chapter 6

Jinx's Pov

The world was breaking. That was the only way to describe the feeling of my bones snapping like dry twigs. It wasn't just the pain, but as if something inside me had been folded up for eighteen years and was finally being shook out like a heavy rug.

Crack!

My vision blurred. I saw Calhoun the arrogant, golden robed monster staring at me. He looked worried.

Good. I hoped he was terrified after what he tried to do to me.

Then a voice, ancient and sounding like wind through winter trees echoed in my mind.

"Finally! free at last," the voice purred.

"Who are you?" I asked and the voice replied.

"I am Nyx your wolf. I thought we were going to die in that pathetic village eating scraps. Now... who is this golden idiot?"

My second chance mate, I thought back, even as my jaw elongated and my teeth felt like they were being replaced by jagged daggers.

"Mate? No, Jinx. He is a chew toy, a pretty chew toy. Let’s show him what happens when you poke a sleeping goddess."

Suddenly, the floor was much closer. My hands were gone, replaced by huge, heavy paws covered in fur. I felt strong. Not just I can lift a bucket strong, but I could headbutt a mountain into pebbles strong.

I looked up. Calhoun was in the cage with me. He looked small. When did he get so small? He used to look like a giant, but now he looked like a very handsome, very annoying action figure.

He tried to use his Alpha Aura on me. I felt it, a heavy, invisible weight trying to push me to my knees. Usually, that would have made me tremble. But my wolf just snorted. It felt like a light breeze.

"Jinx, look at me!" he barked.

Oh, he’s still bossy, Nyx remarked. Shall we eat him? Just a little bit? Maybe a leg?

No! I snapped internally. First I want to see him beg for mercy.

I lunged. It wasn't like running, it was like flying. One second I was across the room, the next, my massive paws were pinned to his chest, slamming him against the wall.

Calhoun groaned, his face inches from mine. He smelled like expensive wine, woodsmoke, and... fear. It was the sweetest scent I had ever smelled.

"Jinx?" he whispered. His eyes were wide. For the first time, he wasn't looking at me like a "pretty weak little girl" or the breeder he wished I was.

"You think you own the Moon, little King?" I didn't speak with my mouth, I sent the thought straight into his brain, loud enough to make his ears bleed. "You are nothing but a thief playing in the dirt."

"You are being such an unreasonable little wolf!' He glared at me.

I felt a surge of energy explode from within me. It sent Calhoun flying across the room. He hit the bars with a loud CLANG that sounded like a church bell.

I walked toward him, my heavy paws thumping on the stone. I felt powerful. I felt deadly. I felt... hungry for a snack.

Calhoun scrambled to his feet, rubbing his chest. He looked at his torn golden robe, the one he was so proud of, which was now hanging off him like a wet rag.

"You... you're a Lunar Blood," he breathed with a frown. "That's impossible. They were hunted to extinction."

"Clearly, someone missed a spot," my wolf growled in his head.

"I do not want to hurt you jinx, do not make me." Calhoun spoke arrogantly. it wasn't hard to tell he was still holding back.

"Try it if you can, I dare you!" My wolf challenged him.

"I liked you better as a scared little pup." He frowned, "I'm trying to protect you, if you keep this up, my men will sense your presence and put you to death."

"Mere dogs do not frighten me and neither do you."

"Stop being such a drama queen, be a good little wolf and submit to your Alpha." Calhoun argued growing frustrated.

"I'm not just any wolf, I will not submit to a wolf weaker than myself."

"Weaker?, how dare you! fouled mouth whore!" Calhoun flared up and the restraint he put on himself was finally letting loose.

"Such a pretty face for such a dirty tongue." My wolf clicked her tongue in distaste. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"You keep my mother's name out of your fucking mouth!" He snapped at me.

"Make me!"

I cornered him against the bars and lowered my head, my snout inches from his perfect, arrogant nose. I let out a low growl that made the very air shake.

But then, the adrenaline started to fade. The sheer exhaustion of turning into a four hundred pound beast hit me like a brick and my legs felt like jelly.

My wolf gave a disappointed sigh. "Fine. We take a nap now. But next time, we definitely eat this handsome devil. He looks very crunchy."

The white light faded. The fur retracted, and my bones started to shrink back into their human shapes. It was just as painful going back as it was coming out. I collapsed, but I didn't hit the cold floor.

His warm strong arms caught me before I did.

I looked up, my vision swimming. Calhoun was holding me. He was shivering, his own skin covered in bruises from where I had slammed him into the wall. He looked like he’d been through a battlefield.

"You," I wheezed, my voice barely a whisper. "You look....terrible."

Calhoun stared at me, his face a mix of shock, awe, and something that looked dangerously like respect. He wiped a smudge of dirt off my cheek, his hand shaking just a little bit.

"I'm glad you're back Jinx, your wolf is a terrible communicator, You just threw me across a room," he muttered, a small, dark smirk returning to his lips. "I think the little mouse just grew some very big teeth."

"Don't... don't call me mouse," I grumbled, closing my eyes as the darkness of sleep finally took me.

The last thing I heard was his low mischievous chuckle.

"A cat bares its teeth at a wolf and now it wants to be called a Lion?" He leaned in, his shadow swallowing me whole.

"I’m going to tame you, Jinx. You, and that foul mouthed wolf of yours."