Lion Beta's Protective Mate

Chapter 1

“What took you so long?” Sara leaned her hip against her open front door. Crossing her arms across her chest, she tapped her foot impatiently. “I told you when I called yesterday that I had to be at work at eight.”

The man standing in front of her simply lifted an eyebrow.

“Don’t take that tone of voice with me,” she stated. “You know how I feel about getting to work on time. I like to be early.” She broadened her stance and moved her hands to her hips.

He just looked at her. After a few minutes he answered her, calmly. “It’s seven thirty.”

She gasped in outrage. “Exactly! We should be leaving right now. Why are you still standing there?”

Jackson didn’t move. He stayed where he was, feet planted with his hands clasped behind his back. His hazel eyes were steady and never wavering. Blonde hair was in its usual unkempt windblown style that she never knew if he fixed it that way on purpose or if that was just how he woke up in the morning.

Having been through some form of this routine every day for three months, she gave in. He hadn’t budged once the entire time she had known him. She had tried every ploy she could think of to get him to lose his temper, raise his voice. Something. Nothing had ever shaken him. He always, always was calm, steady. That steadiness was something she had come to depend on. She was also jealous of the iron control he seemed to have over his emotions.

Sara shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, well. It was worth a try. I’ll get you one day. Just watch.” Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek affectionately before smiling. “I missed you.”

His answering grin had the butterflies in her stomach taking wing.

“You just saw me yesterday.” He drew her in for a tight hug and then stepped back a little. “You act like you haven’t seen me in days.” Jackson grinned mischievously. “If you aren’t careful someone will start thinking you like me.”

She slapped his arm lightly. “You know I do. We’ve been through too much over the past three months for me not to. You are family now and you know it. Even if you don’t like it sometimes.”

‘If only she knew.’ He couldn’t keep the thought from flitting through his mind but made sure it didn’t go any further. He didn’t want to scare her off. As she had said, they had been through too much to mess it up now.

Three months ago, she had been kidnapped with a group of friends by a couple of crazies determined to have everything their way. Thankfully, four of the five hadn’t been hurt, just drugged. Unfortunately for Sara, she was human, and the knockout drug had been designed for lion changelings. She had slept for two days and then couldn’t move for another day. As she slowly regained control over her movements, they had worked together to make sure there were no adverse effects. There were still symptoms, residual effects of the drugs. They only showed themselves in extremely emotional situations.

As it happens, a month ago, Sara’s grandmother Tabitha had passed away peacefully in her sleep. They had been really close and it had almost ripped Jackson’s heart out watching her come to grips with the loss. He had been there for her through it all, never leaving her side. Her Dad hadn’t handled it so well. He rarely came home. Him responding to her calls or texts were even rarer. Sara was growing more worried by the day for him. He hadn’t been back since the day of the funeral. Tabitha had been her mother’s mother but over the years, he and Tabitha had become as close as any legitimate mom and son. Her dad leaving had left Sara with the task of taking care of all her grandmother’s affairs after the funeral. He was grateful that Tabitha had made most of the funeral arrangements before her death. That still left all of her investments and will to contend with. Sara was slowly working her way through it with her grandmother’s lawyer.

Between the kidnapping, her grandmother’s death, and her worry for her dad, there was a lot of emotional stress. The result of all that stress was a few anomalies that proved the drugs she had been injected with had altered her system slightly. When Sara was frightened or angry, her eyes changed from chocolate brown to a golden honey and claws sprang from her fingers. At those times, she told Jackson that it felt like someone else was in her head with her.

Sara had gotten a lioness from the lion DNA that had been in the tranquilizer dart.

For that reason, Jackson had made the decision to tell her everything. Well, maybe not everything. He had explained about the Pride and that he was really a lion. He had changed for her so she could see his lion as proof that what he was telling her was the truth. Surprisingly, she had taken it remarkably well. She wasn’t terrified of him at all. Which was a very good thing. The one secret that he was still keeping from her was that she was his mate. The biggest side effect of her change that he could tell was that she couldn’t completely feel the mate bond. Not the way he felt it.

He had been talking to his best friend Tony and his mate Lindsey and knew what Lindsey had gone through in becoming Tony’s mate. Sara’s changes were different, not happening in the same way or developing as fast as hers had. Jackson thought the drug had something to do with that. There almost seemed to be a barrier between the two, preventing the full change.

Pulling himself back to the conversation, he indulged himself and gave her another tight hug. “I like being part of your family,” he stated warmly, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “Now, go get your stuff so we can go. I heard that the shrew comes out when you aren’t on time,” he teased.

Sara smacked his arm playfully but raced into the house to get her purse, lunch and jacket. Even though it was nearing the end of September, the nights and early mornings had a chill to them. Coming out with her keys, Sara locked the front door and then followed Jackson out tot his truck. He constantly amazed her with his manners and how polite he was. It always made her feel special when he opened the door for her as he was doing now. She could feel her heartbeat increase just a little bit faster. It was the little things that he remembered.

Shutting her door, he walked around to his side, got in and started the truck. It was still warm from where he had just been in it. Jackson continually made sure she never got into a cold vehicle. As usual he didn’t put the truck in gear until her seat belt was buckled.

