“It’ll certainly bring more excitement around here, not to mention money,” Lily added.
“Momma,” Connor began, “if you need money—”
“Oh hush, Connor,” Lily interrupted, making Cliff stir in her arms. She cooed at him and rocked him against her chest. “We’re doing fine, especially with what the last batch of rehabbers brought in.”
“They were the worst bunch yet, so Creed put in a big bonus,” Jackson added. “We’re good, really we are. And we’re glad to help.” He didn’t add, of course, that it was his way of making up for Connor. For being the one who had escaped that horrible fate.
Still, Connor had not held it against him and Lily never made him feel less loved, but it kept Jackson awake at night. What if he’d been the one who was taken away to be raised by monsters and forced to fight in a cage since he was a teen?
A loud bang came from upstairs followed by a string of muffled curses, then a series of loud thuds. Jackson sighed. Austin had come down to eat dinner, then been promptly sent back upstairs without any dessert.
Lily handed Cliff to Connor. “I’ll go check on him.”
“No, Momma, sit down and enjoy your coffee,” Jackson said. “He’s just looking for attention.”
“What he’s lookin’ for is an ass-whooping,” Connor added.
Jackson couldn’t agree more, but that just wasn’t his way. Though maybe if it had been he wouldn’t be in this situation.
“Connor,” Evie admonished. “Would you hurt Cliff?”
“What? Of course not,” Connor said. “But then again, he ain’t never tried to change the grades on his report card. Or burn down a high school. Or,” he turned to Jackson, “what did he do again this time?”
“Break into the teacher’s lounge.” Jackson sighed. “Maybe Austin does need a stronger hand.”
“What Austin needs is a gentler hand,” Lily countered.
“A what?” This time, both Connor and Jackson said it together.
“I think what Lily is trying to say,” Evie began, “is Austin needs a mom.”
“Oh no.” Jackson put up his hand. “No way. Uh-uh.” He got up, dropping his napkin on the table.
“C’mon, Jackson, would it be so bad?” Lily said. “Austin needs someone to take care of him. A female influence.”
“He’s got you, Momma,” he pointed out.
Lily laughed. “I’m his grandmother. It’s my job to spoil him and give him everything he wants. Only a mother can give him that ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look that will make him think twice of doing anything bad.”
“Not to mention, a wife might do you good, too,” Evie said in a teasing voice. “Someone to share your troubles with.”
“Ha!” Now they really were delusional. No way was he getting married again. It just wasn’t worth it, not after what happened with Arlene. “I think I hear … the cows mooing.” Pathetic excuse, but he needed to get out of there. “‘Night everyone, I’ll see you all tomorrow. I’ll be out early getting supplies for the party.”
Jackson headed out the door, not even giving them a chance to stop him. He left the kitchen–dining room and headed to the front door, stepping out onto the wraparound porch.
The air was cool this time of the year, signs that winter was behind them and that spring was here. It was his favorite time of the year—a new beginning. And he wished there was such a thing in life. A new beginning. A do-over.
Not that he would ever wish Austin was never born. Of course not; he loved his son. He was just a failure as a father and he knew it. But what was he supposed to do? He had so many responsibilities, he couldn’t juggle them all.
“You okay?”
Jackson wasn’t even surprised that he didn’t notice Connor had followed him. He moved silently, even for a man of his size. “Yeah,” he answered back, not bothering to turn around to look at his brother. “Can you believe it? Me with a wife?”
“Can you believe me with a wife? And a son?”
Jackson spat on the porch, a move that his momma hated. “Not you too.” He turned around. “Are you gonna give me a lecture about finding a mom for Austin?”
“Me? Give a lecture?” Connor shrugged. “That boy doesn’t need a mother.”
“Glad you agree with me.”
“But maybe what you need is a mate.”
“Ha! It’ll be easier to find a mother for my little hell-raiser. Besides,” he glanced back at the house. “What you got with Evie? One in a million.”
