Page 41 of Jake

“Good luck later.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, your pixiu is not happy. You know that saying, ‘happy wife, happy life’?”

“Hold the train, vamp senior. That woman upstairs. No, that creature. She’s not my mate, let alone a wife. That’s a human thing anyway. Maybe you vamps get married but us wolves…yeah, no.”

“I think you, my friend, are in denial. But perhaps you just need time. Becoming Alpha. Even I’ll admit it’s a lot for a guy to take.”

“I’ve gotta get dressed,” Jake said, ignoring Quintus. What the hell is taking Tabitha so long?

As he stepped into the foyer, the she-wolf bounded down the stairs. He nodded as she approached, and headed to the front door.

“Thank you for coming over on such short notice.” Jake curled his fingers around the handle. Quintus was right. This had been a mistake, at least as far as his relationship with Kai was concerned.

“So what’s going on?” Tabitha reached for his hand and he stepped backward. “Are you dating this woman? She’s not even a wolf.”

“I’m helping her.”

“Helping her? Really? Is that what they call it? Because I could scent you all over her.” Tabitha sniffed. “What is she anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter what she is. And you’re going to keep this quiet.”

“Yeah, well maybe I will or maybe I won’t. I can’t believe you’re fucking a witch, after everything Dimitri went through.”

“Lower your voice, woman. I’m telling you right now, and this is as good as Logan speaking, if you breathe a word of this to anyone else in the pack, you’re going to face consequences. This is a serious matter.”

Tabitha crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, her lips pursed in anger.

“Not a fucking word, Tabby. You hear me? You and I, when this is all over, we’ll sort things, but we are not mates, so cut the shit.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Yeah, I am. But you will listen or you’ll find yourself in a shitload of trouble with Logan.”

“But she’s not even pretty. You shouldn’t be with a witch.”

Tabitha went to reach for him, but Jake backed away again, opening the door. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

“Fine. I won’t say anything but when you get done with this slut, you have a real wolf waiting for you.”

Jake gestured for her to leave. Tabitha exited, giving a curt wave as she did so. He closed the door and shook his head. Jesus Christ. Fucking women. As he glanced up the staircase, guilt settled in his stomach. Kai would be pissed but they both knew the score when they’d had sex. He could only mate with other wolves, so there was no use in getting emotionally attached. Trouble was that his wolf couldn’t get enough of her, and he’d already invested in saving his beautiful creature and her sister.

Jake sighed, attempting to shake off the uneasy feeling creeping into his chest. Emotions were messy, distracting. Tonight he needed to focus. Jonathon was not to be trifled with and although Quintus was lethal in his own right, they’d be outnumbered. His coven of vampires would be well represented. As Jake trod upstairs, he grew determined to get the Kris, praying like hell it would help Kai and they could go get her sister.