“That's a butterfly.” Harper laughed. “No, you can't fly, darling. You're a lion, not a butterfly.”
Jeremy immediately gave a little roar and looked disappointed when the butterfly flew off. Harper hoisted her son higher on her hip. He was getting quite heavy now and she was glad he was growing so well.
She hummed the song that Jackson had been singing to Jeremy almost every night. It was the same tune as “I'm a Little Teapot”, but Jackson had changed the lyrics to “I'm a little lion, brave and strong...”
Jeremy clapped and made happy sounds as he tried to sing along. It was his favorite song, a special song that his daddy had made up for him.
Harper swung her son around, dancing merrily in the golden sunlight. She glimpsed someone coming up the path towards her, but she couldn't see him clearly against the sun's glare.
She stopped dancing and singing immediately, and the warm, carefree mood vanished in an instant. Instead, a chill seemed to pervade the air.
Harper swallowed hard, feeling strangely uneasy and tense. She hugged Jeremy closer to her and turned around stiffly. She wanted to head back to the bench and put him in his stroller. Then they would hurry home.
A hand fell on her shoulder.
Harper spun round and her eyes widened.
Disbelief, distress and a trace of anger rippled across her features. Why? Why him?
“Douglas...”
Douglas didn't even look her in the eye. Instead, he stared unblinkingly at the boy in her arms.
But there was no love at all in his hard, gray eyes.
“You refused to listen to me, Harper,” Douglas said in a voice that sounded deceptively calm and reasonable. “You gave birth to him after all.”
“Yes, b-but he's not yours. He's someone else's cub now. Jeremy belongs to me and my mate. He has nothing to do with you! Jackson has marked him as his cub.” Harper tried to back away, but Douglas's claws stabbed into her shoulder and held her in place.
“Yes, I can scent that a bear shifter has marked the boy as his. He has marked you too, Harper,” Douglas sneered, glancing at her neck.
Harper nodded jerkily. “Please leave us alone, Douglas. We are no longer in your life. You have a promising future ahead of you, with the Alpha's daughter...”
“Precisely. I am about to marry the Alpha's daughter, but the Alpha is a suspicious old man. He has ordered his lieutenants to investigate me, find out about my past and my background before he will allow the marriage to take place. I can't let them find the boy. He has my blood. I cannot allow a bastard to ruin my future!”
“He's not a bastard,” Harper said angrily.
“He's my son.” Douglas's lips curled. “I told you to terminate the pregnancy, Harper. He cannot live.”
He shook his head at her. “I have given you the chance to do the right thing, but you refused. He should never have been born.”
Douglas glanced at Jeremy impassively. “You have given birth to him...only to watch him be killed.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“No!” Harper's blood ran cold.
She twisted round desperately but there was no one in the park behind her. The little path led away from the park and towards a shallow forest. It was a scenic walk and relatively safe, since there were only small animals in the shallow woods.
Even if she screamed, there was no one around to hear her.
Harper turned and tried to shield Jeremy with her body as Douglas lunged for the boy. She felt his claws rake down her arm but she held on fast to her baby. She would not let him touch her son!
Douglas roared and shoved her away. Forcefully, he wrenched Jeremy out of her arms.
“No! No, don't hurt him!” Harper begged, reaching for her baby.
Jeremy whimpered and flailed, his little face turning bright red. Then he shifted smoothly into a lion cub and growled.
Douglas laughed mirthlessly as he held the cub by the scruff of his neck. “So...he can shift.”
“He's not yours, Douglas. Please...” Harper sobbed. “Let him go! No one will find us. I won't tell anyone. He doesn't even look like you! He has my eyes and his hair is light brown, almost blond, like his dad. Jeremy doesn't have red hair and...c-cold gray eyes...” Her voice trailed off as she started to shake uncontrollably.
She'd never realized how cold his eyes were. Cold and cruel and calculating. Swallowing her terror, she said as firmly and clearly as she could, “My son's name is Jeremy Gray, and he's the son of Jackson Gray. It's the truth.”
