by Stormy Glenn
He scrambled to get away, clawing at the lion above him until his paws were wet and slippery. When Drummond snapped at him again, coming so close Jackie felt the lion’s breath blow across his throat, Jackie grew angry.
This man had taken far too much from him. Granted, without Drummond’s interference, Jackie probably would never have moved to Potter’s Creek and met his mate, but that didn’t absolve the man of the horrific things he had done.
Jackie wanted him to pay. He wanted Drummond to suffer for the pain he had caused not only Jackie, but everyone he’d touched. Jackie wanted to make Drummond hurt as much as he’d been hurt.
He just didn’t want to be the one to do it. Something in his gut was telling him that it would be very bad if he took justice into his own hands, even if he was being attacked. He could defend himself, but only to escape. Someone else would have to end Drummond’s life.
With that thought in mind, Jackie dug his claws into whatever bit of flesh he could find and then pushed with every ounce of strength he had. He didn’t realize it had worked until the weight on his chest was gone and he could see the sky above him.
Jackie wanted to just lie there. His body ached in ways he’d never thought he’d experience. His sides were the worst. The pain went from his hipbones right up his sides to his chest muscles.
Breathing hurt.
“Jackie?”
Jackie winced when he turned his head and something painfully pulled at the skin around his neck. He tried to lift his hand to touch it, until he realized he had paws and not hands.
He huffed with frustration.
“Jackie, you need to shift.”
Jackie glanced over when he realized someone was kneeling next to him. He was surprised to see that it was Hugh. He gave what he hoped was a nonthreatening growl. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to shift.
“Come on, Jackie,” Hugh encouraged. “You’re wounded and bleeding pretty badly. You have to shift. That should stop the bleeding.”
Jackie lifted a paw and batted at Hugh.
“Your dad is waiting for you, Jackie.”
Dad.
Jackie growled as he forced himself to his feet. He had to get to his dad. He swayed when he tried to take a step. A hand at the nape of his neck kept him from taking another step.
“Shift, Jackie.” The man squatted in front of him, grabbing the sides of his muzzle. “I am your alpha, Jackie, and I am ordering you to shift.”
Jackie growled as his shift rolled through him almost against his will. It was as if his lion understood that Hugh was their alpha, but his human side didn’t. And maybe that was the point of a pride. Someone had to be able to control their animal instincts if they could not.
By the time his body had realigned itself into the two-legged version, Jackie was lying on the ground, panting. He could feel someone’s hand sliding gently through his hair. When he turned his head to look, it wasn’t Hugh.
“Dad.”
“Hey, son.” There was a sadness in his eyes, but strangely enough, not fear.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Shifting into a lion right in front of his dad and then fighting another lion was not how Jackie wanted to explain things to him.
“She said you couldn’t shift, that you would never be able to shift.”
“Who said?”
“Your mother.”
“My mother?” Jackie didn’t realize he’d shouted until everything around them went silent. He dipped his head a little when his cheeks flushed. “What about my mother?”
“She was a shifter like you.”
Jackie seriously doubted it.
“She told me that she couldn’t smell shifter on you, that you were totally human. That’s why she left you with me when she took off.”
“Because she thought I was defective?”
“No, son, not defective. Different, and where she was going, being different wasn’t a good thing. It would have been too dangerous for you.”
Jackie was confused. He pushed himself into a sitting position and brushed the hair back from his face. “I wasn’t wearing women’s clothes when she left. How could she know—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and dressing in women’s clothing does not make you defective. It makes you true to yourself.”
An argument Jackie had heard before from his father, and one he appreciated, but right now, he wanted to know more about his mother and this shifter business. “Tell me what you’re talking about. Where was my mother going?”
“She was a shifter, son. She met her true mate and was leaving to join his pride. They would have taken you with them, but she said there was no shifter inside of you.” A sad little smile graced the man’s lips. “I was always so glad of that. That meant I didn’t lose you, too. But…I don’t understand why you didn’t shift before now. Your mother swore you were human.”
“She was probably right, Dad.” Jackie drew in a breath, bracing himself. “That man you came with?” Jackie nodded to where two enforcers were standing over Drummond, who had shifted back to human form.
“Bruce Davenport.” His father nodded. “His car broke down on the side of the road. I was giving him a lift.”
“His name isn’t Bruce Davenport. It’s Drummond, and he kidnapped me six months ago, locked me in a cell, and did experiments on me that turned me into a shifter.”
Jackie wasn’t sure what he was expecting after dropping that bomb in his father’s lap. Sadness, fear, maybe even disgust. He didn’t expect his father to get up, storm across the lawn, and punch Drummond right in the mouth.
Jackie slapped his hand over his mouth when he burst out laughing. It really wasn’t a laughing matter, but damn. His dad was something else.
“I brought you some jogging pants and a shirt to wear,” Yuji said as he walked up. “They’re not your usual style, but they are pink. I borrowed them from Marsha. I hope they will do.”
