JAYDEN

by Becca Fanning

  “I highly doubt that,” Jayden denied.

  “Well, the only one to ever tell me he’s a Shifter, anyway.”

  “That’s far more likely.” He sighed. “You’ve never read any of the paranormal romances or anything like that?”

  “No,” she whispered softly. “My momma didn’t approve of things like that.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “But you’re an adult.”

  “I know, but her strictures just stayed with me. I only really read non-fiction.”

  “Okay, well, that’s kind of unhelpful.” He huffed out a breath. “Basically, Shifter females are rare. Males can’t always mate with them because of that, and so we mate with human females.”

  “Why are Shifter females rare?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just how it is. They never mate with human males, only Shifters, but it can take them longer than most to find their mates.” Well, that had been the case once upon a time.

  Both his sister, Jessie, and his Prez’s daughter Ava, who was more like a cousin to him, had both found their mates at ridiculously young ages.

  The fact that he’d found Leila was also statistically insane.

  Thirty years ago, when his MC Prez and Clan leader, Mars, had met his mate, Annette, nobody in the Clan had met their other halves for decades. Nearly a century.

  But once he’d found her, it was like pulling out the plug in the bath.

  The whole Council had found their mates, and now, the Council’s kids had too.

  They always said the goddesses worked in mysterious ways, but that was an understatement.

  “W-What does it mean to be someone’s mate?”

  “It’s like a human relationship, only better.”

  “Why is it better?” She sounded a little indignant, a bit scared, and a lot curious.

  “Because humans choose their partners. They can make mistakes. And let’s face it, they make more mistakes than they have successes. Plus, things like cheating? Yeah, that doesn’t happen. I’m wired to you. I don’t want another female. Plus for Shifter males, it’s important we find our mates. We can’t have cubs without them.”

  “Cubs?” Leila squeaked.

  “We just call them that. They pop out as babies.” When he heard the breath soughing in and out of her lips, he realized he’d probably just induced a panic attack. Not that great when the big lump of his body weight was cutting down her air flow.

  Without her help, and with a huge groan, he rolled off her. She immediately shrieked. “What are you doing?”

  It was quite touching. Her responses might have been genuine and could have been the same if he’d been human, but he knew of two reactions to learning someone was a Shifter.

  First reaction: they cut the Shifter off. Dismissing them entirely as pieces of shit.

  Second reaction: they accepted them because they were a mate. And doing without a mate was like cutting your nose off to spite your face.

  That was kind of the whole gamut of emotional responses to discovering you knew a Shifter and had one in your life.

  Of course, this was the latter but he could sense Leila didn’t really ‘get’ the mate vibe yet.

  So, she was either just a really good human or she was feeling the mate vibe more than she was letting on.

  “I was stopping you from breathing properly,” he grunted out as he collapsed over on his side. “Now, that hurt.”

  Not the appropriate amount of pain he should have been feeling at that moment, but enough to make even him twinge in surprise. His nerve endings must have been at overload. That’s all he could say. Not even when he’d set fire to himself, accidentally of course, at a bonfire, had it hurt.

  His momma constantly accused him of trying to give her heart attacks, but it wasn’t that he tried to put himself in danger.

  It was that he just didn’t really see it.

  Kon had made him vow that whatever they did in this life, they’d do it together, even mate together, just so they’d keep him alive past thirty.

  So far, so good.

  Well, if he survived the day, that is.

  “I don’t understand why you’re not screaming,” she confessed softly, sitting up and trying to help arrange him in a more comfortable position.

  “I told you. I just don’t feel pain.”

  “Everyone feels pain.”

  “No. Sometimes some people just don’t.”

  She blinked at him. “I’ve never heard of that.”

  “Then you haven’t lived.” He snorted out a laugh but saw her face drop, and quickly changed the subject, “But I’m mega weird. Everyone in my Clan knows it, and nobody gets it at first.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Oh, well, I’m sorry about that.”

  “Nothing to be sorry for,” he told her easily. He was only trying to make her feel better, after all. At least the attempt had worked. “Why the hell did he dump me on the floor and not put me on the bed?”

  She bit her lip. “I said it would be easier just to leave you here and I could sit with you.” She pointed at the beds. “They’re two singles. We could have pushed them together, but I just wanted him to go get help.”

  When she flushed, he knew there was a story there, and one he’d be asking Kon later about.

  Hell, there was a lot he’d be asking Kon later. Like, if he felt the mate bond too.

  He really prayed that was so. The last thing he wanted was for them to be separated.

  After so many years together, having shared so much, he wanted to share Leila. Even if they were way too big for her, he wanted her to know they were hers.

