Page 38 of Jackal's Pride

She closed her eyes and nodded. A mark was a dangerous thing in the Underworld. It granted ownership. It granted everything. In the Underworld, this mark meant everyone would know who I belonged to. Anyone who touched or harmed me without Jackal’s permission, would die by his hands. Not that anyone would be foolish to disobey the rule of a mark. It was the Devil’s rule afterward. Not many demons did it anymore. The only person I knew that carried someone’s mark was Molly, but her mark came from Fear, her husband. This was an entirely different thing done without permission.

“I’m sorry.” Mom wrapped me in her arms, and I let her. I gave hugs and unwanted advice, but never liked being on the receiving end. “We shouldn’t have allowed you to take him on alone.”

“I knew this would happen,” Kitty chimed in behind Mom. I could hear the popping sound as she sucked on a lollipop.

Mom let me go and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Stay here for now.”

“That won’t do any good.” I sighed.

“How painful was it?” Kitty asked.

“It wasn’t.” My face flushed thinking about it.

Mom gave me a strange frown this time. “What do you mean? A mark would always be painful…”

“Well, it wasn’t.” I shrugged her hands away, already uncomfortable.

“Maureen.” I didn’t like the accusatory tone in Mom’s voice. “Even without the collar, there’s no way he should have been able to hold you down long enough to place his mark on you.”

“He did,” I huffed. “You sound like I let him do this to me.”

She did. And the burning acid in my stomach would never allow me to admit the truth. To give away my curse’s little secret. That she had all but given in and handed me over to someone.

For a fraction of a second, Pride let me become vulnerable to someone. Become someone different. Quite possibly the version I had made up in my head of who I was going to be as a kid. And if I brought that up to my family, I knew what they’d say. The first sibling to ever have their curse act up was Sebastian. Supposedly, fate liked to do those kinds of things—fixing things with soulmates and shit. I wasn’t about to let them put me on that road.

“I won’t say it right now,” Mom began and my heart dropped, then she pierced me with her ever-knowing blue eyes. “But there’s a truth in that feeling. Don’t deny it.”

My head and heart were heavy, exhausted, and mixed with something lethal. I came here seeking confirmation, and I got it. Now all that was left to do was repay the favor.

He wasn’t the only one who could place a mark.

Chapter 14

Jackal

I was still sore when I awoke for the second time that night. Like the last time I had awakened, the first thing I thought of was Maureen. My chuckle vibrated off my chest as I opened my eyes. I was in her room. Right in the spot I had keeled over too exhausted from fighting the collar just to touch her. Compared to the collar’s power when it was first put on me, it was almost too easy.Soon.The power would crumble.

With a grunt, I rose up and glimpsed around. Her scent was all over the place, but I knew she wasn’t here. In my mind, I sought her out. Her scent was always enough to paint a picture leading me to where I’d find her. She was at The Den. In the cage. Bloodthirsty.

I was the reason she was that way. My eyes flickered in the dark room as my mind revisited the taste of her on my tongue. The taste of her in the most primal of ways. And I wanted more. More lavender. More surrendering. The wordmoreeven seemed to have hijacked my brain and ran away with it.

One hundred and thirty-seven hearts beat in my chest, and they were all for her.

I was tired of questioning their logic. I couldn’t recall what it was like several days ago when the idea of emotions repulsed me. They would always be confusing, that was certain, but I was bound and determined to conquer them all.

Maureen would submit to me. Body, mind, spirit, and soul. Then I’d sink my fangs in her again and again.

I made sure that I could for as long as I wanted to which, for an entity, meantforeverif I desired it.

I peered down at my shirt covered in blood from the two of us. Instead of removing it, I left it on. I plastered a wolfish grin on my face and pressed the portal chip in my pocket. I could only imagine what a bloody storm I looked like to the demons as I entered The Den. I wanted everyone to see what they already sensed about Maureen. I wanted them to smell the mingling of our blood on my skin.

“Aye,” a voice rang out. I recognized the voice as Fear now. He splayed his legs and rested his elbows on his knees, sitting on a chair by the cage. A smirk crossed his face. “We’ve been expecting you.”

The crowd roared, and I didn’t have a doubt that he was talking to me.

Fear’s eyes were red like a bloody river. It was a trait our creator gave him. My brother—I suppose it was safe to call him that—was a creature of dangerous games. What trait did the Devil give me that was a mirror of himself? Honestly? Nothing. Not even emotions. I didn’t even get to relish in the disgusting, self-serving ones some demons clung to.

No. My creator only gave me a job to help further his goals on Earth. The more I experienced my feelings, the more I resented him. He stole from me the ability to live. If I had known how to process feelings—thoughts—I would have been ready for Maureen.