“You would think so,” Connor said. “But I’ve seen stranger things.” He placed a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “Also, you know that Momma and Evie are in there plotting right now.”
Jackson let out an audible groan. “I don’t know where they would even find any woman who would date me. The few females in our clan already know what they’re in for with Austin which is why none of them would even touch me, and I’m not ready to bring a human into the clan.” Lycans were mostly unknown to the rest of the world, save for a few who were considered Alliance families. And of course, with the lack of available Lycan mates, many of their kind married humans.
Connor shook his head. “I don’t envy you right now.”
“I don’t envy me right now either.” Jackson rubbed a palm down his face. “Let them try. I doubt they’d find anyone who would be interested in me.” His wolf, which had been quiet and calm most of the night, let out a whine. Oh, he knew what it wanted; whenever they were around Evie and Connor, it had longed for what they had—love, companionship, and more pups. It was like that damned biological clock women supposedly had, but this one had teeth and claws instead of a ticking hand.
“You never know,” Connor said.
“You too?” he accused.
Connor chuckled—a rare sight. “I dunno. When women put their minds to something …”
“They can try.”
Jackson looked out at the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley and the sun setting behind them, bathing everything in a golden light. He should be content, with everything he had. A clan. A thriving ranch. His brother back after being cruelly taken away from them. And yes, even Austin. Despite what the kid put him through—and what he suspected he would be put through as the boy grew into his teenage years—he had everything he needed and wanted right now. A wife would just be another monkey wrench that would turn his world upside down.
2
Jordan Matsumoto was the first person to enter the lab on the thirty-third floor at the Fenrir Corporation Headquarters every weekday at seven thirty in the morning. Usually, she was also the last to leave, which served her just fine.
Flipping on the lights, Jordan walked over to her station in the far corner and slung her messenger bag on the back of the chair. She reached for the gallon squirt bottle of alcohol gel sanitizer on her desk and gave it two healthy squeezes. The subway was filthy after all. Germs. Yuck.
The antiseptic smell was acrid and burning, especially to her sensitive Lycan senses. She could practically see her inner wolf cowering and covering its nose up with its paws, but ignored it, like she always did. The strong alcohol scent gave her a sense of relief as she imagined the germs on her skin screaming as they died. She squirted more on a tissue and wiped it over her workstation.
Die, germs die! Ha ha!
Satisfied with the level of cleanliness around her, she sat down and turned her computer on, listening to the fans whirring to life as her screen lit up. Immediately, she opened the program she had been working on, ignoring the various pings and dings of her email and the Fenrir Corporation intranet messaging system as her computer connected to the network. They could wait. Other people could always wait. But science couldn’t.
Growing up in the San Francisco Lycan clan, the only thing she wanted to do was become a scientist. She went to school, got good grades, graduated top of her class and went to Berkeley on a scholarship where she got her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry. She was two years into her research grad classes when she got the ca
ll of a lifetime.
Dr. Jade Creed—yes, the Dr. Jade Creed, genius Lycan scientist who held two PhDs at the age of twenty—was looking for a new research assistant. Specifically, a Lycan research assistant, to join her team in New York where they studied all things related to magic and science.
It was her cousin and Alpha, Liam Henney, who called Jordan personally. Would she be able to leave her current position and move to New York right away? Hells yeah. Not only was Dr. Creed one of her idols and possibly lady crushes, but the chance to work with her was a dream come true.
And it was a dream, working alongside Dr. Creed. She tried to play it cool, of course, but she couldn’t help but gush and fangirl at her idol the first day she walked into the lab. And every day, she happily skipped into work, looking forward to be working with a genius. Her coworkers thought her weird and avoided her, but that was fine with Jordan. She never did learn to play with others, and she was too damned old at twenty-six to start now.
