Page 86 of Jackal's Pride

I must be the one responsible for the mess back in the human world. Why did I do it? Questions swirled through my mind. Why did my chest hurt so? What happened to the one hundred and thirty-seven hearts? Instead of the chaos of heartbeats, there was only one. Strange.

The only answer was I lost my mind. The portal chip, materializing clothes—all signs that I’d lost my grip on sanity. The clothes were as foreign to me as the giant skyscrapers were in the human world. Everything seemed new, but there was a hint of familiarity. The worst part was I missed something.

Pieces of me.

Did the witch do something else to me besides curse me with the one hundred and thirty-seven? Did the hearts affect my mind even when it felt like they were gone?

Thenshecame.

And I’d been restless ever since.

Even when she stood at the entrance of the cave, I felt her presence crash over me. She knew something about me. She might even know me. I wondered if that was why she occupied my mind even when she was gone. I tried to sleep but when I did strange images haunted me.

Dark hair. Soft skin. Rough. Slow. Biting. The rapture of a woman’s moan.Pleasure.

When I did fall asleep, I awakened shivering. Odd. The cold never bothered me. The night’s chill and this desolate cave vexed me. But those things seemed bearable. It was the new sensation troubling and confusing me. How could I be cold one second and then blistering hot in the next? And why was my cock constantly straining against my pants? None of this had ever happened to me.

I was dreaming of her. Instead of making me angry or annoyed, I was filled with the insane urge to find her. I didn’t, but every second I sat still the desire to do something ate at me like a disease.

Every second I lay alone in the cave, I sensed I missed something. Correction. I missed her. Why?

I rubbed my chest. The lavender-smelling female had marked me. I should be mad. I wondered why I wasn’t. My chest ached instead—a deep, agonizing pang that spread all through my limbs and deep into my gut. I yearned so desperately for her that it was suffocating. Then that pain turned to heat as the ghost of a touch spread over my skin, and my cock responded to my thoughts of her.

Then I’d try to sleep again and every time I did, I felt like I was reliving what I was supposed to know. So, there was no sleeping, not when I sensed I was remembering something important, only to lose whatever it was once I woke. She was haunting me through whatever I did.

By the next day, I was desperate to remember. The she-devil in my dreams… No, that wasn’t right.Little Monster.Somehow that was more accurate, more...her.The Little Monster in my dreams became even more vivid.

I stood and swayed on my feet as more images flooded my mind. The memories didn’t hint at what happened to me. They only let me know that my missing time was filled by her.

Maureen.

I heard myself say her name.

Jack.

That was right.

She was waiting on me and the bits and pieces taunting my thoughts weren’t enough. The need to remember weighed on me more and more every second I paced the cave’s floor. When I first entered this place, the cold and the desolation welcomed me. Not anymore.

Remember her.

My emotions hit me long before my memories did. My reactions told me she was everything to me. I doubted the possibility. After all, I never used to feel. Somehow, I didn’t think that was the case anymore. Everything I felt was for her.

Maureen.

Maureen. Maureen.

I found myself porting somewhere. The trip scratched at a memory I was determined to remember. I was in a home. Her home. My chest swelled. Every part of me responded even though she wasn’t here. There was a table full of food. It was still warm, and the smell had me salivating. Before I gave it a second thought, I sat down and picked up the silverware. All of it familiar.

The need to be with her was staggering, but I let my body lead the way. Once I was finished eating, I pulled out my portal chip and ported, a strange sense ofknowingwhere to go.

I ended up at a spot in the Underworld called The Den. The place bustled with demons. In the center of the room, was an octagonal cage for fighting. Off to the side, in a dark corner, was a bar. Smells of sex and blood wafted toward me, bringing with it fragments of memories.Shebrought me here. I drifted toward the bar. A skinny woman scooted me a drink. Green liquid in a glass.

“I think you took a likin’ to this one,” she said and smirked. She looked familiar. She fit into a memory or two.

I drank it all in one gulp. The taste was familiar. “Another one,” I told her.

“Jackal, right?” I turned toward the unfamiliar voice.