Jason - Silverback Redemption

by Raines, Harmony

  “I understand. And you have a lot going on in your life.” He smiled sadly. “I wish the timing was better. I wish we’d met before any of this had ever happened.”

  “You mean before Letitia came into my mom’s life and unloaded a baby on to her?” Lorcan asked caustically.

  Jason gave a brief smile and shook his head. “No, I meant before these dragon hunters came knocking.” A low growl emanated from his throat which he quickly covered with a cough. “I would have made sure they never came back.”

  “Or you might have gotten hurt,” Shannon reminded him. “They plan to get their hands on Lorcan’s treasure, and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process.”

  “They will be the ones getting hurt,” Harlan assured Shannon. “But we need to find the treasure, if nothing else we need to find it so Lorcan doesn’t go crazy.”

  “If I have my way, these dragon hunters will soon learn it is them who are the hunted.” Fiona’s eyes flashed as she drained her coffee cup and got up from the table. “Come on, old man, it’s time to get your hiking boots on.”

  Harlan chuckled. “It’s been a while since we hiked up the mountain.” He winked at Lorcan. “Once you get your wings, all you want to do is fly!”

  Lorcan’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I can’t wait.”

  “I can.” Shannon drank the last of her coffee and stood up. As she took a step away from the chair, she reached out her hand to steady herself, aware of Jason watching her closely. “My legs are so stiff from climbing the mountain. It’s not something I’m used to, and my muscles are complaining.” These last few days had taken a toll on her body in the same way the stress of the dragon shifters and their threats had taken a toll on her mentally.

  “What you need is a nice long soak in a hot bath,” Fiona told her. “Why don’t you stay here and rest? We can take Lorcan up into the mountains and help him find his treasure.”

  “No, I’m fine, honestly. Once I get going again, I’ll soon loosen up.” She stretched her arms into the air as if she were limbering up for a race.

  “Are you sure?” Jason asked with concern. “I can look after Lorcan for you.”

  “Thanks for the offer…”

  “But I can look after myself,” Lorcan finished for her.

  “I have lived a long, long time,” Harlan told the young dragon shifter. “And the one thing I’ve learned in all those years is that we need other people to have our backs. If we don’t allow other people in and allow them to help us, then the world is a lonely and scary place. Even for a fire-breathing dragon.”

  “I could not agree more.” Jason pushed his chair back and stood up.

  “You should know more than anyone how much better the world is when people help others.” Harlan stood up and placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “As a Silverback Savior, you are one of the guys who do the helping.”

  “He’s a helper, not a helpee.” Fiona laughed at her own joke and Shannon found herself laughing, too. More because it seemed important not to upset a dragon shifter than because she found the joke funny.

  This really was a crazy world she’d fallen into. Only a couple of weeks ago she was living a simple life at home with her father and her adopted son. Now she’d been thrust into another surreal world and nothing would be the same again.

  If they survived. Yes, at the back of Shannon’s mind was this terrible fear that by the end of all this someone might be dead.

  She only hoped if that was the case, it was a dragon hunter who met an untimely end. If it was anyone else, or anything else, she didn’t think she could live with the guilt.

  Her father’s face swam before her eyes and she closed them shut, squeezing them so tight that she saw stars. After all they’d been through, the times she’d felt abandoned by him as a child, they had finally found each other as they worked to raise Lorcan together. It would be unfair and incredibly tragic for her father to never see Lorcan shift into a mythological beast and fly on scaled wings and breathe fire from his large jaws.

  They had to find the treasure so they could get these dragon hunters out of their lives. However, Shannon had a sinking feeling that just handing over the treasure was not going to be enough.

  Her greatest fear was that they would demand Lorcan go with them.

  Her newest fear was that Jason and her father would lay down their lives to protect Lorcan.

  She wasn’t ready to admit her true feelings to anyone else, but this mating bond they spoke of had wrapped itself around her heart and was ready to squeeze the life out of her if she ignored it.