Jackie grinned as he stood up, grabbed the soft pants and shirt, and dressed. He couldn’t have been more thrilled that the people in the pride didn’t care if he wore feminine clothes or not.
“Thank you, Yuji. These are perfect.”
He started walking toward his father, but the man was headed in his direction, rubbing his knuckles and then shaking out his hand. “Asshole has a head like a rock.”
Jackie grinned. “I really missed you, Dad.”
“I missed you, too, Jackie.” James glanced around to the others standing in the yard and driveway. “Is it safe here? Your mother warned me about prides. She told me how they didn’t associate with humans. You may be able to shift now, but I’m still human.”
“It’s perfectly safe, Dad. And things might have been like that back when Mom left, but they’re not that way anymore. Everyone here has readily accepted me, even with my pink nails.”
Jackie’s eyes narrowed when his gaze landed on Drummond. “Except him,” he said as he pointed at the man. “He’s not from this pride. In fact, he was human until recently. I suspect he started taking his own drugs.”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
Jackie glanced at Hugh. “Alpha Marshall? What’s going to happen to Drummond?”
“The council is sending some enforcers to take him into custody,” Hugh said. “He’ll be treated for his injuries”—the man’s lips twitched—“and then he’ll be questioned and tried for his crimes. If they find him guilty, he’ll be placed in a shifter prison.”
“And if he’s not found guilty?”
Hugh raised an eyebrow. “Do you actually think that’s possible?”
“No, I guess not, but—”
“Alpha,” one of the enforcers shouted, “there’s another car pulling into the driveway.”
“Take your father inside, Jackie.”
Jackie didn’t even question the command. He grabbed his father by the arm and started pulling him toward the house.
“Jackie!”
Jackie spun around. His heart thundere
d when he spotted the man running toward him. He dropped his father’s arm and raced across the yard. The arms held out to him wrapped around him as soon as he was within reach.
“Boone.”
Jackie groaned as he was swept up and clutched against Boone’s chest, the man’s lips coming down on his. Kissing the man was such a simple act, yet Jackie’s heart beat faster, harder, and happiness bursting through his veins, a pleasure in and of itself. When Boone’s lips parted, Jackie groaned. The taste of Boone exploded on his tongue, his senses reeling.
“God, baby, I never thought I’d see you again,” Boone whispered against his neck. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Jackie whispered back. “I didn’t know what happened to you. I went back for you, but you were gone.” Boone’s sweet scent invaded his lungs as Jackie inhaled deeply, calming his lion. “What happened to you?”
“It’s a long story, baby. Let’s get inside. Hugh needs to hear this, as well.”
“My dad is here.”
Boone glanced toward the house. “The tall guy on the steps with the salt-and-pepper hair?”
Jackie nodded. “Drummond brought him.”
Boone growled.
“We fought and my father punched him.”
“You fought?” There was outrage and panic mixed into that loud tone.
“I thought he had taken you and…” Jackie swallowed tightly. “He was threatening my father. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Are you hurt?” Jackie smiled when Boone started moving his hand over him, looking for injuries.
“I was clawed up a bit, but Hugh made me shift.”
“I’ll kill him,” Boone snapped as he started for Drummond.
“Boone, stop!” Jackie grabbed his arm. “Hugh has it under control. The council is sending someone to take him into custody.”
“He still needs to die.”
“Yes, he does, but that’s not our job.”
“I’m an enforcer, Jackie,” Boone said as he looked back at him. “That is my job.”
“Only if your alpha or council deems it so. Until they give the go-ahead, you can’t kill him unless you’re defending yourself or someone else. Right now, Drummond is in custody. If you went after him now, you’d be in the wrong.”
Boone huffed, but a smile began to spread across his lips. “You’re gonna keep me in line, aren’t you?”
Jackie shrugged. “I am the mate of the sheriff. I kind of have to make you follow the rules.”
“Baby, I have no doubt you can keep me in line.” Boone’s brown eyes twinkled with adoration as he stared down at Jackie. “That’s what makes you so perfect.”
“No.” Jackie smiled back. “That’s what makes me your mate.”
“I know the mating heat is supposed to fade after a while, but all I can think about doing is fucking you against the next flat surface I can find.”
Jackie bit his lip before saying, “There’s a lot of flat surfaces at my house.”
“Yeah?” Boone pressed a couple more kisses against Jackie’s lips. “Maybe we should think about moving me in there.”
Jackie panted as he returned Boone’s kisses. “Well,” he said between each press of his lips, “with us being mates and all, it seems like the responsible thing to do.”
“Oh yeah, we’re all about being responsible.”
Jackie almost rolled his eyes. They had broken so many rules, he was surprised they weren’t locked up in the Potter’s Creek jail. “I guess we’ll have to stay together to keep each other out of trouble.”
“Or because we love each other.”
Jackie inhaled a shaky breath. “Or that.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey, did your dad get off okay?” Boone asked as he dropped the last of his boxes of possessions on the floor by the door. Packing and moving sucked. Packing and moving into Jackie’s house was a dream come true.
