Page 46 of Phantom’s Mate

But that made him think of the woman outside. One of these men must be her mate.

The guard thunked the artifact case down on the desk, and Jax opened it. Nick could see there were three empty slots in the velvet-lined interior. The other four were filled with golden artifacts that pulsed with magic.

He knew Titan had taken one of the artifacts, before he turned the others over to Jax in return for Mari’s life. One had been destroyed during the original battle with Raines.

“Where’s the fifth artifact?” Jax demanded.

One of the prisoners said, “The buyers made Trey bring it ahead, to prove we were for real before they did the deal.”

Jax shook his head, then looked up at the prisoners.

“You know the traditional penalty for turning on the clan. Explain to me why you deserve to live.”

The other man spoke up. “We’re not turning on the clan. We’re trying to save them. You’ve had the artifacts for weeks, and all that gold—and our cubs and our women are still huddled around kerosene heaters in a fucking tinderbox, sleeping on the floor.”

“You wouldn’t sell them,” the first man said. “You wouldn’t do anything. So we decided it was up to us.”

Nick watched while Jax ramped up his alpha mojo to an impressive level. The prisoners fell silent.

Jax said, “I’m the alpha, and this isn’t a fucking democracy. Not that I owe you an explanation, but I made it clear that we have to eke out the money until we have some other source of income.”

“And when the fuck is that going to be?” one of the guards said. “You’ve shut down all our sources. You won’t let us raid. What are we supposed to do—go beg on the streets?” He spat on the floor.

Nick watched this unfold. It seemed like Jax was losing control. If Nick didn’t move soon, someone else would kill him before he had the chance.

Jax said, “You mean, I won’t let you go out rampaging through the countryside, alerting human law enforcement and the Shifter Council? We’re already outlaws, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“There’s plenty of buyers for the polar bears’ treasure,” one of Jax’s lieutenants said. “And we need lumber, supplies—hell, we need everything. Our cubs can’t eat gold.”

“We’ve been over this,” Jax snapped. “Do you want to flood the market with gold and Draken artifacts? You’ll bring every crazy-ass mercenary down on us. We don’t have enough men to defend this place against that.”

Nick could feel the unrest in the room; it seemed like about half the panthers supported Jax, maybe less. The rest were on the edge of rebellion.

“We should go back to our old compound,” one of the panthers snarled.

Jax snarled back, “You know Fierro and his crew are watching that place. They’ll bring in the Shifter Council—or their dragon friends. What’s going to happen to our women and cubs then?”

“So we kill the Wild Bloods,” one of the other men growled.

“And bring the Bad Bloods down on us, for killing their kids? Fucking Flynn wouldn’t rest until we’re all dead. You really think that crazy lion and his dragon mate can’t make it happen?”

There were growls spreading through the room. Nick could feel Jax exerting his will, but he was barely keeping them under control.

“We shouldn’t have to live like this. We’re warriors!”

Jax leaned his fists on the desk. “We have to do this smart, with a plan. We need new identities, new shell corporations, we need to play a long game here.”

“Maybe we just need a new alpha.”

That was from Rhett, a notorious hothead. But there were murmurs of agreement, and Nick could feel the tide turning against Jax. These guys had nothing left but their pride, and it was killing them.

A familiar feeling came over him, like he used to get back in his and Brandon’s old Last Chance crew—when the guys were desperate and angry and fighting against Brandon, and against Nick as his Second.

He waited for Jax to set his lieutenants on the guy, but he didn’t. He just stepped forward, right into Rhett’s face. “You really want to take me on?” he said quietly. “And what the hell is Victoria going to do after you’ve made me kill you?”

His alpha dominance rolled out through the room, and his loyal lieutenants growled. For a moment everything hung in the balance. Nick held his breath. This wasn’t just going to be an alpha challenge; it was going to be a full-out civil war.

Jax found another ounce of alpha power from somewhere, and Rhett stepped back. “You better do something, Jax,” he growled. “Nobody’s going to put up with this for much longer.” He banged out the door.