by Kim Fox
Zane and Gwen looked nice and tanned and relaxed. The bear shifter had a big dorky sun hat on and was wearing a flowered Hawaiian shirt and shorts. The happy couple kissed and Gwen disappeared into her muffin shop as the other three casually walked over, laughing as they came.
Axel was in first. “Surprise Jax!” he shouted as he opened the door. “We’re home a day earl—what the hell?!?”
He dropped his bag, staring in shock at the trashed room that was covered in blood. His eyes widened to the size of baseballs when he saw the dead tiger lying on the floor.
Zane was laughing as he pushed past him. “What did he make a mess or—oh my God!” he shouted as his face dropped when he saw the grisly scene.
“What is it?” Hadley asked, trying to see over their large frames.
“Stay outside, babe,” Axel called back to her. “I don’t think you want to see this.”
“Welcome home,” Jax said, waving with a smile on his face.
Both the shifters whipped their heads around and stared at him in shock for a second before turning to Violet. They looked flabbergasted.
Jax grinned, loving every second of this. That surprised look on their faces alone was worth all of the painful injuries he had received from the fight. It was quite a scene to walk into after a relaxing vacation. He was sitting naked on the cut up sofa with a strange girl in the trashed room with a massive dead tiger on the floor.
It was no wonder both of their jaws were hanging open.
“We leave you alone for five minutes,” Zane said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Who’s that?” Axel asked, pointing at the tiger with his large foam finger.
“Who was that is more like it?” Zane corrected. He turned to Violet who was standing nervously beside the couch. “And who is that?”
“This is my mate,” Jax said proudly.
The look of shock they both gave him was full of even more surprise than the one when they had first walked into the firehouse.
“Mate?” Axel said, shaking his head as he tried to understand. “You?”
Jax wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled. “Yeah. Me.”
“But you need to have a soul to have a mate,” Axel said, staring at them. “And no offense Jax, but I didn’t think you had a soul. Wait… Is she a robot?”
“I don’t understand,” Zane said, squeezing his eyes shut like his brain was hurting. “I go away for five days and all of the laws of the universe change. How can you have a mate?”
“Guys,” Jax said, grunting as he stood up. “Meet Violet.”
She did an awkward little curtsy as her cheeks reddened.
“What is going on in there?” Hadley asked as she opened the door and came in. Her eyes widened and her face paled when she looked from Jax’s naked cock to the broken TV to the blood on the walls to the dead tiger on the floor. “I’m going to go help Gwen unpack,” she said in a shaking voice as she backed away slowly.
Jax laughed as he watched her hurry out the door and run across the driveway into the muffin shop.
“But who the hell is that?” Zane asked, pointing at the tiger. “I feel like you’re leaving out some crucial information here.”
Jax sighed as he wrapped his arm around the woman he loved. “It’s been an eventful couple of days.”
“I can see that,” Zane said as he rubbed his bearded chin.
“It’s all good, boss,” he said. “Let me get some clothes and I’ll explain everything.”
Zane blocked his path when he headed for the stairs. “You sure you’re okay?” he whispered, looking worried.
Jax slapped a hand on the bear shifter’s shoulder. “Better than okay, Zane,” he said, pulling him in for a hug.
Zane’s body stiffened in shock as the lion shifter squeezed him in a hug. They were the closest thing to family that either of them had, and they had never hugged. Until now.
“I love you, brother,” Jax whispered in his ear. “Thank you for always having my back.”
Zane’s body relaxed and he hugged him back.
“Awww,” Axel said, dropping his bag of cheap souvenirs as he rushed over. “Let me get in on this.”
He threw his arms around the two shifters and Jax laughed as he hugged him too. “I love you too, Axel. Sorry I’ve never said it before.”
Axel wiped a tear from his eye. “This is the best day ever,” he said, sniffing happily.
“Don’t get too excited,” Jax said, grinning as he pushed him off. “You’re helping me clean this up for the rest of the day.”
“Anything for my brother,” Axel said with a sniff.
Jax rolled his eyes and laughed. “Oh, man. What have I done?” he muttered.
“She’s really your mate?” Zane whispered, stealing a glance at the beautiful girl with the black hair who was standing there awkwardly looking at the ceiling.
“She is,” he answered with a grin. “And believe me that’s not even the most shocking part. I have someone else I want you to meet.”
“No way,” Zane said, staring at Jax in shock as he walked down with Benjamin. He was covering the little guy’s eyes as he motioned to the two stunned bear shifters to follow him.
“Somebody grab that kid before Jax tosses him out the window!” Axel shouted in a panic.
Jax laughed and pushed Axel away as he leaped on him, trying to save the kid. “Will you relax? It’s okay.”
“Okay?” Axel said, following him out. “What are you going to do with that kid?”
Jax removed his hand from Benjamin’s eyes when they stepped outside. The kid was laughing, thinking it was a game.
“A lot has changed since you guys left,” he said, clutching the boy to his chest like he was the most precious thing in the world, which he was.
