Jett's Wild Wolf (Mystic Wolves 3) (3 page)

The little spitfire was getting ready to hit a man three times her size. He shook his head, leaping off the stage, uncaring if anyone noticed how far he jumped. The need to reach her side before any injury could fall upon her, became almost overwhelming.

Bodies were pushed aside in his haste to reach the trio, and he knew his wolf had surged to the front of his mind. He pulled the beast back, keeping fangs, fur and claws from unleashing, however if anyone cared to look close enough he was sure his eyes had gone all wolf.

“I said let her go.”

Jett prowled closer, stopping when he heard the deep husky tone of his woman. He had to blink a few times at the thought.

“Hey, I caught her. Don’t you think I deserve a reward? Come on, baby. How about a little kiss?”

A feminine whimper came from the woman held by the man, but Jett held back, wanting to see what happened next.

“I’ll tell you what I’ll give you. I’ll give you exactly three seconds to let her go,” the woman growled. Jett felt his dick swell at the sound.

“Now, is that anyway to talk to the man who saved your friend from falling down?”

Jett could see the purple haired woman’s eyes narrow, the unusual color so blue they were almost painful to look at.

She grabbed the arm locked around her friend by the wrist, and then with surprising strength twisted it away from her friend. The big man let out a yell making the patrons around stop and look at them.

“You fucking, whore,” the man swore, raising his free arm and swung.

Reaching out, Jett pulled the man out of the woman’s hold. He wasn’t sure who was more surprised, the gorgeous creature, or the man. “Now, is that any way to talk to a lady?” Jett tsked.

The pair of ladies huddled together, watching him hold the shorter, but bulkier man with ease.

“Get off me.”

“Not until you apologize.” Why he felt the need to make the man grovel, he had no clue. He exerted a little more pressure, knowing when the body had enough and would break under strain, and stopped just short of that.

A mumbled apology came out before Jett released him none too gently. “Next time, make sure the lady is willing before you go grabbing them.”

“You both okay?” Jett asked, looking at first the one who’d been held, then at the only one who he really cared about. She kept her eyes down, an act that usually meant submission, but he didn’t think there was a sub bone in her body. He reached out slowly with his right arm, lifting her chin, bringing her face up to meet his gaze. Just as he was bracing himself for that connection, the pungent scent hit him, closer than before, surrounding the three of them.

He brought his mouth next to her ear. “I need you to take your friend and run. Get out of the bar and get as far away from here as you possibly can. Do you hear me?” His wolf howled a protest, wanting this woman now.

She looked around, startled eyes met his and nodded. “Let’s go Darian. Kylie and Jenna already left.”

“I’m scared, Taryn,” the one named Darian whispered.

Jett now had a name for the woman. Taryn. He let her name sink into his brain while he moved them toward the exit, keeping his body between them and the threat he could feel moving in on him. The hair at the nape of his neck raised, calling to his wolf. These shifters were looking for a fight.

“Hello, Jett. You need some assistance?” Raydon sidled up to his side, his twin right next to him.

“Evening, boys. I do believe we might wanna take this outside. Not that this bar ain’t seen its fair share of brawls, but I’m thinking it could get ugly.” Jett nudged his chin in the direction of the men fanning out around them. He was sure only half a dozen had shown up, and by the looks of it he was off by a couple.

River popped his neck. “They’re just trying to even the odds is all.”

“Let’s take it out back, boys. No need to let the human pop know about us if the fur hits the fan,” Zayn growled. Jett should’ve known his best friend would come in as silent as a wraith.

“Yeehaw, now it’s a fucking party.” Torq slapped his hands together. Nobody would ever accuse the man of clapping.

Bronx prowled in, people moved out of his way without the man saying or doing a thing. Jett stood six foot four in his stocking feet, but Bronx towered over all of them, not to mention he was built like a linebacker. In his shifted form he was almost as big as a bear shifter. Damn good to have on your side in either form.

“I’d say we just evened out the odds, boys. Let’s go see what they are made of.” Niall walked right into the middle of the half circle, bumping shoulders with two of the other shifters. Growls echoed around the room. All the men from the Mystic Pack followed their alpha, knowing they’d just issued a challenge.