Douglas brought the squirming cub to his nose and sniffed. Without warning, he used his claw and drew blood from the side of the cub's neck.
He ignored Harper's cries and licked Jeremy's blood from his wound. “No.” His eyes flashed. “He has my blood. He must die, Harper. I'm sorry you didn't listen to me.”
Harper let out a demented screech and ran at Douglas. “I won't let you kill him! You'll have to kill me first!”
Douglas dangled Jeremy from a claw and smiled. “As you wish, Harper. As you wish.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jackson ran up the front steps of the house and threw the door open. “Daddy's home! And look what he got...”
He stopped waving the big teddy bear in front of him and stared around. The crew had completed the construction project ahead of schedule and everyone had gotten off work early today. Instead of joining Tristan and the rest of the crew for Happy Hour at The Thirsty Toadstool, Jackson had gone to a toy store and bought a big teddy bear for his son.
He had been so excited to rush home and give the cuddly bear to Jeremy. Gramma and Ne-ma had told him that Harper had left the inn more than two hours ago and she should be at home with Jeremy now.
Jackson lowered the teddy bear and frowned. The house was empty. He sniffed the air and followed their scent outside. They hadn't gone far. He could still taste their scent in the air.
Jackson followed their trail and jogged down the street. He grew increasingly uneasy and worried. Something wasn't right. He could sense it. Harper was a strong, brave woman, and she didn't scare easily. She would do everything to protect Jeremy, but he could feel her pain and anger rising as he turned towards the park.
His body jerked suddenly and he threw the teddy bear to the ground and charged forward. The sudden, sharp pain he felt in his heart told him that both his mate and cub were in terrible danger.
Jackson shifted into bear form as he ran into the park. He saw Jeremy's stroller near a park bench and his rattle on the ground.
Harper's scream brought him thundering up the lane towards the woods. He saw a huge male lion lunging towards Harper and Jeremy. The little lion cub was fearlessly standing in front of his mother, trying to protect her. Harper tried to pull Jeremy back but the cub snarled and flew at the lion, teeth bared and tiny claws gleaming.
The lion swiped his massive paw at the cub and sent Jeremy hurtling towards a cluster of rocks. “No!” Harper shrieked and threw herself sideways, arms outstretched to catch her son.
Jeremy landed neatly in his mother's arms but Harper was badly cut by the jagged rocks. One side of her blouse was torn and bloody, but she didn't let go of her son.
Jackson roared in fury and slammed into the lion just before he could snap his jaws around Harper's throat. The lion staggered away and crouched, looking for an opening.
Jackson glanced over his shoulder at Harper and Jeremy. The feisty little cub was trying to struggle free of his mother's grip so that he could join in the fight.
His gaze lingered on his beloved mate and cub for a second too long.
The lion took the chance to launch himself into Jackson's side. He knocked Jackson away from Harper and Jeremy, and turned to slash his claws towards Jeremy's head.
Harper angled her body to shield the cub and those razor-sharp claws raked down her back, gouging deeply into her skin and flesh. She bit down her scream and clung on to her son.
Jackson reared up with a terrible, thunderous roar and swiped his claws
inches from the lion's face. He knew that this was Douglas. The coward had attacked a defenseless human woman and a small cub when he thought no one was about.
Douglas fought back but Jackson kept charging. His bear was maddened beyond reason. So was Jackson. This piece of shit tired to kill his cub and mate!
The bear and the lion circled each other, both bleeding from their deep, vicious wounds.
Douglas's eyes gleamed suddenly as he lowered himself to a crouch. As Jackson roared and rushed at him, the lion leaped up, his powerful hind legs launching him high into the air. He landed behind Jackson, just inches from Harper and Jeremy.
Harper was curled up on the ground, groaning softly in pain. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was quick and shallow. Jeremy was beside her, licking her face tenderly.
Sensing the threat to his mother, Jeremy growled and ran forward.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The tiny cub let out a baby lion roar and flung himself angrily at the big, bad lion who had hurt his mother.
The lion's jaws widened, preparing to catch the cub between its deadly teeth. All it needed to do was snap its jaws shut over the cub's fragile neck.
