by P. Jameson
Carefully, she moved the lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes and cupped her palm around his hard jaw. “I will,” she said. “I promise.”
His expression eased some and he moved to lie beside her, pulling her over onto his chest. Silence cocooned them until she spoke her thoughts.
“Tell me what they’re like.”
Maxim’s rough hand caressed up her back and twisted gently in her hair. “I already told you. Brutal. For the men, a lot of time is spent making weapons or traps. Or sparring to keep our skills strong. There are trackers that keep watch of our boundaries in case the bear shifters ever want to try and take a slip of our land. It’s deep mountain living. Not many luxuries. Off the grid mostly. Sustainable. It’s a different world than what you’re used to, stormy.”
“Tell me about the women.”
“The females spend their time teaching the young. Keeping us fed and clothed. And…” He sighed, unhappily. “… warming beds.” He stared down at her, his expression full of guilt. “This won’t be your life, mate. I promised you happiness, and you will have it.”
But what if her idea of happiness was what he described. Because being Susie homemaker didn’t sound all that bad to her. Couldn’t a woman have both? Couldn’t she have a career and be mom to a brood of babies?
“Babies, though…” she mused, gauging his reaction. “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
“We will have babies later. Right now, I want you all to myself.”
Yeah. She wasn’t in a hurry. Right? They’d only just begun.
“But we’ve already… you know… uh… without… you know.”
Maxim frowned. “Details, woman.”
“We’ve never used protection and I’m not on birth control.”
His eyebrows rose into his forehead. “Don’t worry, you won’t get pregnant.”
He sounded so sure.
“I can scent when you’re fertile. You weren’t when we’ve been together.”
“Oh.” That superior sense of smell he had was going to take some getting used to.
“Trust me, woman.” Maxim pressed his nose to the spot under her ear and inhaled. “When you’re fertile I will need to stay far away.”
“Why?”
He pulled back to look at her and his eyes went dark with promise. “Because when you are fertile, my inner animal will go insane trying to breed a baby into you.”
“Oh.” The idea didn’t frighten her though. Instead, it turned her middle into a new inferno.
What would that kind of Maxim be like? Furious and hungry and desperate to fill her.
Well… she had already seen him like that. But would it be different if they were trying to make a baby?
Furious and hungry and desperate to fill her… simply because he wanted her pregnant with their child.
The mere idea warmed her heart until it was a burning ember of hope. It brought tears to her eyes.
“Mate? What’s wrong?” Maxim pressed her chin up to meet his concerned gaze, and she gave him a watery smile.
“Nothing. It’s just that now I know what I want for our future. I can picture it, like you did before, and it makes me really glad I’m here. Really glad I said yes.”
He hugged her close, breathing a kiss into her hair. “I hope you still feel like that tomorrow, mate.”
He might worry, but she knew she’d always feel like that.
Chapter Five
Tabatha sat on the leather sofa in the lobby of the small lodge, staring out the window at the beautiful scenery. Snow dusted evergreens spread out and upward at the base of a mountain. The small winding two-lane road at the end of the parking lot whipped toward it, disappearing somewhere in all the wintery foliage. Boulders peeked out from some of the corners of the forest and everything in sight was finished in rustic wood. No clean metal surfaces in this Colorado town.
It was beautiful.
And it was a hell of a lot better than what was happening in the room down the hall. Escaping to the lobby had been the right decision, she decided.
Maxim and Jett and Rocco were “preparing” to go up the mountain. Preparing they called it. As if you couldn’t just dress normally and drive up to your family home for Christmas. And according to Lexington, everything they were doing was necessary.
As if Tabatha needed another dose of reality. As if she needed more evidence that she and Maxim were from two completely different sides of the tracks.
She fidgeted, tapping her nails nervously against the arm of the couch and tried to focus on the winter wonderland just past the front window.
“It will be fine,” Lexington murmured, and Tabatha wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or herself. She paced the floor in front of the sofa while Aaron got them coffee from the diner next door.
“Am I dressed all right?” Tabatha asked for the third time. The sweater dress she wore over tights and snow boots was feeling more and more ridiculous by the minute. Maybe she should have went with jeans. “What do you think Maxim’s mom will think of me?”
Lexington stopped pacing and faced her. “Oh, honey… she’s going to hate you. She’s going to hate anyone who’s not Seraphina.
And Tabatha was definitely not Seraphina.
“I’m sorry. But it’s going to bite, this meeting. Just be yourself. Show her you love her son. Show her you, and she will come around.” Lexington blew out a hard breath. “Or more likely, she will ignore you.”
Tabatha dropped her head into her hands. Was this completely hopeless?
“But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, Tab. Ignoring is bearable. Ignoring is okay.”
“How is it okay?”
“Well, it means she’s not doing meaner things. You know?”
Tabatha peeked through her fingers at the vixen. “You really think she’ll hate me?”
