JAYDEN

by Becca Fanning

  JAYDEN

  MC Bear Mates IX

  Becca Fanning

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  13. SNEAK PEAK Brock Chapter One

  14. SNEAK PEAK Brock Chapter Two

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Chapter 1

  If this was what death felt like, then Jayden Aston figured it wasn’t as bad as everyone had made it out to be.

  Of course, he was a Shifter. So the afterlife was completely different for his race than it was for humans, or so they say.

  Shifters don’t believe in hell or demons that would stick red hot pokers up your ass for fucking around on your old lady. Killing someone didn’t result in the devil breathing down your neck, and stealing wasn’t a crime punishable by a rendezvous with one of hell’s monsters.

  Sins were a part of life. Shifters embraced that. But they had a different way of embracing it than humans, simply because Shifters lived a fucking long time.

  If you sinned, it was more likely you’d die young. If you died young, it was even likelier you wouldn’t meet your mate. And if you didn’t meet your mate, then there was no point in living a long time.

  It was kind of basic.

  Jayden was only twenty-six. A prospect for The Nomads’ MC and Bear Clan. He was too young to be thinking about mates, too young to be thinking about death really. But here he was, dying.

  At least, he thought he was.

  His tolerance for pain was very high. Like, the time he’d fallen in gym class on the football field and his shin bone had splintered through the skin? Yeah, that had healed within the night thanks to the Clan’s healer, Pip, getting to work on him. And when it had happened? He’d just hopped up on his feet with his twin bro’s help, and he and Kon had limped back to the Clan house, taking a cab back rather than their bikes.

  Even then he’d tried to ride his hog back home, but Kon had slapped him upside the head and told him to stop thinking with his balls.

  He hadn’t though. Sure, he thought with his balls a lot of the time, but when it came to pain, nah, that wasn’t the case. Truth was, Jayden’s pain sensitivity was whacked; a fact acknowledged by the whole Clan, and bemoaned by Pip because it meant she saw him more than she saw most of the brothers.

  No pain meant more risks. More risks meant getting injured held a high probability. So, basically, even if he didn’t sin, he’d probably die young, just because he got into more shit than most people did.

  Still, if death came with a soft pair of tits cushioning your head, then Jayden was quite happy to die again and again.

  The thought, however, though nice, had his eyes popping open. Because those tits were A plus grade.

  “So I’m not dead,” he croaked out, more surprised than anything else.

  He’d accepted a long time ago that he’d leave Kon behind before he should. Pain was nature’s way of limiting people from pulling crazy stunts. Though he tried to temper himself, much to his family’s terror, that tempering didn’t achieve much.

  A soft voice broke into his hazy musings. “No. You’re not dead. But it was a close won thing.”

  It was a woman. The tits had told him that, but the voice just confirmed it. The quiver to her tone had him wondering if the female cared, and then, as he was wondering just who the fuck she was and where the hell his twin, Kon, was, it hit him.

  Her scent.

  “Mate.”

  The one word was a grunt and it had the female sighing, “Not this again.”

  A delicate hand hovered before Jayden’s face. It was smooth and soft, not like his which were callused from sports and lifting and working. Her nails were painted a nice cherry red, but she’d done a number on them—they were chipped like hell. Somehow, considering her modulated and gentle tone, he knew that would piss the hell out of her. That delicate hand began to run through his hair. Her fingers made him shudder as the tips massaged his scalp.

  Nerve endings were dragged to life, ones he hadn’t even known he possessed. It made the tiny hairs at the back of his neck spring up, and all down his back he felt the sensation.

  “Mate,” he repeated, knowing for a fact that of the many women he’d fucked, with or without Kon, he’d never had such a strong reaction to the simplest of touches.

  Another sigh. “I don’t know why you keep saying that.”

  “Because you are.”

  “We’re not friends.”

  He scowled, feeling impatient at her confusion. What wasn’t she getting here? Didn’t she know he was a Shifter? And if she didn’t, who didn’t know that Shifters used the term ‘mate’ to mean soul-fucking mate.

  Other half. Reason for living. That kind of shit.

  Jesus, had he really met his mate at twenty-six? What the fuck?

  “Where’s Kon?”

  Suddenly, it was imperative he know where his twin was. He needed to know if what they’d always believed was true.

  Did they share a mate?

  As her scent overwhelmed him, for the first time in his life he wondered if sharing a mate was what he truly wanted. Then, before the treacherous thought could take root—because of course he wanted to share his mate with Kon—she murmured, “He drove back to Channelview.”

