(Jed) 

They were coming. I could see the two figures racing through the desert toward me. There might even be a third. There was something else out there, but it was further away. I took slow and steady breaths as I aimed at the first one. To kill a werewolf required precision—the head or the heart. The bullet needs to cause enough damage that it could kill the dog before it could heal. 

I released a deep breath and pulled the trigger. A bang echoed through the area as the werewolf did a cartwheel through the dirt. The other mutt darted to the side. I could sense the panic in its movements. I took aim and fired. It let out a yelp and skidded across the ground. I swallowed hard and watched for movement. 

“Holy shit.” I wiped my face. 

The sand was sticking to my skin. I rested my head on my arm. I felt relieved, but I had only prolonged my death. More would come. Movement caught my eye, and I rolled out of the way of the clawed hand swinging toward me. I stumbled down the hill and landed at the bottom as a werewolf, with blood gushing from its chest, came charging toward me. I fumbled with the gun. The mutt launched into the air. I lifted the pistol as the dog blocked out the moon above me. I pulled the trigger, and a sharp pain erupted in my chest when its claws scraped across my arm and chest. The werewolf landed on top of me and didn’t move. My sight went black, and I felt close to passing out. I couldn’t breathe. I struggled to get the mutt off me. The pain was making it hard to coordinate my movements.

I dug my fingernails into the dirt and used all my strength. I was going to puke. I had felt toxins before, but never to this level. The weight moved off my legs, and I frantically tried to find the gun. There had been a third! I spotted the pistol through my spotting vision and went for it. Someone kicked it away, and another person dressed in dark clothes picked it up. 

This was it. 

I collapsed onto the ground. Death wouldn’t be too bad. The pain would stop. 

“Drag him over here.”

Someone pulled on my wounded arm. I could take it and buckled over to puke on the ground. Something warm was poured onto my chest. The pain began to fade. I peered above me to see the werewolf’s head with its jaw cut open, and the blood was being wiped across the cuts. It was fucking coated in it, and vomit was slowly rising for another reason.

The end of a man’s cigarette glowed in front of me. I watched him as blood continued to run down my chest.

“So, are you going live?” He gave me a grin.

“Who the hell are you? Rebels?”

He gave me an oversized smile and sat on his heels. “Lucky for you.” He flicked his cigarette to the side. “Don’t you know?” He grabbed the head of the werewolf and lifted it. “If they get you, you gotta fucking cut them open.” The man flipped open a pocketknife and motioned along the underside of the dog’s jaw. “That’s where the healing power is located.” He dropped the werewolf. “Wow.” Standing, he circled around me. “Two in one go. You’re one hell of a shot.”

Shaking, I slowly climbed to my feet. “You’re rebels.”

“No shit,” said a woman. “We’re not tourists, dipshit.”

“More are coming,” I stated.

“For you.” The man lit another cigarette. “The werewolf killer, from what the news has been saying. Has all of Midfield up in arms.”

I glared at him. “You’re a rebel.” I looked around at the group of humans. “Killing werewolves is part of the job.”

He nodded. “True. We’re hiring. Are you interested?”

“Yes,” I stated.

The man blew smoke at me. “Excellent. We had hoped to find you before they did. Let’s get the hell out of here. Pix, the kid will ride with you.”

“Me?” she groaned. “Come on, make someone else.”

“He’s with you.” He pointed from me to her. “Let’s go, or our new sharpshooter is going to need to kill a couple more. Don’t know if we can risk it,” he laughed, walking off. “Midfield will send in the big dogs if we kill too many in one day.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me along. “Come on,” she muttered. “You’re going to get fucking blood everywhere.”

We marched over the next embankment, where ATVs were parked at the bottom. 

She dragged me to the one at the back and shoved me toward it. “Get in.”

I opened the door and got into the passenger seat. I made it. Holy shit, I made it. I sank lower and let out a deep breath. My chest was still tingling, but it was so much better now. 

“If you puke, do it over there.” She pointed out the side. “Don't vomit all over the place. Blood is bad enough. I’m going to have to scrub that shit.” She put on a weird helmet with binoculars. “I fucking hate blood stains. Goddamn mess. He’s riding with you, asshole.”

The ATVs in front of us started to move. The woman was still cursing to herself as she slammed on the gas. I didn’t feel sick anymore, just exhausted. My eyes began to close. I did it. I made it to freedom.