“You’re telling me,” Zane said, staring at him in disbelief. “You’re holding a kid. You’re holding a kid and you look happy. I don’t believe it.”
Violet followed them out and smiled as she took the baby from Jax’s arms. She kissed Benji’s chubby cheek and smiled as she leaned on her man. “Jax is a real natural with kids,” she said, nodding.
“A real natural disaster,” Axel muttered under his breath.
“Is everything okay?” Gwen asked as she rushed out of the muffin shop. “Hadley said there’s a dead tiger in the firehouse?!?”
“It’s true,” Hadley said, following her. “A big one.”
“Zane?” Gwen said, waiting for an answer. “What’s going on?”
Zane threw his hands in the air and huffed out a breath. “I don’t know anymore,” he said, shaking his head. “Jax is holding a baby and saying that he loves us. There’s a dead tiger inside. I’m wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Everything is all messed up. I think we need Draven back.”
“It’s all good, Gwen,” Jax said, feeling as relaxed as ever as he walked over to her. He gave her a hug, leaving her with a stunned look on her face. “Let’s just have some lunch and I can explain everything.”
A little while later, they were eating pizza in Gwen’s shop after Jax explained what had happened over the past few days. The women were on the floor, playing with the baby who was loving all of the attention.
“But I still don’t understand,” Axel said as he took a bite of pizza. A strand of cheese was hanging from his chin as he chewed. “You actually like the baby?”
Jax rolled his eyes and laughed. He was done talking about this and it was time to get the conversation off of him and Violet.
“How did it go in Philly?” he asked. “Did you meet Hadley’s family?”
Axel shifted in his seat as he swallowed the pizza. “I did. It didn’t go great.”
“Why not?” Jax asked, feeling concerned for his friend. “Everybody loves you.”
He shook his head as he took another bite. “Apparently they weren’t so happy about a stranger knocking their daughter up and then being the cause of her moving across the country.”
“What a shocker,” Zane said with
a laugh. “You’ll grow on them.”
“It’s true,” Jax said with a nod. “Like a big annoying wart, you’ll grow on them.”
“Thanks, Jax,” Axel said, looking thankful. “It means a lot. I’ll make them love me one day.”
Jax smiled. “I’m sure you will.”
“So,” Zane said as he grabbed another piece of pizza. “Any word from Draven and Gunner?”
Jax shook his head. He was so busy dealing with Violet and Benjamin that the dragon shifter had slipped his mind. “Nothing.”
The three shifters looked at each other with serious expressions.
“Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Zane asked.
“Yeah,” Axel nodded with a somber look on his face. “We should have ordered a ham and pineapple pizza too.”
“Okay,” Zane said, rolling his eyes. “I guess we’re not on the same page. We can ask Thorn if he can send some boys over to handle the firehouse for a few days. We should go help our alpha. We should have left with him in the first place.”
“Yeah,” Jax said with a nod. “We should have.” He really didn’t want to leave Violet and Benjamin. It had been so long until he had found a piece of happiness and now that he had it, he really didn’t want to let it go. Even for a few days.
“But we don’t know where he is,” Axel said, voicing what they were all thinking. “Europe is a big place. There’s like at least six countries in it.”
Jax shook his head. “Where did you go to school?”
“I was homeschooled,” Axel answered, scratching his head with a look of confusion on his face. “Why?”
“No reason,” Jax answered. He turned to Zane. “What do you suggest, alpha?”
Zane took a deep breath as he watched the girls as they played with Benjamin on the floor.
“I don’t know. Maybe fly into London and hang out there until we see some fires breaking out on the news or something else that would give us a hint?”
Axel’s face lit up. “Don’t they have a big Ferris wheel in London?” he asked.
“I’ll go under one condition,” Jax said, shaking his head. “I get a separate room from him.”
They ate the rest of the pizza in silence, contemplating what to do. Draven, Gunner, and Aleida were facing the two mated dragons who were left, and they were definitely going to need some help.
“So what do we do?” Axel asked as he tossed his dirty napkin into the pizza box.
“We go back to the firehouse,” Jax said with a grin. “And we clean that mess up.”
Chapter 12
Violet
It had been the happiest three days of Violet’s life. A tremendous weight of fear and terror had been lifted off her shoulders and she could finally feel free again. She could finally be herself again.
Jax had been a wonderful surprise and she was loving the process of getting to know him better. Zane and Axel kept saying how much he’d changed since the last time they saw him and thanking her profusely for taking the huge stick out of his ass (their words).
He was such an easy going guy and so quick to smile that Violet had a hard time believing them at first. That couldn’t possibly be her Jax.
But as she had let a lot of pain go, so had he. Violet knew he had suffered a deep wound when his parents were murdered and he had never dealt with it or gotten over it before. It was nice to finally watch him let it go.
It was inspiring to her and she was trying hard to let her pain go as well. The past two years as Anton’s captive had been hell, but she was trying to start over with Jax. She would still wake up in the middle of the night, sweating after a horrendous nightmare, but Jax’s comforting body would always be there, making everything okay.