Lexington opened her mouth to speak but she didn’t get the chance. The air in the small lobby changed, seeming to charge in an instant. Tabatha knew what that meant. It was the chills someone got when they were near power. It was the sixth sense that you weren’t alone in a dark room. It was knowing there were monsters in the world but choosing not to think about them.
It was other.
It was magic.
It was her mate.
She turned to find Maxim as he strode into the lobby, shoulders thrown back and a familiar swagger she’d witnessed many times before. He walked in that way that announced to the world he was in charge. That this was his ground, his rules.
Tabatha stood. She felt like she should be standing for this. For him.
What the hell?
Maxim’s hair was messy and wild. Like he’d made it that way on purpose. The scruff that covered his jaw looked somehow darker, more dangerous. But the most striking change was what he’d done to his face. Kohl black paint filled in all the space around his eyes and wrapped around to his temples. The paint continued down to the tip of his nose and up onto his forehead to form a sort of cross. It made his silver eyes seem even brighter. Almost white.
Tabatha swallowed hard as his gaze fell to her.
It was intense. It demanded. It was… terrifying.
It… it was also hot as hell.
Sweet baby Jesus.
He headed straight for her and for some reason, she had the urge to run. Some deep-seated instinct was warning her he was dangerous.
Was this what his people would feel when he came back to town? Fear, intimidation.
He reached her, and without any words, one hand went around the back of her neck, pulling her in close for a searing kiss. When he pulled back, his owning eyes found her shocked ones and pressed in.
“Mine,” he said simply. “Don’t forget.”
“I-I won’t.”
He looked over his shoulder giving a single jerk of his head and that’s when she noticed the other two.
Rocco and Jett were similarly dressed. Dark clothes, leather cuffs on their wrists and neck. Chains hanging from various points for
unknown reasons. And both wore the same black paint Maxim wore. But most importantly, they gave off the same dangerous air.
None of them smiled. None of the laughing or sarcastic banter they’d shared at the diner the night before. Even grouchy Rocco looked meaner than normal.
Geez.
Tabatha snuck a glance at Lexington who was appraising the three hounds.
She nodded, looking them each up, then down. “It’ll do.”
“It will more than do,” Rocco snapped. “You haven’t been home for a while. Things have changed.”
Lexington raised an eyebrow. “I guess so, if people are scared of the likes of you.”
“Don’t rile him,” Aaron muttered from somewhere behind them. He handed Lexington a foam coffee cup and smirked at Rocco’s get-up.
“You have weapons, human?” Maxim asked him.
Aaron nodded. “Got ‘em in the truck.”
“They won’t do you any good there,” Jett muttered, and Aaron narrowed his gaze.
“I’ll weapon up before we leave.”
“Which is now,” Maxim announced, grabbing Tabatha’s hand and heading for the door. She ignored the gawking stare of the lady behind the desk.
Outside, she watched Aaron and Lexington strap on weapon after weapon until it seemed like they were going to war and not for a holiday visit to old family. Instead of candy canes and sugar plums, there were guns and knives and daggers.
“Should I have weapons too?” she asked, half joking.
But Maxim gave her a hard look. “You still have Edward?” The glittery lipstick tube that wasn’t really lipstick, but pepper spray. He had given it to her weeks ago when her Dickasaurus Ex wouldn’t leave her alone. She’d nicknamed it Edward because it was sparkly and dangerous like the vampire from the movie.
“Yes, of course.” It usually hung on her key ring but she’d attached it to her purse when she gave Maxim the keys to the Tesla.
“Keep it on you at all times,” he commanded. “But don’t worry, mate. I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight.”
Tabatha started for the passenger door but Maxim stopped her. “Not there. We’ll be taking Jett’s bike.”
“What?”
“I’ve made arrangements to keep your car parked here. Jett will ride in the truck with Aaron and Lexington and we will take his bike up the mountain. Your stuff is already in the back.”
“But why?”
Maxim looked away, as if the snowy trees held more interest than her question. But she knew it was just a distraction. And she could see through it. “Can’t be taking this thing up there.”
“Because of icy roads?”
“Partly.” He still didn’t look at her.
“Max.”
“Let’s get you a heavier jacket—”
“Max. What aren’t you telling me?”
His eyes found hers again. “We need your car available in case something happens.”
“Like what?”
“If you have to leave without me, you can get to it easily here, and be gone before anyone knows it.”
Tabatha’s chest went tight, making it hard to find air. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Maxim pressed his lips together like he knew something she didn’t.
“Maxim, I’m not leaving this place without you. That’s bullshit. We stay together. No matter what. You said that.”
His expression softened, but only a little. “It’s just a precaution. It’s just in case.”
“But Max—”
“Get on the bike, stormy. It’s time to go.”
Her mouth dropped and she had no words. But she followed him over to Jett’s giant Harley and waited for him to mount it before she climbed on behind him. She shrugged on the heavy leather jacket he passed her and then fastened the helmet to her head. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she laid her cheek on his shoulder.
“We stay together.” She didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud until Maxim turned his head to whisper his response.