Another hour passed and Jordan busied herself, walking around the lab and checking on the various experiments in the stations, and finishing up some tasks she had left for today—cleaning out some supplies, running the centrifuge, making sure the charts were up-to-date. When she was satisfied with her work, she went back to her desk. More messages had piled up, and she ignored them. She also heard a sound—was that a rattling—from somewhere in the lab. The hairs on the back of her neck raised and her inner wolf whined at her. She ignored it, of course. Like she always did. Her wolf had no place in science.
“Hello? Jordan, did you hear what I said?”
Jordan raised her head from the screen and looked up at the frowning face of her boss. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in, Dr. Creed. Did you need something?”
Jade Creed sighed and rubbed a hand on her temple. “I asked if you had those samples ready for me. The one we put in yesterday?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” Jordan said in a smug voice. She stood up and wiped her hands down her lab coat. “Actually, I took them out of the UV chamber and put them into the centrifuge.” She nodded over to the machine, a mere six feet away to their right.
Dr. Creed’s eyes went wide. “You what?”
“I said I put them in the—”
But Jordan didn’t get to finish her sentence. A loud bang filled the air and everything went black.
When Jordan’s eyes fluttered open, the first thing she felt was the shot of pain down her side. “Sonofa—”
“You’re awake.”
Her vision was blurry and she had to blink a few times. When the two indistinct shapes in front of her merged into one, she knew her vision had returned to normal. “Dr. Creed? What—ow!” This time, the pain wasn’t as bad, though she could feel the bones and skin knitting back together. It was an uncomfortable sensation, like an itch she couldn’t scratch.
“Stay down, Jordan,” Dr. Creed said, pushing her back on the scratchy sheets.
Jordan looked around her, at the white walls, the harsh overhead lighting, and the metal-framed bed she was lying on. She must have been in the infirmary at Fenrir. “What happened?” She raised her arms, eyes widening as realized they were covered in bandages. “The last thing I remember was that we were standing in the lab and—”
“A big explosion?” Dr. Creed finished. “When the centrifuge blew up?”
“B-b-blew up?” That explained why she had blacked out and why her body currently felt like some bizarre arts and crafts project and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein had a love child. If she had been human, she would be in the hospital for weeks, if she survived at all. Of course, that didn’t explain why Dr. Creed, who had been standing right in front of her during the explosion, didn’t even have a scratch on her. “Er, are you all right, Dr. Creed?”
The other woman put her hands on her hips. “I’m fine. Did you not read the emails? Or talk to the other lab assistants?”
“Huh?”
Dr. Creed sighed. “I sent out three emails that no one was to use the centrifuge today. It was going to be picked up for repairs.”
“I-I-I must have missed it.” Shit. Oh, God. Someone could have been hurt. No, wait, someone had been hurt. Namely, her. “I’m sorry. I mean, I take full responsibility.” Her voice broke. Dr. Creed was going to fire her. Or worse.
“Jade, what the hell happened?”
The voice was gruff and made the hairs on the back of her neck raise. She gripped the paper-thin sheet in her hands, her knuckles growing white as the air in the room grew thick.
Yup. Definitely worse. Her day really was turning to shit. Sebastian Creed, husband and mate to her boss and as it happens, the only known dragon shifter in the world, stood in the doorway, his face glowering.
“I’m fine, Sebastian,” Dr. Creed turned around to reassure her mate. “It’s all fine.”
Creed’s steps thundered as he went over to his mate and pulled her in for a tight hug. “Fine?” he asked, his rough voice sending a chill down Jordan’s spine. “I had to hear from Meredith that there was an explosion in the lab and you tell me everything is fine?” The air in the lab was choking now, and Jordan swore she could smell sulfur.
Dr. Creed pulled away from him and spread her arms. “As you can see, I’m unhurt. Not a scratch on me.”
“How the hell did that happen, anyway?” Jordan slapped a hand over her mouth when the words just spilled out. But she couldn’t help herself. “What the heck is going on?”
Creed’s eyes flashed gold for a second before returning to its normal color. Steel gray eyes pierced right into hers and looked down at the bandages on her arms. Then, his head swung over to his wife. “Jade? Are you …?”
