Page 22 of Stolen Choices

However, as he emerged into a clearing in the woods, his luck was out. He saw the laughter was coming from Isobel as she watched the bear shifter, she professed to love, splash around in the water. A human, and daughter of the senator who’d tried to destroy them. Jackson shifted into his black panther form. If he couldn’t destroy the witch for casting the spell on him, he’d get them back by taking down one of their humans—a dangerous one at that. He crouched even lower in the surrounding grass and crawled closer and closer toward his target. Isobel still laughed with Zain. The bear was catching fish, and he was throwing them toward her to put in a basket. Every now and then one would squirm in her hands—she’d struggle to keep hold of it, and it would splash back into the water. Each time, Zain would shake his head until eventually he turned back into a human.

“You’re no good at this.”

“Well I don’t have the claws to hold them,” Isobel retorted.

“I don’t know, your nails are long enough. They left an imprint on my back last night.” Zain winked at her, and Jackson’s stomach turned. Sex with a human. Disgusting.

He licked his lips at the thought of the impending incision his teeth would make into Isobel’s fragile neck. His head was the clearest it had been in days. No pain, just the thought of destroying a human and then going on to kill the rest. Katia was a distraction and the reason for his pain. He didn’t need her.

His prey was almost within reach. He crouched lower so that his black-furred belly was flat on the floor. He steadied his paws and pushed off into the air, but he didn’t reach his target. He was sent flying sideways when a massive lion and snow leopard rammed into him. Isobel screamed, and he heard the roar of a bear heading his way. His head slammed into the ground, and everything went black.

* * *

When Jackson woke in human form, his head was hurting again—this pain was different, though. He reached up and touched his left temple. When he pulled his hand away there was blood. It must have been from where he hit the ground. He looked around him, taking in his surroundings. He was in a cage, and on the other side of the bars, standing in human form, were a very angry looking Kas, Jessica, Brayden, Selene, Emma, Scott, Tyler, Teagan, Isobel, and Zain. The only person who wasn’t there, staring daggers at him, was the other human, Jane. He guessed she was probably with Emma and Scott’s lion cubs.

“Explain,” Kas growled, his fangs drawn despite the fact he was in human form.

Jackson kept his mouth shut.

“Explain, or I’ll get Jessica to force it out of you,” the polar bear threatened.

“I think she’s done enough to me already, don’t you think?”

Kas and Jessica passed a look of confusion between them.

Jackson pointed to his head.

“The headaches. Have you really cast that many black magic spells you don’t remember what you did to me?”

“I’ve not cast a spell on you, Jackson.” Jessica shook her head.

“Liar and potential…no, scrap that! Not potential, but actual murderer.”

Zain shifted his hand to a bear’s paw and rattled the bars of the cage.

“Let’s send him back to his keeper as dog food. Knowing Nuka, he’d probably eat him. The fucker is sick enough.”

“Zain,” Kas admonished the bear shifter. “Enough.”

“Did Nuka send you to kill me?” Isobel was the next to speak.

The human dared to come close to the bars, and Jackson allowed a reverberating growl to erupt from his throat. Zain pulled his woman back against his chest.

“Don’t even think about it,” Zain snarled.

“Answer Isobel’s question.” Kas deflected Jackson’s attention away from Isobel and back to himself.

“Why should I?” Jackson questioned.

“Because she asked nicely, and we’re all civilized people here.”

Jackson let out a laugh.

“Is that what you tell all the humans you meet? You seem to forget they view us as wild animals. Although it appears that some of them get off on the fact we could turn and sink our teeth into their necks at any point.”

“Enough!” Kas shouted, and the entire room seemed to quake at his command. “Did Nuka send you?”

“No,” Jackson finally admitted. “It was an opportunistic attack.”