Demonic Regime

Chapter 21: Price of a Mate (Jax)

"Stop him." I pounded my fists on Max's shoulder. "Tell him to stop."

"Jax, Jax, calm down." He sat me on the table and cupped my cheeks. "There's nothing we can do. Axil can claim anyone he wants on free land. If we try to interfere it could lead to war. We can't keep a beta from his mate."

The tears hit again, and I fell into his chest. "Jed can't do it. He's not like me. Becoming a werewolf will kill him. He won't be able to handle it. The rest of my family can come to terms with it, but not Jed." I peered up into his dark eyes. "Please, stop him."

Max hugged him. "I'm sorry, Max. But Jed belongs to Axil now."

***

(Jed)

The door opened, and I sat very still. Hide stepped into the house. I swallowed hard and kept my head down.

Closing the door, Hide leaned against the wall. "What are we going to do with you?"

"He's still human," said Cat. "If Axil had claimed him, his feet would have healed by now."

Hide took in a sharp breath. "So it was Axil." He shook his head. "I knew your blood was good, but good enough for a beta, now that's saying something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. "I'm going to enjoy this."

A knife flipped out. My eyes grew wide, and I clambered to the other side of the room.

Cat stepped into Hide's way and snatched the man's wrist. "Put it away. Killing Red would make you no better than the werewolves."

"Axil's bitch is right in front of me." He jerked his arm free. "I'm going to enjoy slitting the kid's throat and leaving the body for that fucking mutt to find."

"You're wasting him, boss," breathed Coyote, picking at his teeth.

Gasping for air, I sat between the wall and Coyote's legs. The two men looked at each other.

"Red hasn't been turned, but Axil is still going to come for him. If anything, think what you can get for him." He nodded down at me. "If you don't sell him to the werewolf, I know plenty of people in Houston who will pay enough money to fund us for years."

"We just lost the warehouse," said Cat, " and we could use the funds to find new recruits."

Hide looked at her annoyed. "I get it. He's better alive than dead." He folded the blade back.

I let out a shaky breath and sunk into the corner.

"Don't think you're safe, kid." Hide pointed his pocket knife at me. "I'm only keeping you alive to see what I can get out of you. You better hope we can find a buyer and that Axil even wants a pathetic parasite like yourself." He turned to leave. "I should have put a bullet in your head when I found out about your brother." Opening the door, he stepped outside and slammed it shut behind him.

Falling onto my side, I covered my face with my arms. I felt sick.

Pix hurried over and knelt down. "Hey, it's fine." She rubbed my back. "He's just mad about losing the warehouse. We were making some ground there and to lose it all in a day, it's hard."

I nodded and pressed my fist to my lips.

She ran her hand through my hair and looked at Cat. "What do we do?"

"Exactly what Hide says," replied Coyote. "Piss him off and he'll put a bullet in your head." He took out his lighter and headed outside.

Cat fell back against the wall and bounced her head on it. "Nothing for the moment," she whispered.

"Are we going to let Hide sell Red off? That's something a werewolf would do."

Cat shrugged. "For now, we wait. Hide is the one with the connections. We need him. And trying anything now might end with the werewolves catching us." She stood up straight. "The last thing we need is Axil finding us with his mate. If that happens, we might as well put a bullet in our own heads." She headed for the door. "Help him into the room. We'll probably be staying here for the night."

Pix looped my arm around her neck and took some of my weight off my feet as I stood. I grimaced with every step.

"The cream should seal them by tomorrow." She lowered me down onto a dingy pile of rags and sat down by the wall. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes.

"Who was the shooter?" I whispered.

"Hmm...." She opened one eye.

"The shooter, the one killing the werewolves, who did it?"

Pix smiled. "I'm not as helpless as you thought."

"You?"

"I've practiced for years. I may not be a closeup fighter, but far away, I'm as good as any. Hide just refuses to ever give me a chance."

"You've proven yourself this time."

She shifted, looking rather proud of herself. "Maybe now he'll stop seeing me as this little, helpless girl. I can fight. I joined the rebellion to fight."

Nodding, I peered up at the ceiling. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey, Red?"

"Yeah."

"Snog."

I forced down the lump in my throat. "He didn't make it."

I heard her breath go shaky before the room fell quiet again. Snog was weird, smelly guy, but he didn't deserve to die. Closing my eyes, I could see the warehouse floor covered in blood. It was a sight I'd never be able to escape.