Page 67 of Wild Games

I meet Zane’s eyes across the room. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

Something passes between us. He knows. Maybe not the exact details, but he understands what’s happening here, that we’re mates. He just doesn’t have a clue how to deal with it when he already has more than enough problems of his own.

The door bursts open then. Dean rushes in with Lynn right behind him, and takes in the scene, Raven holding his throat, and Zane looking slightly shell-shocked. His expression goes from concerned to exasperated.

“So much for getting your shit together, brother.”

Jax closes his eyes, and I can feel how disappointed he is in himself.

“What happens now?” Dean looks at Zane, all business, alpha instead of big brother, then shoots Raven a look that could make even the most arrogant of wolves curl up in a ball and hide. “And if you suggest locking my brother up, we’re going to have a different problem.”

Raven opens his mouth, but Zane speaks first. “Protocol says I should take him for assessment and treatment.”

We all know what that means, an evaluation to determine if he’s too dangerous to live. The sterile words don’t hide the cold reality. Jax’s life would hang in the balance.

“No.” I snap. I’ve been to those places before, and I know what happens to 95 percent of the wolves that go in. They never come back out. They’d test him, push his limits to see how far his control extended. Eventually, he’d crack.

“I can put it off. I have enough to deal with for now,” Zane adds quietly, stressing his displeasure at having to make such a call. “You saved Camille. It’s the last thing I want to do, but my hands might be tied.”

A dark chuckle breaks the awkward silence.

“Of course.” Lynn’s voice drips with scorn. “Enforcer first, decent person second.”

She steps closer to Zane, and despite the height difference, she doesn’t seem intimidated one bit.

Zane’s jaw tightens. “That’s not?—”

Lynn steps closer to him. “You have a mind of your own. You’re allowed to use it. What’s the point of having all this power if you can’t use it to do the right thing?”

They lock eyes, the tension between them hanging heavy in the air. This is about more than just Jax.

My head spins. The room tilts slightly. The adrenaline from last night is crashing, and exhaustion is pulling at my bones. I’m done with all this alpha posturing and the testosterone filling the air.

“I need...” I press a hand to my forehead. “I think I need to lie down...”

Jax is at my elbow immediately, giving everyone else in the room a furious glower . “Everyone out. Now.”

“But…” Raven starts.

Dean’s deep rumble joins Jax’s in telling Raven nobody cares what he thinks.

“Out. Now.” Dean’s alpha authority bleeds into his voice, and nobody is going to argue with this man right now. “Camille nearly drowned. She needs rest, not this circus.”

I lean into Jax, playing up the weakness as I look up at Zane. “I’ll keep Jax by my side. You have my word.”

Zane studies me for a long moment. Then nods. “Twenty-four hours. We’ve got the full moon, then the final. No more trouble.”

The threat hangs in the air.

They all file out. Raven is still muttering threats, and Lynn and Zane, carefully not looking at each other as they storm out, Dean shaking his head. The door closes behind them, leaving us in blessed silence.

I wait, listening to their footsteps fading down the hallway. Raven’s complaints grow distant, his scent in the room fading.

“Let me see.” I turn to Jax, taking his hands in mine. The shackles are cutting deep, silver poisoning preventing any healing. Blood has dried in rusty streaks down his forearms. “We need to get these off.”

He stays silent as I work, using a spare key he points out to open the locks, but I can almost hear the questions spinning around in his head.

The first shackle falls away with a clang against the floor. Jax’s skin is worse than I expected, raw and blistered, and weeping clear fluid. The second follows, revealing matching damage.