Finding Strength (Silver Creek Shifters Book 4)

by Jules Tyler

  “That’s my sister, you horny wolf! She’s fucking pregnant!” Jesse shouted at him as he scrambled to his feet.

  Tyson didn’t even get the first word of his explanation out before Jesse’s fist connected with his jaw.

  “Jesse! No! Stop!” Jasmine yelled from the steps of the cabin. Tyson could see the hesitation in her eyes. He could see her dying inside because she wanted to defend her mate, but she also needed to protect the young that was growing inside of her.

  Tyson ducked another punch as he gained his bearings and dove for Jesse’s knees like Jasmine suggested earlier. Jesse buckled over backwards and flailed beneath him. At some point during the scuffle, Landon and Brady appeared and were now pulling the two apart. Landon was stronger, so he held onto Jesse and snarled a warning. No one wanted to face off with Landon’s panther. Years apart from his mate drove the panther crazy, and once he was out, it was hard to put him back.

  “What the hell is going on out here? We could hear you fuckers from the other side of the lodge!” Brady roared.

  “He was touching my sister!” Jesse roared, sounding more bear than man at this point.

  “Is that true?” Brady rumbled in Tyson’s ear.

  “Yes, it’s true,” Tyson and Jasmine said in unison.

  Releasing his hold on Tyson, Brady demanded, “Explain. Now”

  “He’s my mate,” Jasmine said as she struggled down the stairs on the porch and moved to stand between Jesse and Tyson.

  Tyson didn’t like her standing so close to Jesse when he was riled up the way he was, but he trusted her judgement. Plus, he was confident in Landon’s ability to restrain their friend.

  Jesse’s face sobered a little at Jasmine’s words. “He’s your mate?”

  “He’s my mate,” Jasmine repeated.

  Looking confused, but clearly more relaxed, Jesse asked, “Why didn’t you say something when you figured it out? You’ve been up here three days Jazzy. You could’ve said something to me about it.”

  “Before we get into all of this, I think we need to have a crew meeting,” Brady said from behind Tyson. “There’s a lot to process. Grab your mates and meet in the restaurant. Since we’re between meals on a weekday, I’m sure we can lock it up so no one can interrupt.”

  Jasmine nodded. “Okay.”

  Jesse glared at Tyson before walking away. “You still touched my sister. A heads up about what was happening between the two of you would’ve been a nice courtesy.”

  Guilt shot through Tyson as he watched his friend walk away. He was right. Jasmine was Jesse’s sister, and he should’ve said something to him before ever getting physical with her. But he’d also been sworn to secrecy. Fucking shit was too damn complicated.

  “So what do we do from here?” Tyson asked.

  “We put on clothes that don’t smell like arousal, and we tell everyone the truth,” Jasmine said before turning to walk back into the cabin.

  Damn, once that woman set her mind to something, she was truly unstoppable.

  Chapter 16

  Jasmine leaned back in her chair and looked around at the people who were sitting at the table with her. Only three days up here and she already considered them friends. And she knew she was in deep shit for not coming clean with all of them sooner about everything that was going on. She’d just spilled her guts about everything she already discussed with Tyson and Stella, and everyone was currently mulling it over.

  Tyson reached under the table and gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. Mama Ally looked at her with eyes filled with pride. Stella sat next to her as emotional support while she was talking. It was kind of bittersweet that it had taken her getting pregnant to find such a great support system, but Jasmine was beginning to think she wouldn’t change that part of this experience for the world.

  “I should also add that I called in a favor,” Tyson said after a few minutes of silence. “I want all of us, especially our expecting mothers, to feel safe. Now that there’s this looming threat and he’s obviously nearby since he left that bouquet on my porch today, I felt justified in calling it in.”

  “What kind of favor did you call in?” Jesse asked, still sounding a little upset with Tyson.