Sara couldn’t help but look at him as he drove. He was so handsome, and they had gotten so close over the last few months. She hadn’t lied when she told him that she thought of him as family. She didn’t see him as a brother or anything like that and, honestly, most days she had a difficult time keeping her awareness of him in check. She wanted more from him but was terrified of being rejected and ruining the friendship that had built between them. She had courage the size of an ant and knew she would never be brave enough to tell him how she felt. He didn’t seem inclined to go beyond their friendship so she supposed she would have to be content with the way things were.

Trying to find some way to distract herself, she said the first thing that came to mind. “You remember about the appointment with the lawyer this afternoon?” She was a little nervous about this one as they would actually be going through the will instead of discussing some last business that had been left unattended when her grandmother passed.

Looking sideways at her, he quickly returned his gaze to the road. “Yes, I remember. I’m picking you up early from work and driving you over.” Before she could protest, he shook his head. “Don’t argue with me. You aren’t going to that appointment by yourself. It’s going to be hard enough, and then not even knowing if your Dad is going to show up? I’m not letting you go through that alone.”

Jackson reached over and took her hand, squeezing gently.

Her pulse kicked into high gear. His hand cradling hers was warm and strong. She could get used to this. Easily! She had been waiting for some sign from his that he wanted to be more than friends. There were small things he did that made her wonder, but he had never just came out and said anything.

“I know you’ve been there for me a lot over the last three months. I really don’t know if I could have gotten through it without you.” She smiled at him teasingly. “You’ve seen me in some pretty bad situations and you haven’t run yet.”

Jackson pulled his truck into a parking space in front of her building. “And I’m not going to. I’m here for as long as you want me. I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while but it always seemed like you needed a friend more than a mate, so I held off.” He turned his intense eyes on her. “I don’t want to hold off anymore.”

Sara knew her joy was shining through her eyes but she didn’t care. “Mate? Really? I always thought you just weren’t interested in me that way. You never said anything. I wondered if maybe the changes I’ve been experiencing might be putting you off.” Lindsey had explained mates to her when she had asked about why she zoned out so much and then suddenly knew what Tony was doing without even talking to him. It had amazed her and made her jealous at the same time. She wanted that closeness, that bond, with someone. That feeling of never being completely alone. And mating was for forever. She wanted that with Jackson.

“As far as the changes go, I think part of the reason you had any reaction to the drug at all was because you are my mate. Your body was already programmed to be able to change because of me. I know you’ve talked to Lindsey about it.”

Tony and Lindsey were solid, a unit. Full partnership. Not only was Lindsey blossoming, but Tony was coming into his own too. Their mate bond had them both flourishing.

Sara thought about that. “The changes aren’t happening in me the way Lindsey’s did.”

“No. It’s not going to. That’s why I haven’t tried to kiss you yet. The hormone that is going to jump start those changes are in my saliva and other bodily fluids.” He didn’t want to scare her off by talking about the latter yet. “I refuse to do that without your knowledge and agreement. Once the changes happen, they are permanent, no going back. My lion already feels connected to you. Once your lioness fully emerges, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold him back.”

She could have told him that she was already on board. After watching Tony and Lindsey’s relationship developing, she could admit that she wanted that.

The last few months with Jackson had been a dream. They laughed, teased, goofed off and even disagreed. When that happened, it wasn’t an all-out screaming match. He said his piece, she said hers and then they found a happy medium. She could see them having a relationship that was just as good as Tony and Lindsey’s, if not better.

“I’m in full agreement,” she told him. “I’ve wanted you since I first saw you but I was afraid of ruining our friendship.”

“Like I said, you needed a friend more than a mate. There was too much going on to add something new to the mix. The kidnapping, dealing with the affects of the drug, then your grandmother passing and dealing with her funeral, it was just…too much. I wanted us to be able to concentrate on us and not everything else.”

She couldn’t help but squeeze his hand where their fingers were interlocked.

He tugged until she was closer to him in the seat. He slid his hand from her cheek to the nape of her neck, holding her in place. “Now that you know, I’m not holding back any longer. I am going to do everything possible to make sure this works. You’re mine, Sara.” He leaned in and gently kissed her.

The warmth and a slight tingling sensation spread from where their mouths were connected and seemed to flow through her entire being. Sara wasn’t able to hold in the gasp as it passed over her.

Jackson’s reaction was more intense as he was experiencing the full impact of the mate bond. It felt like a fire had ignited in his blood but this was neither the time or the place to let it control him. It was scary how so simple a kiss could cause this much of a reaction. Pulling back slightly, he took in Sara’s dazed expression and couldn’t resist leaning in for one more small taste.

Sara leaned her forehead against his. “I am yours. I always will be.” She laid her hand against his wrist. The connection between them seemed so much stronger now that they were admitting it to each other.

“You won’t be able to get rid of me now. I hope you are ready for that.” There was no way he would ever let her go. He just didn’t think she realized how serious he was. “You need to go on in to work before you are late. We will talk about it more after the appointment this afternoon. I want to make sure you realize how serious I am.”

Keeping the grin off her face was an impossibility. “Did you ever think that maybe it would be the other way around?” Gathering up her belongings, she opened the truck door and hopped out.

“I’ll be hereat two o’clock to get you,” he stated before she could shut the door.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Sara just knew she had a silly grin on her face but she just couldn’t seem to stop it. Didn’t want to stop it. Looking to make sure she wouldn’t bump into anyone walking on the sidewalk, she moved towards the door of her office building. She couldn’t resist the energic “Good Morning” to the young boy walking past.

Turning back, she waved at Jackson to let him know she was there as she opened the door and breezed into work.