Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“Oh thank God.” Tessa dove behind a tree. It wasn’t the perfect hiding place, but she was surrounded on all sides. She had her back to the tree, and in front of her were bushes. She frantically searched for a stick or rock or something and ended up with a short branch about as wide as a baseball bat with a nice, sharp tip. Tessa clutched the branch to her chest and tried to quiet her panting so she could listen. The woods were completely silent, and all she could hear was her own heartbeat.

Tessa tried her best not to run again when she heard a growl. She knew she was being watched, but she still had no idea where the monster was. She had to force herself to sit still and let him come to her. There was no way she could continue to outrun him. If she wanted to have a chance, she knew that she had to stand her ground and fight.

The sound of a twig snapping turned Tessa’s attention to the bushes in front of her. She squinted, trying to see if she could spot anything as she held her breath, waiting for the attack. When it came, it didn’t come from the direction that Tessa had been expecting. She saw the monster out of the corner of her eye before he slammed into her, but it was too late for her to do anything. She didn’t even have time to brace herself from the impact of him barreling into her side. The impact took her breath as pain radiated through her ribs. Tessa’s head hit the ground, and she saw spots. Rough hands turned her, and when her vision cleared, Tessa realized that her worst nightmare was straddling her chest.

The monster’s eyes glowed yellow, and she could see drool glistening on his fangs. Tessa wanted to scream, but she barely had enough breath to even breathe. The monster growled and leaned down into her face, and she gagged at his rancid breath. She could still see rotted meat in between his teeth and wondered if she would be the next person he ate. Tessa knew she didn’t stand a chance against him. She was stupid to even think she could have outsmarted the animal in the first place. Resigning herself to her fate, she watched the monster raise those wicked claws and swing them toward her chest. She sent a prayer out to whatever god or deity willing to listen to keep her son safe and let someone find him.

Fire roared through her shoulder as his claws dragged across it leaving blinding pain in their wake. Then his weight was lifted off Tessa’s chest, allowing her to scream. There was no way she could hold back, and she cried out at the top of her lungs. Distantly she could hear her name being called, but Tessa could only focus on the white-hot pain as she continued to scream and her brain began to get foggy.

“Tessa! Baby, wake up.”

She felt her shoulders being shaken and frowned. Was she dead? Why was Mitch yelling at her instead of fighting off the monster?

“Tessa, honey, come on, open your eyes.”

She didn’t want to. She was warm and the pain was gone. Tessa didn’t want to open her eyes and see her attacker growling over her again. She would rather just lie there for as long as possible, but a whimper broke through the fog in her brain, and she opened her eyes. It took a moment for Tessa to figure out where she was. Mitch was sitting on the side of the bed staring at her with concern in his eyes, and Nico was curled up in his lap crying.
It was just a dream.
The thought hit her, and Tessa squeezed her eyes to keep the memories at bay.

“Nico, come here, baby.” She reached for him, and he instantly climbed in her lap and wrapped his little arms around her neck. “Mommy just had a bad dream, baby. I’m okay now though, and I’m sorry for scaring you.”

If Mitch being in her room and Nico scared to death wasn’t proof that she had been screaming out loud, Tessa’s raw throat was. The dream had been too real and played on her biggest fear of having to leave Nico behind.

“You wanna talk about it?” Mitch asked quietly.

Tessa didn’t want to, but it was time. If her dream was anything to go by, then she needed someone on her side. If not for her, then at least for Nico. If something were to happen to her, then she needed someone to be there for her son so that he wasn’t alone. Looking at Mitch, Tessa knew she wanted him to be the one to protect Nico. The man had opened his home to them, no questions asked, and had been there for them. He was good with Nico, and her son seemed to love Mitch even though they had only known him for such a short amount of time. In her opinion, kids were a good judge of character, so if Nico approved of him and trusted him, then she would put her trust in him as well. Tessa just hoped her telling him what she truly saw didn’t backfire in her face.

