Chapter Three
Jane walked out of the restaurant and untied her apron from around her waist. She couldn’t get that man out of her mind. Bo Alexander. The huge man, with the kind eyes, firm jaw, and wide shoulders, who had been talking with Liam yesterday. She’d been afraid of him, at first. Someone that huge could have squashed Liam in seconds. His fists were larger than her head. Well, not quite, but they were gigantic. The kind of hands that could turn deadly, and leave marks that would never heal. The kind of marks she wore on her soul.
She hadn’t always been this skittish around men. But after Seth… She shuddered and tried to take a few short breaths. The crisp mountain air never failed to calm her. Nature, the cool breeze, the calls of the birds and squirrels, helped her re-center herself. Being outdoors always had.
Except for spiders. Those things skeeved her out big time. After her first few terrifying screams at seeing the little jerks skittering over a counter or along the table, Liam had taken to being Spider Protector Number One. He’d scoop the thing up into his cupped hands and deliver it safely outside to a bush. She didn’t care, as long as it left her alone.
She pondered Bo, the giant cousin of her best friend, Sam. Was he the kind of man who took pleasure in torturing creatures? Would he stomp on a spider or pull its legs off as the look of sheer delight passed over his dark eyes—like Seth? Or would he pick them up—like her kindhearted son—and put them safely in a bush outside?
Was it weird that all men had to pass the “be kind to creepy creatures” test? Probably. But it was also weird that she was only twenty-four years old and a single mother to an almost six-year-old. The other mommies in preschool and kindergarten had given her looks with their noses upturned as if she was less than them. She never let them bother her. Heck, they could take their perfect manicures, amazing husbands on the fast track to 401K stardom, their two-point-four family, and shove it all. She might not be proud of the circumstances that led to her son being procreated, leading her to run for their lives for the last six years, but she would never feel wrong about her son. Liam was the best thing that ever happened to her. He was the sunshine in her dark life.
When Liam told her silly jokes about gas humor or butts, she could never keep herself from laughing. His wit and charm made her happy. And, hey, what was wrong with one more fart joke in the world? As she strode to her tiny car, she chuckled, remembering Liam’s request a few months ago that he be able to use the “eff word.” Her cheeks had flushed, and the instinct to scold her young boy came over her. But she had stopped, assessed the situation, and calmly asked him, “Which ‘eff word’ are you referring to, baby?”
“Fart,” he whispered, as if saying it quietly would make it any better.
She’d laughed so hard, tears streamed down her face. And “fart” jokes had become a staple of their chats ever since.
A cold prickle crept up her spine, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. She whirled in a circle. Someone was watching her. She shivered and looked around the nearly empty parking lot. Nothing. It was 2:00 p.m., and the lunch rush had already ended. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to the alley behind the restaurant. A flicker of light caught her attention. She peered toward the old green Volkswagen and saw the man snap a picture. Of her. She knew it in her heart. The man took one look at her, shrugged, and put his camera down, pretending to look at a map on his dashboard.
Her breath caught in her throat. Why did this always happen to her? She sagged against the car and tried to get her key into the lock. Stupid old car with a real key instead of those cool key fobs that the normal moms had. She sniffled. Breathe, girl. She couldn’t stop the shaking of her hand to get it into the lock. She missed once then twice.
A loud rumble of a motorcycle made her jump.
“Chill, girlfriend. It’s just me.” Sam stopped her bike next to her and put the kickstand down, peering at her with a frown. “What’s going on?”
Jane couldn’t stop shaking long enough to catch her breath. She glanced over at the man who was studiously poring over his map as if it showed the route to the Holy Grail.
Sam didn’t ask any questions. She saw where Jane’s frantic glance carried, and stormed over to the old car. Sam wrenched the door open and glared at the wide-eyed man.
“You got a permit to be sitting there in that piece-of shit car of yours taking pictures?”
“Ahhhh—” He furrowed his brow, but couldn’t come up with an answer. He looked more frightened than Jane felt.
“That’s what I thought.” Sam leaned toward him, invading his personal space as she leaned against the door of his car. “If I see you out here again without a nice little press tag on the back of your car, I’m going to drag you out of your car by the last few remaining hairs on your bald, shiny head and beat you with your fucking camera. You get me, little man?”
Sam was taller and had at least thirty pounds on the guy, so it seemed plausible. The man seemed to think the same thing. He peeled out of there as Sam pulled her feet back, a harsh grin on her face. She turned back and strode over to Jane as if she hadn’t just gone Wonder Woman on a strange man. “You okay?”