She would curl up to him, inhaling his intoxicating scent and listening to the peaceful sound of his breathing mixed with Benjamin’s and she knew deep down that everything would be okay.
The hard times were behind her. It was time to start over.
And as cruel and horrible as her time with Anton was, she had gotten Benjamin out of it. That little kid was the light of her life, so she couldn’t help but think that it was worth it.
She let out a laugh as she watched Benjamin and Jax playing in the sand at the park. Benji grabbed a handful of sand and ate it, and instead of telling him off, Jax took a handful too and shoved it into his own mouth.
“What are you doing?” Violet asked, laughing as she watched from the bench. “You’re reinforcing his bad habits!”
“Says you,” Jax answered with a mouthful of sand. “This stuff is delicious.”
Her two boys had been inseparable and sometimes she had even felt left out. At first, she had been worried that Jax wouldn’t accept another man’s child, especially Anton’s, but that hadn’t been the case at all. He seemed to love the boy with all of his heart and was a natural at being a father.
Sometimes she would think to the future and fantasize about having another child with Jax. They hadn’t talked about it yet, but she could tell that he was thinking the same thing.
Colwood, Montana was going to be her new home. She already knew it. The mountains, the charming small town vibe, the sexy lion shifter who lived here—it was all so perfect.
She knew her parents would try to convince her to return to California, but that wasn’t her home anymore. This was.
It had been really emotional when she called her parents to tell them what had happened. In the first month with Anton, he had put a knife to her stomach and made her call them. It had broken her heart to say the words that he had written down, and she still got nauseous whenever she thought back and remembered how hurt and sad her parents had sounded on the other end of the line.
He had made her tell them that she didn’t want to see them again. That she had left to start a new life and she didn’t want them in it.
Violet closed her eyes and felt that familiar ache in her stomach when she heard the hurt in their crushed voices. Anton had made her do a lot of horrible things, but that had been the worst.
She was nervous to go back and see them, but she was also eager to explain it all. She knew that they must hate her for cutting them out of her life, and she desperately wanted to explain everything to them. And more than anything, she wanted to show off their new grandchild.
They had seemed skeptical when she had called, and who could blame them, but they agreed to see her, so she bought an airplane ticket for her and Benji and was set to leave in two days. Jax had wanted to go for support, but she felt it was something she had to do alone. They would meet Jax at a later date, but for now, she had to clean up the mess that Anton made by herself.
And anyway, his friends needed him. She hadn’t gotten the whole story, but she knew that someone important to him named Draven was over in Europe and needed his help. He was leaving with Zane and Axel in two days as well.
“Not the slide!” Violet shouted when she looked up and saw Benjamin at the top of the tall slide. Jax was grinning at her.
“He likes it!”
“I don’t!”
“Too bad,” he let the boy go and Violet’s stomach lurched as he shot down like a little chubby rocket, flying down the slide and shooting into the air.
She gasped as a million horrific images of him landing horribly shot through her mind, but Jax was fast, very fast, and plucked the laughing little baby safely out of the air.
“See?” he said, showing Benjamin as he squealed with delight. “He likes it.”
Violet’s heart was pounding in her chest. “Just stick to eating sand, please.”
Jax laughed as they returned to the toys in the sand. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her thumping heart as she watched them.
Gwen and Hadley had warned her that shifters did things a little differently and she would have to get used to it. That’s an understatement. She still had a lot to get used to.
She was really starting to enjoy the girls’ company and spent a lot of time in the muffin shop, chatting away
and helping out as they took turns gushing over Benjamin’s chubby cheeks.
It was going to be a good home here both for her and for her son. For the first time in a long time, she was looking at the future with an optimistic outlook.
A high-pitched squeal made her look up and she giggled when she saw her son laughing at Jax. He had the plastic bucket on his head and was making funny faces at the boy.
Violet slid her bookmark into her book and stepped off the bench to join them. She had brought a book and tried to read, but it was too hard to concentrate with Jax in front of her. She loved watching him playing with her boy, their boy, and her eye kept darting up off the page to watch them as they fooled around in the sand.
“How’s the story?” Jax asked, glancing down at the book in her hands as she walked over.
She didn’t know about the story in the book, but her story had ended pretty damn good, although she couldn’t help thinking that this was just the very beginning.
“It’s good,” she said, smiling as she sat down beside them in the sand. “It has a very happy ending.”
“Happy endings are always good,” Jax said with a smile as he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
“Yup.” She smiled as she licked his taste off her lips. “They’re the best.”
Epilogue
Jax
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Jax asked, taking a deep breath as the last of the travelers boarded the plane to California.
“I’ll be fine,” Violet said, not looking totally sure. “It’s my parents. They’ll forgive me. Right?”
Jax’s heart broke as she looked up at him with worried eyes. They were standing in front of the terminal and she only had a minute before she had to board the plane with Benjamin. He knew she was worried to go, but he also knew it would be okay. Once her parents saw the beautiful baby boy in her arms, they would forgive everything. It was impossible to be angry with that cute kid in the room.