Max had had enough. Claws shot from his hands as he stormed toward the intruder.
The stranger raised his hand, but before he could use whatever power he had to make people sleep, Max punched him with his half-shifted hand, sending him staggering back.
Max lunged forward, grabbing Jackie from the stranger’s hands as he fell backward, smashing into the door and falling outside.
He handed Jackie to Benny and ran over, pulling him up by his collar off of the ground.
The man slapped at his hands, looking annoyed now. “Stop this. Are we really this uncivilized?”
Max frowned. This wasn’t going as he expected.
“You’re wrinkling my suit,” the man said, pinning him with a petulant glare. “My God, I didn’t want to actually fight you. You were just supposed to take me to Lock.”
Max dropped the man back on the pavement and took a step back. “What?”
The man stood, brushing himself off. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. But I’ve found that threats work best in getting what I want.”
Max folded his arms, glancing back to see that Jackie was still safe with Benny. “I saw all those wolves make a run for it.”
The stranger sneered, his oddly beautiful lips curving up. “I thought it was best to get rid of them. You were stupid to let them know an alpha wolf was down.”
“You still said you’d sell my mate off,” Max said.
The man shrugged. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I would have only taken her to get her memory erased.”
“You can’t do it?” Max asked.
“It’s not my place to,” the man said. “Now you have your mate back, and you can see I don’t want to hurt anyone. Can you just let me go and see Lock?”
“No need,” a voice called out roughly from the entrance to the club.
Everyone looked backward to see Lock standing in the doorway, propping himself up. His head was still bandaged, dried blood and bruises showing from beneath it, but his expression was calm.
“I’m here, Felix. What do you need?” Lock asked.
Max whipped around, looking between them. “You know this guy?”
“Of course,” Lock said, taking a step forward. When he stumbled, Benny and Jackie ran to catch him on either side. Max was proud of himself for keeping his jealousy back for a moment.
“I bring a message from the Tribunal,” the man, presumably called Felix, said as he stepped forward to face Lock with folded arms. “You need to stay out of our storage.”
“I go where I want,” Lock said sharply. “I’ll keep my promise soon.”
Felix’s bearing softened slightly, and he put a hand out to touch Lock’s face. “Stop. You don’t need to. Next time, you’ll be killed. You took out a good number of guards, but you can’t take out everyone. I can assure you of that.”
“Your hair is different,” Lock said, peering up at Felix. “You cut it off?”
Felix touched the short locks. “A lot about me is different now. Give up, Lock. The Tribunal always wins.”
Lock shook his head, looking pained by it. “I’m never going to give up.”
Benny looked at Max, who looked at Jackie. All of them were lost.
Felix reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a vial. “I know you have accelerated healing, but this should help, too.”
Lock grabbed it, opened it, then drank it quickly. Then he handed the empty bottle back to Felix, who put it back inside his jacket.
Felix looked at Jackie, who was still helping hold Lock up. Max let out a protective growl, walking over to get between the odd wolf and his mate.
“I see. So she belongs to you?” Felix asked quietly. “Well then, mate her and keep her from wandering around in the dark. It’s quite unsafe.”
“Because of you,” Max muttered.
Felix threw his head back, laughing. “That’s a bit true, though. They do call me the darkness.” He cocked his head, still appraising Jackie. “Still, she reminds me of someone I know.”
“Misty,” Lock said.
Felix looked at him, and the men shared a look no one else could understand. “Yes.”
Lock lifted his arms off Benny and Jackie, straightening up. “I do feel better, I think. What was in that vial?”
Felix grinned. “You’re better off not knowing.” He looked at Max. “You, get that woman mated. I don’t know what a lion is doing off Pride Island, but I do know you shouldn’t be the type to let your mate just walk around unclaimed like that.”
Jackie looked confused at the word “mate” but just kept quiet, pressed against the wall behind her.
Max looked over at her, glad that despite everything that had happened, nothing bad would come to his mate.
“I’m headed out now,” Felix said. “Lock, heed my warning. We’re friends. I don’t want to see you killed.” He raised a hand as he opened the door to his black car. “And for the rest of you, be a little more careful around wolves.” Then Felix slid into the car and was completely obscured by his darkly tinted windows.
He pulled away, and they all watched as his car disappeared into the night.
Then Lock collapsed against the wall again. “My head fucking hurts.”
Benny was there in a second, helping Lock back inside. Max grabbed the door, ready to put it back on its hinges, and waited for Jackie to go inside.
She gave him a nervous look but followed Lock and Benny into the club.
When Max got the door working again, he turned to see the rest of his friends sitting at a table, waiting for him.
He had no idea what to say now. His mate knew who he was. He’d shifted in front of a human. He’d gotten into a fight with a Tribunal assassin and lived to tell the tale because the assassin was Lock’s friend.
The night just couldn’t get weirder.
“I’m sorry I brought you all into this,” Lock said, resting his head in his hands.
Okay, Max was wrong. The night could get weirder. Lock had just apologized.
