A low vibration filled the room, and for a moment I was afraid I was doing something magical without intending to. I looked around, desperately trying to seek out Kosuke and hoping he could tell me how to stop it. Instead, he was staring at... everyone, in fact, was staring at Seth.
Who in turn was glaring at Kent.
And growling, long and low, in a clear threat. I wasn’t the one making the noise. It was him.
Jax turned to look at his best friend and second, then at where his ire was centered, and frowned.
Jax didn’t say a word to him. Didn’t ask a question. Didn’t hesitate for a moment at his friend’s anger. He just looked at him a moment, then turned to me. I nodded to him, so he turned to Kent, who suddenly seemed less annoyed and more flustered.
Kent started to open his mouth again, but Jax wasn’t listening anymore. He marched through the living room, covering the small space between where Kent and I were standing, squared off, as half the pack looked on, waiting to see what was going to happen.
And it was so simple, the moment.
Jax reached out and laid a palm over the base of my neck, as though calming. Or maybe claiming. I held still. Okay, fine, it was Jax. I leaned into it.
But then, Jax reached out and similarly laid a palm over the base of Kent’s neck.
Or rather, he tried to. Kent jerked back, clearly expecting something more angry or violent, even though he’d been watching a second earlier when Jax had done precisely the same to me.
At that, Jax cocked his head, and leaned in, pressing his nose into Kent’s space and taking a deep sniff.
This time, Kent took a full step back.
Every pack member present took a collective breath, because we knew. It was obvious, without a single word spoken by anyone, what was going on. On the night of the challenge, right now, anytime Jax put a hand on me or came into my space, it wasn’t a threat. It was a comfort.
Jax was the man who had, till a moment earlier, been in the kitchen trying to make macaroni and cheese to feed the whole pack. He gave us everything he had, everything we could ever need. Jax took care of us. He did not threaten.
Not unless you weren’t part of our pack, and even then, he mostly ignored.
No, Jax was only a threat to a person under one circumstance.
And Kent? Kent, who by his own admission had known Jax for decades, and debatably knew him as well as anyone other than Jillian? He had clearly decided that Jax was a threat to him.
It could mean only one thing.
33
Jax
I’d never been in the habit of physically exerting my authority over any member of my pack, but especially those who were most likely to take offense to it.
Yes, usually the men.
My presence as alpha was meant to provide comfort and support to those I cared for. When that wasn’t how I was sure it’d be taken, I refrained from leaning in.
The last thing I wanted was for any member of the Crescent pack to shrink themselves to assuage my ego.
But there Kent was, shrinking.
It was all I could do to bite back a sigh.
“Challenge me.”
He startled, blinking fast. “What?”
“If you think you can lead this pack better than I can,” I said, dropping my heavy arm by my side, “challenge me. Prove it. Let’s work this out.”
Dakota made a sharp sound that said the very last thing he wanted was for Kent to have a chance towork this out, but I couldn’t be the kind of alpha who didn’t give my people the opportunity to change things. Maybe Kent was the only one whofelt this way—IhopedKent was the only one who felt this way—but he deserved the chance to work through it.
