by Sophie Stern
I wonder whether my son is going to have a male role model in his life.
I wonder whether my son is going to have a father – a real father – who loves him.
I wonder so many things, but when I’m with Landon, those questions just disappear. How does he do that?
Somehow, the two of us manage to completely devour two entire pizzas. We watch a movie, but we spend the entire film talking and getting to know each other, and it’s just so comfortable and wonderful.
Landon kisses me goodnight, but doesn’t ask for more. Part of me wants to invite him to stay the night, but I know I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t rush into things. I know I should be patient. Still, a little part of my heart breaks when I tell him goodbye, but he promises to call me tomorrow.
And then he’s gone.
And I’m alone in my house with my son.
I close the door and lean against it for a long moment, and then I just smile and smile and smile. Something tells me that everything is going to be just fine.
Everything is going to be okay.
*
Over the next two weeks, Landon and I start officially dating. We spend almost every night together, save for the evenings he’s tutoring. On those nights, we talk on the phone when he gets home. Landon and I talk about anything and everything: our childhoods, my job, his family, my family.
I return to work and my colleagues welcome me back with a surprise cake and a ton of balloons, which makes me feel special. It takes my mind off the fact that Blake is in daycare now, and it takes my mind off the fact that I feel like I’m missing part of myself while he’s gone.
Somehow, I find a new sort of “normal.”
I’m still tired a lot. Blake still doesn’t sleep through the night. I still feel overwhelmed sometimes. I still wonder whether I’m going to be a good mother.
But I’m not alone anymore.
And that’s kind of an incredible feeling.
Two days before the custody hearing, I go to work as usual. Time passes quickly. Landon and I text a little bit throughout the day and all of my patients are really kind and calm.
I work at a family practice clinic, which sounds like it would be boring, but it’s actually really interesting. Most of what I do is scheduling patient appointments, pulling charts, and handling billing issues, but sometimes I get to deal with insurance companies and patient questions, as well.
I don’t mind my job.
I love helping people. I like being around people. My bosses gave me a full three months of maternity leave. I used some of that leave during my pregnancy when I was on bed rest in the hospital, but having a full two months with my baby, Blake, was amazing.
Not all mothers have the chance to truly bond with their kiddos before it’s time to go back to work. Financially, rushing back to work is essential for most people. I feel blessed and lucky that I didn’t have to do that. I feel thrilled I had the extra time with Blake.
“Good afternoon, Miss Tina,” a little girl with brown pigtails comes up to my desk. It’s the last appointment of the day.
“Why, hello, Miss Polly,” I say. “How are you doing today?”
“Just fine, thank you very much. I’m here to check in for my appointment.” Polly’s mother stands behind her and smiles, petting her hair softly.
“All right. I’ve got you right here. 4:30 with Doctor Mortimer. Would you like a sticker today?”
“Yes, of course!” Polly jumps up and down and I hand her a fairy princess sticker. She places it on the front of her shirt and goes to the children’s play area to wait for the nurse to call her. Polly’s mother steps forward.
“How are you doing today, Bernadette?”
“Hanging in there,” she says. Polly has a series of chronic health problems, including severe asthma and allergies. Her mom has been through the ringer for the last six months trying to get her daughter’s problems under control. “But I wanted to ask how your baby is. I haven’t seen you since you had him.”
“He’s good!” I tell her. “Growing like a weed, as I’m sure you know.”
She casts a wistful glance at Polly, who is jumping up and down in the center of the play area with another little boy.
“I do,” she says. “It really is incredible.”
“I have a picture, if you want to see.”
“Of course.”
I pull out my phone and show Bernadette a picture of Blake I took just that morning. He’s in a blue onesie with matching pants and he’s got the cutest, tiniest little socks on.
“Isn’t he just the sweetest thing?” Bernadette smiles as she takes the phone from me and looks at my son.
“He really is. Actually,” I tell her. “Since you’re all checked in, I need to get going. It’s time for me to pick him up.”
“Thank you for taking the time to show me the picture,” Bernadette hands the phone back. “He really is beautiful, honey.”
I wave goodbye to Polly and clock out. Then I say goodbye to Dr. Mortimer and let him know I’m heading off for the day.
Blake’s daycare is only a five-minute drive from my office, so I don’t even bother turning on the radio while I drive over. I need to get there before 5:00 to pick him up, which isn’t difficult because my office is so close. When I pull into the parking lot and head inside, though, I immediately know something is wrong.
Something isn’t right.
“Tina?” Fawn, the front desk clerk, looks up at me. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m just here to pick up Blake,” I say. I hold up my little key-card to the sensor that lets me into the back of the daycare where the classrooms are, but before I can swipe it, Fawn stops me. She looks confused.
“But Tina,” she says. “Blake’s daddy just picked him up twenty minutes ago. He said you weren’t going to make it today.”
“Blake’s daddy?” I ask, my mouth going dry.
“He had a copy of the birth certificate and proper ID,” Fawn says. “You didn’t list him as an emergency contact, but he had the note from you, as well.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
Chester was here and he took my baby.
