21

After the most agonizing, sexually frustrating few hours of his life spent driving to his penthouse, Jackson’s wolf wanted nothing more than to mark its mate. And damn, if he wasn't kind of in agreement with his animal half. Her body did things to him and so did her scent. He was saturated in it, letting the better sense fall right out of his head.

He was sure there were reasons not to cross that line, but he couldn’t seem to remember what they were.

"We're here," he said, pulling into the underground garage. He was eager to get inside and get into the shower himself to work out his frustrations before he did something he'd regret. D had said it a million times, after you have your mate, there's no going back.

Jackson couldn’t believe he was starting to think it was true. They parked and he led her to the private elevator that went straight to the top floor loft. Once inside his penthouse, he gave Mara a quick tour.

"This is your room for the night. I'm staying next door and unfortunately, the two rooms share an adjoining bathroom so just be vigilant about checking inside or knocking before you enter."

“Is that a joke? Because you've got some nerve after barging in on me," she laughed and went inside her room, shutting the door behind her. He could hear the clicking sound of the lock. He turned away to do the same and as he made his way into the bathroom, he couldn't help but look through her door to see her bent over the bed, moving her towels to the side. Those tiny shorts were…

He closed the door, harder than he needed to, and locked it before turning on the shower. He looked down to find himself hard enough to cut diamonds. Jesus, he wasn't going to survive this job.

His wolf whined but he ignored it. Ugh. This was even driving a wedge between him and his wolf. He got in the hot stream of water and used his hand to work her off his mind.

***

Jax had to be taking the longest shower in history, Mara thought, scrolling through all the texts and emails she'd missed since the press conference. Richard and Nadia had each left several voicemails of detailed apologies and explanations for their actions. To summarize, they both blamed each other profusely and took zero responsibility for anything. She quickly called her bank to cease all funds to either of them. They'd all have to sit down first so she could properly decide how to move forward with them.

Mara sighed and switched over to her emails. A few agents had reached out, which wasn’t out of the norm. A few people were querying her rates for attendance at events. Mara ignored all of those, knowing Althea would handle them. Althea had forwarded Mara a list of every engagement she was contracted to attend during filming.

There were two meet & greets, a ribbon cutting on the new Luxe lounge she'd invested in, a charity dinner for childhood Leukemia, and a meeting with the studio. She scratched nervously at her wrist as a new text from Althea dinged on her phone.

It was confirming that she would require a stylist to pull a selection for her future engagements. Mara agreed, grateful that Althea was always doing her job to the best of her ability. And for a second Mara was saddened by the thought that Althea might betray her trust too. What would she do then, when she was reduced to no one?

At least she had Jax.

She left her emails and headed over to social media where she was trending number one on Twitter. Fear seized her as she clicked the first video link. Mara cringed at the clips of her conference but as she scrolled through the responses she was pleasantly surprised. Everyone sympathized with her. Some even said she looked scared as she read and wouldn't make eye contact with the camera. They weren't scolding Mara, in fact, they were scolding whoever put her in that position.

As soon as she lowered her head to the bed, the room began to spin. She struggled to sit back up, realizing she'd never had dinner the night before and at this point in the day, she was beyond running on fumes.

Mara looked down at her phone to see that it was almost two in the afternoon and all she'd had in her body was some coffee since lunch yesterday. Twenty-four hours without food told her she needed to eat. Nervously she chewed on her lip, should she just order food for delivery? Was that dangerous? Would it make Jax mad? Probably. Groaning, she pushed herself out of the bed and down the hall in the direction of the kitchen.

Surprisingly, everything was well stocked with fresh food and she was pleasantly surprised to find enough ingredients to make some alfredo. Her stomach pestered her to no end as she turned everything down to simmer for twenty minutes. In the distance, Mara heard a door open and close.

"Who the hell are you?" a woman growled from behind, startling Mara and eliciting a hearty scream. Mara nearly dropped the full, simmering pan all over herself.

"Jesus! How'd you get in here? Who are you?! GET OUT!" Mara screamed, holding up the first knife she saw. Did the stalker have an accomplice?

"GET OUT? You’re telling me to get out of MY boyfriend’s apartment?" The woman began to stalk closer, raking her eyes dangerously up and down Mara's clothes, becoming more enraged. "You're fucking my boyfriend in that cheap ass outfit and you have the nerve to tell me to get the fuck out?!"

That was a low blow. Her sleep shorts and tank were all she could scavenge from her mother’s guest room. Mara backed up, trying to understand what the woman was saying. "Wait? Your boyfriend?...Jax?! Oh, no. No. You have the wro—"

"Mother of the Moon Goddess, how long had this been going on under my damn nose? You've got a fucking pet name for MY boyfriend? What does he have us here on opposite weekends or something? Oh my god, do you live in L.A.? That’s it, isn’t it? He keeps you here and ME, on packla—"

"SHEILA! ENOUGH!" Jax's loud voice boomed across the room, cutting off the hysterical woman. Mara looked to find him still dripping from the shower, water trailing from his hair down his toned mid-section to the soaking towel. His eyes twitched into an aggressive shape, something that seemed to deflate all the fight out of the woman in front of her.

"My room, Sheila. Now." The growl was clipped, sharp and forceful. The sound was unlike anything Mara could put into words, but even she felt compelled by it, leaning toward him.

The woman—apparently named Sheila—turned to walk into his room without another word. Mara gawked after her, unsure of what to make of the exchange. How could she go from a raging psycho to a submissive mouse in a matter of seconds? And Jax—well he seemed to forget all about Sheila as soon as she left the room with the way he stared at Mara like she was mouthwatering. His green eyes flashed as he turned, making them appear reflective. Mara shook her head. That was ridiculous.

He paused just before he disappeared down the hall. "Are you okay?" he asked

"Yea...yea of course, she just startled me is all. You should—I don’t know. But, apparently she thinks we're dating," Mara laughed awkwardly, putting the knife down on the island.

"I heard you scream..." he looked like he wanted to say more; so much seemed to pass before his eyes, but he didn't. He just stood there, looking like sex on a stick and staring at her like a man possessed.

"Um, so...you know...are you going to go see to her?" Mara asked, dismissing him as she turned back to the stove. This was all so bizarre. She shook her head and the hairs prickled on the back of her neck as he watched her.

Jax didn’t say anything else as he left but the empty air told Mara he’d disappeared off behind his girlfriend.

Why did that make her want to break something?