“It’s fine,” Benny said. “We all have complicated histories. We knew that when we started this club.” He looked to Max. “Max, why don’t you start by telling Jackie about yours?”
To her credit, Jackie hadn’t fainted. Tasha was still sleeping on a nearby table and probably wouldn’t wake anytime soon on her own. When she did, she would need Lock to erase her memory.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Max said, unable to face Jackie. “There are rules. We have to wait. Lock has to be there when we tell humans about us, to erase their memory if things go wrong. When we were together… I knew I wanted to mate you. But while you were asleep, I got a call. Lock was hurt, and we didn’t know how. He wouldn’t be awake for days, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
Her brown eyes widened slightly. “That’s why you wanted a break.”
He leaned forward, nodding and clasping his hands. “We also didn’t know if it would be safe for you to be around the club or if whatever hurt Lock would be back here.”
Lock grunted. “I told you I took care of it.”
“Did you, though? Because a member of the Tribunal just showed up.”
“He’s a friend,” Lock said. “Like you saw.”
“He threatened Jackie,” Max said.
“Okay, let’s get back to your history,” Benny said. “We need to get Tasha and Jackie home.”
Max hated that Benny was right. “There are a lot of shifters in this world. I am a lion. Most of my kind is on an island, but there is a lot of civil war. My father was part of an uprising, so members of my family were killed or banished. I was allowed to stay until a few years ago, and then I was sent here.”
She pressed her lips together, listening patiently.
“I thought my life was over, that other shifters and humans were beneath me. But Benny took me in. He wants to help shifters and humans connect. He wants shifters to share information with each other. That’s why we have meetings here after the club is closed.”
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She nodded. “I mean, my mind is still blown by all of this, but go on.”
“Anyway, shifters are different from humans. When they find their mate, they know they want them forever. And when they mate, it’s for life. It’s serious. It’s why I never thought I would mate a human. Humans seem to divorce, move on, not take things seriously.”
“Not all humans,” Jackie said softly.
“I know,” Max said, scooting over so he could take her hand in his. When she squeezed his hand, his heart melted, and it was suddenly easier to talk. “That’s why it was so easy to fall in love with you. I knew from the minute I saw you with Lionel in that alley. I just didn’t want it to be true at first.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“Because you’re small and fragile and not a lion. But I know now that doesn’t matter. I can protect you. I can stay by your side. I love you.”
She sighed. “Then why did you say you couldn’t the other night?”
He laughed. “I meant I couldn’t mate you without you knowing. When you said you loved me, I almost lost control. But I do love you, and I want to mate you.”
“So this mating thing—”
“It’s like marriage but more serious,” he said.
“Some people take marriage very seriously,” she said softly. “I’m one of them.”
“Then will you take life seriously with me? Will you stay with me forever, no matter what comes our way?”
She looked at him in shock, her lips slightly parted. Then she threw herself into his arms, and he could feel her smile against his neck as she spoke. “Of course. I’ve been seriously into you all along.” She stroked a hand through his hair. “Though, it’ll take me a minute to get used to the fact that you’re a lion.”
He raised his head to look down at her, overjoyed at her response. He shouldn’t even have waited. He shouldn’t have taken a break.
From now on, there would be no secrets. Just passion and love. Sharing everything.
He cupped her face. “I’m so happy you said yes.”
Lock chuckled from beside them. “I guess all that’s left is making it official with a mating ceremony.”
She pushed away from Max, looking up. “Yes, in fact, we should do that right now. Should we do it here, in the bar?”
Max let out a choking noise, and Benny snorted.
“No,” Benny said. “That’s something Max will have to show you back at his place.”
“What about Tasha?” Jackie said as she stood to go with Max.
“Lock will make sure she doesn’t remember anything about tonight, and we’ll drop her off at Harley’s to sleep.”
Jackie smiled. “Thanks so much, Benny. You’re the best.”
Max grunted. “He is?”
Jackie laughed, pressing her hand to his chest. “Other than you, I guess.”
As they left their friends and walked out into the street again, Max couldn’t help lifting Jackie into his arms.
But for the first time as he walked across the street, tightly holding her, he knew she was totally his.
Chapter 25
Jackie couldn’t believe she’d said yes to Max after everything that had happened that night.
Yet she could, because even in the few hours she’d been separated from him, she’d felt a deep emptiness. It had felt wrong to be away from his side.
She knew there would still be days apart from each other, but it would be different knowing they were together for good.
From the moment she’d seen his lion, she’d known a part of her had accepted it. It had been the difference between her and Tasha.
Seeing him save her from that weird wolf guy had just been icing on the cake. In that moment, she’d seen how much he cared for her, seen the fear in his eyes, and seen that him being a lion was just another aspect that made him the man she loved.
Impossibly strong, impossibly loyal, and incredibly smart.
Marriage, mating, whatever it was—she didn’t care as long as she got to stay by his side.
When he set her down inside the apartment, her heart was still racing from everything that had happened.
“So,” she said, walking over to the couch on legs that felt like jelly before slumping down. “Why couldn’t we do the mating ceremony there? I’m ready.”