Taking a deep breath, she started talking before she chickened out. “I need to tell you what else I saw that night, but I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I’m not doing this for me though. I’m doing it for Nico. I can’t protect him, and I need help.”

“Baby, you can tell me anything, and I promise I won’t think you’re crazy.” Mitch took her hand into his large one and gently squeezed it. “You believe in whatever you saw that night, and that’s good enough for me.”

Mitch’s sincerity was exactly what Tessa needed to convince her to open up to him. Once she started, the whole story came pouring out. She repeated what she had already told him about getting off from work late and walking home alone. She explained what she had told the police. Then she told him what she hadn’t told anyone else. She watched Mitch’s face as she explained that the man she saw wasn’t human and how his eyes glowed and he had fangs and claws.

Mitch never flinched the whole time she was talking. His face stayed blank, and Tessa was glad. She didn’t want to see the look of pity or even worse, for him to look at her like she was crazy. She didn’t think she would be able to stand it coming from him. When she was done, Tessa felt relief like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It seemed that all her strength and energy drained out of her as well. She had been running on her own for over two weeks. She had no support or help. It didn’t even matter if Mitch believed her or not, just knowing that someone else was in her corner was enough for her.

Mitch was still holding her hand, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled Tessa down in the bed and curled up behind her. “Sleep, baby. We’ll talk in the morning and figure out what we need to do.”

It was all the permission she needed. Curled up with Nico tucked in front of her and Mitch behind, Tessa had never felt safer. She was warm, and for the first time in two weeks, she wasn’t worried about what the next day would bring. She had Mitch to help her keep Nico safe, and that was all that mattered. Tessa sighed into her son’s hair and closed her eyes.

Mitch held Tessa and Nico for most of the night. His lion refused to let him sleep, grumbling about how they needed to stay on guard to protect their pride. Mitch wasn’t about to argue. Tessa and Nico were his family now. He hadn’t been a member of a pride for a very long time, but now he had his own. It was small, but Mitch and his lion would protect it with their lives.

Breathing in Tessa’s sweet scent went a long way in soothing him and his beast, but Mitch was still on edge. After what Tessa had just told him, he wondered how she had managed to get away from the rogue in the first place. He knew the rogue had to be playing with her. To think he could have lost his mate before he had even met her was something he didn’t even want to consider.

Let’s hunt him down and tear him apart.

Mitch agreed with his lion. He wanted nothing more than to go out and hunt the rogue shifter down at that moment, but he refused to leave his mate and cub alone. He never again wanted to smell Tessa’s fear and hear her scream like she had. His fangs and claws had popped out as he ran to fight off the danger. After what Tessa had seen, he was glad that she had been asleep when he busted in the room. He didn’t even want to think about how she would have reacted if she had seen him partially shifted. As it was, Nico had seen him. When Mitch ran into the room, Nico had been sitting up in the bed crying as he watched his momma scream in her sleep. He turned those wide eyes on Mitch and hesitated all of two seconds before throwing himself in Mitch’s arms.

It made him feel good to know that Nico wasn’t scared of him. If he could convince the cub that he was safe, then maybe he had a chance with Tessa. She was running scared from one of his kind, but he had to find a way to convince her that he wasn’t the same as the rogue. She needed to see that he would never hurt her or Nico. Mitch just had to find a way to prove that.

Hopefully you’ll do it soon. I want my mate.

His lion was riding him hard to claim Tessa, and Mitch refused to until she knew the truth about him. He knew if he didn’t confess sooner rather than later, then his lion would take things into his own hands. There was no way he could bind her to him without her permission.

Settle down. I will tell her tomorrow, but you still have to give her time once she knows. We can’t show her what we are and expect her to let us claim her right then and there. We have to give it time to sink in.
Mitch hoped his lion would listen to reason.

Fine.
His lion pouted but settled down after agreeing.

