can…” His cell phone screeched to life, interrupting their conversation.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen.
“Hello?”
“Jaxon. I need an update.” Barrett Middleton’s deep voice came over the line. His Pack Master was known for getting things done and tying up loose ends.
“Tell me you have that witch,” Barrett said.
“I wish I could say that. But unfortunately I can’t.” His clenched his teeth. He hated letting his Pack Master down. He hated not coming through for Barrett.
“Did she not show?” His voice changed, became harder. “Because if that bartender gave us some bad intel, I want him handled. If you get my meaning.”
“That’s not it.” He took a deep breath. How could he explain that a ghost from the past showed up and distracted him?
“Then what’s the story?”
“The witch showed. She did admit to taking blood from her victims. But she said she’s not responsible for the killings.” He ran his hand through his hair, imagining Barrett’s face turning red with anger. “There was an incident at the bar tonight. Bartender got killed.”
“Did she do it?”
“I didn’t see her actually do it. But my guess is yes.” He shook his head. “She stole a car and got away.”
“Let me get this straight. We have a psychotic witch on the loose who not only is wanted for murder, but now she’s wanted for grand theft auto?” Barrett’s tone was even, but Jaxon could only imagine the look his Pack Master was giving him through the phone.
“In a nutshell, yes.” He grimaced.
“That’s not good enough!” Barrett growled. “I want that witch found by my Arkansas Guardians by the end of the week. I’m tired of that bitch getting away!”
“You got it, boss. I won’t let you down again.”
“See to it, Jaxon. Make it happen,” Barrett growled.
The phone went dead.
“I take it by the look on your face, that call didn’t go well.” Ginny looked at him under her lashes.
“You’d be correct. I need to get that witch back now.” Jaxon glanced up at the sky. The sun was dipping low, and soon it would be dark.
“I need to get my car back.”
“Seems we are in the same boat. It looks like we are stuck together.”
* * *
“Fuck.” Barrett ended the call with Jaxon and slammed the cell phone on his desk.
“We don’t have her, do we?” Ryker looked up at him from his seated position and steepled his fingers together.
“No. Jaxon saw her, but she got away.”
Ryker tensed and sat up in the chair. “How the fuck did that happen?”
“He didn’t elaborate.” He rubbed his temple and tried to rein in his temper. Jaxon had been eager to go on this mission, to bring back the Witch of Yazoo and get her back to Mississippi. Barrett didn’t want the relationship with Jack Welbourn, Pack Master of Mississippi, in peril. Alliances were broken for lesser offenses.
Barrett had made a promise to Jack, and he intended to fulfill it. He needed to capture that witch.
“Shit. Bet he got distracted by a piece of ass.” Ryker hissed.
“With Jaxon, it’s always a woman.” He wasn’t sure why that was. He knew about Jaxon’s past and how he’d been heartbroken over some female. This was long before Jaxon had joined the Guardians. Before he’d made his commitment to the state of Arkansas.
If some woman had broken Barrett’s heart, Barrett sure as fuck would steer clear of females. Not Jaxon. Whenever the Were had time off from a mission, he had the females lined up. A new female every time Barrett turned around.
Yet another reason why Barrett intended on never mating. He wasn’t getting sucked into the female mind fuck.
“Want me to go down and handle it? He’s in the southern part of the state, right?” Ryker looked at him.
Barrett nodded. “Yeah, head on down there, but keep it on the down low. I want to see if Jaxon makes up for this and gets her on his own. But keep me updated on what’s going on.”
“You got it.” Ryker eased out the chair and grabbed his sunglasses off the desk before heading out the door.
Barrett eased back into his leather chair and reached for a file on the corner of his desk: Jaxon’s file.
Maybe if he researched Jaxon’s past a little bit, he could get a better read on how to help his Guardian.
He flipped through the pages until he came to the very last page. His finger stopped on a name that had a familiar ring. Ginny Wilson.
He turned his computer on and typed her name into his database of werewolves. A few short seconds later, her picture popped up on his screen.
Ginny Wilson, AKA Ginny Boudier
“Fuck.” It was like a punch in the gut.
Ginny Wilson wasn’t just the girl who had broken Jaxon’s heart.
Ginny was the daughter of the most dangerous Pack Master in the States. She was the daughter of Edward Boudier, the Louisiana Pack Master who’d managed to capture, torture, and kill two of his Guardians.
He’d never actually seen Boudier’s daughter, and people rarely mentioned her. In fact, it had been years since someone had brought up Ginny’s name. As the years had gone by, Barrett had just assumed the daughter had died.
He took a deep breath and shook his head. Jaxon had been lucky to dodge that bullet. If he had ended up with Ginny, then who knew how his life would have turned out.
At least he wasn’t with her now and hadn’t been for years.
Jaxon’s ex was their enemy.