Jason's POV

　　Watching Damien investigate the woods, the look of triumph on his smug face let me know he had sensed it was me and that he gave zero shits!

　　"Something to say, wolf boy?" He taunted me; I knew he wanted to bait me; he wanted me to lose my temper and give him the upper hand! I refused to be played by this verified redneck playing at being a big boy in his designer clothes. He fooled no one! We all saw him for what he was. 

　　A nothing! Cheap, nasty, and simply forgettable! 

　　His family had a reputation for dabbling in dark magic, demon worship, and weaving magic into the lives of innocent people merely because they were bored and looking for something to pass the time.

　　The pack had gone up against them once, years before I was born. A smaller rival pack had sought to take my Father's territory! My Father had always been well known within our world, respected, and although feared, he was well-liked! Which ground on the smaller packs, making them rebel against the order of things. Knowing they could not take us on alone, they had offered Damien's family a deal to secure their support and fighting men when the time came for them to attack our pack. 

　　We had managed to fight them back and secure our territory but defeating them had come at a significant cost to our pack. Many females had been captured while their mates were fighting, my Mother included. Most of the females had been killed, sacrificed, or sold! My Mother had been kidnapped, tortured, and endured unspeakable horrors that she still couldn't speak of. Not to anyone. When bored of her, they dumped her failing body back on pack property as a taunt! She was utterly broken, mind, body, and soul.

　　"Buddy," I groaned, feeling Archer's blood boil at the thought of what my mother had suffered at the hands of this man's family. "You have heard the stories about him; we all have. I told you; you could have him; I will make a gift of him for you. I promise! But we must be smart about this... a war between his family and ours… is not something the pack can survive right now! No matter how strong we are, Father is not ready to take on... his kind."

　　"No, thought not!" Damien spat viciously into the darkness, His words and behaviour challenging me for the second time in one day. It took every inch of strength I had to fight for some control to keep Archer rooted to the ground. Damien seemed to sense it.

　　I could feel Rafe beside me, fighting to remain controlled. We weren't the only ones to suffer personally because of that prick's family. Tommy's mother had never been found. We all knew she was alive; Marcus could sense her life force, but they couldn't track her. But they never gave up hope! Damien's taunts were enough to make Archer growl furiously. I felt the shivers run down my spine hearing his anger, but he stayed firm, listening to me, and for once, he obeyed. 

　　"Pathetic," He laughed, disappearing into the night's cold air with a grin. It was as if someone had just flicked a switch and shut off a slide show; he was just gone!

　　"What a cheap trick," Archer hissed through the link.

　　"Obviously, he does not have the guts to face you like a man! Or whatever the hell he is!" Rafe laughed.

　　"Hardly surprising." Archer grinned cheekily, his attention shifting to the reason he was there- The girl's scent. Which seemed to have vanished with Damien! I felt Archer slink away into the back of my mind, forcing the change, my bones quickly snapping and resetting. Stepping out of the forest, having shifted into my human form, I smirked unapologetically at the human Damien had left on the ground.

　　Wolves spent a large part of their days shifting back and forth. It was common for us to be naked in front of each other, natural! Certainly not something to be ashamed of! It wasn't a sexual thing... Well, most of the time, it wasn't! But I guess it had some part to play in why we struggled to keep our hands off our mates!

　　Feeling Tommy beside me again, I nodded to myself proudly, knowing that my Father had been right; he was a fantastic choice! He would make a great Beta one day. Approaching the semi-conscious male on the floor, nudging him with my foot, not wanting to touch his foul-smelling body, hearing him groan, I leaned down to look at him.

　　"What did you do to piss that guy off?" I asked, seeing the blood around his neck and the black bruise that was already forming.

　　"Fuck, man, get your dick out of my face!" He choked, his eyes narrowing on me, lifting his arm to keep his face away from my groin. "I did fuck all. He was a psychopath!" He snapped, pulling himself up and reaching for a bottle of sour-smelling liquid.

　　"Hmm, I doubt that. Damien isn't one to act impulsively... what did you say that riled him up the wrong way." The toothless grin made me cringe on the inside.

　　"I offered to let his girlfriend suck my dick... apparently, that upset him!" He protested, rubbing at his sore throat. Archer present again at the apparent disrespect of the girl he wanted above all else, for now at least!

　　"Girlfriend?" I questioned; her scent had disappeared the closer we got to this fleapit; seeing Damien here, I had assumed we could smell her on him… the thought hadn't crossed my mind that she could still be here... in this place... somewhere!

　　"The redhead who he came here with." He explained further, nodding to the building to the side. I grinned slowly, "Bastard can't take a joke," He added, seeing the look of anger that swept across my face at the idea of this low-life fantasising about her. I could hear his panicked heart hammering inside him, terror twisting in his gut, thinking he was in for another beating! But I wasn't Damien. I didn't beat defenceless humans, not even if they deserved it! I knew how to control my temper! Most of the time!

　　"She lives here?" I asked, nodding to the building he had hinted at, confused because I could not sense or smell her, and neither could Archer.

　　"Yeah, top floor; I saw her in the window earlier… Not my type; she's a skinny thing, all bones, and no tits" He laughed, trying to mask his fear. 

　　 "Well, given she's not your 'type,' I suggest you keep those eyes to yourself before someone removes them for you!" I warned calmly, which seemed to unsettle him further. Getting up, I winked at the human and headed towards the forest, shifting and giving control back to Archer as soon as my feet touched the soft grass bank, chuckling hearing the drunken fools' voice echoing around the car park.

　　"Man, what's in this shit" He grumbled, looking at the bottle with a squint. 

　　"Tonight's been some fucked up shit. I only wanted a piss… and I get attacked by a man who vanished into thin air. Approached by two other naked dudes dangling their dicks in my face, just sat minding my own business: do I look like I wanna see their dicks!" He sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall. "Who turn into wolves and disappear. Fuck me. I need to cut this shit out." He groaned, letting the bottle fall to the floor beside him.

　　"Jason... You know we could settle that debate." Archer said coyly to me through our bond, ignoring the drunk.

　　"Wha debate? I asked, confused, although I had no doubt I would regret asking!

　　"That she wouldn't like us turning up at the door... naked?" He laughed merrily as he took off toward the pack house. Desperate to be alone with the thoughts of my mystery girl. 

　　"Hmmm, now you're talking," I grinned, feeling him picking up the speed, Tommy on our heels.