Jett lifted his nose as they walked out the door, not willing to walk into a trap. Although he knew Niall and Zayn had already done the same, he wasn’t taking any chances. The first scent that came to him was one that made him stumble. Fucking spiced honey. He jerked his head back and forth looking for the woman named Taryn, wondering why she didn’t run when he’d told her to. When he finished beating the shit out of the wolves, he was going to spank one pretty little girl’s ass so she’d not disobey him again. Jett pulled his mind back to the task at hand. She wasn’t his to punish, or make obey him. Hell, he was a thirty-five year old man, and she was probably a barely legal child, if that.

The familiar feel of power washed over him, flowing out, keeping humans from seeing what was about to go down. Gravel crunching beneath their heavy footfalls punctuated the night air. Jett could tell where each one of his brothers were without looking by the sound of their tread. As the door to the bar banged open, he knew the other pack had followed them long before their tainted scent hit him.

He pivoted at the same time they attacked. Claws erupted from his fingertips, meeting one of the men head on. The other man’s talons raked across his chest, burning him like they’d been dipped in acid. Hatred stared back at him from the yellow gaze of the man-beast. Jett blocked out the pain and motioned him to come on. The taunt only seemed to madden him, making him shriek and dive straight toward his chest, his fingers stretched straight at the vicinity of Jett’s heart.

Again, Jett deflected his attack, slashing his own claws up and down in a pattern sure to maim and kill. The foul stench coming off the man-beast became thicker with each drop of blood it lost. He noticed the skin shriveling up and away from the exposed bones, but he didn’t allow satisfaction to show until he’d defeated the creature. He thought he was losing his mind, but looking around at the other beings his pack members were fighting, all seemed to be dying the same way. The bodies rotting away before their eyes.

He heard a female’s gasp, and then felt something clamp down on his neck from behind, tearing into his flesh. Jett reached over his shoulder and gave a vicious twist, hearing the sickening crunch and pop, and then great relief as the teeth in his neck were released. Blood flowed freely from the wound, he swore acid was pouring straight into his veins and working its way through his entire body.

The heavy weight of the body on his back became too much for him, and his knees met the gravel parking lot. Jett fell forward, catching himself on his palms. He didn’t have the strength to shift back from his partial beast. Bright red blood mixed with black he knew was from the being he’d just killed, covered his hands and the ground in front of him.

Jett had never been sick a day in his life, but now he felt like he was burning from the inside out. Everything in his stomach was threatening to come back up, but he swallowed the bile.

“I can help him.” The voice of his angel spoke. He surely must be dying, he thought.

Jett was sure there were more voices, he wanted to tell them to pipe the fuck down. That their screaming hurt his fucking ears. For fucksake, they were gonna wake the dead, but he didn’t have the strength.

“Protect, Taryn,” Jett said, barely able to think, but knew he needed his brothers to know she was important.

“Who are you?” Niall asked.

Jett tried to push himself up before darkness swallowed him. It sucked to meet your maker right when you found your mate.

“My name is Taryn. I can help rid him of the poison flowing through him, but we need to do it quickly.”

“Help him, now, or I will kill you myself.” Bronx’s voice had his head raising, but he couldn’t make his body listen to his brain.

* * * *

T
aryn took a quick breath in. A few of the wolves had taken the cowards way out and ran when they realized they weren’t gonna win. She couldn’t believe the way they’d looked and the stench rolling off them was worse than before. Keith was poisoning the pack, or building them up for something that was wholly evil.

She stared at the largest wolf with the blond hair and blue eyes ready to kill her if she didn’t cure their friend. Goddess, she prayed she could. “I’m going to need to touch him.” It was going to take a lot more than her touching him, but she held back all the details for the moment. The stares and distrust glaring back at her from Jett’s pack scared her almost as much as the thought of going back to face Keith. Sucking in a breath, she waited for one of them to decide what her fate was.

“You don’t smell tainted like they did, but I can tell you are mixed up with them somehow. If I let you touch him, and you in anyway harm one hair on his body, you will die by my hand.” The one she knew was the alpha spoke.

