Lion Beta's Protective Mate

Chapter 3

“Wait. What do you mean she’s alive?” Sara tensed, not believing what she had just heard. She felt something awaken in her as though waiting to spring. She didn’t know if it was from the tension, the shock or the betrayal, but her grip on Jackson’s hand tightened and a chill swept her whole body. Her mother? Alive? How was that even possible?

Mr. Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably. Stiffly, he continued. “According to Tabitha, when you were two, your mother, Janine, fell in with some very bad people. I don’t know much. All Tabitha would say was that it was some sort of motorcycle gang that had criminal ties. Tabitha and your father gave her an ultimatum. She was to choose between her new friends or you. She chose her friends but refused to you behind without a price.” He paused to take a breath. “So. For a million dollars a year, she would walk out of your life and never look back. Tabitha was not about to let you leave with those people. Against my recommendation, Tabitha and Charles agreed.” He watched her over his glasses.

“All this time,” she muttered to herself. She really didn’t know what to think. The whole drama of it aside, why wouldn’t her grandmother have told her when she was older? They had been so close. Sara had assumed that her grandmother would have told her anything she had needed to know. She had always seemed so honest and open. All the times that she had asked her grandmother about her mother, she would just smile sadly and always say the same thing. “Your mother just lost her way.” Sara had always assumed Tabitha had been referring to why her mother had been out when the truck had struck her car head on and taken her life. Now it had an entirely different meaning.

Jackson moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her, drawing her against him. His strength and warmth pulled her back from her thoughts. She really didn’t know what to make of it all.

“Yes, well,” Mr. Gray looked at the paper again and cleared his throat. “Every year on your birthday, Tabitha transferred the money into an account for her.” He read through more of the document. “Tabitha is giving you the option to continue the arrangement or stop the payments.” He looked back up at her. “Ms. Thomas, I am not your lawyer but as your grandmother’s lawyer I would like to advise you with what I had also informed Tabitha. From a legal standpoint, Janine hasn’t a leg to stand on. She didn’t then but she definitely doesn’t now. Not only are you legally of age, but as she has had no contact with you in all these years, there would be nothing she could do to get you to continue the payments. The only possible thing she could do would be to take you to court to contest the will. Should she decide to do that, I strongly doubt a judge anywhere would grant her anything. I know this has literally just been dropped in your lap, but I will need a discission before we can continue as it will dictate some of the other areas of her will.”

Strangely enough, it felt as though whatever was crouched inside of her was trying to give her comfort and encouragement. It bolstered her some. She didn’t know if she was making the right decision or not. Looking at Jackson, she wondered what he thought about it.

As if reading her mind, he nodded. “It’s up to you. I’m with you no matter what you decide.”

Turning to Mr. Gray, she made her decision. “Cancel the payments.”

“Very well. If you would please just sign here.” He laid a page in front of her. “It simply states that you have been advised of all the details of the agreement and authorize cancelation of the payments.”

Sara signed where he indicated.

Mr. Gray carefully put the document in the folder and tuned back to her. “Now that the unpleasantness is done, we can continue. Tabitha had a lot of investments that she had left for your father. Since Charles has signed everything he was given to you, we will now go over those investments as well. There is quite a bit to go through.”

An hour later, Sara walked out of the lawyers’ office in a daze. She jumped when Jackson’s hand landed on the small of her back.

“Come on, Honey. Let’s get you home and then we can talk.” He looked into her eyes to make sure she had heard and understood. They were a little glassy as though she was in information overload.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she took a deep breath and nodded. Twenty minutes later, they were in her townhouse and Jackson was getting her some hot tea. They settled on the couch. Sara wrapped her hands around the hot mug. For some reason her fingers felt like ice.

“Okay. Talk to me, Hun. What are you thinking?” His hand eased around her nape and began trying to massage some of the tension from her. He was a little worried that she still seemed to be in shock.

Sara lifted a shoulder. She looked into her tea as though she was searching for answers. “I don’t really know what to think. There are so many issues, so many questions. I don’t even know where to start.” She looked up at him helplessly.

“Let’s do this.” He took the teacup from her and sat it on the coffee table in front of them. Gripping the outside of her thighs, he turned her until she was facing him with her legs across his lap. Her gasp told him that she’d had no idea he was getting ready to move her. “Now, of everything running through your mind, what’s the most pressing on you right now? We’ll start there.”

“Okay. Most pressing.” She nodded, a little relieved that she had a starting point to focus on. “Do you remember when I told you that it felt like there was something inside me?” When he nodded, she continued. “It’s getting stronger. While we were at the lawyers’ office, it was there. This is going to sound strange but it was like it was listening, reacting to everything going on. It’s still there. I feel it.”

Jackson took her hands in his. He bent down, making sure that she was looking at him. “It’s not an ‘it’, Hun. It’s a ‘her’. I’m going to explain as best as I can. Stop me if it gets confusing.”

Not sure if she was going to like this or not, she gestured for him to go on.

“We’ve talked about this before but it’s going to seem more real now. You are my mate. That means that you have the potential to get your own lioness, just like Lindsey did. When you were shot with that tranq dart,” he paused as she looked down at their hands. He knew she struggled with the claustrophobia she developed from being trapped in her own body. He put a finger under her chin and lifted so she was looking at him again. “There was enough lion DNA in the dart to sort of jump start the process.” He ran a finger tenderly across her forehead. “The presence you feel in your head.” He took her hand and held it up so she could see her nails that were longer than usual and had turned to claws several times in stressful situations. “The claws that occasionally show press through your fingers. You have a lioness beginning to grow inside of you.”