Jane’s breaths slowed, and she finally slipped the key into the door lock, giving her a shaky nod. “Yeah, just spooked.”
“You were more than spooked, lady.” She frowned. “Do you know why anyone would want to take your picture?”
She shook her head, feeling bad for lying. But she wasn’t going to get another friend hurt. Sam could never know about Seth, and that every time something shook her, she feared it was him coming to take her back.
Sam shrugged and met her gaze. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. But…” Her eyes turned calculating. “If you want some help learning to direct that fear into action, my mom teaches self-defense.”
Self-defense. Could martial arts stop a demented, narcissistic monster from catching her and her son and killing them? Probably not. But it might keep them alive long enough to run again. Like they’d been doing for all of Liam’s life.
“Yeah, I’d like to check it out.”
“Here’s the address. It’s just a couple of blocks down on Main Street.” Sam handed her a business card. “Feel free to bring Liam after you pick him up from school. He can play on his iPad or do whatever coloring shit they do for homework in kindergarten.”
Jane took it and smiled gratefully to her friend. Sam was mighty and strong and brave. Curvy and large, just like her. But Sam didn’t seem to fear anything—the opposite of her. Maybe if she took a few classes, some of Sam’s confidence would rub off on her. Then they could leave a step ahead of the normal fleeing-for-their-lives-every-few-months routine.
“Thanks. I’ll stop by after I get Liam.”
“You’re stronger than you realize, lady.”
If Sam only knew of the cowardice inside her, she’d probably never speak to her again. Jane wasn’t strong. She was afraid. A squirrel running wild through a freeway of semis that wanted to flatten her. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t strong. But maybe a few classes wouldn’t hurt. She’d start tomorrow.
~.~
Bo watched the beautiful blonde kick and punch at the large bag. Sweat glistened down Jane’s curvy body, adding a glow to her already-gorgeous skin. She wiped her brow, took a sip from her pink water bottle, and started another round. Five kicks. Five punches. She moved to do it from the left side of the bag. She dropped to all fours and started her pushups. She pressed herself down then pushed back up, her triceps trembling with the work. Jane sank to her knees and raised her curvy ass upward and leaned her head on her hands.
Bo almost fell over onto the mat. He grabbed the half-wall partition as his bear clawed to get to the forefront. His bear wanted her—in exactly this position—while he pumped into her, taking her furiously while he roared his climax. But she’d reach her pinnacle first. Many times, before he finally took his own ending. His bear was so excited, it was hard to breathe, and Bo started seeing spots. The blurry spots covered his favorite part of Jane. Her plump, luscious bottom.
He took a couple of deep breaths and willed himself to relax. He was not only an adult who shouldn’t be having this much trouble maintaining human form, he was also an alpha. The Alpha of Bear Paw River. Alphas didn’t lose control like this. And a real man wouldn’t shift uncontrollably like some teenager with his first hard-on. “Get a grip,” he mentally told his bear. Oh, his bear wanted a grip all right. A firm, unyielding grasping of her wide hips as he sank deeper and deeper into—
He groaned and turned away from the sight driving him crazy. She was so beautiful, so perfect. But were her thick curves and gorgeous figure enough to be taken by a big guy like him? No. He winced and continued his slow breathing. The spots cleared, and so did his mind. He needed to stay away from this woman. If he did the things he wanted to her body, he would surely crush her, break her. Her eyes already held enough torment. She’d already been broken. And he couldn’t take the chance on hurting her even worse.
Mate, his bear growled, unhappy that it was being kept from the vision that was Jane.
Yes, and we protect our mates. Remember our responsibilities. Bo told his bear. We can’t hurt her, so we’d better stay away.
His bear begrudgingly agreed and settled back down with a chuff.
The musical laughter washed over him, and he whipped his head around. Jane was practicing self-defense moves with Aunt Ida. Whatever Ida had said had the sweet, young woman giggling as she sparred. He couldn’t get enough of her voice—it was more beautiful than the robin’s first song after a harsh winter—pure heaven, and Bo knew his bear felt it.
He watched as she blocked Ida’s kicks, her body in tune with his aunt’s motions. When they switched places, he saw the sparkle in her gorgeous blue eyes. She was having fun, getting out of her shell, gaining confidence with each kick.
“Hiya!” Her voice was steady and strong as she planted her feet and raised her fists in front of her.
His little mate was stronger than she had first seemed. It just took the right person to bring it out of her. Bo wished it was him teaching his mate how to stand strong and protect herself. He should be the one teaching her how to counterpunch, how to use her center of gravity for larger opponents. And, most importantly, that she would never need to use the self-defense because, he, her mate, would give his life to always protect her. The sting intensified in his heart. He should just leave. Watching her was making his need for her greater.