The cub would be dead in a heartbeat.
Jackson saw his brave little son hurtling through the air towards the lion. Time seemed to freeze as Jeremy's very first words echoed in his mind: “Da-da!”
A roar that was filled with wrath and pain exploded. Jackson lunged forward with the deadly speed and strength of a bear protecting its cub. He slashed down with his claws and his fangs buried themselves in the enemy's jugular.
Jackson's bear wasn't a bloodthirsty predator, but that didn't mean it couldn't kill. It could and it would. Jackson would never attack and kill an innocent, but Douglas was not innocent. He had come after Harper and Jeremy, and he was going to kill them in cold blood.
Jackson clamped his jaws tighter over the lion's throat and brought the beast down. Even as Douglas fell, he snapped his savage jaws mere inches from the tumbling cub.
Jackson bit deeper into the lion's jugular. He held the lion down even though the lion had stopped moving. He would only let go when he was sure that Jeremy had scrambled to a safe distance. The little cub staggered and stumbled, but finally made his way back to Harper. Jeremy continued growling and guarding his mom even though his tiny body was shaking with fright.
Jackson finally stepped away from the dead lion.
He went to Harper and nudged her gently with his nose. “Is he...dead? Are we safe?” she whispered, pulling Jeremy to her.
Jackson nodded and licked his mate and cub, nuzzling them and scenting them.
He glanced at Douglas's carcass and gave a low snarl.
He would have to inform the Sheriff straight away. Winston Knight was a lion shifter, and he would let the Hamilton pride know that Douglas had been killed when he attacked another's mate and cub.
Jackson pressed himself to Harper and Jeremy, feeling their warm breaths on his neck. He would have to get them to the hospital quickly. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had arrived just a minute later.
He would have lost them both, the two most precious people in his life.
Harper and Jeremy were badly hurt, but they were alive.
Alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Harper arranged the huge plates of food neatly on the long table. Behind her, Gramma and Ne-ma were squabbling over the color of the streamers and balloons.
“This bunch of balloons should be red!”
“No, blue! There are enough red balloons already!”
They started muttering a spell together, and a big bunch of purple balloons appeared.
“I said, red,” Gramma huffed.
“They should be blue,” Ne-ma countered and threw up her hands. “Great, now they're purple.”
Aidan and Jackson laughed as they hung a banner from the staircase railing. Happy Birthday, Jeremy!
The birthday boy wasn't home at the moment. He was out with his Uncle Mason and Aunt Suzanne. They had brought him to the mall to shop for his birthday present. The house was a flurry of activity and psychedelic sparks as Gramma and Ne-ma spat their spells out in a hurry, anxious to get everything ready before the birthday boy arrived.
As just Elle carried the birthday cake out of the kitchen, the doorbell rang.
“Ooh, they're here!” Ne-ma cried.
“Neveah, come and help me get this present wrapped up! I can't get the bow right,” Gramma snapped. “Hurry!”
Ne-ma chanted a spell and the long ribbon spun round the present a couple of times. “There!”
“No!” Gramma gasped. The entire present was covered in a messy tangle of red ribbon. “You've ruined my wrapping,” she wailed.
“Oh! What should we do?” Ne-ma wrung her hands.
“It looks great,” Harper hurried to assure them. “Don't worry about the wrapping. Jeremy will just tear everything off in a few seconds. He doesn't care how it looks. It's what's inside that matters.”
Jackson threw the door open and Mason and Suzanne trooped in, grinning widely. Jeremy was sitting on Mason's shoulders, and Suzanne was carrying a big train set under her arm.
“You didn't wrap the present up,” Gramma said.
“Jeremy didn't want it to be wrapped up. He wanted to look at his train set the whole time,” Mason answered, setting his nephew down.
“Oh.” Gramma and Ne-ma glanced mournfully at their huge present which was hidden under all that tangle of red ribbon.
Jeremy leaped into Jackson's arms and grinned. “Daddy!”