  “Before I explain that, I need to come clean about something to all of you. I’ve let y’all think for as long as I’ve known you that I just made some smart investment decisions, and in a way, I did. I invested in myself and my knowledge of how things work. I met Alicia Wilcox when I was fresh out of college.” He paused to acknowledge Kaylene’s confused stare before continuing. “She’d just started her own security tech business, and was needing someone to run the server that the feeds would be on. I took her offer for a job, and together we built Vixen Security Systems from the ground up. Now, I’ve done plenty for her over the years when needed, and she always told me if I ever needed something to let her know. So I did.”

  “So she’s going to what? Install a couple of cameras?” Brady asked, sounding like he was still trying to wrap his head around the information that Tyson had just laid out.

  “We’re going to do so much more than that, if it’s okay with you guys. We’d install cameras all over camp so we can see who’s coming and going from the resort, the campsites, and the cabins. We’d set up audio recording so if we saw something fishy, we could tap into it and hear what was happening. We’d also be able to set up motion sensors that could be manually set each night when everyone heads to bed, that way if anyone is there who shouldn’t be, an alarm will sound and we can deal with the intruder then.”

  “This sounds... expensive. But if it makes a difference between our mates being safe or not, I’m willing to do this,” Brady agreed.

  “The cost is already taken care of, brother. You don’t have to worry about it.”

  Jasmine found herself struggling to not let her jaw drop. She knew of Vixen. They were the company the lounge hired to install their security systems. It definitely wasn’t cheap either. The equipment they installed was grade A, top of the line, classy shit. The fact that Tyson worked for that company meant he was smart as fuck, she was definitely impressed.

  “So when does she get here?” Landon asked. “Because there’s either a guest pulling in or she’s here..”

  “I emailed her about three hours ago, so I’d assume that’s her.”

  Liz popped up out of her seat, tugging Jesse with her. “We’ll go get dinner in the oven. I’m sure they’re probably hungry.”

  “If you saw the size of her mate’s tiger, you’d realize there’s no maybe about it,” Tyson joked as he got up and pulled Jasmine to her feet. “Do you want to meet them?”

  Jasmine giggled nervously. “Better do this now before I change my mind.”

  Tyson kissed her temple. “Alicia has been my friend even longer than Landon and your brother. She’ll be thrilled when she meets you.”

  Letting Tyson take her hand in his, she followed him out to the entrance of the restaurant. He waved his hand in the air to signal the driver of the dark blue pickup truck to their whereabouts, then gave her hand a squeeze as the truck pulled to a stop in front of them. The passenger door opened and out hopped a fiery red head.

  “Tyson!” the woman, whom Jasmine assumed must be Alicia, called out.

  “Hey there, stranger. How’s it going? What’s it been, ten months?” Tyson chuckled.

  As Alicia pulled open the back door of the truck and leaned inside, a large man with smooth dark skin climbed out of the truck and came around to help her. Jasmine watched as the man guided Alicia out of the way and lifted a baby carrier out of the back seat of the truck.

  “Tyson, you remember Duke, right?” Alicia asked before diving back into the truck and pulling out a diaper bag.

  “I don’t think Duke is a man you can forget,” Tyson joked as Duke approached.

  “Har, har, Tyson. Isn’t the little wolf funny, Destiny?” Duke cooed at the baby in the carrier.

  Jasmine had to fight to keep her composure. A man of Duke’s
size talking like that just did something to her insides, making her want to be in giggle fits. But she also didn’t want to offend him, so she swallowed the urge down.

  “Who’s this young lady standing next to you, dog?” Duke asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  Tyson exchanged a look with her that said that he wasn’t sure what to call her, so she decided to help him out. “My name is Jasmine, and I’m his Intended.”

  “Well that’s a five-dollar word, miss. I take it y’all aren’t mated yet, or you would’ve just called him your mate.” Duke chuckled, clearly taking pleasure at Tyson’s predicament.

