Page 2 of Jabba's Journey

Each woman’s face is tearstained, and their clothing, while minimal at best, is worse for the wear, with tears and missing buttons.

“I won’t have anyone looking for me,” I murmur as I continue to catalog my injuries. What’s worse, I won’t be able to heal if I can’t get near a water source. “Where are we?”

“Somewhere inside the mountain,” Candy says. “We think it’s their hideout or something, not that they say much when they’re around. It’s just we’ve seen a lot of them milling about when they bring us up to their main room to ‘interrogate’ us.”

“Why would they want to do that?” I sputter out the question. I’m aghast that these women would be beaten or threatened for answers they most likely don’t know the answers to.

My head’s pounding, not only in pain, but also with all the information the women are throwing at me.

“Because they think we know things that’ll help them.” With my head hanging, I don’t catch who said it, but it feels like an omen.

“If that’s the case, what do they think I know? I’m not a part of the Iron Howlers. I don’t have any association with them. Taking me won’t help them in the least.” My admittance has another thought entering my mind, they need me for something else, something that may end up being the end of me. I can’t let that happen. A sense of dismal foreboding swallows me whole, my body feels as if it’s drifting into a dark abyss. What is it about my powers that they think will enhance their cause?

I’m a water witch, and I can’t use my power without a sediment source, which this area is swamped with. I mean, I know there is water somewhere nearby, but being physically injured is keeping me from drawing from it to help heal me. Considering I’ve just come into my gifts, and I haven’t had a chance to test them out to their full capabilities, I’m nervous that I’m not mighty enough for the Red Caps, and once they figure that out for themselves, I’m doomed. Will they keep me hostage until I come into my full awakening? That’s a concept I can’t fathom. No. I refuse to believe it. They’ll end me because they aren’t known for having patience.

If anything, they’ll push me until I either break or I fulfill whatever role they want me to carry out. I won’t use my witchery for evil intent. I’m a good witch, I’m not bound by my thirst for blood. Dark magic isn’t something I strive for, if anything, I made an oath to the goddesses the day they shined their light on me and granted me with the gift of water that I’d use it for good.

No matter how much they torture me, I’ll never be their willing victim.

Chapter One

Jabba

With Prowler by my side,we take to the roads in an effort to catch the lingering scent of the stolen club girls. If the Red Caps have them, and we’re almost positive they do, it won’t end well for the girls. Not that I utilize them all that often, but regardless, they’re part of our dysfunctional club family, so we take their disappearance seriously. We’ve been diligently searching for over a week now and have gotten quite a distance from Redwich at this point.

Prowler motions with a twist of his wrist for me to pull over and as soon as I do, he shuts down his bike. “Brother, I’m thinking we need to shift and search,” he says. “I think we’re going to need our oronasal senses to find them.”

I just know that the urgency that drove me from the clubhouse after Harmony’s predictive vision has steadily increased. I feel as though my bones wanna jump out of my skin at this point. “We got Zavier on standby for when we find them?” I ask.

Because I refuse to say‘if’; I won’t give up.

“Yeah, Cyrus reached out to Corbin for us. He said if we found them to use our collective link and give him the coordinates so he could send out the cavalry.”

I chuckle a bit because Cyrus has calmed quite a lot since his mate came into his life. In the past, the whole club would be out looking, but because of what Harmony said, he told me and Prowler to go hunting while they wait back at the clubhouse for word from us.

Waiting isn’t one of my fortes at all.

Hell, I’m not exactly a patient man either, although having to learn how to do Jazzy’s hair has tempered that part of my personality quite a bit. That little girl has every one of us bastards wrapped around her finger but for some reason, she insists that I do her damn hair! Even with Harmony now in the picture, more often than not, it’s me twisting, braiding, and twining to give the little imp the perfect hairstyle. A snicker escapes when I think about how many ads and shit now cross my social media timelines concerning hair styles and products.

For fuck’s sake, I’m a badass biker!

“We may want to let them know now, Prowler, since we’re so far from home,” I state, quickly stripping down and putting my clothes into my saddlebags which I lock. My keys are hidden in a special hidey hole that all of us have on our bikes for just this very reason.

“I’ll let them know now,” he replies. I vaguely listen in to the collective link as I wait for him to finish. Once he’s done and Cyrus assures us they’ll be on their way soon, I watch Prowler undress and put his clothes into his saddlebags.

Soon, we’ve both shifted into our animal counterparts and we’re running, opening up our sentient senses and following a trail that smells distinctively of Candy and the rest of the girls.

There’s another teasing scent, one that has my animal perking up in both anticipation and dread.

It’s slightly floral like a fresh, clean breeze, as if sheets are being hung out on a drying line after they’ve been washed. It feels like… home.

Speeding up, I veer to the left with Prowler behind me until we near the entrance to a cave where the bitter odor of fear is overwhelming.

They’re here,Prowler projects into my mind.

Nodding in agreement, we tactfully approach the cavern’s opening with cat-like caution, our paws barely hitting the ground because we know the Red Caps are involved and they’re known for their malicious tendencies.

Crouching low to increase our chances of striking undetected, we prowl toward the mouth of the cave, as soon as their scent invades our nasal cavities, we both release a low growl. One I feel in the depth of my belly. My natural instinct to attack and decimate my adversary pours through me. I’m bred to safeguard the innocents and our girls, as well as this person holding the scent that’s enraptured me, are just that—innocent.

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