  “Did Kon say anything to you about being our mate?” He figured his twin had, but if he’d passed out, Jayden could have been mumbling anything under his breath.

  “Yes.” The short answer was further proof there was a story to be told there.

  Grinning, and feeling a little more at ease now, he let her roll him back so he wasn’t on his side.

  “You’re bleeding again.”

  Her chiding had his lips twitching. “I’m sorry to be staining your carpet.”

  She huffed. “Like that would matter. I just meant you made it worse again.”

  “Wouldn’t matter because it’s not your rug?” he peppered softly. He shot her a look when she didn’t answer, but as she kept her eyes downcast and tilted from him, he had an answer of sorts.

  Leila felt it too, he realized. She was just scared of those feelings.

  And who could blame her?

  Not only were they alien to her, but she had to recognize him, had to know who he was, and what he was here for.

  She’d been smart enough to embezzle a small fortune from his MC, so she’d be smart enough to realize they were here for her.

  Terror. Honest to God terror.

  It was the only way Kon could describe how he felt. In fact, it probably wasn’t enough to describe the sheer horror of knowing his twin could be dying at this very moment, and he wasn’t there.

  They’d always been scared that Jayden would die young. Hell, more than scared.

  The man should have been a star of Jackass, except he didn’t feel the pain from the stunts he pulled.

  They’d binge watched all the old reruns, wondering why the fuck it had been considered entertainment back in the day, but unable to complain when they’d wasted hours on Johnny Knoxville and Steve O.

  Fearing it was one thing, knowing it could be happening was another.

  At his back his father rode his hog, and Major and his mate, Pip, were at his side too. They hadn’t told their mom, Christie.

  Luckily for them, she’d been at work. She was a dentist, of all things. Something so normal for a Bear’s mate, never mind the fact said Bear was also a rider for an MC.

  He was just grateful at that minute that she’d been at her practice, and not at the Clan house.

  The last thing any of them needed was her wailing on the back of his dad’s hog.

  He turned his wrist to loo
k at the time. Ten minutes.

  Jesus. So fucking close and yet so far. He’d already been gone over an hour. A lot could happen in an hour.

  Too much.

  He sped up, shooting down the highway like a fucking bullet. He didn’t care if he got stopped by a traffic cop—not that that was likely in this backwater. Even the cops avoided this particular area of Conroe.

  The burst of speed got him back at the dump of a motel where he’d left his mate and twin in five minutes.

  Relief swirled through him as the gritty stucco appeared in his sight. Dust swirled about his wheels as he braked to a halt, and he didn’t even wait to put the stand on his hog. His bike didn’t fucking matter at that moment as he ran toward the room where he’d left his entire fucking universe.

  He opened the door without knocking, and rushed in. Seeing Jayden on the floor, talking—as per fucking usual—made Kon want to cry

  Jesus.

  He almost skidded as he ran over to his brother’s side, and only then did he take his helmet off.

  “You son of a bitch, you scared the fuck out of me,” he yelled at his bro.

  Jayden’s grin was shit eating. “Sorry, Kon.” His gaze cut to the door. “Thanks for coming, Pip.”

  Major, Pip’s mate, growled. “You couldn’t have gotten your ass kicked closer to the Clan house?”

  Pip whacked him in the side. “Like Jayden ever gets his ass whooped.”

  “I knew there was a reason you’re my second mom,” Jayden wheedled, and Kon could do no less than grin as he charmed the pants off the women in the room. That was his bro.

  Always the fucking charmer.

  Thanking the Goddess that his brother was alive to piss him off for another day, he stated, “What’s going on with him, Pip?” Trying to chivvy the healer along and actually get her to heal his damn brother rather than just shoot the shit with him.

  It was easy to forget about Jayden’s injuries. Something Kon had realized over time, and had made a point of ensuring didn’t happen.

  Because he wasn’t howling in pain, could hold a regular conversation, and even charm ladies young and old, it was like he wasn’t suffering.

  But a man could still fucking bleed out even if he wasn’t choking out his agony at the same time.

  Pip blinked at him, but got to her knees. “What happened, Jay?” she asked softly as she raised his shirt from his belly.

  It was covered in his brother’s blood, and Kon knew to prepare himself for the mangled mess underneath.

  Blood. Gore. Fuck.

  It was hard to see even though he’d prepared himself for the mess. There was no way it could be anything other than a mess, either. Part of his mate’s exhaust had pierced into Jay’s fucking stomach.

  Just the notion had his own guts churning with revulsion.

  He felt like a pussy, but he had to close his eyes as Pip got to work on his bro. The last thing he saw before Jay let out a pained gasp again was the older female putting her hand on Jay’s forehead as she got to work.

