Page 36 of Queen of Vengeance

But it couldn’t be. He isn’t that type of man… He’s better than his uncle.

One of the wolves howled, causing the jet-black werewolf with the green eyes to turn toward the sound.

This gave me a full view of the seal burned into his shoulder.

It is him.

I felt like a damn fool.

My eyes grew hot, and my vision blurred with tears. “Jax?”

He snapped his head around and bared his teeth at me.

My head shook slowly in disappointment.

Then, Jax’s eyes shifted to my grandmother.

I took a step in front of her protectively, but he looked down at his arms, which held a menagerie of expensive drugs and potions.

He plucked a few things from his arms and tossed them before me.

The sound of the glass clinking against the rug held my eyes down.

I watched the bottles roll to my feet. I wasn’t precisely sure what they were just by looking at them, but I knew they were healing potions far out of our budget. By the time I looked back up, Jax was already gone.

A wave of emotions washed over me, and I wasn’t sure if I was relieved they had left or touched that he was trying to help.

I tried to remind myself that he was a monster who had resorted to working for his uncle.

The dry heat of a summer breeze brushed through my hair as I sat in the school courtyard.

My eyes scanned the main arch carefully.

I was watching and waiting like a hungry predator.

Anger and confusion still boiled up inside of me.

I was unsure which emotion would take hold when I saw him. Even with the whole day to mull over the fact that Jax robbed a Healing Center, I still couldn’t believe it. I thought he was so much better than that.

It turns out I was wrong.

He was turning into his uncle, and there probably wasn’t anything I could do to stop him.

My heart ached against my ribs, begging for what I thought not to be true.

I pressed my hand into my warm chest in an attempt to ease my pain, but that all went by the wayside as soon as I saw him.

He towered over most people around him, allowing me to glimpse his raven hair.

His olive complexion was speckled with dots of golden light from the sun leaking into the trees above.

He looked unassuming, and he was so charming.

He should run for student body president with the amount of popularity he has in this school and not running around like some wayward vigilante.

The aching in my heart ceased momentarily as I thought I could just let it go and pretend I didn’t see him. It would be so easy to turn a blind eye to it, but I wondered if I could live with myself if I did that.

It had to be someone my parents could be proud of, and if that meant destroying any chance I had to be with Jax, so be it.

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