Jaded Hearts
Chapter 24

Matt

The rest of the week passed with no major issues. Nothing in the apartment was salvageable, so Taylor and Morgan moved into the packhouse with Kade and me.

Morgan was more hesitant about it than Taylor was. She’d be living with a man she had known for less than a week—a man who happened to be a werewolf and commanded hundreds more. But with Drew now missing, there was no way Kade or I would let our mates out of our sight until he was found.

That also meant the girls couldn’t go to school, and Taylor was absolutely not okay with that.

“Matt, you can’t keep me from getting my education. I need to get this degree. Do you know how hard I worked for this scholarship? I’m the first person in my family to go to college; I can’t just quit,” she argued.

“I’m not telling you to quit, and I’m not trying to keep you from an education. I know how important this is to you, but you’re not safe out there. Just take a semester off.”

“A semester? That’s half the year! I’ll be too far behind if I do that.”

Why did I always have to fight with her to keep her safe? It made absolutely no sense to me. “You can either take the time off and finish late or keep going and never finish. It’s hard to finish school when you’re dead. Or kidnapped and held as Drew’s f*****g s*x toy!”

“Are you going to let him kidnap or kill me?”

“Of course I won’t.”

“Alright, sounds like I’m going to class on Monday then.” She stood up to walk away, but before she could, I grabbed her waist and pulled her back down onto my lap.

“Taylor Rain Adams, I swear to the Moon Goddess above, if you leave this house on Monday, there will be problems.”

She looked at me in shock, her mouth wide open. “Did you just use my full name?”

“You heard me. Now I need you to listen; clearly, they aren’t the same thing for you.”

I could see that I was pissing her off, but this needed to be done. She was a newborn wolf; there was no way she could properly protect herself against an alpha’s son, even if he was a weak piece of s**t. She couldn’t even shift yet.

“You will not go to school on Monday or any day until Drew is dead. You either take time off or switch to online classes. Those are your options.… Pick one.”

“Matt, I love you more than life, but you don’t own me. You don’t get to make these decisions for me.”

“I don’t own you, but you are mine, and this decision is being made for us. If you get hurt or killed because I let you leave, then where does that leave me? What am I without you?”

She let out a loud sigh and dropped her shoulders. “I’m pre-med, Matt. You can’t really take those classes online.”

“Sounds like you’re taking a break, then. Why are you always so damn difficult, woman?”

She shrugged her shoulder, “I’m sassy. It’s part of the appeal. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to call the administrator’s office and see what I can do about taking the semester off. I might as well get it over with now.”

“Thank you, tesoro. And don’t worry. With Drew’s history and the fact that he’s out there somewhere unchecked, the school should be able to hold your scholarship for you with no problem.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She climbed off my lap to go replace her phone to make the call.

I decided to link Kade to see how he was faring on his end.

Hey, man, how are things with Morgan? Did she agree to leave school and her job for a while?

f**k no! She refuses. She says Drew isn’t after her, so he won’t care what she’s doing.

He could come after her to get to Taylor.

I know that. She doesn’t understand.

So, what’s your plan?

She’s not leaving this house, Matt. Short of locking her in the cells, I’ll do pretty much anything to keep her safe.

What about sending her with a bodyguard? Henry could protect her if she refuses to take time off.

Did you offer a bodyguard to Taylor?

No. She’s definitely not leaving. She’s the target; I’m not comfortable with her out there right now.

I feel the same way. I’ve got to go figure this out, I’ll see you a little later. f*****g women …

“Everything’s set with the school. I’ve been dropped from the roster this semester.” She sat on the bed and dramatically threw herself back, making sure I was aware of how unhappy she was.

“It’s a good thing, Taylor, and I won’t apologize for it.”

She sat up and looked me in the eye. “And my job at the cafe? I’m supposed to quit that too, huh? I told Mr. Marshall I was taking a week off for vacation, not that I was quitting! He’s going to be so upset.”

“Mr. Marshall and his cafe aren’t my concern or responsibility. You are.”

“I need money. I need to work.”

“I have money. I’ll get you a debit card linked to my account. Problem solved.”

“Problem not solved! That’s not my money. If you want to buy me something on occasion, then fine, but don’t expect me to just sit here in your house, spending your money like some reality TV housewife.”

“The cafe is done, tesoro. Everything from your old life is done until Drew’s gone. You want to make your own money? Fine. You can be my assistant at the office. How’s that?”

“I don’t know anything about international relations. How can I be your assistant?”

“You know me, and you’re smart and organized. You can help me keep everything straight and in order. I haven’t been there as much as I should lately, and I don’t want the company to suffer because of it. But an assistant would be just what I need to get back on track. Plus, you’d be safe. The security at the building is the best in Jade City; no one could get to you.”