  There was a weird irony to the fact Jay would cry out in pain as he was being healed, but not while he was being injured.

  They’d long since ceased pondering what the fuck was going on though.

  They’d just accepted the fact Jay was weird as fuck, and that Kon would have to watch out for him if they wanted Jay to survive his youth.

  When a hand covered his, he jolted to attention. His eyes popped open and he saw his mate’s fingers gently stroking his. He gulped, looked over at her and saw her focus was on Jay, whose eyes were closed.

  Leila had worked for the MC in Accounts before embezzling a shit ton of money, for which he and Jay had been shipped out to retrieve. She’d become a runner shortly after and they’d finally found her hiding out in this shit heap of a hotel. Not once had they imagined she could be their mate. But when they’d gotten close enough to catch a whiff of her scent, they’d learned the truth.

  With a sigh, he entwined his fingers about hers. She smiled at him as she watched Pip heal Jay; apparently, his little Southern Belle had more guts than he, an MC prospect, did.

  Figured.

  “Jesus, Pip,” Jay grunted. “How much longer?”

  “How is it you can feel pain now, but you couldn’t before?”

  Considering his thoughts had only just touched upon that, it made sense his mate’s would too.

  “It’s just a weird quirk,” Jay bit off as he let off another gasp of pain. “I guess there has to be one thing normal about me.”

  “I’m not sure that constitutes as normal, fuckwit,” Major butted in.

  Kon cast the Councilmember a glance, barely refraining from flipping him the bird. Major was a dick, but for some reason, the older members of the Council actually liked the cunt.

  Mundo staggered to the side of the bed, and Kon sent his dad a commiserative glance. It was hard being the parent of a Shifter. But sometimes, it was harder still being a kid.

  When Kon looked at his dad, it was like looking at someone his age.

  Mundo didn’t look older than a human’s thirty.

  At the moment, he was a tad haggard but still youthful enough to be confusing. The sight of his son so mangled up was definitely getting to Mundo. Truth was though, if Christie, their mom, was here, she’d be in absolute hysterics.

  Once, Annette, the Prez’s mate, had punched Christie in the nose to knock her out because she’d been wailing when Kon had been brought in from a bike crash.

  Annette and Christie were best friends, which had made the clubhouse a little awkward for quite a while as his momma sure knew how to bear a grudge—he was still under dire warning of having his tires slashed and his hog totaled if he dared crash again.

  His lips twitched at the memory. In comparison to them, his momma was itty bitty, but it didn’t stop her from glowering up at them and wagging her damn finger.

  “I’m okay, Pop,” Jay bit off, apparently seeing where Kon was looking and taking note.

  They worked like that, him and Jay. Jay was the mouthpiece while Kon was the brains. They worked in tandem and were the best of teams. Jay made sure to watch where Kon was, and he’d react to what he saw.

  Kon saw more than most, and Jay had learned a long time ago that failing to take note was foolish.

  “Your ma’s gonna kill me for not calling her out here,” he gritted out, running a shaking hand through his hair.

  “Do you have to tell her?” Major asked. “He’ll be right as rain by the time we get back.”

  Mundo wrinkled his nose. “She always fucking knows. I don’t know how, but she does.”

  “Momma’s radar,” Pip announced a couple of seconds later. “I’m the same with Kirsten and Andy.” She carefully patted Jay’s stomach. “It’s healed, but it’s going to be sore for a few days.”

  Kon’s brows rose. “Sore?” he asked, but it was more of a demand.

  Most people took his questions to be demands, and his statements as commands. He couldn’t help it, but it was how most people reacted to him.

  Pip was no different. “There were plenty of deep wounds, Kon. I healed them but they need a little time to strengthen up—the damage was intense. What the hell caused them?”

  “Part of an exhaust speared him in the belly when the car bounced on him.”

  That was probably his longest statement of the day, and it had the whole room gawking at him.

  “She’s called Leila,” Jay murmured. “It was her truck.”

  Mundo bit off, “You checked under a car without making sure it was properly raised?”

  Kon shot his daddy a look. “There’s a reason.”

  “There had better be. I’m the one who’s gonna get it from your momma tonight. Not if you’re both still on that job for Mars and won’t be coming back with us.”

  Jay’s nostrils flared. “Leave it, Dad. It was just a mistake.”

  “A mistake that nearly killed you. And what if it had been Kon who’d gone under the car? He’d ha
ve had it a thousand times worse than you.”

  “That’s why I always go in first. You know that.”

  Mundo’s mouth tightened. “That doesn’t make it right.”

  “Never said it did, but it’s how we roll.”

  Mundo gritted his teeth. “You two are so fucking stubborn. You’re gonna break your momma’s heart if we outlive the pair of you.”