Bear It All: McMahon Clan 2 (Fated Mates #5)

by Rochelle Paige

  “I was only in the shower for fifteen minutes tops. I left you napping from our last round with a smile on your face. In that time, what could have possibly happened to make you look like the world’s about to end?” Tahlia asked.

  She was leaning against the bathroom doorway, wrapped in a towel. Gone was the sexy and dangerous siren from a few days ago who was pissed as fuck at me when she knocked me on my ass. In her place was a happily relaxed woman—my woman. If at all possible, she was sexier than before, but now the only place she wanted me on my back was in bed when she was riding me. Something she’d aptly demonstrated this morning before hopping in the shower. A moment I’d give my eyeteeth to relive instead of what was going to happen today.

  “Email from my dad,” I muttered, swiveling my laptop on the bed so she could see the screen. “With a video tutorial for you.”

  Her gaze darted from my face to the computer. “My dance for tonight?”

  “Yup.”

  She walked toward the bed and slammed the screen down before crawling onto my lap. With her arms twined around my neck and her eyes locked with mine, she tried her best to calm me down. “I know this is hard for you, but I won’t be gone long. You’ll barely have time to miss me.”

  Tahlia’s voice was softer than I’d ever heard it, but it didn’t matter how the fuck she tried to talk to me about this or how soothing her tone was—it wasn’t going to work. She was heading into danger and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to protect her without putting my family at risk. The situation was intolerable.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted, the words practically torn from my body. “I love my family. I really do, but you’re my mate, Tahlia. My mate! Mine to protect.”

  “Yes, I’m your mate, just as you’re mine. I’m not sure how I’d feel right now if our roles were reversed, but you have to know I’ve been training for missions like this almost my whole life. Your dad wouldn’t have asked for my help if he didn’t think I was the best option. Tonight isn’t going to be a walk in the park, but I’ve got this.”

  I hated that my anger and frustration might have made Tahlia feel like I didn’t have faith in her. It wasn’t easy, but I forced my body to relax. I knew Tahlia could handle herself. The training her mom had put her through growing up had ensured she was prepared for just about anything, but there was one thing she’d left out when telling me about her childhood—one piece missing from the puzzle that was my mate. “Why did your mom put you through so much training when you were a kid?”

  She curled up in my lap and settled in as though it was going to be a long story, her head resting on my chest. “My mom never mated. She’s never really looked for her mate, doesn’t even talk to me about it much, but there was a boy she cared for a lot. They grew up together in our pride.”

  Her voice was whisper soft as she spoke, so faint I had to strain to hear her while she opened up about her childhood. “Lions can be playful while young and incredibly curious. I know it sounds terribly cliché considering the old saying, but it’s true. In my mom’s case, curiosity led to a sexual relationship when they were both on the cusp of adulthood. One they both knew wasn’t going to lead to a mating, but neither of them expected it to result in a pregnancy. They might not have been mates, but they cared for each other a great deal and amongst lions, that’s more than enough for a good co-parenting relationship.”

  I braced, hoping like hell her story didn’t include being so easily left behind by her father like the mother who’d abandoned my brothers and me. “You’ve never mentioned your dad before.”

  “I don’t really remember him, but from what my mom has always told me, he was a great guy. One who apparently doted on me as a baby.”

  There was a slight hiccup in her voice and I felt moisture against my skin. Tilting her chin up, I saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. “You don’t have to tell me more if it hurts you, honey. I never want to be the cause of your tears.”

  “You aren’t,” she assured, smiling up at me through misty eyes. “It just makes me sad to know he never had the chance to see me grow up.”

  I cupped her cheeks, swiping my thumbs across her soft skin to wipe the tears away. “What happened to him?”

  “He died,” she breathed out on a sigh, and then hurried to explain. “I was only two, that’s why I don’t remember much. A couple lone males were making some moves against our pride. They wanted to force out our prime to make room for themselves. To take over our females and create their own pride. Only...our prime wasn’t willing to be pushed out, wasn’t willing to give up any of our females. He considered them all family, probably because he’d slept with several of them and had children with more than just his mate.”

  I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to offer comfort as she continued her story. I knew this was part of the reason she’d been worried about ending up with a mate who’d cheat on her. It hadn’t just been random lion males she’d seen cheating on their mates, but her prime—a man whom she would have been raised to respect and trust.

  “Whatever his reason, it turned out the prime’s decision was a good one. These males had already been kicked out of one pride for acting against the best interest of their fellow members. When faced with opposition from our prime, they showed exactly how little honor they had by attacking a couple of the younger males. They didn’t challenge them directly, though. They were cowards who shot them in the back. One of the males was my father. It took four bullets before he went down and then they shot him right between his eyes.”

  Her finger swept across her forehead as though she was reliving her father’s last moments. She shuddered, falling silent as her body shook with the force of her tears. I held her until she was all cried out, plotting my revenge on the men who’d hurt my mate by taking her father from her when she needed him.

  “And the lone males?”