Behind Mason and Suzanne, Tristan and Alisa were coming up the front steps. Alisa was carrying their baby daughter, while Tristan hauled a beautiful rocking-horse into the house.
“I made this myself,” Tristan beamed. “Happy birthday, Jeremy!”
Jeremy squealed excitedly and scrambled down from Jackson's arms. “Thank you, Uncle Tristan! Thank you, Aunt Alisa!” he shouted. He climbed onto the rocking-horse and started riding it like a little cowboy.
Harper came to coo at her baby niece. “Katie looks just like you,” she told Alisa. “But she has Tristan's eyes.”
“Yep.” Alisa smiled. “She's Daddy's little girl all right.”
Jeremy was whopping and urging his horse round the sofa when the doorbell rang again. In a heartbeat, Jeremy was off his horse and racing towards the door. Before Harper could open the door, he was jumping up and down and yelling, “Godpa, Godpa!”
Winston stepped through the door and grinned. “Happy birthday, Jeremy,” he said hugging his godson as Jeremy pounced on him. “Here, I got this for you, son. You can build anything you want with these.”
“Thank you, Godpa!” Jeremy took the huge bucket of building blocks from Winston and proceeded to pour all the blocks out on the living room floor.
“Come on, let's eat!” Harper clapped her hands. “Let's get the party started!”
The whole house was filled with lively chatter and laughter and Jeremy had the time of his life. After finishing a big slice of his birthday cake, Jeremy went to tug at Alisa and pointed at Katie. “You want to play with your cousin?” Alisa asked.
Jeremy nodded excitedly. “Okay, but she's still very little. You have to take care of her.”
“Okay,” he promised.
Alisa put Katie down among Jeremy's toys and the little girl promptly shifted into a bear cub. “Yay!” Jeremy clapped and shifted into lion form. The two cubs gamboled among the toys and chased each other round the house.
“More cake?” Harper asked Winston.
“Yes, please. Thank you. This cake is delicious! It's from Baker's Hut, isn't it?”
“It's made by the boss of Baker's Hut,” Harper corrected. “But you can't get it at Baker's Hut.”
“That's right.” Elle winked at them. “I only bake this cake for family.”
Winston laughed. “Thanks to my godson, I got to eat this cake!”
“Of course. You
're family,” Harper said, giving Winston a kiss on the cheek.
Gramma and Ne-ma giggled and came to sit on either side of the unsuspecting Sheriff.
“Winston, we were just wondering...” Gramma began.
“...if you have someone special in your life,” Ne-ma said, her blue eyes twinkling behind her glasses.
“Special?” Winston's fork stopped midway to his mouth.
“Do you have a mate?” Gramma asked bluntly.
“Or a girlfriend? A significant other?” Ne-ma probed.
Winston coughed and shook his head. “No,” he spluttered. “I don't have anyone special.”
“Ah...”
“Ha!”
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Glynda?” Ne-ma smiled slyly.
“I thought it first,” Gramma smirked.
There was a collective groan from Jackson and his brothers. “Gramma! Ne-ma!”
“What?” Gramma and Ne-ma blinked innocently at their grandsons.
“You're going to cast that spell again!”
Winston Knight gave Gramma and Ne-ma his best interrogative stare. “What spell? What are you plotting?”
Gramma and Ne-ma chuckled and patted Winston's arm. “We're not plotting anything, Sheriff. You have nothing to worry about. We're just harmless little old ladies.”
Jackson laughed and clapped Winston on the shoulder. “You're a great godfather to Jeremy. And I've always said to Harper that you'd make a great dad some day. It looks like that day is coming real soon!”
Before Winston could question him further, Jackson went to grab Jeremy and Katie out from under the couch. The two cubs pounced on him and an energetic wrestling match began.
Harper laughed as she watched the cubs gang up on Jackson. The lion and the bear worked as a team, jumping all over Jackson and nipping him playfully.
Aidan finally took pity on his boss and extricated the Sheriff from Gramma and Ne-ma's clutches. But when Winston asked him what his grandmothers were talking about, all Aidan would say was, “It's all good.”
Tempting The Bear: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 4) Page 5
