Beneath the Wolf's Veil

Smoke and Chains

Jax POV

I didn't sleep that night.

I'd ridden out with the Serpents after closing Steele's, engines growling low under the moonlight, but my head wasn't in it. Lucian hadn't shut up since Raven walked into that bar. Her scent still clinging to me. Warm honey and vanilla, with a hint of blood from the fight she got in before she came to the bar. Before, I had laid my eyes on her.

The memory of her pressed against Logan burned hotter than whiskey in my veins. Lucian snarled at the thought, pacing and snapping, demanding they go back, tear the man apart and drag her to me. It was instinct, raw and brutal, and I had never struggled so hard to keep control.

But I am more than a wolf driven by instinct and need. I am also a man, one that has learned wars are won with patience and planning.

By dawn when the crew parked their bikes outside the warehouse, they called home. I peeled away, needing space. I needed to know more about Raven.

Lighting a cigarette, I decided to make a phone call to Sam, my informer. No matter the time, Sam will get me the information. He picked up on the first ring.

"Yeah, Boss," Sam said groggy.

"Find me everything you can on Raven Blackwood," I said, voice low.

The line went silent for a moment before Sam said, "s**t, like the Raven Blackwood?" "As in the Alpha of the Bloodmoon packs daughter?"

"Just do it Sam," I said coldly and quickly before hanging up.

Everyone knew the Blackwoods, and their pack Bloodmoon. They have ruled for generations, feared across state lines. And if Raven was who I think she is, she's not just a outlaw wolf running with bikers for kicks.

She is royalty in their world. And she walked away from it. I can't help but wonder why. She made herself a rogue.

Lucian prowled harder at the word, torn between respect and hunger. I knew what it meant to turn your back on blood — She didn't do it lightly. She did it because something inside her refused to kneel. That made her dangerous, my kind of woman.

But it also meant she carried more enemies than most. Enemies who would come sniffing around if they caught wind of her.

And now she is my problem too.

I crushed my cigarette under my boot, dragging my hand through my hair. My crew wouldn't understand. Hell, most of them didn't even know I am a wolf. I kept that part buried, hidden in the shadows of the outlaw world. Easier that way. Cleaner.

But the bond has blown it all apart.

"Soon," I muttered to myself and Lucian. Looking out at the sunrise bleeding over the horizon. Lucian growled in agreement, low and satisfied.

I'm not ready to make my move yet. Raven is on borrowed time.

And I don't lose whats mine.