  “Dead. My mom made sure they didn’t go quietly into the night either. It was the only thing she asked of our prime—the right to avenge her daughter’s loss. If he granted her request, she promised to stay with the pride. If not, she threatened to take me and join another one. Our pride was already reeling from the loss of my father and his friend. Having one of their strongest females leave with her female cub would have been bad for our prime’s reputation at a time when he couldn’t afford any negativity.”

  I whistled softly. “Your mom extorted her prime? That’s a ballsy move.”

  “She earned herself a position as one of the prime defenders for it, too.” Tahlia’s pride in her mom was clear.

  “That’s not the usual response to extortion. My dad would’ve kicked her ass if she was part of our clan.”

  She laughed lightly. “He told her she’d earned his respect, something nobody else had accomplished in a long time. The method she’d used to kill the interlopers cemented his opinion, but the whole experience changed her. Made her harder. From then on, she was driven by one goal: doing whatever it took to make sure what happened to my father wouldn’t happen to me. She was one of the few lionesses tapped to become a pride defender, but she didn’t let that stop her from making sure she was one of the best. Not when she felt like my safety was at stake. Then, as soon as I was old enough, she started my training so I’d be prepared to defend myself when she wasn’t there to do it for me.”

  “Which eventually led to you becoming an agent for the council.” Something which frustrated me to no end because it meant she was in harm’s way.

  “And being an agent brought me to you.” I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but she was right. Our paths might never have crossed if it weren’t for her position with the council. Talk about a bitter pill to swallow.

  “Now that I have you, I’m never going to let you go,” I warned.

  “Letting me do my job tonight without you there isn’t letting me go, Braden. It’s trusting me to do what’s needed to protect your family.”

  “Our family,” I corrected. “Even without th
e mark or claiming words being exchanged, you’re my mate. My family is yours now, too.”

  Her answering smile was blinding in its warmth as she wound her arms around my neck. “For so long, it’s been my mom and me against the world. Now I have you, which means this mission is more important than anything I’ve ever done for the council before. This time, I’ll be doing it for people who are important to me.”

  “And when this mission is over?” My question was as much of a surprise to me as it was Tahlia. It was something that had been at the back of my mind ever since I realized she was a council agent, but I hadn’t wanted to fuck up our time together by bringing it up. I’d managed to keep my mouth shut about it this whole time only to blurt it out now, when she should be focused on other things.

  She crawled out of my lap and off the bed to pace the floor as she spoke. “I don’t know, Braden. I’ve been a council agent since I was eighteen. I’ve never held any other kind of job. I’m not trained to do anything else, be anything other than what I am today. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  “With me. You begin with mating me, Tahlia.” I strode toward her and pulled her into my arms.

  “But will it be enough?”

  The uncertainty in her voice and eyes killed me, because I’d put it there. “I’m a fucking dumbass. No matter what you decide, we’ll figure this out. You’re everything to me. Council agent, student, stay-at-home wife—it doesn’t matter what you decide you want to do after tonight as long as you do it by my side.”

  “I’m good at dancing.” Her eyes twinkled up at me and I realized she was letting me off the hook by baiting me with a joke. Or what had damn well better be a joke.

  “In case you didn’t already figure it out, tonight’s your last night on stage. The only dancing you’ll be doing from now on will be for me and me alone.”

  “How about we get an early start on your private dances?” She swiveled away from me to grab the laptop from the bed. “I need to practice for tonight anyway. You can be my audience.”

  There wasn’t much in this world that could take my mind off the danger she was going to be facing tonight, but the sight of her learning and mastering a veil dance certainly came close. At the very least, it was a hell of a way for us to pass the time until I needed to let her go back to the club.

  Chapter 10

  Tahlia

  Taking a deep breath, I straightened my back and pushed through the doors of the Honey Pot. The first time I’d walked through them, I felt like I was selling a part of my soul for this mission. Today was different. If things went as planned, this was the last time I would be walking into the club as a dancer. The next time, if there ever was one, I would be here as Braden’s mate. And today, it felt like I’d left my soul behind because he wasn’t by my side. It had only taken him three days to wedge himself deeply into my heart.

  Leaving him at the cabin was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. We’d spent the last few days in a bubble, separated from the real world, but there was no hiding from it now. I had a job to do. A damn important one, too. A job I’d excelled at for the last five years, and I couldn’t allow the situation with Braden to interfere with my ability to follow through now. Not when it was his family at stake. Or our family, as Braden wanted me to think of them now.

  “Glad to have you back, Lia,” Derek greeted me as I approached the bar. “You doing okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I waved him off as he put a hand on my arm, offering comfort I didn’t want from anyone but my mate.

  “Carrick wasn’t sure how you’d feel about going back up there after what happened the other night. I know he felt partially responsible since it was his son who dragged you off the stage like that and scared the shit out of you. He wanted to stick around and make sure you were okay, but he was called out of town. Whatever issue Braden was handling for him must have blown up because he needed Carrick’s help with it.”

