His Darkest Hunger (Jaguar Warriors 1)

Declan waited until Jaxon’s breathing slowed down, then he joined him near the entrance. His face was tense, putting Jaxon on alert.

“We need to go. Ana’s done her exam and she wants us both in the war room, pronto.”

“How does she seem?”

“She’s extremely concerned.”

Jaxon paused for a moment, exhaling slowly. “I wasn’t talking about Ana.”

Declan avoided his eyes, mumbling under his breath, “Ana will explain everything.”

He turned and exited Jaxon’s sanctuary.

Jaxon followed, trying his best to push back the heavy knot of dread that hung low in his belly. Declan wasn’t himself. He wasn’t screaming for Libby’s blood, shouting sarcastic comments at him. He was aloof.

Fuck. That couldn’t be good.

He quickly walked down the hall, turning right until he came into the open atrium that led to the war room. Declan and Ana were already inside, settled in front of a bank of computer screens. As he entered, they both stopped talking, and Ana turned, indicating he take a seat at the table.

She was avoiding his eyes.

The knot deep in his gut was getting bigger. He quietly moved toward the long table, but leaned his hip against it, refusing to sit.

It was never a good idea to sit when you were about to receive bad news. And he knew, as surely as the sun would rise, that a whole lot of crap was about to be dropped in his lap.

Ana was fidgeting with her notes. Exasperated, impatience clawed at him. He wasn’t someone to wait and take things as they would come. He was a jaguar warrior, and had always run head first into battle.

This was no different.

“What the hell did you find out, Ana?” he demanded. “I don’t have all day to wait. Someone shot at my ass last night and I need to figure out who the hell it is before they try again.”

The vampire cleared her throat and lifted her troubled eyes unit they met Jaxon’s. The confusion and pain that lay there hit him hard in the gut.

“Is Libby all right? What the hell did you do to her?” He growled deeply and sprang forward, stopping when Declan’s hand pushed him back.

“Jax! Let her speak.”

Ana paused, before plunging forward, her voice soft, but her tone determined.

“I can give you the bad news first…actually there is no good news, so I’ll just start at the top.”

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed and his face became blank, but his eyes never left the petite vampire.

“First off, I’m not sure how much time we have. I found a chip embedded on the side of her hip. I removed it, ran a few tests, and confirmed exactly what it was.”

“And that would be?”

“A tracking device.”

“Son of a bitch.” Declan spoke up. “That’s just fucking lovely.”

Jaxon shot a furious look at him and turned back to Ana. “We’ll deal with that after I find out what the hell happened to her.”

Ana exhaled softly before she continued. “I ran a number of tests on Libby, and while I can’t tell exactly where she has been these last three years, I can at least tell you what was done to her.” Her dark eyes moved to Declan and back to Jaxon before falling to the notes in front of her.

“She’s been tortured over a long period of time. How long, I can’t really tell, but if I had to guess I would say years. She has a number of fractures, some of which are the result of old injuries. She also has a number of newer ones, including two ribs that were broken on her left side. That particular fracture hasn’t healed properly and is causing her a lot of discomfort.”

Ana looked to Declan. “I’m hoping you can help in regards to that. I did give her something for the pain, but that’s only a short-term solution.”