3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

20 | knife

2 0

k n i f e

ADRIAN WAS AZAZEL.

How had we not seen it coming? Perhaps we were so caught up in the fact that Mattheus was Malthus, Claudius was Orcus, Diego was Dimitri that we hadn't even realised that there was another of the syndicate on Titan land. But Jed's mother was right – Titan was home to the syndicate all along.

Keep your friends close, enemies closer, they say. And Jed had done just that.

His jaw was clenched in anger as he stared at Azazel now, fingers curled so tightly around the chain that his knuckles were almost white. Everyone around us was silent, an equal blend of wariness and shock surrounding us. Azazel's friends, in particular, the ones who'd worked with him and respected him were all looking extremely betrayed, while Bianca was coolly watching the proceedings from her seat by the counter. But all I could focus on at that moment was how Azazel was beginning to curl in on himself in a frighteningly familiar way, his posture entirely defensive as he tried to pull away from Jed.

"Adrian – Azazel." My voice sliced through the tension and his dark eyes immediately snapped over to me. I swallowed at how predatory he looked all of a sudden and forced myself to meet his gaze evenly. "Don't shift."

"I'd listen," He mused calmly. "But you're forgetting one very important thing." Without warning, he raised an arm to elbow Jed square in the chest, the impact momentarily throwing Jed back a few steps, amidst surprised gasps and the occasional angry mutter from the others surrounding us. Then he fixed his gaze on me, his eyes almost obsidian as the corner of his lips tugged up in a wicked grin. "You're not my Luna."

Then he shifted.

Bones cracking, fur sifting, limbs stretching – until he was that same brown wolf I'd seen the night of Spike's funeral. It was instinct that made me take a quick step back, my fingers flying to the chain on my neck as I searched for the silver blade within my pendant. But I didn't have to. Because just as Azazel lunged at me, a mass of black fur rammed right at him from the side, knocking him right off course.

I hadn't even realised that Jed had shifted during the time elapsed, but he was tackling Azazel to the ground, his larger form looming over the latter as he bared his teeth at him. There wasn't a doubt that Azazel was one of the best fighters that Titan had, and I saw it now, the way he snapped threateningly at Jed before twisting out of the way, circling Jed in a manner that put him on the offense, Jed's posture entirely defensive as he stood rigidly, green eyes sharp as he anticipated for Azazel's next move.

Pandemonium had broken out at the sight of the fight, and in the background, I heard several people begin to shift, only for Vaughn to stop them just in time. It was never a good idea to intervene in a fight this vicious. There were shouts and yells as people got up from their seats to get a closer glimpse of the fight, several older and younger ones evacuating the premises while furniture was dragged out of the way to prevent more collateral damage.

I was all but frozen to the spot, too confused and shocked by the turn of events to even comprehend it, but a hand snuck out at the last second to pull me out of the way when Jed and Azazel came a little too close. It was Lorraine. She kept her gaze firmly averted from me when I threw a grateful glance at her, but I was instantly reminded of the first time she'd pulled me out of a fight when a couple of rogues had first trespassed into the diner months ago. She'd kept me safe and it was no different now, in spite of all the tragedies that had occurred since then.