***

(Jax)

I felt movement behind me. I rubbed my eyes and flinched when I noticed my surroundings. This wasn’t my bedroom. This wasn’t even my house. Max stretched out beside me before letting out a sigh. He rubbed his face before getting up and shuffling to the bathroom. I lay there, motionless. I was going to marry a werewolf. The thought wasn’t as shocking as yesterday, but it was still overwhelming. Max returned still naked, stretching his arms overhead. 

“Hmm… hungry?” He rolled his head side to side. “I have to do my morning training session. They’ve been kicking my ass lately. I can have the servants bring you some food.”

I swallowed hard. “I need to use the bathroom.”

His mouth opened and then closed. “Oh, yeah. Forgot.” Max walked over and threw off the covers. His nose scrunched up. “You need a bath. I kept smelling it last night.”

I glared at him and looked away. 

The corner of his mouth turned up. “So the hair is not for show?”

“What does that mean?” I muttered. “You all keep mentioning my hair. It’s red. It’s always been red. It’s not going to change.”

Max pressed his fists into the mattress on either side of me. “It might. You’re male. The color of your fur reflects your rank. I hope the red stays, but I don’t think it’ll be this dark.” He scooped me up and carried me to the bathroom. “I’m thinking a strawberry blond.”

“Do you always walk around naked?” I muttered.

Max shrugged. “When I’m in my room, yes.”

“I’m here,” I replied.

“Yeah, my future mate. You’re going to see this a lot. Besides, Clark has seen it plenty, so what’s the problem? Cover in fur, not cover in fur, same thing.”

“Humans are different.”

“I’m aware.”

I stared at the interior of the bathroom wide-eyed. “This is just yours?” It looked more like a communal bathroom by its size.

“Yeah.”

“That’s your shower?” I scanned the giant room behind a tiled wall, which had several showerheads.

Max nodded. “You could say your life has been upgraded,” he chuckled. “Nice, right? It was remodeled a year or so ago.”

“I didn’t know they made bathrooms this big.” I spotted the enormous built-in tub with a waterfall feature. It could fit a few werewolves in it. 

“My uncle’s is nicer. It’s a little bigger, but my aunt’s closet is something else. He had it redone for her.”

I glanced at the adjoining room, its walls lined with clothing. So he owned clothes and just chose not to wear them. He took me into the separate toilet room and left me to have a moment of privacy. After finishing, I sat there for a moment in the small room. My head hurt. This was a lot to process.

“Are you done? You didn’t fall in, right?”

I flushed the toilet. 

The door opened, and he came to get me. The waterfall faucet had been turned on to fill the tub. Max removed my underwear in one swoop. 

I panicked, and my hands shot to my crotch. “What are you doing?!”

“Bathing you.” Max set me into the tub that was slanted on one side. “Let me get a towel.” He went to get one.

Using one hand, I scrubbed at my skin while watching Max. I had been naked around my brothers and fathers plenty, but this was weird—awkward even. 

Max returned and put the folded towel behind my head. “How’s that?”

“Fine.”

He dipped the washcloth into the water. “I should get Clark to do this or one of the servants.” He turned toward the door.

I snatched his arm. “I’d rather not.” The heat was rising in my face.

With a chuckle, he nodded. “Humans are so shy.” He washed my legs. “You will be my mate. I know when I mark you, I won’t like others touching you. The instincts”—he groaned—“I’m not looking forward to that part.”

“I thought it made things easier.”

He shrugged. “Some instincts are annoying. Can you sit up?”

I did my best and hunched forward. 

Max washed my hair and washed my back. “You need to gain some weight.”

“Hmm…” I tried not to sound annoyed. 

“Is that part of your condition?”

“Probably,” I muttered. 

With a sigh, he rested his head on the side of the tub. “I need to mark you.”

I glanced at him. “I can do it. I mean, I just have to live long enough for you to bite me, then I should be fine, right? People have sex every day. It hears it’s fun.” I was saying this more to convince myself.

“True.” He touched my shoulder. “I feel like I’m going to break you.”

I glared at him.

Max laughed. “Oh, come on. You weigh nothing. I feel like I’m hauling around a little pup.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned away from him. “Then fix it. It’s not like I can. I’m lucky to have lived this long.”

“Alright then.”

I perked up. “Like, right now?”

“Do you want me to or not? Now, tonight, tomorrow? We can’t push it off too long. Andreas will start hounding us about it.”

Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Now. I don’t want to spend all day worrying about it.”

“Me neither.” He turned off the water. “Now is as good a time as any.”