  The SOB had left him here? What the hell?

  “Said something about getting a Pip?” She shook her head; he knew because her hair, white gold with bright blue frosted tips, swung about her shoulders, trailing over his jaw in the process.

  “That makes sense,” he admitted, realizing what was happening now. “Pip is a healer.”

  “A doctor? Why the heck did he have to go all the way back to Channelview for one of those? They’re here too, you know.”

  Jayden rolled his eyes. Was she dumb or just purposely being difficult? “What’s your name?”

  “Leila.”

  “Leila, I’m Jayden.” He cleared his raspy throat and said, “I’d turn around to look you in the face but I don’t think I’d make it.”

  Amusement and concern threaded together as she whispered, “You’re a little mangled, but everything should be okay.” She was trying to put a brave face on it; that also bled through from her tone. “We just need to get you to a doctor.”

  He shook his head, enjoying the jiggle of her breasts against his ears—it was then he knew he’d be okay. If he could notice that, then he wasn’t as mangled as Leila feared. “We can wait for Kon. The healer will do a better job than a human doctor anyway.”

  “What do you mean, human doctor?”

  He sighed. “Have you seriously not realized I’m a Shifter yet?”

  She froze behind him. “A Shifter?”

  “Yeah. Ya know, I turn into another animal when I feel like it?”

  She gulped—he heard her swallow. “Seriously?”

  “Deadly.”

  “B-But you look so normal.”

  “That’s because I am. Also, I only don’t look normal when I shift, and then you’d kind of know what was happening as I’d be a big ass bear. There’s no Jekyll and Hyde switch with my bro and me. Just two pretty gorgeous, slick dudes and then a grizzly.”

  Leila whispered, “Shifters are dangerous.”

  He couldn’t argue with that; though he’d have liked to. Her tone wasn’t exactly encouraging. Her words didn’t quiver from excitement or desire at being with a bad boy, but from fear. Genuine fear.

  He frowned, but her fright had him doing what he’d just said he shouldn’t do… moving.

  With a groan, he sat up
right and felt the ping of several organs as they protested his budging. Leila’s gasp of shock was preferable to her fear though, and she reached for him. “Don’t sit up! You’ll hurt yourself more!”

  He gritted his teeth as he turned his head to stare at her. When he did, he about swallowed his tongue.

  She was… she was…

  Wow.

  Think Tinkerbell.

  That couldn’t be right, though. Kon was as huge as he was. They were both nearer six-five than six, and last time he’d weighed in, he’d hit three hundred pounds. Kon was a little lighter at two-ninety, but that meant this tiny chick would be sandwiched between close to six hundred pounds?

  The Goddesses had really fucked up their math when they’d calculated her.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed with concern over the notion if she’d even be able to take them.

  One good thing though was that concern had him forgetting his spleen was probably busted, and there were definitely a couple of broken ribs somewhere in the soup of his torso.

  He reached for her hand and grimaced as her fingers were swallowed up by his. Shit, her wrist was as fragile and delicate as the rest of her… his was thicker than a coke can. Hers looked like it was spun from glass.

  The weird thing was, she was tiny, sure. But her tits weren’t. The Goddesses had gotten something right, after all.

  In fact, he gawked at them as he looked her up and down until, with her free hand, she slapped her arm across her chest to shield them from him.

  “Less of that now,” he chided softly, his voice a grumble. “I’m your mate. I’m supposed to look.”

  Her violet eyes widened—then he realized her hair wasn’t blue but violet. It matched her damn eyes. “How dare you!” she snapped at him, spine rigidly straight with disdain.

  “Oh, I dare,” he teased, lips quirking up with a grin as her cheeks turned a hot pink. “You can look all you like at me, sugar, although…” He looked down at himself. “Once Pip has done her magic and I’ve washed up, I look better. I promise.”

  She blinked, then let her gaze fall to his white tee. Well, what had once been white.

  Now, it was red. Scarlet. He was bleeding somewhere. Fuck.

  “What the hell happened to me?” he demanded.

  Her lower lip trembled. “It’s all my fault.”

  “Why is it?” he asked, frowning at her then frowning down at his gut. It was really irritating to not be able to feel what all the fuss was about. Sure, it meant he wasn’t yelling out for his momma because the pain was so bad, but it made him feel like he was always out of the loop.

  “Y-You and your brother stopped to help me at the side of the road. My truck got a puncture and I pulled over. I put the jack up and was about to change it when you guys came and helped.”

