“And yet here you are.” She reached over and threaded her fingers through his. He shuddered and angled his body toward her. He’d never wanted to kiss someone so much in all his life.
“I wish I was more.” He gulped hard, swallowing down his regrets.
“You’re a man who is willing to drop everything for me.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “That’s all that matters to me. Who you are in this moment, in the coming days. Not who you were last week or last year. I watched my dad change from being this hardened gang member to a family man who lives for his family.”
Axel’s cheek burned where her lips had touched his skin. Reaching out, he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek, his eyes fixed on her lips. The need to kiss her was too much.
His phone vibrated in his pocket before it rang, and he jumped as if he’d heard a gunshot. Grabbing his phone, he glanced at the screen. His mom. The time registered in his brain. He’d spent too long with his mate.
“Hi, Mom.” He answered the call and Jenessa left the kitchen and went back to the bar.
“I was worried,” his mom said. “You’re late. You’re never late.”
As he assured his mom he was fine, Axel suddenly realized he was going to need to make an impossible choice. His mom or his mate.
Life sure had a way of biting you in the ass.
Chapter Four – Jenessa
The guy who said he would love her forever lived at home with his mom.
Most women would be turned off by a fact like that. A middle-aged man who admitted to having nothing to offer her. Not exactly a catch.
Yet, to Jenessa, he was perfect. His honesty at having nothing to give was endearing. It showed he wasn’t trying to be something he wasn’t.
Although, maybe she should be worried as to what exactly he was. A reformed biker. How reformed?
“I have to get home.” Axel came out of the kitchen, an apologetic expression on his face. “I need to check on my mom and then be back here for the lunchtime shift.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you to it.” She sauntered toward the door.
“You could come home and meet my mom.” Axel winced as he heard his own words. “I sound like a high school nerd excited over his first girlfriend.”
“You want to prove to your mom you are a real man because you have a girlfriend.” She sashayed toward the door. “I get it.”
Axel chuckled. “She is going to be very excited when I tell her I have a mate. But if she doesn’t meet you in real life, she’s gonna think I’m making it all up.”
Jenessa placed her hand on the door. All her instincts told her to pull the door open and run. Just leave town and not look back. This guy had given up the biker gang lifestyle, he’d gotten a steady job and had a mom who needed him. What right did she have to drag him away from all of that?
“Don’t.” The pain in Axel’s voice pierced her heart.
“Don’t what?” Color rushed to her cheeks. The guy had read her mind.
“I know that look, you’re thinking of running.”
“I would call it more like thinking of letting you off the hook.” Coming here was a bad idea. Even if she’d found O’Malley instead of a mate, she would be putting an innocent person in danger. O’Malley was her friend, but he wasn’t family. He owed her nothing and this was a big ask. Even before she’d found out O’Malley was married.
“I don’t need you to let me off the hook.” Axel crossed the bar, closing the distance between them, taking away her chance to sneak out of here without a fight.
“I didn’t come here to disrupt your life.” She glanced over her shoulder, a long lingering look at the door leading out onto the street.
“You came here to disrupt O’Malley’s life. Instead, you found me.” Axel stood in front of her, his expression unreadable.
“And you’ll follow me to the ends of the earth because I’m your mate.” She swayed a little and put on a goofy voice, sounding like a teenager.
“Who better to follow you to the ends of the Earth?”
“Someone who isn’t taking care of his mom.” She chewed the inside of her cheek. Up until the point he’d told her he was caring for his mom, she’d have accepted his help, no question.
But his mom… Jenessa still missed her mom every day. Even now, after time had passed, she would see something on the TV or in a store and think how much her mom would like it or find it funny. She missed her laugh, she missed her hugs.
“My mom is on the mend. I have friends who can check in on her.” Axel was not going to let this go.
“What if you don’t come back?” Jenessa plunged a knife into Axel’s heart. It was the only way to make him see sense.
“I’ll come back. I always do,” he said confidently. “I just need to make sure that you come back, too.”
“Because we’re mates.”
“Because you have a father who probably needs you as much as my mom needs me.” He reached out and touched her arm and she sagged forward. She longed to be held by him, to feel his strong comforting arms around her shoulders.
“I’m doing this for him.”
“And I am doing this for us and since my mom is fully aware of how a shifter feels for his mate then she will understand.” He gave a low laugh. “You know if I didn’t go with you, she’d probably just kick me out of the house anyway.”
“Well, if you put it like that.” She opened her arms and slid them around Axel, resting her head on his chest. He tensed and she thought she’d made a mistake, but then he relaxed and hugged her close.
“I do. I’m here for you now.”
She rested on his broad chest for a couple of minutes longer, aware that he had to get back home, that his mom was worried. Yet she hated letting him go.
So this was the mating bond. Her father had spoken of it, her brother longed to experience it. Jenessa had always been jealous of shifters. After a couple of failed relationships that had felt as if her heart were ripped in two, she wished she was a shifter so that she would just know when she met the one.
Now it had happened.
“You should go home.” She patted his chest as she took a step away from him, but Axel was not letting her go.