Chapter 10
Landon
I’m surprised to see Tina calling, but I pick up the phone on the first ring.
“Tina? Is everything okay?”
“He took my baby, Landon. What the hell do I do? He took him. He couldn’t even wait the next two days. He just took him.”
“Tina, what happened?” I grab my keys off the desk and head to the front of the house. I don’t even bother telling anyone what I’m doing, but my colleagues are fucking good. Their ears perk up at the first sign of trouble and when I head outside, all three of them are following me. “Tell me everything.”
“I’m at Blake’s daycare, Landon. I just got here. The police are coming now, too. Chester came in and had a note from me saying he could pick up the baby. He took him. Holy dragons, Landon. I feel sick. He has my baby.”
I take a deep breath but inside, I’m fucking pissed.
This asshole couldn’t wait two more days for the custody hearing?
Oh, I think I know why.
Tina and I have gone out together on more than one occasion, and I’m not exactly a low-profile lawyer. People know me, know my face. If Chester happens to be the jealous type of ex, which I suspect he is, he probably follows her sometimes. He probably saw us together and knew who I was. Now he knows there’s no chance in hell he’s going to get custody of that kid.
So he just stole the child.
What is he going to do now? Blackmail her? Get her to give him ransom money? Trick the judge into saying she’s an unfit mother?
It’s wrong, and I’m not letting him get away with it.
Fuck the law.
I’m saving Tina’s son.
“Where does he live?” I ask her. I’m in my car now. Joyce, Casa, and Lyon are all in my car, too. They’re not saying a single thing and I know they’re listening
to every word Tina says. Though the call isn’t on speaker, it doesn’t matter. Their hearing is good enough to know exactly what she’s saying.
“Landon…what are you going to do?” Her voice is a whisper.
“Address,” it’s not a request.
“He lives at the Riverdale Apartments,” she says. “I think…on the first floor, I think. I don’t know which number, though.”
“I’ll get your child back,” I tell her. “Don’t you worry about a thing.”
I’m about to hang up when Tina says, “Wait! Landon! You need to know something about Chester.”
“More than the fact that he’s a huge piece of shit?” I’m driving now, heading directly for the apartments. I’m sure the police will be sending someone shortly to question Mr. Chester, but I plan to beat them there. I plan to beat them there and get that baby back, and I’m going to make sure Tina never has to deal with Chester again.
“He’s…oh shit, how do I say this?” I’m surprised because Tina rarely swears and she rarely struggles to speak her mind with me these days. We’ve gotten very close and very comfortable with each other, but the fact that she’s not just blurting it out speaks volumes.
“Just say it, baby.”
“He’s not human, Landon. Do you know what a shifter is?” I hear Joyce chuckling from the backseat, like she knew it the entire time.
“I’m familiar with the term,” I say dryly.
“Well, Chester’s a shifter, Landon. He can change into an animal. I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but if you’re planning on fighting him, you need to know he won’t fight fair. He’ll shift into his animal form. He’ll shift and he’ll try to kill you and I just can’t lose you, too.”
She’s crying now and I need to calm her down.
But I also need more information.
Chester is a shifter? I had no idea. Tina never mentioned it before, never mentioned her son is going to be a shifter, never mentioned she’s familiar with animals. For weeks now I’ve been debating on whether to admit to her that I’m a bear, but I wasn’t sure how to tell her, wasn’t sure how she’d take the news.
Apparently, I needn’t have worried.
Apparently, Tina is one tough motherfucker.
“What kind of animal is he?”
“He’s…um, some sort of big cat…” I hear Lyon growl, and I know what he’s thinking: not all cats are created equal. My buddy is a tiger with the heart of a lion. He’s a damn good man, but he’s not above letting another cat get away with something evil.
We’re shifters, and we protect our own.
Even before I knew Blake was a shifter, too, I considered him and Tina to be a part of my family. I consider them to be under my protection. As far as I’m concerned, she’s my mate whether we ever get married or not, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life protecting her.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life taking care of her.
I’m going to take care of that woman.
I’m going to fucking cherish her.
But first, I’m going to beat the hell out of her ex.
“A jaguar,” she says, finally. “Yes, that’s it. He’s a jaguar.”
“Have you seen him shift?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I’ve seen it.”
“And what did you think of that?” It’s not the time to ask if she was scared of him. It’s not the time to ask if she thinks shifters are big and bad and mean. I’m almost to the apartment building and I’ll be getting off the phone soon, but I can’t help myself.
I have to ask.
“It was beautiful. He’s beautiful, Landon, but he’s evil. Not all shifters are, babe. I don’t know if you’ve ever met one before. Most of them are pretty cool, but not him. Not Chester.”
“Don’t worry,” I tell Tina. “I’m going to get our baby back, sweetie. I’m going to get our little boy.”
I hang up the phone then and push the gas down.
“Whew,” Joyce says. “When did things get so serious between you two? I mean, I thought you didn’t even believe in mates.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why did you say our little boy?” Lyon asks from the backseat.
“Shut your mouth, cat,” I say.
“Come on now,” he pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t be like that. I don’t walk around calling you a teddy bear.”
