CHAPTER 4: Scars and Temptations

Jax's POV 

I slammed the door behind me harder than I intended. The sound echoed through the hallway like a gunshot.

My blood was on fire. Every breath dragged Kai’s sweet, fruity scent deeper into my lungs. My rut surged violently, making my cock throb painfully against my zipper.

“Fuck.”

I dragged a hand down my face and stalked toward the back exit. I needed cold air before I did something stupid, like walk back in there and finish what that teasing omega had started.

The night wind hit me the second I stepped outside. It was sharp and crisp against my overheated skin. It helped a little, but not nearly enough. I could still taste him on the air. I could still feel the way his skin burned under my fingers and the way his breath hitched every time I brushed his nipple. My hands would not stop shaking.

I paced the clearing behind the house, trying to outrun the hunger clawing at my insides. It had been years since my rut hit this hard. And all it took was one injured omega with sea-glass eyes and a dangerous mouth.

My mind dragged me back to Eli before I could stop it.

That smile. The way he used to look at me like I was the only safe place in the world. I had let myself fall hard. I had started imagining a future I had no right to imagine, especially as an enigma who was meant to stand alone.

Then I discovered the truth.

He had been sent by Marcus, another enigma who wanted to destroy my territory from within. Every soft word, every night we spent tangled together, every “I love you” had been a calculated lie to uncover my weaknesses.

I caught it early. But early was not painless. By the time I dragged the truth out of him, I was already in love with a lie. The kind of love that leaves deep scars.

I stopped pacing and braced my hands against the rough bark of an old pine tree, breathing hard. Kai’s scent was still clinging to my shirt. I wanted to rip it off.

This was different, I told myself. Kai had run here on purpose. He came looking for the monster in the woods because he needed protection from Knox. But how long before someone else tried to use him against me? How long before those pretty eyes and soft voice became another weapon at my throat?

I was not doing this again.

Tomorrow, I would give him supplies and enough money to disappear. Then I would send him beyond my borders. Whatever happened to him after that was not my problem.

I had learned my lesson the hard way. No one got close. Not anymore.

Even as the thought settled in my chest, a quiet voice in the back of my mind whispered that I was lying to myself. Because the idea of him leaving tomorrow made something ugly and possessive twist inside me. Something dangerously close to want.

I growled low in my throat and headed for the outdoor shower stall at the side of the house.

I stripped quickly, stepped under the icy spray, and clenched my jaw as the water pounded against my shoulders. It helped with the fever, but it did nothing to dull the deep ache.

Kai was still in my bed. Waiting. Smelling like heaven, heat, and trouble.

And for the first time in a long time, I was not sure I was strong enough to send him away when morning came.