“We should go home.” He looked down at her, his eyes warm and kind and she wanted to melt into him.
“I think we should get to know each other a little better first.”
“My mom would love to meet you and you look as if you need something to eat and somewhere to rest.”
She raked her hand through her hair. “That good, huh?”
“I can’t lie to you.” His concern was incredibly sweet. “Listen, I know hearing that I can’t leave right away wasn’t what you wanted to hear but rest while you wait….”
She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him that she intended to go on ahead and he could follow when he was ready, but he put his finger to her lips before she could say a word.
If anyone else had tried to silence her, she would have broken their damn finger. But she let him talk. He was, after all, possibly going to risk his life for her. Or rather her stupid younger brother.
“While we wait, you can tell me everything you know. I mean everything. I can call some of my old contacts and try to find out what the word is on the street.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think it’s been called that for a while now.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been away from the scene for a while now. But I’m certain my old contacts will help me out.”
“Thank you.” She brushed a tear from her cheek and her breath shuddered through her body.
“Are you okay?” He ducked his head, so his eyes were level with hers.
“Yeah. I just need a minute. I’ve been so focused on getting here and on finding O’Malley that it feels as if I haven’t taken a breath for days.” Her teeth chattered as she turned toward the door.
Axel slid around her and grabbed the handle. “Come on, let’s get some food, and then we can talk some more.” He pull
ed his phone from his pocket. “I have an hour and a half before I have to be back here to open up.”
“Do you want me to drive us to your house?” she asked as they left the bar. “Don’t worry, I am not over the alcohol limit.”
“I think the walk will do us good and I only live five minutes away.” Axel tilted his head back and inhaled deeply. “Sweet mountain air always makes me feel good.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Jenessa inhaled deeply. He was right, the mountain air did invigorate her. “What is that I can smell?”
“The flowers?” he asked, she nodded and inhaled again. “I think it’s a mixture of rose and jasmine. There’s a house a little way along the street that has the biggest, reddest roses I’ve ever seen. The old guy who lives there spends all of his time tending his back yard.”
“Does he have a mate?” Jenessa asked as she followed the scent of the blooms.
“I think he does.”
“Ah, there goes my theory that he tends his garden because he doesn’t have a mate. I figured he needed something to do with his time.” They were getting closer now, the mixture of sweet flowers a heady scent in the air. It was like being whisked away from the mountains to an old-fashioned garden that had been lovingly looked after for years.
Was that her fate, to move here to Cougar Ridge and live a long happy life with Axel? She hoped so.
Jenessa tried to turn her thoughts away from the nagging worry in the back of her mind that she might be leading Axel into danger. Danger they might not escape. The people who were looking for Tyler were not the kind of people you messed around with. They were dangerous.
Far more dangerous than her father’s old biker buddies and probably more dangerous than the people Axel said he could call on for help finding her brother.
She stole a sidelong look at Axel. Perhaps she was wrong, and Axel’s past was filled with very bad deeds done to innocent people.
“Morning, Mr. Donald.” Axel waved at an old man tending the yard filled with flowers.
“Morning, Axel.” Mr. Donald cast a curious look in Jenessa’s direction before he asked, “How is your mom?”
“She’s doing well. You should come by and visit her, she said she enjoyed your last visit, and she loved the flowers.” Axel had such an easygoing manner. He liked people and people liked him.
Jenessa refused to picture him as the kind of guy who did despicable things. Which was naive, but right now she needed to believe in someone, and that someone was Axel.
“I’ll come over and visit again. Although, she’ll have you home more now, with O’Malley coming back from his honeymoon tomorrow.” Mr. Donald rested on a shovel. Obviously, the guy had nothing else to do and was ready to spend an hour talking small talk with anyone who might pass by.
Axel kept on walking. “He is back tomorrow,” Axel replied evasively, not answering the first part of Mr. Donald’s statement.
How could he when he had no idea what their future held or where it might lead?
Axel might think he was blessed to have his mate in his life but Jenessa had brought a whole lot of baggage with her.
Would the shifter bond between them be strong enough to hold them together when he realized what he was getting involved in?
Chapter Five – Axel
In all his forty-something years, Axel had never taken a woman home to his mom.
There had never seemed to be much point when he knew they were not the one. Not his mate.
So when they arrived back at his mom’s house, he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
“Do you want to go in first and warn her?” Jenessa asked, sensing his hesitation.
“No!” he insisted a little too quickly.
“I won’t be offended. Honestly. My dad is going to be pretty shocked about the whole thing. So I can imagine your mom will be, too.” She placed a light hand on him, sending a jolt of electricity along his arm and over his shoulder. Warmth filled him as if his heart had been set on fire.
“Will I need to go and ask your dad’s permission to marry you?” Axel’s words were met with a wide-eyed look. “Too soon to mention marriage?”
“Just a little. I think we should know each other for at least a couple of hours before that subject comes up.” She smiled, the humor reaching her eyes and setting him at ease.
“My mom will be okay.” Axel opened the door and went inside the house he grew up in.
