Page 31 of Jackal's Pride

Jackal

After I fought my last battle in the ring, Maureen didn’t take us back to her place. Instead, she took me to the human world. By the time she was finished with me I was on my knees unable to walk.

Her name from my lips was like the desert and a prayer all wrapped in one—a void and a vast amount of everything. She depleted me every time she brought me to the human world to save people, yet at the same time, her presence soothed my curse by making me do what the hearts wanted. She intended to bleed me dry, then at the same time she filled me completely. One hundred and thirty-seven laid dormant in Maureen’s wake. Filling their place was my hatred and exhaustion and fight with her.

I spilled blood in the cage for her right before we went and saved so many in the human world. That confused me. How did she justify the difference between them? She spilled blood in that same ring... How were her killings any different from my disease? Trying to figure out the one who awakened me was more confusing than sorting through my emotions. I didn’t care. Did I?

I was curious about her. Just my luck to wonder about someone who had total control of me.

But even now as I tried to walk—leaning against Maureen with my arm draped over her shoulder—I was filled with the image of the bald warlock. I recalled the way his lecherous eyes lingered on her. Once again, rage consumed me even through the pain.

She huffed, and I tried to take some of my weight off of her.

“Fucking hell!” Maureen breathed out a sigh.

It made me somewhat satisfied knowing I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable. Although every part of me hurt, I tried to keep my eyes open. Every time I closed them, I imagined her smiling at another male and a snarl escaped my lips.

“Did you just growl?” she asked.

I ignored her.

Her smell was fucking with me and making me miserable. Maureen might be the Devil herself. After all, no one was meant to be so tempting unless you were Satan himself.

Only Satan would drag me to four different cities and let me drain my power healing others. Only the Princess of Darkness would expect me to walk, but then press her lavender-scented skin against me. Maureen’s smell pulled me into a web of smoke and fog that I couldn’t escape. Stumbling against her, I realized the difference between my bulk and her minute stature. At some point my hand grazed her skin, and I let the tips of my fingers slide across it. So soft, softer than I’d expected. Grim’s daughter was warm. With her heartbeat in my ears, it clouded the sound of the one hundred and thirty-seven. Spending time with her enacted a new curse. She became a plague on my thoughts and my body. I involuntarily felt things I didn’t want to experience with her.

Likejealousy.

Suddenly the warlock from the night before filtered through my mind again. The way his beady eyes had roamed over her skin. She was clothed head to toe but that didn’t stop him from staring—imagining. He wanted to see what lie beneath. I could still recall the taste of metal flooding my mouth as I nipped my tongue when my canines lengthened from my uncontrollable rage. I wanted to kill the warlock right then and there. The blood thirst had made my mind hazy, the need to eliminate all other men around her suddenly was far too tempting.

And the way she stared at men, the wanton smirk she gave freely—it had to stop.Now.She sealed every man’s fate that tried to even breathe near her. I obsessed over it even in the ring fighting. How many wanted her before the warlock? How many knew her body? Which demons had she letinsideher?

Obsession.Fixation.What a terrible disease. Odd that something I’d never known before consumed me. I just had to stay near Maureen and I’d learn every emotion, even those I didn’t want.

By the end of my last cage fight, I had come to terms with more of my senses. I wasn’t only obsessing about Maureen; I was being entirelypossessiveof her. The thought of any male being near her—even before me—ripped my chest open, hurt and fury slipped through the cracks of it. Human emotions were a lot more primal than I originally thought. ButI’m Jackal, a being who spent more time in animal form. This emotive thing shouldn’t be so difficult.

But I was no longer the Jackal of old. I could never be who I was with all these reactions. Maureen had no idea what she awakened when she stepped inside my cave. I was quickly becoming something else, and the realization hurt my chest and lungs. The power in my chest consumed me. Fervor was the new blood in my veins and every second she spent with me sealed her fate.

She attempted to drop me on her sofa with a grunt. My hand shot out and caught myself from smacking onto the floor. Even with my eyes closed, I still saw her through my essence which was always seeking her out—just tocaressher and her own energy. The sense that she was there, her presence, would engrave itself into my memory for eternities to come. She was controlled chaos, wild and flowery, an orange blazing soul with raven-colored hair. How could I ever forget her? Who would ever want to?

Soon though, I’d want to taste her. Consume her. Devour her.

My chest expanded as I gulped in air. My thoughts were on overload and my body wanted to rest, but I couldn’t give up my newfound freedom infeeling.

Instead of denying what I felt, or denying the one hundred and thirty-seven, I would embrace it instead. Out of everything I’d experienced so far, the most uncontrollable sensations were proving to be my most favorite of all.

Now I understood how kingdoms fell. Wars began. Sacrifices were made in the name of one thing.

Lust.

Possessive intent.

I didn’t even care that I was bound by this collar anymore. That seemed so dull in comparison to what I wanted from her.

“Why are you laughing?” Her voice was anxious as she should be. I wasn’t aware I was laughing. I was in all this pain. Pain caused by her. At least the anger was still there, and I was glad.

She was changing me more than the one hundred and thirty-seven did. And neither of us could stop it.

I embraced the newness in me. Maybe the key to ending my curse was accepting everything that came with it.