The Biker Alpha's Cinderella

Chapter 2

Jax’s POV

The high-pitched scream in my head was getting worse, especially with the blood moon tonight. I was fighting a losing battle with the demons inside of me. The music from the ballroom wasn’t helping, and I knew I had to step away before I ended up starting another supernatural war.

The loud chatterings of the rest of the realm were driving me further insane, and I was trying and failing to keep my wolf on a leash. My wolf was pacing in my mind aggressively, scratching to get out. He wanted blood. He wanted to tear the throat out of the smiling Alpha standing in front of me.

"So, as I was saying, Alpha Jax," the Alpha of the River Pack drawled on, oblivious that I was five seconds away from ripping his head off. "The territory lines need to be renegotiated..."

I squeezed the crystal whiskey glass in my hand. Crack. The glass shattered. The scotch and blood dripped onto the expensive carpet. The River Alpha stopped talking, his eyes widening as he saw the blood.

"Alpha Jax?" he choked out, and I tried to regulate the turmoil currently going on inside of me. I can’t lose my cool, not now.

"Boss," Kael, my right hand, whispered from my left. He sounded terrified. "Your eyes. They're bleeding. We need to go. Now."

"I'm fine," I gritted out, trying to grip whatever tiny control I had left over my mind and my body. I wasn't fine. I was dying. The Feral Madness had been eating at the edges of my mind for months, but tonight, under the Blood Moon, it had finally breached the walls. I was losing the man. I was becoming the beast.

Kill them, the voice in my head repeated. Kill them all. Make it quiet.

"I need air," I snarled before I shoved past the River Alpha, knocking him into a table. I didn't care. I stormed toward the hallway, my vision tunneling into a haze of red. I needed to get out of this building before I slaughtered everyone in the VIP section. I turned the corner, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I was going to shift. Here. Now. I couldn't stop it. I was losing control badly.

Then, something slammed into me. It was small and soft. I stumbled back, my hands shooting out on instinct to steady myself. My fingers dug into a slender waist.

The screaming in my head stopped as if someone turned it off. My wolf went calm instantly, and the urge to kill evaporated, replaced by a sudden, desperate need to hold.

I looked down to find the most beautiful girl staring back at me. She was dressed in a maid's uniform, her face hidden by a cheap lace mask. Her chest was heaving against my jacket. Her scent attacked my nostrils, it was sweet, calming, and nothing I’d ever smelled before in my life. It acted like a sedative, flooding my mind with a calming effect.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide behind the mask. She was trembling, almost like she was scared of me or whatever made her slam into me.

"Mine," my wolf purred in satisfaction. I just knew that if I let go of her, the noise would come back. And I would rather die than hear that noise again. I spun her around, slamming her back against the velvet-covered wall of the alcove. I needed to be closer. I pressed my body flush against hers, trapping her. She felt tiny beneath me, but the power radiating off her was enough to bring me to my knees.

"What are you?" I growled, my voice hoarse. A human? No, she smelled too good to be human.

She whimpered, her hands pressing against my chest to push me away. She couldn’t get me off her even if she summoned the power of the goddess.

"I'm just a waitress," she whispered. Liar, my wolf snarled. She is the cure. I leaned down, burying my nose in the crook of her neck. I inhaled deeply, dragging the scent into my lungs. It was better than whiskey. Better than a fight. It was peaceful. But it wasn't enough. I needed to taste it.

My hand moved up to her jaw, tilting her head back. Her pulse was hammering under my thumb, and I was overwhelmed by the urge to get her to calm down. I used my other hand to rip the skeletal mask off my own face, discarding it on the floor. I wanted her to see me.

She gasped as she saw my face, my scars, the glowing gold of my iris. But she didn't scream or recoil in disgust. Her breath hitched, and her scent spiked with something that wasn't fear. Desire.

I crashed my lips onto hers. I devoured her mouth, hungry and desperate. And then the world exploded.

My wolf threw back his head and howled in triumph. The missing piece. The empty void in my chest filled up instantly.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

She tasted like salvation. She melted against me, her hands gripping the lapels of my leather cut, pulling me closer instead of pushing me away. For a second, we weren't two strangers in a hallway; we were two halves of the same soul finally snapping together. I pulled back, gasping for air, my forehead resting against hers. The madness was gone. My mind was sharp and focused.

I looked into her dazed eyes.

"My. Mate."

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. She blinked, her pupils blown wide. "W-what?"

Before I could explain, before I could tell her that she belonged to me now, the sound of tearing fabric interrupted us.

The velvet curtain of the alcove was ripped back, and light flooded in. I spun around, shielding her with my body instantly. My lip curled back, a low growl rumbling in my chest. Three men stood there, and I knew they were Obsidians from the suits and the lapels. The leader stepped forward, his eyes locking onto the girl cowering behind me. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Found you, Subject Zero," he said, his voice smooth and cold. "Did you think you could hide from your father forever?"

My blood ran cold. Subject Zero? Father? The girl behind me let out a choked sob and gripped the back of my jacket so hard her nails dug through the leather. She was terrified of them.

My wolf surged forward, bristling with protective rage. They weren't here for a waitress. They were here for my mate.

The leader took a step forward and reached out a hand. "Hand her over, biker. This doesn't concern you. I’m sure you don’t want any trouble."

I stepped forward, towering over him. My vision didn't turn red this time; it turned gold. I wasn't fighting the madness anymore. I was fighting for her.

"You're making a mistake," I said, my voice low and dangerous.

"And what's that?" the man sneered arrogantly, and I chuckled. I grabbed his outstretched hand and twisted. The sound of bone snapping echoed in the hallway. He screamed like the p***y he was.

"I don’t like it when lapdogs sniff around what’s mine," I growled, shoving him back into his friends. "Touch her again, and you die!"