Beneath the Wolf's Veil

The Edge

Jax POV

I watch her while half listening to my crew talk about a busted shipment. I think about the stories I was told, old tales whispered at campfires. Mate bonds are rare, finding your true other half of your soul, our gift from the moon goddess. I never believed in that, thought it was a fairytale, fake, something to tell kids to make the world seem kind.

I make my own choices, built my own path with leather, steel, and blood. But the moment he smelt the warm honey and vanilla scent and saw her face. It was like the world stopped spinning.

Lucian prowled just under my skin, pacing, demanding to go to her, claim her. Drag her out of this crowd and make it undeniable.

But then she doesn't acknowledge me.

Not even a glance in my direction. Just ordered her drink and stood up calm and collected. I felt her wolf clawing to claim him. She knows, she had to know.

And she still walked away, didn't search for me.

That burned worse than anything I've ever felt before.

Crushing my cigarette between my fingers until it hissed out, his eyes locked on her every move. She was magnetic without trying, drawing stares without even meaning to. But when her gaze landed on Logan — the mechanic — My blood turned molten with rage.

Logan wasn't a bad guy. Dumb, sure. Loyal enough to tag along with whatever crew offered him a beer and a space to belong. But he was weak, a human, soft.

Not meant for her.

Lucian bared his teeth as Raven crossed the bar to him, that sly grin on her lips like she was playing a game. Logan grinned back, clueless. And when she leaned into him — when she let him drape his arm around her shoulders — my vision tunneled.

My chair screeched back an inch. My fist curled so tight the leather of his glove strained. Every instinct screamed at him to rip Logan off of her, slam him onto the floor. And show Raven who she really belonged to.

She's mine Lucian growls in my mind.

Lucian is howling, savage and wild, demanding blood. I took a breath of smoke and grit, fighting it down. If I let Lucian go here, if he shifted at all, the whole bar would see. His crew. Her crew. And every outlaw in between. There would be no coming back from that kind of chaos.

So I stayed. Watching. Burning with rage.

Through the cracked window, I saw her press Logan against the wall outside. Saw her mouth crash against his like she was trying to drown in him. Lucian lunged again, but so violently that my nails carved shallow grooves into the wood of the counter.

But it didn't matter how hard she kissed Logan. I could feel the truth deep in my bones, the very marrow of my being. The bond was there, stronger than anything else he had felt in this filthy world.

And she could fight it. Deny it. Try to bury it beneath flings and fists.

But Raven Blackwood is mine.

Not tonight. Not here. But soon.

And when that time came, nothing — no pack, no crew, no chain of fate — would keep him from claiming her.