“Bo, wait up!” Aunt Ida’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
He turned and saw the calculating gaze in his aunt’s eyes. “How can I help you ladies?”
“I want to do my run-away scenario that I teach the kids, and Sam is doing some errands for me. Can you stand in for her while I coach?”
He laughed and strode forward. “She’s going to look pretty silly shouting, Leave me alone, stranger. You’re not my mom or dad.”
Ida tsked and waved him closer. “Don’t worry about her shouts. You just be my attacker.”
“Am I going to get kicked in the groin again?” He grinned.
“Not if you protect your precious jewels like I taught you, big baby.”
Jane giggled. Such a perfect, melodic sound coming from her throat that he was willing to let her do anything to him just to hear that sound again.
Ida positioned them facing each other. “Okay, J-Bomb.”
Jane’s eyes lit up at the nickname. Ida was always giving out nicknames to those she liked, and Jane seemed to appreciate it.
“Let’s practice it a few times first,” Ida explained. “Bo is going to reach for your ponytail, okay?”
Bo leaned down and slowly reached so he wouldn’t spook her. Up close, she was so much smaller than him. When her eyes widened, and she inhaled quickly, he went even slower. “I’m going to touch your beautiful hair, now, little girl.”
She nodded, and he continued forward. The soft strands of honey and gold flowed through his fingers. His whole body awakened, and he leaned in to smell the exquisite combination of rose and vanilla. She smelled and felt like heaven. Someone needed to bottle her essence and sell it. Hell, he’d buy the whole case himself.
“I didn’t tell you to play with her hair.” Ida’s voice brought him back to the moment. “Grip the ponytail as if you are a stalker about to accost her.”
He nodded. “You ready?”
She was scared; he could see that in the way her pupils dilated, and her breath slowed, but she furrowed her brow and raised her chin. “Okay.”
His brave little mate. Pushing through when she was intimidated. He was so proud of her. He gripped her ponytail tightly in his fist.
“Okay, good,” Ida directed. “Now, Jane, you are going to press your left hand on top of his and hold it tight to your scalp. Don’t let his hand go.”
A wave of need surged through him, but he reminded his bear not to spook the little female.
“With your right hand, you start punching as hard as you can at his face. Shadow punching, Bo. She’s not going to mar your pretty face.”
Another tinkling laugh from Jane. His aunt sure knew how to get skittish people to relax. Her humor was her best weapon. Well, besides her fists of fury.
Jane pretended to punch him in the jaw several times then looked over to Ida for confirmation.
“While you’re punching, you’re going to knee him in the gut, the legs, the groin, anything you get your knee into—hard. And don’t let go of that other hand on your scalp.”
“The jewels, Ida,” he reminded her a little nervously.
“Remember, child, just pretend. Bo wants to have kids someday.”
“Okay.” Jane laughed and went through the motions of punching and kneeing him without actually touching him.
“Good girl! As soon as he is incapacitated enough to let your hair loose, you let go of his hand, give him a hard shove with both hands. Go ahead.”
Jane shoved him, and he let himself move backward a few steps. His bear approved of him making his mate feel good about herself.
“After the shove, you turn and run like hell while screaming like a banshee. Got it?”
His little mate nodded. “Can we try again?”
“Yep, do it again, and don’t forget to yell loud.”
Jane grinned tentatively at him then squared her shoulders and schooled her features. She planted her legs, took a deep breath, and swallowed. “Okay, attack me, big guy.”
Careful not to grab her too harshly, yet strong enough to make her work hard, he pulled her ponytail into his fist. “Hey, Goldilocks. Give me your cell phone and social media passwords.”
She didn’t laugh. Her gaze hardened, and she grabbed onto his hand and pressed it against her scalp. Then she one, two, three punched, just barely missing his jaw. She kneed and punched, and he placed one hand down in front of the boys to protect them out of pure reflex. The woman was fast. When he positioned his save the future block, she punched at him one last time. He let her go, knowing if this was real, his head would be spinning by now. She shoved him back with a loud growl, turned, and jogged away. “An evil man wants to tweet about my porridge. Help!”
Bo laughed so hard, his belly ached.
“Not exactly what I had in mind, but cute.” Ida rolled her eyes. “Change positions. This time, Bo, you be the victim, and J-Bomb, you attack. Show her how to shove and sprint properly.
