Page 15 of Mated to the Pride

It was hard work keeping my eyes off her. Now that I knew what Jess was to me, and to all of us, it was even harder than before to contain myself. Only a few feet from me she was humming away, absent-minded, and cleaning the kitchen counter tops. If I stood up and walked over to her and asked, she’d probably give me a hug; she was a tactile person, and I could already imagine pressing up against her, my nose filling with the scent of her berry-fresh shampoo and the smooth silk of her skin.

I swallowed, staring down at the table as she moved to another counter, afraid that she’d speak to me. Right now, I wasn’t confident I could speak without making a damn fool out of myself. How could I, knowing that I was looking at the woman I was destined to be with? Knowing that one day she’d bear our children, and create the kind of family most lions could only picture in their dreams?

“I don’t know how you all do it.”

I looked up, attention snatched by the sound of her voice. As I tried to focus on not speaking to her, it was almost like I’d forgotten she could speak tome.

I blinked, a smile tugging onto my lips instinctively. She just had that effect on me.

“Do what?” I asked.

“All these shifts,” she said, nodding towards the bedroom. “You seem to sleep and wake up at different times every day.”

“It’s either that or two of us don’t see the sun for a couple of months,” I pointed out. “And while I’m sure Preston would love that, I-”

A crash outside cut me off. Blake was already climbing to his feet and heading to the window, gesturing to me with one hand. He didn’t need to ask me twice — and despite the vagueness of the gesture, I knew exactly what he meant.

“Jess, get down behind the counter.”

“What…?”

I stepped to her side, looking over Blake’s shoulder through the window. I couldn’t see anything outside. Judging by the way Blake grimaced and moved to the door, neither could he. I touched Jess’s shoulder gently, guiding her down. Any other time, this would have been contact I’d have fixated on, but right now we didn’t have time.

“Keep down, okay? We don’t know what that was.”

I followed Blake outside, eyes narrowed as I stared out to the line of trees nearby. Blake had already shifted and seemed to have scented something. His eyes were trained directly ahead, and I could hear the beginnings of a growl rippling through his throat.

Get Jess below ground. Wake the others. We have some unfriendly visitors.

On it, I confirmed in my head. If there were enemies around, I didn’t intend to give anything away out loud.

As soon as I was back inside, I closed the door behind me and waved Jess over. “Keep low,” I said, lifting the rug to reveal the entrance to the basement below — our safe room. “I don’t know who’s out there, or how many. Grab my sweater from the couch; it’ll be cold down there. I’m going to get the others.”

Walking away from her was hard. I could see the tremors in her hands and the fear and uncertainty in her eyes — but I knew the best thing I could do to keep her safe was to follow Blake’s instructions so we could neutralize the threat. Staying with her wouldn’t do that.

Still, it didn’t make it any easier to leave her behind. I gritted my teeth, and pushed into Hale and Preston’s room.

“Hat up, guys. We’ve got company.”

Jessica

Of course, I knew the North boys were working on something dangerous, in a vague sense. I understood that it was risky — but to actually have the fight come to our little cabin like this was imminent and frightening. I could no longer kid myself that I was completely safe here, even if it was obvious that the boys had every intention of protecting me.

I didn’t really like the idea of being protected, normally. I wasn’t the type to wait for a knight in shining armor if I could take care of business myself. Woe betide the old-fashioned creep at the grocery store who assumed I couldn’t carry my own bags out to the car — but this? This was way beyond my scope. It was beyond the scope of any civilian. Judging by the way the boys were reacting, they hadn’t exactly been expecting it either.

Down in the basement by myself, I pulled Stone’s sweater tighter around my shoulders. He was right. It was chilly down here, but I had a feeling that most of my shivering had to do with something else entirely. Were they safe out there?

Less pressing, was I safe down here?

Hearing nothing from the cabin above, I could do nothing but wait. My mind ran over with thoughts of the worst-case scenarios, imagining the smirking faces of the enemy peering down at me from above. Or maybe they wouldn’t know I was here and would burn down the cabin around me — either consigning me to suffocation, or to dying of thirst in the wilderness as I tried to seek out help.

I couldn’t guess how much time had passed when the hatch at the top of the basement steps finally opened. Knees tucked up to my chest, I craned my neck to look up, suddenly assaulted by the thought that the attackers had won.

Instead, Blake’s handsome face looked down at me, somehow calm despite the sweat on his brow and the mud on his clothes.

“All safe,” he said, barely out of breath. “You can come on up now.”

“Are you all okay?” I asked as I climbed to my feet, my legs strangely unsteady as I made my way up. I felt so childish and weak. So delicate. “I couldn’t hear anything down here.”

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