Max sat next to her on the couch, rubbing his eyes for a second. “Because it’s… Well, it’s sex.” He looked over at her, hesitation in his beautiful gold eyes. “I mean… are you certain? A lot has happened.”
She looked up at him nervously. “I think I knew I was ready for everything when the condom broke and I didn’t freak out about it. I’m not sure exactly when my heart accepted you, but I’m a very careful person. It’s not like me to be fine with something like that.”
“Then why were you?
She put her hand in his and leaned closer. “I think because I knew deep down that no matter what, you would be there for me. You aren’t some person who just plays around. You wanted commitment from the start, and though I didn’t know that’s what I was looking for, I wanted it, too. Still want it.”
“Me, too.”
She met his eyes, running her tongue over her lips. “I couldn’t just be with someone in order to not be alone. I was fine on my own. At least, I thought so. I liked staying home. But now I find I don’t mind going out as long as it’s with you. I actually found someone who makes me happier to be with them than I am alone, and that’s really saying something.”
He just blinked at her, too touched by her words to say anything.
“I mean, I’ll still need some quiet nights with my books, but I’m glad I’ll be with you.”
“I’ll read to you,” he said eagerly. “I’ll watch movies or leave you alone or let you do whatever you want as long as you promise to stay with me.”
She reached up to cup his cheek, turning his face to her. “I’m yours. Of course I’m staying.”
Then he leaned in to kiss her, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer. She could feel the flood of emotions in his touch as his tongue stroked desperately inside her mouth and his hands cupped her face. Her hand dropped to his chest, and she reached up to grab his collar, holding him tightly, pulling him close.
He pulled back, looking down at her with eyes that were slightly glazed from lust. Or happiness. She wasn’t sure. “You’re perfect. Why are you so perfect? I swear, I should have known the minute I saw you in that line. I never let people cut in, but I just… wanted you to be happy. Wanted your friends to leave you alone.”
She snuggled in against him. “I know.”
“I just want to protect you, always,” he said.
She laughed. “I mean, given that you can change into a lion, that’s not a problem.” She looked up at him, feeling wonder still encompassing her every time she thought of what he could do. “Do you have to do it every so often? Does it happen on purpose?”
He laughed, bringing her hand up to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I control it, and no, I never have to if I don’t want to.”
“I hope you do. I want to see it again.”
He looked pleased by that, and as he ducked his head slightly, for the first time, she realized how much his hair looked like a mane.
She reached up to twirl a piece in her fingers. “I get it now.”
His eyes were slightly misty as he met her gaze, still trapping her hand in his much larger one. “It was my last link to my home, but I don’t want to remember any of that anymore. It’s over.” He leaned in until their lips were a breath apart. “You’re my home now.”
At that, she pulled him in for another kiss, using her mouth and her body to show him she agreed.
Whatever their past or their troubles, it didn’t matter because they were together now, and the future was theirs to shape.
As his hand moved to her shoulder, brushing aside her hoodie, she felt heat light up inside her, coiling in her core, moving between her legs.
She pulled back from his
lips and let out a deep breath. “That mating thing? I’m ready.”
As Max carried Jackie into the bedroom for the most important moment of his life, he had to fight back the lion roaring inside him.
All he’d wanted for days was to be with her, to know she was his, to know that his search was over, that his life wouldn’t be empty anymore.
He would have someone to come home to, someone to protect, someone to be with.
And he could move her out of that stupid apartment with that dickhead Chad.
As she pulled her hoodie over her head and began to unhook her bra, he shed his clothes as well, wanting to be naked as soon as possible. The sooner they were both skin to skin, the sooner he could be inside her with nothing between them.
The sooner he could make his mark on her skin and her heart.
He was stripped quicker than her and chased her onto the bed, pushing her back gently as he grabbed her jeans and pulled them off, then did the same with her panties.
When she was spread before him, bare, her beautiful dark skin soft and glowing, her curls spread on his pillow where they were meant to be, he felt like he couldn’t even remember his own name with so much beauty before him.
He grasped her ankles lightly, marveling at how tiny they were, then ran his hands slowly up her legs, pausing to caress perfect, smooth thighs, generous hips, the perfect soft belly. He straddled her, his hands continuing upward to cup her breasts, a perfect fit for his hands.
She arched back with a gasp, rubbing her legs together. He could scent it in the air. She wanted him.
He’d never wanted anything more in his life. It was what he felt every time he got to touch her, but it only grew stronger with every encounter.
Too long he’d been living under a raincloud, carrying it with him everywhere and growling at everyone in sight.
He’d lost his home, his family, and, it had seemed, his happiness.
But now he knew it was wrong of him to think so. He only needed this one person, someone to love him as he loved her, and together they could make a new family. A new home, a new world.
He’d never felt kinglier than when he was atop her, looking down at the face of the woman who meant everything to him. His eyes traced every beloved curve, from her wide, beautiful brown eyes that sparkled with love to her small nose and stubborn little chin.
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