She nodded in acknowledgement. If she couldn’t save Jett, she’d rather die herself, and may very well during the process. Her life didn’t matter like his. She had nobody. She was nothing, but if she could do one thing that would show the world she was worthy before she died, at least her life wouldn’t have been for nothing.

“Is there somewhere we can go that will be more comfortable for him that’s close? This will take a bit, and he’s gonna need a place he can rest after...” Not to mention, she’d need somewhere to fall down that didn’t include gravel and dirt.

In a flurry of movement, they had Jett up and were leading the way down the alley. She knew they were taking her back to their club Chaps, and assumed they’d have a place there. The bar had been cleared out with only other shifters still in attendance. Taryn had a few dozen butterflies dancing in her stomach, being surrounded by so many strange wolves. Her life would be forfeit if he didn’t survive. Of course, her life was going to be forfeit if she went back to Keith smelling like the Mystic Wolves. There was no way she was going to be able to get their scent off of her body once she did what was needed to save Jett.

“Let’s go, but remember what Niall said back there, only I’ll be the one to kill you. Slowly.” Taryn recognized the quiet growl coming from Zayn, the alpha’s brother.

Again, she remained quiet. There was no sense in saying anything, whether they chose to believe her or not, didn’t matter. If Jett survived they would hold her fate in their claws.

Taryn took a deep cleansing breath, convincing them what she was about to do was the only way to save their packmate, she wasn’t sure what they’d do. “I’m not going to lie to you. I know you can scent one, so use your nose, not your hearts. I will have to bond with him. Believe me, if there was another way I’d do it.”

Niall turned so fast she bumped into him. “What do you mean, bond to him? Like mate him?” His hands gripped her upper arms, bringing her up to his eye level. At five feet four she was used to men and many women being taller than her. However, being so close to the alpha in a rage and not knowing what he’d do was new. With Keith she was always aware he’d beat her, or torment her in one way or another. The Mystic Pack had a different set of rules. She let her mind go blank, mentally finding a safe place she could hide away from the pain and humiliation. It was the only way she could survive.

She found herself back on her feet, the comforting hands of a woman she didn’t know rubbing her arms, soothing words reached her ears. Taryn hated herself for the show of weakness. “I’m sorry, I...” she trailed off. What could she say?

“Explain and do it quickly. He is getting worse.” Niall’s voice wasn’t as growly, but still held the bite of steel.

“In order to wash the venom out of him, I will need to give him my blood. I won’t take his, so it won’t be a full bond like a mate bond, but I will also need to go inside him. My parentage is questionable. Suffice it to say, I have always been able to fix things. I will try with him.” She looked from one man to the next, letting them see her sincerity.

All eyes turned to Niall, waiting for him to give the all clear. Taryn swore she could hear the seconds on the clock in the bar ticking.

Niall’s head nodded up and down. “Do it.”

Lying on a black leather sofa, sweat dripping down his temples, Jett Tremaine was still one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen. She pressed her palm to his throat, over the torn flesh from the wolf bite. Heat burned skin. She closed her eyes, centered in on the entry point and let herself become a cleansing light. The process was slow going as she chased the darkness flooding his veins, eating away at all Jett’s goodness, and the man had tons of good in his soul. She wanted to weep at the loss of what could have been if she’d been someone else.

Her golden light enclosed the last of the murky green, pushing it out like she’d done on many occasions in her own body. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring down at a much more relaxed looking Jett. His pale features didn’t appear quite so pained. The torn flesh was knitted together, but under her own shirt she knew the flesh was not so lucky. Before she could falter in the healing process, Taryn allowed her fangs to extend, then bit down where the torn flesh had been. After injecting her blood into him, she took a small amount of his into her own body, just enough for a small exchange that would allow him to survive.

“That is effing amazing, dude,” Raydon whispered.

Taryn looked over to see the identical twins Raydon and his brother River, both with looks of awe in their brown eyes.

Now that she’d healed Jett, the energy suck was taking its toll. “He will need to rest for a day or two.” As she went to get up, the world spun a little, making her fall into Bronx who stood ready to kill her, of that she had no doubt. When he reached out to grip her shoulders to hold her steady, the injury she’d taken on from Jett had her screaming out in agony.