  Alicia jogged up next to Duke, and it gave Jasmine a chance to take in their size difference. Duke was built like a mountain—tall, muscular, and broad shouldered. For lack of a better word, he looked like he could eat Alicia for a snack, which left Jasmine questioning what his parents fed him growing up. Because there was no physical way any man, shifter or not, should be that big. Alicia was small with an athletic build. She could almost be considered pixie size, but her demeanor said there was more to this woman than her looks.

  Jasmine smiled at the couple and waved hello. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

  “I’m just glad someone has finally stolen this bachelor’s heart. He’s one of the good ones, ya know? Although, given the size of your belly, it looks like he should’ve been introducing us much sooner than now,” Alicia teased.

  Clearing her throat, Jasmine was doing her best to not look uncomfortable. She didn’t want to explain the situation to Tyson’s friend and boss, but she knew that question was about to come up, too. This fucking sucked.

  “Actually, that’s why I called you in,” Tyson explained. “Why don’t we go sit down? Liz was about to make dinner.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Alicia said as she grinned at Tyson.

  Chapter 17

  So much was running through Tyson’s head, it was almost buzzing. It had been a week and a half since he installed the security network around the resort, and he still didn’t have a lead. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and he was getting desperate for answers. He knew what his dad would tell him if he was still alive. He’d say good things come to those who wait, but Tyson wasn’t quite sure he could wait much longer. He felt like whoever was messing with his mate was lurking just around the corner, waiting to strike.

  At least Jasmine was finally settling into life here at the resort. After three days of begging for some responsibilities around here, Mama Ally agreed to teach her how to run the books. Jasmine genuinely wanted to earn her keep, and that was something that Tyson admired about her. She wasn’t a hurry up and wait kind of gal, she was a take charge and make a difference woman. Her fierce, independent attitude was probably exactly why the Fates paired them up.

  It took some time and effort, but slowly Jasmine was easing into this weird thing called being in a relationship. Tyson was still figuring out how to make this work, too. Each of them had their own expectations of how things should be, and that made shit flat out difficult sometimes. One thing they had in common was that they both were very touchy-feely people. Things hadn’t escalated beyond a little over the clothes heavy petting, but, oddly enough, Tyson’s wolf was okay with that. Tyson, on the other hand, while being understanding and patient, was also struggling when it came to that level of self-control. He’d taken more cold showers in the last week and a half than he had in his entire life.

  Now he and the rest of the crew were setting up the restaurant for the gender reveal. Invites had been sent out to friends from town, as well as some of the regulars who frequented the resort. Jasmine didn’t know it, but they were expecting an amazing turn out. Those babies were going to be so spoiled, and today was going to prove that. Tyson even went out and purchased a crib and bedroom set to go in his spare room. He spent the last couple of days setting up the nursery while Jasmine was at the lodge working on learning the books. He enlisted a local painter from town to help with the walls. On them, she had painted all of the animals from the crew, plus two little bear cubs. Jesse had a picture of how Jasmine’s bear looked, and Tyson replicated it in a graphic design program on the computer to make it look more animated. The artist had done a fantastic job with recreating the resort and the other details, and it was definitely the best part about the room.

  Trying to smooth out the wrinkles in the blue and pink striped tablecloth he had draped on the table, Tyson smiled. This day was for Jasmine and the babies, but it was also for him. Jasmine said so herself over breakfast that morning. While the threat was definitely still looming in the air, Jasmine was making a solid effort to let Tyson into her life, and he couldn’t be prouder. Today was a perfect way to commemorate that.

  “You look awfully happy there, Tyson,” Alicia teased as she and Duke strolled in with an obnoxiously brightly wrapped gift and set it down on the gift table next to where he was standing.

  “I am.” Tyson grinned at his friend.

  Alicia returned his smile. “Parenthood will suit you. I’m so excited for you. I know the circumstances aren’t exactly ideal, but if you work together as a team, you both can do some pretty great things for these babies.”