  Or if anything happened to her mate.

  The man standing close to her, his broad shoulders wide enough for her to lay her head on and his arms strong enough to hold her through the most turbulent of storms.

  Chapter Thirteen – Jason

  “It’ll be okay,” Jason reassured his mate, not for the first time today and probably not for the last.

  “You can’t promise that,” Shannon told him calmly. “We have no idea if we’ll ever find the treasure.”

  “Sure we will, now that we have Fiona and Harlan on our side.” He grinned wildly. “I think those two can smell gold from a hundred feet or more.”

  “Have you ever seen them… You know, as dragons.” Shannon still spoke of them as if she wasn’t sure if they were genuinely real.

  “I’ve seen them, and I’ve ridden on Fiona’s back.” Jason side-eyed Shannon as she took a sharp breath. “It’s one of the best experiences of my life.”

  “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.” She sighed and turned her head to look out of the window. “I also can’t imagine what it will be like having a son who can turn into a dragon.”

  “He’ll be okay,” Jason assured her.

  “I hope so.” She glanced up at the rearview mirror. “Fiona and Harlan have taken him under their wings.” She gave a wry smile. “That wasn’t meant to be a pun.”

  “They’re good people. They’ll teach him what he needs to know.” This news didn’t seem to help Shannon’s mood.

  “That’s what worries me.” She chewed the inside of her cheek and her eyes misted with tears.

  “You’re worried Lorcan will be so enamored with them that he’ll think more of them than you.” Jason reached out and placed his hand over hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “You are his mom. You raised him when Letitia died, there is no way he’ll forget that. You are the most important person in the world to him. That isn’t just going to disappear.”

  “You know how teenagers can be. It’s a vulnerable age. And how can I compete with any kind of shifter, let alone a dragon?” She sounded miserable and he longed to pull over to the side of the road and gather her into his arms.

  “He might be a little starstruck to start with, but he’ll soon get over it.” Jason chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Shannon asked in a hurt voice.

  “Fiona is not always the warmest person in the world. She says what’s on her mind without using a filter. I’m certain Lorcan will soon realize where he’d rather be.” Jason smiled to himself as he steered the truck up the mountain road, with Harlan following behind with Fiona and Lorcan.

  “What’s it like?” his mate asked. “What’s it like to shift into an animal?”

  “It’s hard to explain. I don’t actually change into a bear. It’s more like we swap places. I slip out of this world and my bear replaces me.” He grinned. “Want to see?”

  “Not right now,” Shannon said hurriedly. “Unless your bear is smart enough to drive a truck.”

  Jason burst out laughing. “No, he’s smart, but not that smart.”

  I could learn, to impress our mate, his bear said.

  “Okay, then show me when we get into the mountains.” Shannon grabbed her backpack as Jason steered the truck to the side of the road.

  “He can’t wait to meet you.” This was met with a strange look from Shannon. “He has feelings, too.”

  “I’m su
re he does.” Shannon opened the door and swung her pack onto her shoulders as she slid down to the ground. Jason watched her as she adjusted the straps and watched Harlan’s vehicle pull alongside.

  “Let’s do this!” Lorcan jumped out before Harlan had come to a full stop.

  “You sound more confident,” Shannon remarked.

  “I am. Fiona and Harlan have been telling me how dragons have an affinity to treasure and that if I direct my senses, I’ll be able to pinpoint its location,” Lorcan gushed.

  “Good. I won’t complain if we never have to tramp along these trails again.” Shannon’s bottom lip quivered as she turned away and looked at the highest peaks far off in the distance.

  “I think you’ll learn to love the mountains when there’s no pressure to find treasure,” Jason told her.

  “I’m sure I will,” Shannon agreed. “But right now, my feet are sore and my thigh muscles ache. And we haven’t even started to climb back along the trail.”

  “I can carry you if you want.” Jason’s offer was met with an eye-roll from Shannon. “Hey, I mean it. I can carry you up the trail.”