“You literally do,” I point out.
“Oh yeah,” Lyon smirks. “Look,” he says, pointing out the window. “There it is.”
The Riverdale Apartments building is three stories of garbage. Seriously. The entire place is run-down and worn-out.
“He wants custody of his kid in this dump?” Casa peers out the window and shakes his head. “I’m not even a father yet, and I can tell you right now, I wouldn’t take my kid anywhere near this place.”
I park the car and we all get out and look around.
“Broken bottles on the ground,” Joyce points out. “Watch your step.”
“She said she thinks he’s on the first floor.”
“Let’s split up,” Lyon says.
“Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie?” Casa glares at the tiger. “We go in groups of two. You and Joyce go that way,” he points to one side of the building. “Fee, you’re with me.”
“Hey, that rhymes.”
“Fuck off.”
Somehow, Joyce manages to stride in her stilettos. She and Lyon disappear around the corner of the building and Casa and I head to the main entrance. The entire building smells like smoke and poor decisions.
“Let’s go to the left,” I say, and we head down a hallway. We pause at each door, listening. I know Blake’s scent. When we’re close, I’ll be able to smell him from the hallway: no knocking required. The first few doors are dead ends, but when we reach apartment 1E, I know we’ve got him.
“Here?” Casa mouths, and I nod. He steps back to allow me the honor of breaking down the fucking door, which I’ll do, but first, I shift into bear form.
I should take off my clothes first, but I don’t, and they rip and tear as soon as I shift. The sound alone should be enough to alert Chester to my presence, but something tells me he’s not going to be paying much attention to his visitors.
He’ll be more focused on the fact that he just got away with kidnapping his own son.
Then again, he was fucking stupid enough to come home. If I was going to take my own child, I’d take them far away where no one could bother us. I wouldn’t go back to my own home like a fucking moron.
I growl and kick in the door. It’s made of flimsy material that collapses when I kick, and I step easily into the studio apartment. A man is standing in the center of the room facing the door. He’s got Blake in his arms.
“Back off,” Chester says when he sees me. He looks neither scared nor surprised to see me here.
I just glare at him.
“This is my kid,” he says.
“Really?” Casa steps in the door behind me. He didn’t shift, so he can still speak to the fucker. “Because last I heard, you have a custody hearing in two days, and things aren’t looking good for you, so let’s try again. Hand over the baby and this won’t be a problem. We won’t file kidnapping charges or have you locked away for child neglect.”
“Fuck you,” Chester spits, and I growl uncontrollably. I hate this guy. I hate knowing what he put my Tina through. I hate knowing he hurt her. I hate knowing he’s still causing her pain and grief after all this time. I hate it.
And now he’s holding Blake, the child I consider to be part of my family, and he’s not backing down.
“Put the baby down, Chester.”
“Or what?” He sneers. “You’ll sick Tina on me? Dumb bitch doesn’t want to pay up? Well, I’ll make her pay up. You know she’s been sneaking around with some guy? Her lawyer,” Chester rolls his eyes, and I realize he doesn’t recognize me in bear form. Of course not. He doesn’t know I’m the guy he’s talking about. �
�What a slut.”
“Watch your mouth,” Casa is losing control and I know he’s only minutes away from shifting on impulse and taking out Chester. We need to get the baby away from him, though. We need to get Blake to safety, and then I can kick this guy’s ass.
“You gonna tell on me? Really? Because I’m planning on telling the judge at the hearing all about her indiscretions: how she cheated on me while we were married, how she broke my heart, how she planned to keep our son away from me.” He tears up a little and wipes at his eyes. He’s quite the actor.
“No one is going to buy that,” Casa says. “Especially after the stunt you pulled today. Tina is going to get her baby back. The cops are on the way now and there’s nowhere to go. You need to hand over the kid.”
“He’s the only leverage I’ve got, fucker,” Chester says, yelling. “He’s mine! And the bitch is going to pay. She thinks she can just keep my kid from me and not pay me alimony? Child support? Forget that. She owes me. I took care of her for years while we were together. Now it’s her turn to take care of me. She’s a whore who’s going to get what she deserves.”
Casa shakes his head. “Wrong thing to say, fuckface,” he looks at me and says, “on three.”
“What?” Chester looks confused.
“One.”
“What the hell are you counting for?”
“Two.”
“Are we in Kindergarten?”
“Three.”
Casa dives for Blake and grabs the infant from Chester’s arms, rolling away safely and easily. I know Blake won’t be hurt at all with Casa’s perfect aim. Chester doesn’t seem to know what happened because he’s looking down at his empty arms, and then at Casa, and then back down at his arms.
“What the-”
But he doesn’t have time to finish because I throw myself at him. Just before impact, I hear the telltale sounds of Chester’s clothing ripping.
He’s shifting, too.
And it’s on.
Chapter 11
Tina
As soon as I hang up the phone, I realize the cops aren’t going to be able to help me. I can hear the sirens in the background and know they’re on the way, but Chester is a shifter. I know Landon thinks he can handle it, but he doesn’t understand what happens when someone can literally change their body into that of a huge animal.