Dr. Creed’s pretty face lit up. “Yes.”
Creed let out a whoop and lifted his mate into his arms, pulling her in for a passionate kiss. “Darlin’, I’m so fucking happy right now. I don’t even care what happened.”
The mood in the room lightened, and Jordan felt like she could breathe again. “Uhm, could someone explain what’s going on?”
The lovers pulled apart and Dr. Creed cleared her throat delicately, the blush on her cheeks deepening. “Sebastian, why don’t you pick up Dee from the day care and we can all go home for lunch? I need to take care of a few things first, though.”
“Whatever you want, darlin’. I’ll meet you at the car.” He planted a firm kiss on her lips before he turned and walked out the door.
Once the door closed behind them, Dr. Creed turned to Jordan. “You’re extremely lucky that I happen to be pregnant at the moment.”
“Oh.” She had heard about this phenomenon but had never actually seen it for herself. Whenever a True Mate female, Lycan or human, was pregnant, she was invulnerable to any kind of harm. While it might take a regular Lycan like Jordan another few hours or days to recover fully from injuries, all of Dr. Creed’s wounds would have healed in an instant. “Thank God, then.”
“Indeed.” Dr. Creed took a deep breath and walked over to her. “Jordan, you know you’re a brilliant scientist and a hard worker.”
“I am?” Of course she knew that, but hearing it from Dr. Creed made her giddy.
“Yes. In fact, I see a bit of myself in you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe a bit too much.”
Dr. Creed didn’t seem happy at the comparison and Jordan’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Am I fired?”
“I really should let you go,” Dr. Creed began. “You refuse to work with your coworkers, or even listen to their opinions.”
“Science isn’t about opinions,” Jordan retorted with an indignant sniff.
“What I’m saying is that you can’t seem to play nice with other people. It’s not just about what happened today. The other researchers raised their concerns about you. You’re always defying protocol and procedure. And you never consult with anyone else, even when I ask you to. And I can’t have that here.”
Jordan always knew she was different. Even her wolf was … odd. She wasn’t like
all the other Lycan children growing up. They all loved shifting, being outdoors, playing and roughhousing, while Jordan preferred to stay home and read books or watch documentaries. Wolves were supposed to be social creatures, but she preferred her own company. And frankly, other people were idiots. “I’ll pack my things then, as soon as I’m—”
She held her hand up. “No, Jordan, that’s not what I meant.”
“It’s not?” Now she was confused again.
Dr. Creed shook her head. “I don’t want to lose you. Frankly, I can’t afford to. Do you know how many Lycans specialize in biochemistry?”
“Not a lot?”
“Two, Jordan,” Dr Creed said. “Me and you.”
“Oh.” Good. She was needed around here, then.
“But I can’t risk my lab and the lives of the people around us. So, I’m going to put you in time-out.”
“Time-out?” What was Dr. Creed talking about?
A determined look crossed her boss’ face. “You’re going away for a while.”
“I have to take a vacation?” Oh, God, she hated vacations. It didn’t matter where. Sand from the beach always got everywhere, as did dirt in the mountains. Cities were too dirty and noisy, and forget the country—her allergies would blow up.
“No, Jordan, I’m sending you on a special retreat,” Dr. Creed said. “I just heard about it from Sebastian. A new program the Alpha is starting with another clan. In West Virginia.”
“West Virginia? Er, will it be at a hotel or conference center?” Oh, God, please say it’s going to be at a nice, air-conditioned luxury resort.
Dr. Creed shook her head. “I’m afraid not. In fact, it’s all going to be done outdoors.”
“I can’t go,” she stated flatly. “I’m deathly allergic.”
“To what?”
“To everything?”
Dr. Creed chortled. “Excuse me? You’re a Lycan. We’re not allergic to anything. Especially not the outdoors.”
A Mate for Jackson: Bad Alpha Dads: A True Mates Standalone Novel Page 2