  “I might take you up on the offer in an hour or so if we are still walking around looking for treasure. But I’m hoping Lorcan will track this treasure down with help from Fiona and Harlan.” Shannon nodded toward the two dragon shifters who had gotten out of their vehicle and were grabbing their hiking equipment from the trunk.

  “We are here to help,” Harlan confirmed. “But this is Lorcan’s task.”

  “So you only sense your own treasure, not all treasure?” Shannon asked.

  Harlan gave a small smile. “All dragons can smell gold. But not through a wall of rock.”

  “But Lorcan isn’t relying on his sense of smell,” Fiona explained. “He’s relying on a different, more innate sense. This treasure is a part of him. It’s linked to him.”

  “Then let’s go find it.” Lorcan pumped the air with his fist.

  “After you.” Shannon stepped back and let her son go first. “But whether we find it or not, it’s okay.” She placed her hand on his shoulder briefly as he walked past.

  “It’s not okay, though, is it?” Pain and fear flickered across his face for a fleeting moment before it evaporated, and he forced a smile.

  Shannon stood rooted to the spot as her son strode off along the trail. Jason quickly grabbed his own pack and locked his truck before joining her. He longed to pull her into his arms and hold her close and tell her it was going to be okay. But she was right, he couldn’t promise her that. Because it was a promise he couldn’t keep.

  We’re out of our depth, he told his bear.

  We’ve been out of our depth before and we’ve pulled through, his bear replied.

  Not always. Jason’s ground his teeth together as pain and loss tried to worm its way into his heart and make him useless.

  Not always. But we can make this work, we can help Shannon through this. A low growl emanated from his bear. If not, then blood will be spilled.

  “We’ll stay with Lorcan,” Harlan said as he walked past Shannon.

  “Just take a moment and catch your breath,” Fiona said kindly. “We will do everything we can to help you.”

  Shannon nodded but didn’t speak. Her face was as pale as the winter snow that clung to the mountain peaks even when the rest of the mountains had turned green with the first flush of new grass as the sun warmed the slopes. Jason wanted to warm his mate and chase away the chill in her bones.

  She needs to see a miracle, his bear told him.

  You mean she needs to see you. Jason couldn’t fault his bear’s logic.

  “Ready to meet the other side of me?” Jason’s voice wavered as the enormity of what he was about to share with his mate hit him. If she freaked out, he might lose her forever.

  She won’t freak out, his bear assured him. This is a woman who adopted a dragon-shifter child.

  She didn’t totally believe in dragon shifters or any shifters when she agreed to raise him as her own, Jason reminded his bear.

  But she must have had her suspicions it could be true, his bear argued.

  “I’d love to meet the other side of you,” Shannon answered.

  See, his bear said smugly.

  I guess it’s time to do your thing. Jason relaxed his mind and allowed his bear his freedom.

  The air shimmered around him like a halo as he disappeared from the world where his mate watched him, her breath caught in her throat. She was scared, he could sense it, and yet he couldn’t do anything to comfort and reassure her as he gave way to his bear.

  In the moment his bear came forth and stood on four stocky legs in front of his mate, he learned his mate had courage. She didn’t flinch, didn’t back away. Instead, she took control of her fear and her breathing, calming herself as the world around her shifted forever.

  “It’s real.” Even after all she’d been told, Shannon had figured this was all make-believe, that Jason, Fiona and Harlan were making the whole thing up. He could understand why. To anyone who heard about shifters but hadn’t seen them in the flesh, this must all seem too farfetched.

  His bear put his head down and huffed, pawing the ground before he took a step forward and then another. Closing the distance between him and his mate, the bear inhaled deeply and savored the taste of her on his tongue. His mouth watered, reminding him of the sweetest of honey.

  “You are beautiful.” Shannon reached out tentatively and threaded her fingers through his silver-tipped fur. “So soft.”