  Her lower lip started to tremble so hard, Jayden feared for it. He wanted to reach over, to stroke the quivering morsel, but he knew two things. One, she wouldn’t appreciate his touch. Two, he needed both hands on the ground. Though he wasn’t feeling the pain of whatever the fuck had happened to him, his body was still processing what had happened.

  As a result, if he acted on what he wanted to do, he’d fall back or forward, whichever way his body preferred.

  Only his hands and upper body strength were keeping him upright.

  “Go on,” he urged instead of touching her like he wanted. “It’s okay. I’m not mad or anything.”

  She bit her lip which stemmed the quiver but made him want to groan. She looked like Tinkerbell, sure, but there was none of the mischief there. She looked like the best good girl he’d ever come across.

  Ugh. It made him want to see how well she could be a bad girl. Just for him and his twin.

  When his cock started to twitch, erection imminent, he figured all would be well. No way could he afford for blood to be going south when it was still pouring from his wounds if he was at death’s door.

  Once again thankful to be a Shifter, which meant his healing capacity was through the roof, he whispered, “Truthfully, I won’t be mad.”

  She peeped up at him through white gold lashes, and those violet orbs of hers were so otherworldly, they sent shivers down his spine again.

  Jesus, this woman was made to fuck with his head and his cock.

  “You offered to change the wheel for me, and told me you were mechanics. I said I’d heard a funky noise earlier, and that I thought it was to do with the exhaust. You peeped underneath… but I set the jack up, not you, and when you went under, you were there for less than ten seconds, and the car just…”

  “It dropped.” He grimaced and went to rub his jaw but as his hand lifted from the ground, he immediately wavered and tumbled back. She let out a sharp shriek and held out her arms to catch him. They both went down because there was no way she could take his weight, but he figured his landing was a lot softer than hers thanks to those gorgeous tits of hers.

  She sucked in a sharp breath, and he realized he’d winded her. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he said gruffly, wincing as he felt something slick start to seep onto his stomach. What had once been drying, was wet again.

  Dammit.

  “I don’t know what was wrong down there,” she said hoarsely… more from horror at what had happened earlier rather than being winded from their tumble. “But you started bleeding. It was--” Her quiet voice went even quieter. “It was everywhere.”

  “Where am I now?”

  “My motel room. Kon said we needed to get you somewhere private. He dragged you in here, asked me to watch over him while he went to get help.” She swallowed heavily. “It’s been ages.”

  “How long?”

  “About eighty minutes.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Just outside Conroe.”

  He nodded. “If he drives like hell, he’ll be here soon.”

  “Do you want to try to sit up a little? I can take your weight if I brace myself.”

  It stunned him that she’d been taking his weight for the past hour and a half.

  “No, sugar,” he told her. “We need to move though. You need to get out from under my weight.”

  “I’m not worried about me. You’re the one bleeding.” She swallowed again. “Badly.”

  “It’s okay.” He reached down and grabbed the closest thing that belonged to her, which in this instance was her calf. He squeezed the soft pad and murmured, “Everything will be well. I promise.”

  She sighed. “I’m so sorry for this. I never expected…”

  “No. It’s my fault. Our fault. We should have checked the jack.”

  She shivered. “I hate to think you’re in so much pain. I thought you were going to die.” The sob in her voice had his eyes widening in panic.

  One thing Shifters couldn’t stand was a female in tears.

  The only times they could accept it was if it was during sex or a sappy movie, or if a female Shifter was doing the crying—better for them to cry than to shift and wreak havoc on the poor innocents around them.

  And by poor innocents he meant their cousins or brothers.

  Ava, his Prez’s daughter, had already shown exactly what she could do when she shifted… Kill half a dozen strong riders for a rival MC.

  Female Shifters were not to be trifled with.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’m a Shifter. We’re stronger than humans.”

  “You promise? Really?” she asked, clinging to his words.

  “I do.” He sighed. “Now, let’s help me up so that I can let you out from under me. I don’t want to hurt you, Leila, and if I lie on you much longer like this, that’s what’s going to happen.”

  However, she didn’t make to shift. Instead, she asked, “Why do you keep saying I’m your mate?”

  He froze, surprised by the query at this particular time. He grimaced. “Can’t we talk about this after I’ve stopped squashing you?”

  She squeezed his shoulder. “No. I want to know.”

  He huffed out a breath. “I
keep saying it because you are.”

  “I can’t be,” she whispered. “I’m human.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You don’t know much about Shifters, do you?”

  “No, not really. I know next to nothing.” Her gulp was audible. “In fact, you’re the only Shifter I’ve ever met.”