“Yeah. He says it’s going to take him a few weeks to pack up and get the house on the market, but he wants me to start looking around for a place for him here in town.”
Boone could hear the joy in his mate’s voice at the thought of his father moving to Potter’s Creek. Boone was thrilled for Jackie, even if he was still a little wary of the man himself. With James in Jackie’s life, Boone knew he needed to make nice with the older man. It wasn’t so easy when James was wary of shifters in general.
Still, whatever made Jackie happy made Boone happy. If that meant he had to help James Lee move to Potter’s Creek, so be it. Boone would do whatever he needed to do to make his mate happy.
“Have you decided if you’re going to contact your mother or not?” Boone was still a little stunned to learn Jackie’s mother was a shifter.
“No, I don’t think so. I wasn’t good enough for her when I was human. I doubt I’m good enough for her now that I’m a made shifter.”
Boone understood where Jackie was coming from, and personally, he wanted nothing to do with the woman who would abandon her child, but he understood why she had done it. Twenty-five years ago when she left, humans were not accepted in any pride. Jackie’s life would have been in danger for sure.
That didn’t mean Boone agreed with what she did. If it had been his child, nothing would have torn him away, not even a mate. Mostly because he was positive his mate would have understood the need to stay, and would have stayed with him.
“Just don’t close off your options. There might come a point in your life when you’ll want to talk to her.”
“I guess.”
“We can at least ask Elder Hamilton to track her down and find out where she is. You may change your mind at some point.”
Jackie shot him a dark look.
Boone swallowed hard. “Or not.”
When someone knocked on the door, Boone jumped at the chance to answer it. “Oh, hey, Boston, what’s up?”
“I’m getting ready to head back to the Feline Council. I wanted to drop by before I did and let you know that they found Drummond guilty of all charges.”
Boone turned when he felt a hand settle in the middle of his back. He wrapped an arm around Jackie’s shoulders before looking back at Boston. “What’s his sentence?”
“It would have been life imprisonment if he had been human, but since he used his own experimental drugs to make himself a shifter, he faces shifter justice.”
“Which means what?” Jackie asked.
“He’ll be put to death, baby,” Boone replied. “The laws for shifters don’t allow much wiggle room.”
“I can’t say I’m real sad about that,” Jackie said. “The man is evil.”
Boone wholeheartedly agreed.
“What about Klaus Marshall?” Boone needed to know. Klaus might be even more evil than Drummond.
“Since Drummond has been caught and returned for justice, the council is sending me out after Klaus and his older brother. They’re not real sure how deeply involved they were, but they at least want to question both men.”
“What about your time undercover?” Boone asked. “Don’t you have the evidence to take him in?”
“Not enough to do any real damage. The council wants more. They thought this shitstorm ended with Drummond. The council isn’t real happy to discover other shifters were involved. I think they want to make an example of Klaus and Bern.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Not a lot, but if you hear anything, send the information to Elder Hamilton. He’s my contact on the council. He and Simon are keeping a record of everything I find so we can present it to the council once I bring those two yahoos in.”
“You’ll be careful?”
Boston grinned. “Always.”
“Okay, keep in touch so we know how you are,” Boone said. “We worry about you.”
“I think pretty quick on my feet. I’ll be fine, but thank you. It’s nice to know someone would miss me if I was gone.”
“I think there are a lot more people out there t
hat would miss you than you think, Boston.” Boone could think of several people right off the top. Boston was a good guy, loyal and trustworthy. He had been a good pride member in the past. He was a good friend now.
“Okay, so I need to get on the road. I’ll be in touch when I can. If you don’t hear from me for a few weeks, that’s just because I’m working undercover and can’t get to a secure line.”
“Oh, hey, what happened with Trevor?”
“Oh yeah.” Boston chuckled. “When the council learned that Trevor’s life had been threatened and that he lives with the Regal Elder, they sent twenty enforcers to keep the entire place secure. Between them and Kumiko, a stiff wind couldn’t get into that house right now.”
Boone had been worried about his brother. He had called and talked to Otto to warn him that Trevor was in danger. Otto promised to make sure Trevor was safe, but Boone hadn’t heard anything after that.
“Catch ya later.” Boston waved as he headed out.
Boone stood in the doorway and watched Boston head out to his car. Once he drove away, Boone shut and locked the door. He’d brought all of his boxes in. All he needed to do now was unpack. It was going to be a little weird not living in the pride house, but he’d give that up to live with his mate any day.
“Did we get everything?” Jackie asked as he glanced down at the boxes stacked by the front door.
“Almost,” Boone said as he started for his mate. “We have just one thing left to do.”
Jackie lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“I promised to fuck you on every flat surface in the house.” Boone grinned as he lifted Jackie up and pinned him to the front door with his body. “That’s one flat surface,” he whispered as he leaned in and started nibbling on the mating mark on Jackie’s neck. “How many more do you think we have to go?”
“I don’t know,” Jackie said as he started pulling at the hem of Boone’s shirt. “Fuck me against the door, and then we can work our way through the rest of the house.”
Boone grinned. That was his baby.
THE END
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