  “Don’t forget, what mama says goes,” Duke warned. “Especially shifter mamas. They just know. It’s that weird maternal instinct shit that comes with the hormones.”

  “I’ve seen it first hand with my sisters and their babies over the years. I think I can handle this,” Tyson said confidently.

  “Oh young pup, you have so much to learn,” Duke said wisely before guiding Alicia to the table Kaylene and Landon were sitting at, toting the car seat that held baby Destiny with them.

  Rolling his eyes at Duke, Tyson walked over to the other side of the restaurant where the gender reveal balloons were tied up to the table with the cakes on them. Liz had baked and decorated two cakes that looked like pregnant bellies. One was frosted with pink icing and one was frosted with blue, and both read, What will they be? We haven’t a clue! Both could be pink or both could be blue! He thought it was a tad cheesy, but apparently that’s what people were supposed to have at these things. Only Liz and the girls knew what the babies’ genders were, since they kicked out Tyson from the party planning committee the minute they found out he was Jasmine’s Intended.

  As he looked up from the table, he could see Jasmine walking through the door with Mama Ally close behind. She was stunning. She had her face painted up with the girly shit his sisters were always wearing, her hair was hanging in loose curls down her back and framing her face, and she had on this gorgeous emerald green dress on that accentuated her curves just right. His wolf and his dick both stood at attention as he watched her wander over to his side.

  “You look hot as fuck,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.

  “Is that really appropriate talk for a gender reveal?” Jasmine teased as she playfully swatted at his chest.

  “I don’t care, it needed to be said.” He growled the words under his breath. “Are you ready to find out what you’re having?”

  “Yes, I think I am ready to find out what we’re having,” she replied. Tyson did his best to not make a big deal out of her emphasis of the word. He was just happy she was treating him more as a partner and less as a stranger. This is how pairings were supposed to go. Hell, he knew a lot of pairings where the mates fell into bed with each other within hours of knowing each other. This mating definitely felt like it was progressing at a slower, more natural, progression.

  Taking her hand in his, he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Alright everyone, I think we’re ready to get started. First, I want to thank y’all for taking the time out of your weekend to come up here and celebrate with us. While some of you may not know Jasmine yet, the support means the world to both of us.”

  The crowd that had gathered whooped and hollered as Tyson turned and plucked one of the giant silver balloons, handing it to Jasmine before grabbing the one for him.
Then he took two push pins the girls set on the table for them to pop the balloons with, and handed her one of those, as well. Taking a breath, he turned and faced Jasmine, and they counted down together.

  “Three. Two. One!” They shouted in unison as they stabbed the balloons.

  Pink and white confetti exploded around Tyson and he let out a belly laugh as he shook the paper pieces out of his hair. As soon as he could see straight, he looked over to Jasmine, who had tears running down her face and was now covered in blue and silver glitter. Pride swelled within him as the crowd cheered in excitement for them. They were having one of each, and that made Tyson all the more excited to get these babies here.

  Chapter 18

  Jasmine watched as everyone meandered out to their vehicles hours later and left. She had to hand it to the girls; they did one hell of a job putting this together. She would need to thank them properly when she wasn’t so damn tired. To be honest, the only thing she wanted to do right that minute was go home, crawl into bed with Tyson, and sleep for eleventy million hours.

  “Are you ready to go home? I have one last surprise for you,” Tyson asked as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind her.

  Jasmine nodded sleepily. “But can we skip the surprise tonight? I’m so tired.”

  “If you want to. I think you’ll be a little upset though if we don’t do it now,” Tyson said nonchalantly as he helped pull her to her feet.

  “It’s that good, huh?”

  Tyson shrugged. “Eh, I guess. You’ll have to wait and see.”

  “What about the gifts?”

  “I already loaded them up in the back of Brady’s Razr. He took them to the house and put them in the spare bedroom for us to sort through tomorrow.”

  “You thought of everything, Mr. White.” She yawned as they made their way to the golf cart.