  I was relieved to hear our cover story had stuck these last few days and knew I needed to keep to the script. “It’s really not a problem. Braden already apologized and gave me the rest of that night off. Plus, Carrick called me about it before he sent me the video so I could prep for my dances. Everything’s fine and I’m ready to go.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, but I’ve already limited your stage time for tonight.”

  “You didn’t need to do that,” I muttered, knowing damn well he wasn’t the one who made that call. It was Braden who didn’t want me up there until it was absolutely necessary, Derek was just following orders.

  “I know it’ll be a hit money-wise, but I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night once you’ve gotten settled back in,” Derek promised. His eyes swept over my body as he spoke and his tone made it clear he was willing to make it up to me in other ways too. Apparently, Carrick hadn’t filled him in on the whole story or he wouldn’t be flirting with me. Not if he knew who I was to Braden. Not if he wanted to keep his job as manager—or his life.

  I took a step away, wanting to create some space between us. Derek had been kind to me during the time I’d spent working at the Honey Pot. I didn’t want to return the favor by letting him screw up the good thing he had going at the club when he didn’t know better. Luckily, he took it as a signal of my disinterest and dropped his flirtatious manner, going back to all business as he filled me in on the details for tonight. When he was done, I claimed a spot at the end of the bar. It was the best vantage point to see everyone in the club while keeping an eye on the entrance.

  “Figured you could use this,” Sean said, sliding my usual bottle of water toward me.

  “Thanks.” I twisted off the cap and took a gulp, but it didn’t do anything to help settle my nerves—which, for the first time since I’d started this mission, had nothing to do with getting up on stage. I’d felt unsettled and on edge ever since I left Braden. “But I think I need something stronger tonight.”

  “No shit?” It was no wonder he sounded shocked. I’d always turned down his offers for a shot and now, here I was, asking him for alcohol.

  “Yeah,” I sighed.

  He grabbed a bottle of Don Eduardo Silver Tequila from one of the upper shelves, poured a shot, and nudged it my way with a wedge of lime and a salt shaker.

  “Tequila?” I was surprised by his choice since he’d never seen me drink before. It was particularly startling because tequila was one of my favorites for shots—a preference I’d picked up from my mom.

  “It’s quick and will give you courage.” He flashed me a wicked grin. “Plus, a few of the lionesses I know like tequila. Figured it was a decent bet you’d like it too.”

  Skipping the salt, I picked up the shot glass and gulped down the fiery liquid before shoving the lime in my mouth. The heat hit my system instantly. I smiled up at Sean, sliding the empty glass his way. “You’re a damn good bartender.”

  “After watching you take that shot like a pro, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to worry about you puking it back up like you’ve threatened any other time I’ve asked. But I’m sure as shit not going to risk it by offering you another one, no matter how much you try to flatter me. The last thing I need is to get stuck cleaning up after you.”

  I glanced at the bottle before looking up at him again. “Yeah,” I sighed, “that’s probably a good plan.”

  Looking around the club, I took in the changes Carrick and Derek had made while I’d been at the cabin. I had no idea how they’d accomplished so much in so little time. Lush silk panels had been hung from the ceiling to give the room a Bedouin tent feeling. All the tables and chairs had been changed out with low sofas, side tables covered in sheer material, and cushions, which were spread across the room. They’d more than pulled off the whole Arabian Nights theme for this weekend.

  The dancers did a fantastic job, too. Each of the girls I’d gotten to know over the last month were incredibly beautiful and seductive as they did a variety of dances unlike any they’d done on stage before. As the night wore on, I
began to worry my dance wouldn’t rise to the same level as theirs—or serve any purpose. There still wasn’t any sign of the man I’d been hoping like hell would show up tonight. All I wanted to do was finish off this mission and move forward in my life with Braden. I had no idea exactly what that life would entail, I just knew I wanted it because it meant having Braden as my mate.

  The night was more than halfway over when Derek signaled for me get ready for my turn on stage. Sitting at the mirror and outlining my eyes with dark, smoky eyeliner, I wanted to howl in defeat. I was dressed like a goddamn harem girl, ready to go on stage, and it was going to be pointless because our mark wasn’t even here. My concentration was so focused, I practically hissed in annoyance when there was a soft tap on my shoulder. When I turned to see who it was, my heart started pounding in anticipation.

  “Sorry to startle you,” Annabelle said. “I just wanted to let you know you should put a little more swivel in your step and keep your focus on the VIP section as much as you can when you’re up there. I put that guy I was telling you about at table four so he’d be front and center for your dance.”

  “Thanks,” I breathed out on an enormous sigh of relief before rushing through the rest of my preparations. Now that I knew he was here, I was raring to go. It felt like time was moving in slow motion once I was waiting behind stage for the last girl before me to finish her dance.

  Peaking around the corner, I tried to get a glimpse of the guy at table four, but it was useless. I’d need to enter the stage from the opposite side of where he was sitting. If I leaned out too far, odds were good he’d catch me, and I didn’t want to do anything to arouse suspicion—especially not now when he was finally within my reach. It took me a month to get this lead; I wasn’t about to risk losing him because I couldn’t wait a couple more minutes to see his face.