He chuckled. If she wanted him to run correctly, he’d be on all fours and covered in brown fur. And grizzlies didn’t sprint. They charged. “Okay. You ready?”
She nodded and grabbed the curls at the back of his neck. It was probably the highest she could reach.
He gave a low growl and raised his fist.
She mewled, crumpling to the floor and curled into a fetal position before he could react. What the hell?
A loud shriek of rage preceded the small form that flew through the air and latched onto his back. Tiny fists pummeled at him, and Bo moved his hand in the way of the teeth that almost bit into his shoulder. Shit. That hurt. His hand stung from the tiny puncture wounds. What was he supposed to do? The kid was going crazy on him. Between the teeth, fists, and feet, Bo was about to lose an ear or a good chunk of skin. “Come on, kid. Let go.” He wiggled, not wanting to hurt the little guy, but the boy just dug his feet into his kidneys before gripping him more tightly around the chest. “Ida.”
“Hell no. I’m not getting in between two males fighting over a woman.” Ida laughed, but sobered quickly. “Honey, you okay?” She knelt and stroked Jane’s cheek while Bo’s ear barely missed being bitten off.
Bo stopped moving and let out all the breath in his body. The kid stopped biting and scratching at him. “I’m not moving. You win, kiddo.”
The light form disappeared from his back, and the kid surged to stand between him and Jane. His fists still clenched, a low growl came from his throat. His eyes flashed with his animal side, and Bo knew it was only a matter of moments before they had a full animal wreaking havoc through the studio.
“I’m not going to hurt her, Liam, right?” Bo stood there unmoving, taking calm deliberate breaths. “Do you want to check on your mama, buddy? Make sure she’s okay?”
Liam growled at him one more time, his startling blue gaze full of gold flecks before he turned to her. “Mama?”
Jane let out a shaky, tearful laugh and sat back up gingerly. “Sorry about that. I d-don’t know what happened.” She took one look at her wild, frantic son and shook herself out, pasting a calm, sure look on her face. She was still breathing fast, and her heart was beating erratically, but she pulled herself out of the fight-or-flight reaction, knowing her son needed her more. “I’m okay, baby. See? No harm done. Help me stand up like a brave, strong mommy, please?”
Liam nodded, his eyes finally losing the shift, and helped her to her feet. He turned to Bo and pinned him with an angry glare. “You scared her.”
“I’m sorry, buddy. I was just helping her work on her self-defense.”
“She doesn’t need self duh-fense.” The little boy’s lisp was even more pronounced with the extra bit of fang showing around his two front missing teeth. “I protect her.”
“I’m so sorry about that.” Jane was looking back and forth between Ida and Bo. “I guess I just got nervous.”
“That wasn’t a nervous reaction,” Bo growled. His bear chuffed in agreement. Liam narrowed his gaze and scowled up at him. It would have been adorable if Bo wasn’t so upset about his mate’s needs. Why had she reacted like that? Who’d hurt her so badly to cause this kind of deer-in-the-headlights reaction? Bo’s bear was agitated, demanding he find the bastard who had hurt her, and rip his arms from his torso. Bo agreed.
“I’m okay, just a bit shaken up. Ida, can we try again tomorrow? Maybe I’ll do better without the big guy. No offense.”
Bo agreed. For her sake and his. The kid’s teeth were sharp.
Ida turned a speculative gaze on all of them before nodding. “Okay. But at some point, very soon, we need to talk about what happened. It’s no good to be prepared if you have something that keeps triggering you.”
“Yeah, okay. I need to get Liam home for dinner. Um, thanks. Sorry about that. He shouldn’t have bitten you. I’ll talk to him at home.”
“No worries. Are we okay now, little man?” Bo knelt and held out his hand.
Liam shook it and nodded somberly. “Sorry I bit you.”
“It’ll heal. You did a good job of protecting your mama, and I’m proud of you.” He smiled and scruffed the boy’s head.
Liam beamed and lifted his shoulders with pride. “See you later, Mr. Bo, Ms. Ida! Come on, Mama, let’s have backwards dinner and play Minecraft and watch Scooby, and…” The kid was back to his old self, talking a mile a minute as he happily led his beautiful mother out of the studio.
“Is she going to be okay?” Ida asked.
Bo nodded, and his bear rumbled protectively. “You have my word. No one will harm her again.”
“And I’ll start digging a bit. Find out what happened to her. Sorry about that.”
He rubbed at the bruises and bite marks. He could shift into his bear later, and every mark would be gone by the morning. But his bear liked the idea of keeping them—his battle scars for his mate. “It’ll heal.”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “But I’m going to tell everyone you got your ass handed to you by a six-year-old.”
