Page 53 of Jackal's Pride

All her discomforts strangely made me hurt with her.

And what I liked? The relief on her face when I saved her. I liked her cold demeanor and all the lies she spewed. I smelled her truths. They said the things she couldn’t say. Besides her warm skin, there was nothing soft about Maureen.

The newer feeling inside me rang more true. Maureen wasn’t mine. Maybe by rules, by force, but she’d never really let herself be mine. That wouldn’t happen until she gave herself to me willingly. The thought alone aroused my tired body and mind.

I needed to rest since I had to now. But I couldn’t stop thinking of her.

I wanted to take her. She was mine.

And then the voice of reason had its say.

Wait until she gave you permission.

Beast and Man.

Primal and human.

I knew which one I liked more. But did my preferences make me no different from the vampire?

She placed a collar around my neck.

But she smelled like everything I didn’t know I wanted.

She was hateful.

But she allowed a chunk of metal pierce her chest to shield a human girl during the tornadoes. There was nothing I could do to stop it, but I didn’t need to. This woman was a force on her own—so amazingly brave.

Sure, she killed without remorse in the ring. A platform where every demon went in knowing one of them would die. And why would she feel bad for collaring me? The Jackal? A killer? A plague on mankind, the very ones she was born to protect. Her shoddy external behavior balanced out the good lying deep inside. Me? The first time I’d ever done anything decent was because of the collar on my neck.

I dragged my palm across my face. I had the strange urge to run and run. My limbs itched to move.Restless.Despite being tired. How was that possible?

Maureen.

I wanted to be next to her. The thought wouldn’t leave me. Suddenly all these strange sensations overwhelmed me. My chest had a tightness, a heavy lump in it. My stomach rolled with uncertainty for all the things I didn’t know when it came to her. I wanted to go to her, be with her. The thought of anyone taking my place filled me with rage. I desired to make her mine all over again just because she was so stubborn to acknowledge that truth.

Another foreign emotion crept through me, niggling my insides with more eerie chills. My throat tightened, eyes moistened. Fear? Worry? What was this?

I just knew there would be no satisfaction until she…she wanted me too.

I rubbed her mark etched upon my chest, and I knew without a doubt I was already hers.

A rock tumbled somewhere in the distance. I detected his presence, knowing who it was before I even glanced up. “Jackal,” Grim said, stepping further into my domain.

Why would he show up here? My best guess? Just a father stopping another man’s pursuits of his daughter. If that was the reason why he was here, I would forever be at odds with him. I couldn’t stop—I didn’t want to ever go another day without seeing her.

“Where do you rest?” Grim studied the cave. I knew what he saw since I saw it too—Nothing. I stared down at the rock I sat upon. Long ago, men would exchange women for prized sheep and the promise of marriage. Sometimes they’d wed if they had coupled before marriage. I seriously doubted that’s how things worked nowadays. Besides, Maureen was no maiden. She was a spitfire—my little monster—who would only seek pleasure from me from this day forward.

But as her father stood before me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had nothing to offer. Grim gave a reluctant sigh and said, “I recognize your agitation.”

“What?”

“The newness in the way you perceive everything. Your emotions… They’re new, aren’t they?”

My body tensed as I stared at him. “She told you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “So, Maureen is aware?” I frowned. How did he know then? He chuckled lightly at my confusion. “No, I recognize it because I was the same.”

I regarded him cautiously. “You were cursed too?”