“I’m not leaving you, stormybaby. Not willingly. Not ever. It would take death.”
And that’s what she was afraid of. If he was already making contingency plans, then he hadn’t been honest with her about the danger they were in.
Or… she hadn’t been listening.
She was listening now.
Chapter Six
Tabatha stayed wrapped around Maxim as he pulled the motorcycle up to a long iron gate that looked to be the only opening in a sturdy bricked fence. The drive up the mountain was cold and not nearly long enough. He’d told her it was an hour but it felt more like minutes.
Probably because all her aspirations for this to be a dysfunctional but happy little mountain Christmas were falling apart like a toddler’s homemade macaroni ornament. Now she dreaded whatever waited for them behind the big fence.
Peeking over Maxim’s shoulder, she watched Jett exit the truck and walk to the gate. A sharp whistle split the air and she saw several foxes emerge from the trees beyond. One man in his human form and wearing face paint similar to Maxim’s, walked to the front. Jett spoke to them but she couldn’t hear what was being said over the low rumble of the engine. After a moment, the gate opened and he returned to the truck as Maxim drove through, followed by Rocco.
It was another few minutes on a winding gravel road before they rode into a sprawling village that reminded of her of Cedar Valley in so many ways. Same small feel. Same cozy streets. Except the homes were made of logs and there were no street lights and nothing was paved.
People came out from buildings as Maxim rumbled through town, and she felt him stiffen under her hold.
They’d been expecting him. They had been waiting for their fierce warrior to return and fight for them all.
Well, he was back. But what he was fighting for was something different altogether.
Maxim parked the bike in front of a larger cabin and cut the engine. Rocco and Aaron did the same. The silence that followed was eerie. Cedar Valley was quaint, sure, but it was never this quiet. There were kids playing in yards, cars honking hello at their neighbors on the way home for lunch. Even the air seemed to make music.
But not here. Not in Maxim’s village.
He moved her hand from around his waist and urged her off the motorcycle before swinging his leg over the seat and stretching to his full height. Reaching under her chin, he unbuckled her helmet and hung it over the handlebars.
Rocco and Jett walked up, that same deadly air about them that she’d picked up on at the lodge. Aaron and Lexington followed behind.
“Axl says the alpha is still alive,” Jett murmured low. “But his animal has taken over. He can’t shift, can’t heal. They figure he’s waiting for you so there won’t be a spur.”
Axl. The man from the gate?
“What about the bears?” Maxim asked.
“It was a small attack on the edge of our land. Alpha scented them in our territory and took a war party out, figuring it was just a couple scouts.”
“Instead, it was a goddamn invasion,” Rocco rumbled.
Jett nodded.
“The guards on full duty?”
“Yes, and the trackers too. Reporting every hour.”
“Good.”
God, it sounded like a military zone. This was where her man grew up? Where he spent his childhood, played, learned, celebrated holidays. The idea made her heart sad.
Maxim let out a heavy sigh. “Let’s do this. Vixen, you and your mate stay here. We’ll do this one human at a time.”
Lexington nodded, expression serious. But Tabatha couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
The “human” thing was getting old.
So they were different. So what? Surely, if she could accept that he and his people turned into animals, they could accept that she didn’t.
Maxim turned to her, his voice quiet, even though everyone could hear him. “You sure you want to do this, mate? You can still back out. It’s not too late to ta
ke you back down the mountain.”
She frowned. Why did he keep bringing this up? How could he be so sure about them and their future one moment and questioning everything the next. Did he think things were that hopeless?
“I’m sure. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”
He pressed his lips into a grim line. “Stay close to me.”
“Also,” Rocco added, “stay quiet. Less is more.”
She went with Maxim up the stairs to the wrap-around porch. He didn’t knock on the door. Instead, he just swung it wide like he owned it and stepped in, shoulders higher than she’d ever seen them. She followed him, Rocco and Jett flanking her.
“Mother,” Maxim called, and Tabatha noticed how his voice was different. Harder. Formal. Not how she would’ve talked to her own mother. And they weren’t even that close.
“In the kitchen,” a female voice answered. It was the same formal tone. No warmth. No emotion.
Maxim moved through the living area, past the dining room, and into a large kitchen. Tabatha did as he’d said and stayed close by his side. Having Rocco and Jett at her back was actually a comfort. Who knew she’d ever feel like that.
At the counter, Maxim’s mother stood with her back to them, chopping vegetables with a large knife. She wore jeans with a green flannel shirt and her short salt-and-pepper hair fell in a straight line from her scalp to her chin. When they walked in the room, she paused her chopping and Tabatha could have sworn she lifted her nose to scent the air before resuming her business without turning around.
“Mother,” Maxim said as a hello.
“Maxim.”
“How is father?”
“Not well. He is almost gone.” Her voice cracked at the end—the first hint of emotion—and she cleared her throat before continuing. “His animal has taken him, and he can barely open his eyes. His wounds still bleed. They do not heal and I can’t heal him.” The rest was spoken as a matter of fact.