His low growl made her hoot with laughter even louder.
~.~
Jane closed Liam’s bedroom door softly behind her. She’d already checked on him twice, but she just couldn’t get the edgy nervous feeling out of her. Ever since the self-defense class this afternoon, her stomach had been in knots. She’d double bolted the front door of their townhome, and she’d even placed a few noisemakers on the doorknob and along all the windows. There were ten of them. After she’d run out of spoons and forks, she had used the knives. But she always kept one close by. One under the toilet paper rolls at the top of the bathroom cabinet. One under her mattress. And one velcroed to the bottom of the couch. She prayed she never had to use them, but she wasn’t taking any chances. If he ever found her, he’d kill her. That much she knew for certain.
Her ex-boyfriend was a monster. Literally. She turned on the shower and took off her robe. The monster in Seth wasn’t figurative, though. It was real. His monster came in the form of a lion. The largest, scariest lion she had ever seen. And she had seen it close up. Jane looked at herself in the mirror and shuddered at the scars along her chest and neck. She usually tried to keep them hidden so they wouldn’t disgust people. Seth had given them to her after she had angered him. Jane hadn’t meant to piss him off, and if she had known what he was and what he was capable of, she never would have responded to his hateful comments.
But it had hurt her feelings so much. To be called a fat, frigid bitch who needed to learn her place in the world. Well, she had always been taught to speak with firm kindness. And she did. She told him it hurt her feelings, and that it wasn’t nice to shame someone because of her body type. She had always carried a bit of extra weight, especially around her hips and tummy. But it had never made her feel worse than that night. When Seth had told her he was going to find someone else to take to business functions because she was too fat to look good next to him. It had hurt so badly. But the pain hadn’t ended after the words were spoken. She still carried it to this day.
She got in and closed the shower door behind her, letting the warm water run down her body. She opened her body wash and inhaled the scent of lavender and rose. It usually calmed her, but not this time. She was still too tense, her shoulders ached, and her mind was reeling over this afternoon. God, she must have looked so pitiful, keeling over onto the mat and curling up like a baby. Come on. She had been trying to get stronger, not fall out at the first sign of male aggression.
Seriously, was it too much to ask for to get mugged by a middle-aged woman? Then again, Ida could probably kick her booty with her hands tied behind her back. Jane would get over it. She’d force herself back into the studio tomorrow, and she would ask for every man there to try to attack her. She would make herself get used to it, and then would finally be strong enough to protect herself and Liam.
And if that wasn’t enough, she had the Glock 19 compact pistol in the lock box. She couldn’t take any chances on Liam getting hold of it, so she kept it locked up tight. But, all it would take would be her fingerprint to open the box if she needed it. She would keep her son safe. Which meant she needed to get back to Ida’s martial arts studio tomorrow. Maybe she could try a few classes while Liam was at school. Then she could push herself to the limit.
And when she crashed and burned like she inevitably would, at least her Liam wouldn’t be there to see it. Poor boy was almost six, and he already had taken on the burden of protecting her. He needed a life with real friends, a pet, and no responsibilities except for remembering to say please and thank-you.
That’s why she had been taking him out to the woods on the outskirts of town. The sprawling woods and meadow were said to be private property, but she needed somewhere big and open to let him roam. Liam was getting closer to his first shift every day. Pretty soon, she’d have to take him out of school. At least the higher dosage of his medication was stifling his animal side. Until Bo lifted his fist to her today. She’d never seen Liam that close to shifting, and it scared her more than her memory of Seth. The appearance of that man with the camera had spooked her enough already. And if Liam shifted, his lion father and pack mates would be able to smell him. They’d find them. She ought to pack their bags and leave tomorrow. Just in case.
But she had run out of money, and she was 99 percent positive Seth was watching her bank account. That’s how he had found her six months ago. That poor elderly couple who had given Liam and her a place to stay had never known what was coming. She’d been more careful, but that meant not touching the trust fund her parents had left her. And, after refilling Liam’s medication, she was broke. She’d work her booty off for a few more weeks, and take every extra shift available. That would earn her enough money to get out of town. Then she’d go west. North Carolina was just a little too close to the danger following her. If she gave her son something to really calm down, could they fly? California sounded good and far away.
She finally drifted off to sleep after checking the locks and alarms around their home a few more times.
This had to end soon. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. When the alarm clock woke her at 5:00 a.m., she smiled down at the little boy curled into her chest. She hadn’t even heard him enter her room.