Mitch settled down as well. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. Although he knew he would hear anyone as soon as they set foot in his territory, sleep was a long time coming.

It seemed that he had just closed his eyes when he felt the bed move. Mitch cracked an eye open and looked up to see Nico hovering over him.

“I wanna play with kitty.”

At first Mitch wondered how a two-year-old child put two and two together and realized he was the lion the boy had seen. Sure Nico had seen his claws and fangs the night before, but it shouldn’t have been that obvious. When Nico kept looking over at the door like he expected the lion to walk through it at any time, Mitch realized the cub was asking him for permission to play with the “kitty.”

Mitch almost denied the boy outright, but he caught himself. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to let the cub get used to his lion. If Tessa could see Nico playing with him in lion form and him not hurting the cub, then maybe she would accept him a little easier. His normally stubborn and surly lion shocked him by pouncing around in his head ready to play.

Sighing, Mitch got off the bed and picked Nico up. “Come on, cub. Let’s get you some breakfast, and then we’ll see if we can find the kitty.” He smirked when his lion roared in his head over being called a kitty by him. Mitch thought it was funny that his lion hadn’t made one peep about the cub calling him kitty.

That’s because he doesn’t know any better. Give him time and he will soon learn that I am a magnificent beast. There is no other lion out there with my looks or hunting skills.

Mitch agreed. They weren’t one of the best enforcers by accident. Still he couldn’t help teasing his animal as they headed down the stairs. “I think ego is what’s holding up that mighty mane of yours.” He got a rumble that he considered a laugh from his lion as he sat Nico in a chair at the table and began to fix breakfast.

After the cub finished eating, Mitch had to clean him up since it seemed like he was wearing most of his breakfast. Once that was done, he took the cub outside. He figured the best place to let his lion out to play was in the yard because it gave him more room to move. He couldn’t bear it if he accidentally knocked Nico over or hurt him because he didn’t have much room. This way, they could run and play and the cub could make as much noise as he wanted without waking Tessa.

He still wasn’t sure if he was making the right decision by shifting in front of Nico. Mitch had a feeling it was either going to be the best decision he ever made or the worst. He was leaning toward the latter.

Quit stalling.

Mitch sighed and knelt down to talk to Nico. “Okay, little man. I’m going to let you play with the kitty. You don’t have to be scared.”

He stood and began stripping off his clothes and watched as Nico frowned and looked around the yard. Mitch had a feeling the boy wasn’t worried about his weird behavior. He was focused on where the lion was. By the time Nico turned back to him, Mitch had smoothly shifted into his lion form. Being able to shift easily and quietly was one of the reasons the council recruited him. For most shifters, shifting took a while and was not a very quiet event because of bones popping as they reformed. For adolescent shifters first learning, shifting could be painful due to lack of concentration, and oftentimes they could be heard crying out when they changed.

For Mitch, he had never had a problem shifting. Even his first shift was silent. He got a tingly feeling like he had electricity running through his body, and then one second he was human, the next he was a lion.

Once he had shifted, Mitch lay down in the grass and waited for Nico to come to him. Of course it didn’t take but a second for him to yell “kitty” and throw his arms around Mitch’s neck. While Nico stroked and petted him, Mitch let his senses out and checked his territory for danger. He smelled the tall grass coming from the back of the house and the animals scurrying for a hiding place in the woods at the edge of his yard, but no threat coming from any direction.

Mitch laughed which sounded more like he was choking on a hairball when Nico suddenly climbed on his back like he was playing with a horse instead of a lion and wrapped his tiny fist in Mitch’s mane.

“I wanna ride!” the cub squealed.

He figured his lion would balk at having his mane crumpled, but he said nothing. Instead, he stood and began trotting around the yard with the cub on his back. Nico laughed and screamed the whole time, amazing Mitch. The boy was fearless. Not once had Mitch smelled fear coming from the tiny boy. Even though he barely knew Nico, Mitch couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride.