“Fuck, stop, Jones. There’s someone in the station.” Whalen looked at his phone and paled.

“Pull it together.”

With bared teeth, Jones withdrew. “If I were you, I’d be thinking about that confession because I’ll be back.”

The bars of my cell slammed shut, and I leaned over and spit out blood. Less than a minute later, the door opened up again. I glanced up, ready to prepare myself for the next attack. It was Whalen who’d opened the door but not Jones who stepped through.

Anna took one look at me, snarled, and whirled around. “Did you do this to him? I will kill you!”

“Whoa!” Kenzi easily picked her up and settled her to the other side. “No touching the cops, remember?”

Turning back around, Anna raced to the cell. “Janelle cast a spell,” she said quietly. “We can make these cops unlock the cells and walk you out right now.”

Fuck, it was good to see her. Reaching out, I curved my hands around her face and took comfort that her bruises were fading. She looked stronger. “No.”

“Told you,” Kenzi said from the door. “Hurry up. We don’t have much time.”

“It’s a contact spell,” Anna sighed. “So it’ll hold as long as I don’t touch them, but it doesn’t give us much time. They’ll remember letting us in here and what we said. They’ll just be pissed because they won’t know why they let us. Listen, we have a plan to prove your innocence.

I’m just worried that we can’t get it done before the boat leaves.”

I glared at Kenzi. “You’re not to do anything. You shouldn’t even be out of the motel room.”

“After Emerson was in my motel room, it didn’t exactly feel safe anymore. Don’t worry.

He’s still hoping to force me to make the decision himself. I’m not leaving you.”

“I gave you all an order.”

“I’m your mate,” Anna reminded me softly. “I superseded your order.”

“Fuck…”

“No, Jax. Fuck you for even thinking I would leave you here. Fuck you for not busting out of this jail and leaving with us right now. You want to appease the humans? Fine, I’ll appease the humans, but I’m only playing by their rules for two days. After that, I will use every tool at my disposal to break you out, even if I have to knock your sorry ass out to do it.”

“Damn it, Anna, you’re not used to pack life. We have just enough paperwork to make us a legitimate town in the eyes of the human law, but there’s a reason we live so far up in the fucking mountains. You could risk exposure if the cops decide to travel up the mountain and arrest me.”

“They wouldn’t get that far. The rogues would kill them first,” she said flatly.

“You’d risk innocent lives? Besides, they could just fly up in a helicopter.”

Glancing around the jail cell, she scoffed. “Not on this budget, they couldn’t.”

“Weren’t you the one who said that if our positions were reversed, you’d leave me? That’s what I’m telling you to do. Leave me.”

“Emerson isn’t going to let the cops just release you. He will kill you in this cell. If you were safe, sure. I’d let you rot in here for all eternity, but I’m not going to let you die because of me.”

“Anna. We need to leave,” Kenzi hissed. “Now.”

She stepped back from the bars. “Stay alive, alpha. I’ll be back.” She didn’t even look back before she sauntered away, and panic welled inside of me. That damn woman had a way of making me feel so fucking helpless. Here I was, trapped in a cave, and she was going to die trying to get me out.

78

Anna

I stared at Officer Jones’s blank face as he held the door open to the station. The sharp metallic smell of blood overwhelmed my senses as I stepped closer. Kenzi grabbed my arms but was careful not to say anything. Janelle had been very clear that the officers would remember everything we said.

This was the man who’d beat Jax. There wasn’t a mark on him. My mate really was trying to play by the rules.