Page 35 of Shadebound
My body stilled. Head throbbing harder.
“She’s hot, though,” he added. “I’d tap that, even if she is psychotic.”
I turned before I made the conscious decision to do so. In two strides, I’d grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the nearest tree.
The bark cracked from the force. He gasped, wind knocked out of him. His hands flayed, and he caught my face on accident.
“You donottalk about her,” I said, voice low and cold, barely keeping my claws from surfacing. “Not like that. Not at all.”
Rhett coughed. “I—I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t care what you meant. Keep your fucking mouth shut.” With a snarl, I dropped him. He hit the ground hard, wheezing. The urge to kick him and beat some sense into him was almost too strong to ignore. “Next person to mention Jinx like that gets their legs broken. I will not tolerate any of you talking about a woman disrespectfully, least of all her. Understood?”
A chorus of nods. Mumbled apologies. Whimpers. I swore I heard one tiny scoff under a breath.
I wanted to shift and kill them all, but I couldn’t. And not just because it was an overreaction to a group that was mostly my friends.
“Keep scouting the grounds,” I ordered, jaw ticking. “Report anything you find, and if there is nothing within the next hour, then call it a night.”
They scattered with a mumbled chorus of,yes, Alpha, and nobody argued.
Maya stayed behind, dusting off the leaves caught on my jumper. She stepped closer and studied me for a long beat. I had no idea what she was staring so hard at until she lifted her hand, water magic swirling.
“You’ve got some blood on your face.” She muttered, brows furrowing as she washed away the slightest trickle that had come from my nose.
“Rhett caught me.” I huffed. “I’m also tired of all this fucking stress. My brain feels like melting some days, and I’ve had a killer headache all fucking week. I think I bashed my brains in the arena a bit too much. And these dead bodies are not helping. I don’t know what to do.”
“So,” she said, folding her arms, her mouth tugging up at one corner. “It probably doesn’t help the stress levels that you’re still in love with Jinx, then?”
I gave a humourless laugh. “Don’t start.”
She shifted her weight, leaning back against a low-hanging branch, watching me with that too-knowing look that always irritated and unnerved in equal measure. The faint glow from her magic cast a pale light on the bark, highlighting the slight smirk curving her lips.
“Come on. You can tell Aunty Maya all your secrets. I can keep ‘em.” She winked, and I wanted to smother her to death.
I made a note to think about it later. Only a little. Just a tiny smothering until she gasped and realised sometimes she talked shit.
“You didn’t kill Rhett. That’s restraint. Especially for you.” She grinned harder, all earlier panic forgotten. “Maybe you don’t love Jinx as much as I thought. Maybe instead of being a mega simp, you’re just a regular one.”
I crossed my arms, stare fixed on the trees behind her. “He was an idiot. Doesn’t mean I kill idiots. Especially ones who only talk smack because they think it makes them look cool to the other guys.”
She shrugged, then nudged a loose rock with her toe. “Still. I’ve seen you rip someone’s arm out for less. What’s got you so... calm?”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d done worse for less provocation. But this wasn’t about pride. This wasn’t about dominance. This was about Jinx. About protecting what was mine—even if she never knew it. And part of that meant behaving rationally. Not bringing drama to her door, or killing anyone who was rude about her. I had to be a smart man, not an idiot.
I had to make sure I didn’t make a long list of enemies she would have to deal with one day.
“You love her, Zayden,” Maya added, voice soft but certain. “You should tell her. My only regret in life is telling Bells I didn’t love her when she said it to me. And I can’t even begin to describe what that feels like.” Her hands shook. “And it’s not just because she died that night, but because she died not knowing how I felt. She died, thinking I didn’t love every ounce of her ridiculous, rainbow soul.”
I didn’t answer. My throat was tight. Out of everyone in the universe, only Maya understood my hesitation. Only she had the tiniest inkling of why I did what I did. And why it made sense.
Only she knew how much it fucking sucked.
“You were going to Mors. Your parents were sending you away, and you didn’t want Bells to follow you, which we both know she would have volunteered to do. That was anicething. The right thing for her.” I muttered as the wind blew my hair into my eyes. “Why can’t I do a nice thing for Jinx?”
“Because your girl doesn’t need protecting.” She snorted. “You never told her, did you?” She ignored half of what I said. “That night, before they took you.”
I turned my head, breaking eye contact. “No.”