He smiled at her, the happiness he felt at her being his mate something he wasn’t able to hide. “You are my mate, Sara. This draw that I’ve felt toward you hasn’t been easy to keep hidden but at the time I thought it was the only option. The more I got to know you, the more my lion and I fell for you. It’s been difficult to hold him back but I needed to make sure that I wasn’t going to scare you away.”

She blushed at his admission. “To be honest I was relieved when you admitted it this morning. I thought I was the only one feeling it and I was too shy to bring it up first.” Sara felt the heat from her blush grow as it seemed to infuse her whole body as she gave him that truth.

“Oh, I have felt it. I just didn’t know how to tell you. Here is the thing though. That hormone that is changing you is in me. So, every time we kiss, I’ll be giving you more of that hormone. That means that your lioness will continue to grow and get stronger. Eventually, you will be able to shift like I do.”

Jackson waited to see what her reaction would be. Would she kick him out? Have a panic attack? What were the chances that she would accept him and the changes happening in her body? To his surprise, she did none of that.

“Can you explain ore about mates?” She looked a little nervous, chewing on her bottom lip. “Animal lion prides tend to have one male and several females.”

He knew what she was asking before she finished. Reaching up, he pulled her lip out from between her teeth gently. “The bond between mates is special, sacred. It’s only between two lions. You’re mine forever. There will never be another for me or you.” He grinned at her. “There are some other affects of the mating bond. As it gets stronger, we will be able to speak to each other mind to mind. A type of telepathy. A lot of this I’ve only recently found out from Tony. He and Lindsey are mated. I confided in him what I was feeling for you and he explained some things.”

Sara was getting excited. A mate that was her very own. Never having to worry that he might stray, always having that incredible connection. She had seen the way Lindsey and Tony were together and had secretly wanted, even ached, to have what they did with someone. The draw toward Jackson had always been there. From the moment she had opened her eyes after being drugged months ago, that pull had been there. She hadn’t understood what it was but it had been there.

“What kinds of things?” she asked. She scooted a little closer to him, wanting all the details she could get.

“Well, with every kiss, every touch, our bond will get stronger. The stronger our bond gets, the faster your lioness will grow. Right now, your lioness is just forming but already has a consciousness. We will work on strengthening the telepathy every day until eventually phones won’t even need to be used. There is a mark that we will both get on the inside of our left wrists. All marks are different for each couple, unique. But ours will match.” He paused for a moment. “Sara, at some point the bond between us will be so strong that I won’t be able to stay away from you and vice versa. It means that, after work and when I’m not training with Tony, I’ll be with you. No more sleeping apart. No being away from each other several days at a time. So, if your dad comes home and decides he doesn’t want me here, I won’t be able to leave without you.” He chuckled at this last part. “I’m pretty much already there.”

Sara leaned closer and kissed him almost before he had even gotten it all out. It was tentative at first but then Jackson took over. Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss. The moment her tongue touched his, he groaned. He had been wanting this all day and now that he had it, he couldn’t hold back.

Falling into the kiss just as she had done before, everything else disappeared. There was only Jackson. Sliding her arms around his neck, all she could think about was getting closer to him. He pulled her up and onto his lap. His hands shaped her back, keeping her as close as he could without crushing her.

Pulling back with shuddering breaths, she leaned her forehead against his. “I so want that,” she said breathlessly.

“The mating, me or the kiss,” he asked. He had gotten just as lost in it as she had.

“All three,” she answered, unable to hold back her grin.

“Good answer.” He kissed her lightly and pulled back. “How do you feel about your lioness now?”

“A little better now that I know what it is. It’s still a little scary changing into something else but as long as you are with me, I’ll be okay.” A flood of warmth came from her lioness at her comment. At that point she realized that she would never be alone again. If what she had understood was correct, she would eventually be able to talk to her lioness the way that Jackson seemed to talk to his. Between her and Jackson, she would always have someone there with her that she could talk things out with, love her and love in return. And she was pretty sure that she was already more than half in love with Jackson.

“I’ll never get tired of hearing you say things like that.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms but refused to let her move off of his lap. “What else is bothering you?”

“Dad.” Her good mood fell some. “I don’t understand. He can call and talk to the lawyer but not me? I thought we were so close. Now, it’s like I don’t even know him. I don’t even know where he is. I’m worried about him.” She looked at her hands where they rested on his shoulders.

“I know. Everyone handles grief differently. As far as him talking to the lawyer. It sounds like even though he is grieving, he’s still there enough to make sure that you are taken care of. That means that there is still hope. I think he will come around. He probably just needs time to process everything. Tabitha may not have been his biological mom but for all intents and purposes she was him mom for almost twenty years. Sometimes those connections are stronger than blood. If it makes you feel better, tomorrow we will both call him together and see if we can’t at least figure out where he is. How does that sound? If we do it together, he won’t be as surprised when he comes back and finds me pretty much living with you.”

Sara nodded. Happy that she wouldn’t be dealing with everything by herself anymore. What he said made sense. Now that she thought about it, her dad had always taken some time to himself to process things after something happened. It seemed like a weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders. “That sounds good. What about all the money Grandma left? What do I do with all of it?”

“You will figure that out as you go, too. Use what you need, get what you want, or spend it. You can get anything you want now. Just take it one day at a time. Whatever you don’t want to use, put it into an account for later, invest it like she always seemed to. You never know when you might need it. But that is something that you don’t need to think about right now. That is something that you can figure out as you need to.”

Jackson swept her hair back from her face. “Let’s start with a movie night. We’ll order something out, curl up on the couch with a movie and veg out on popcorn and snacks.”

“That sounds like just what I need,” Sara said, grinning.