  His bear grunted. His fur might be soft, but he was hard and strong, capable of protecting his mate and her child against anyone who might mean them harm. She was his mate and what a mate she was!

  “Thank you.” She dropped to her knees and cupped his massive head in her hands. Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to his and tears flowed down her cheeks. “I felt so alone, but now you are here.” She pressed her lips to his soft fur before she pulled away from him and stood up. Her hand dashed away her tears and she sniffed loudly. In an instant, his bear stepped forward and rubbed his head along her thigh, comforting her with his solid presence.

  Shannon dropped her hand to her side and tickled his head as she leaned into him. If she’d doubted their connection before, Jason was convinced he’d swept those doubts aside. The appearance of his bear had strengthened their connection and the bond between them.

  “We should catch up to the others.” She looked down at him. “I think I need to talk to Jason as we walk.”

  His bear sighed and nodded before he inhaled deeply once more and let go of the world around them. In an instant, the air shimmered and the bear disappeared, to be replaced by Jason’s human form.

  “There you are.”

  Jason was met by Shannon’s smiling face. Her beautiful, kissable lips turned up at the corners, her eyes glistening with tears of wonder and her cheeks flushed with color. “Here I am.”

  “That was incredible.” Shannon took a step forward and placed her hand on his cheek. “You are really here.”

  “I am really here.” He needed to stop repeating her words. “We should catch up with the others.”

  Still repeating her words, his bear said with a chuckle.

  “Yes.” Shannon hitched her pack higher onto her shoulders as she turned away from Jason and took a wobbly step in the direction Lorcan and the dragon shifters had gone. They were out of sight, although Jason could still sense them. It gave him a feeling of being alone on the mountain with his mate. “It’s a good thing we know where they are going.”

  “I can sense them,” he assured her.

  “It must be incredible to have those super senses.” She turned and looked at him over her shoulder. “Were you born with those senses?”

  “Some. But mostly they develop after the first shift. Mine were also enhanced by my Army training.” He didn’t want to brag but he and the other Silverback Saviors had some of the most enhanced senses of anyone he’d ever known.
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  “So what can Lorcan sense now?” Shannon asked, her voice low as if she were afraid he might be able to hear them.

  “He can hear better than most people and he can probably sense things around him. People for example. He would know if someone was lurking around the corner without actually seeing them.” He wasn’t sure if that was a comfort to Shannon or not.

  “And testosterone?” She slowed her pace, so she walked beside him. “I’m worried he will take on people he has no hope of beating because he thinks he is invincible.”

  “He’s a dragon shifter...” Jason hesitated. “They are a little more arrogant than most other shifters.”

  “So the answer is yes, he may take on people he has no hope of beating because he thinks he’s superior.” Shannon shrugged. “I’ve seen the changes in him.”

  “Ahh, then his first shift must be close.” Jason took a chance and reached out for her, slipping his hand around her shoulders. “I’ll be there for him.”

  “I know.” She sighed and leaned into him, her body warm as she pressed herself into him for comfort. “And I’m grateful, I really am.”

  “But?” Jason could sense there was a but, and he’d rather know what it was so he could deal with it.

  “But I never expected to find you. I never wanted a romantic relationship. Not while I was raising Lorcan.” She slipped away from him. “I made a deal with myself that I would remain single while I raised him. Partly, I think, because I was never sure if what Letitia told me was true and partly because I didn’t want anyone to come between me and Lorcan. He’d lost so much already, I didn’t ever want to risk there being a chance that someone would drive a wedge between us.”

  “That’s not my intention,” Jason assured her. “It would break me to damage the relationship you have with your son.” Shannon nodded but didn’t answer. “I mean it.”

  She stopped walking and tucked her thumbs into the straps of her pack. “I believe you.” She nodded. “I believe in you.”

  “That’s all I need to know.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek, but she moved her head and instead he kissed the lips of his mate. A thrill of excitement passed through him as she placed her hand on his cheek and their kiss deepened. It was as if he was floating above the clouds, higher than the highest peaks.