“I need to see the salary and benefits package before I commit to anything.”

I crawled over her body in the bed and looked down on her. “It’s an extremely generous salary, much, much more than Mr. Marshall pays by far. And my favorite benefit is that I’ll get to spread you out across my desk and lick your sweet little honeypot every single day. Who else offers benefits like that?”

By this time, I had both her hands pinned above her head. My free hand was under her skirt, gently teasing her clit through her panties.

“Will you take the job, baby? You don’t know how bad I need you.” I sped up and increased the pressure of my finger, making her breath catch.

“Mmmhmm. I’ll do it. I’ll take the job.”

“Good girl. That wasn’t that hard now, was it?” When I kissed and teased her mark, she m****d, and I felt her juices soak through the thin fabric and onto my fingers.

I pulled my hand up and ran my fingers over her lips. “Taste how sweet you are, tesoro. Open up.”

Taylor’s warm mouth engulfed my fingers and sucked them down. I was rock hard just looking at her thick lips wrapped around them. I wanted those lips wrapped around something else. I pulled my hand free and replaced it with my mouth. I could still taste her flavor on her mouth, and it made me wild with l**t.

I snatched her panties off and unzipped my pants, desperate to be inside her. The moment I made contact, there was a loud banging on the door.

“Matt! Open up, man.”

This cannot be happening right now.

“Kade, get the hell out of here! I’m busy.”

“Well, be busy later. I need Taylor—now!”

“f**k!” I rolled off Taylor’s body and threw a pillow over my face. Kade was the biggest c**k block ever. He would pay for this one. I felt her shift and climb out of bed. When she opened the door, Kade burst in, holding a pale and crying Morgan in his arms.

“What happened to her?” Taylor gasped, rushing over to her friend.

“It’s her brother. Someone hit him with a car and sped off. He’s in surgery now, but they don’t think he’s going to make it,” Kade told us.

“Do they know who did it?”

Morgan lifted her hand and passed her phone to Taylor. When she unlocked it, she saw a text message from an unsaved number. There was a photo of Morgan’s brother crossing the street just seconds before he was struck. You could tell it was taken by the driver of the car. The message read:

Those who are weak will be punished. But a simple flower can change all of their fates. Tick tock…

The phone slipped from Taylor’s hand and crashed to the floor. “I know that number. That’s Drew. He did this so that he could get to me.”

* * *

Kade left shortly after to take Morgan to the hospital. We all agreed that Taylor would stay here just in case Drew was close by. This guy was more dangerous than we thought, and it was now clear that he wouldn’t stop until he was dead.

I left Taylor with Alaia and the kids and went to see Xander in his office. “Xander, have you talked to Colton? Does he know where his brother is?”

“I just got off the phone with him. He assured me that they have no idea where he is. After the fire, it was decided that Drew would face the consequences the Dark Woods way, but he ran. They’ve officially banished him, but Colton feels that he should still face their justice if they ever replace him. Unless we get to him first.”

Dark Woods was famous for its “justice.” For most packs, a big enough mistake just meant banishment. For Dark Woods, though, that wasn’t good enough. If any member of their pack betrays them in any way, they are taken to the middle of the woods, chained to a post, and set on fire. Burned alive.

The name “Dark Woods” comes from the burn marks around their territory, displaying those who were unfortunate enough to meet their special form of justice. The brutality of it is actually what caused the rivalry between the packs. Blue Moon couldn’t stand behind something so unnecessarily barbaric, and we’ve been at odds ever since.

“Drew is ours. He’s targeted both our Beta and Gamma females. It’s is our right to end his life, not theirs.”

“And that’s what I told Colton. For now, he seems to agree.”

“Good. Oh, and I also hired Taylor to be my assistant at work. She was determined to make her own money and refused to spend mine.”

Xander smirked at me and chuckled. “Your assistant? Seriously? What will you have her ‘assisting’ you with?”

“I’m serious! s**t’s a mess at the office. I need help.”

“Fine. Are you taking her with you to Italy next week?” That stopped me in my tracks. I pulled out my phone and opened the calendar.

“What do you mean, next week? The Sporazo meeting isn’t for another month. It says right here, June 12-15.”

“You really do need an assistant. It was moved up. The Sporazo brothers are anxious to close the deal, so the meeting was moved to May 13-16, which is next week.”

“This is too much. I need a f*****g vacation.”

“How about this? Leave on Sunday, which gives you three days of vacation, then four days of work. I’m sure Taylor can use the break too.”

“I can’t. We need to replace that a*****e Drew like yesterday.”

“We will, and you’ll need to be in top form for when we do. So, take the time and try to relax. Kade and I will keep an eye on things here. When you come back, it’s hunting season.”