Life had a strange way of taking you places you never thought you’d go and then forcing you back to the start, Axel mused as Jenessa followed him down the hallway he’d played in as a kid. He’d had a happy childhood, only when he hit his teenage years did he start to get stir-crazy living in a small town like Cougar Ridge. When he finally left, he thought he’d go out and see the world, meet his mate and settle down. Instead, he’d gotten himself mixed up with a group of bikers thanks to one of his high school friends.
When he returned to Cougar Ridge to look after his mom, the biker lifestyle was already way behind him. He’d moved around a lot, finding work where he could, but never settling down. He thought all chances of finding his mate were dead in the dust, too. Yet here she was.
The place where it all began.
“Mom,” he called quietly, nerves making his voice high-pitched.
“Axel, I’m in the kitchen, I’ve made fresh coffee. At least it was fresh.” His mom appeared in the hallway, her eyes immediately fixed on Jenessa. “You’ve brought a friend home.”
“Mom.” Axel went to his mom. He needed to reassure her that everything would be okay.
And then you’ll tell her that we are leaving, his cougar warned.
His mom looked up with tears in her eyes. Guilt and betrayal hung heavily around him as he looked at the woman who had raised him, the woman who had stood by him no matter what he’d done. “Your mate?” she whispered.
Axel nodded, opened his mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut.
“At last!” His mom clapped her hands together before grabbing hold of her son and hugging him tightly. “I’m so happy for you.” She let Axel go and turned to face Jenessa. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
“It’s good to meet you.” Jenessa’s face broke into a relieved smile and she accepted the impromptu hug from Axel’s mom.
“Come on, let’s have some coffee and maybe some pancakes and you can tell me all about how you two met.” His mom wagged a finger at Axel. “You kept this a secret from me?”
“No, Mom. Jenessa and I only just met this morning.” Axel glanced at Jenessa who smiled at him, looking relaxed and happy as she entered the small kitchen. There was only just enough room for a small round table by the back door, which was open, letting in the scents and sounds of Cougar Ridge. In the not too far distance, a bear roared, and an answering snarl of a lion made Jenessa widen her eyes.
“Don’t mind them. I think it’s the Larsen boys. Although, it’s a little early for them. They don’t usually go out until nearer lunchtime.” Axel’s mom stared out of the open door for a moment, as if she could look far into the distance and see the Larsen boys who were in their late teens and new to shifting. Which meant the world was exciting and new, with so much to explore on four paws instead of two feet.
“I expect the sunshine dragged them out of their beds,” Jenessa said as she sat down at the table and angled her head to look outside. “Your flower borders look amazing.”
“Thanks.” His mom glanced at Axel. “Although, I can’t take all the credit. Axel weeded them and replanted them with fresh flowers while I was sick. As I got stronger, he’d help me outside so I could sit and enjoy the sun on my face.”
“You should come and see my dad’s back yard. He only discovered his love for growing things a few years ago. Now he raises vegetables from seed and tends his flower beds every day.” She sighed sadly. “He tells me it helps fill his days, but I think he just doesn’t like to admit how much he enjoys it all. The sun on his face and dirt under his fingernails. He looks th
e healthiest he ever did.”
“Being out in the fresh air surrounded by plants you’ve nurtured and tended is good for the soul,” Axel’s mom agreed as she sat down at the table. Axel carried the coffee cups and set them down on the small mats decorated with herbs that his dad had bought for his mom years ago. Although faded, they were still his mom’s favorite.
Jenessa looked up abruptly. “Sorry. I got lost in a daydream for a second there.”
“It’s good to hear you talk about your dad.” Axel’s mom smiled. “I’m Paula, by the way, since Axel forgot his manners and never properly introduced us.”
Jenessa grinned and glanced at Axel. “I think he’s a little shell-shocked.”
Paula chuckled. “I’m not surprised. He never said but I think he figured he’d missed out on finding his mate when he moved back here to care for me.”
“I am right here, and I can hear you talking,” Axel said good-naturedly.
How could he be anything other than good-natured considering how lucky he felt?
Maybe we should save our elation until we find out exactly what happened with Tyler, his cougar said.
Axel shared his cougar’s fear for what they might be up against. From the brief information Jenessa had already shared, it sounded as if the young man had gotten himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. With his own gang against him, Tyler had no one at his back. He was exposed and vulnerable.
What do you think he was stupid enough to steal? His cougar had little sympathy for Tyler. Only fools stole from a gang. Tyler would have known exactly what the repercussions would be from the theft since he was part of that lifestyle.
Which makes him even more stupid. His cougar prowled the outer edges of Axel’s mind, his tail twitching in disgust. If it wasn’t for Tyler, we’d be able to relax and enjoy meeting our mate. Instead, we are about to embark on a dangerous mission to find a fool.
And if Tyler wasn’t such a fool, we might never have met our mate, Axel reminded his cougar.
I hate it when you talk sense, his cougar said before he settled down, curled up in a furry ball, and closed his eyes.
Axel Summer Shifters Season 2 Page 3
