Jennifer Ashley - Hard Mated

Spike knew, however, that the fights did change things, even if the changes weren’t acknowledged. Hard to forget that the dominant clan member telling you what to do today had lain flattened at your feet in the ring the night before. True dominance battles didn’t happen among Shifters very often, but when the next one occurred, Spike suspected there’d be many, many adjustments.

“All right, lad,” Liam said, his shoulders going down a fraction, which meant he believed Spike and had decided to trust him. “Keep an eye on Gavan for me, eh? If he wants to meet again, don’t say no. Get what you can out of him. If more Shifters at the fight club start thinking he’s right, you tell me that too.”

Spike gave him a nod. He decided not to mention that Gavan already had asked to set up a second meeting. Spike would assess the Feline one more time, without Liam breathing down his neck, and then decide what to do.

“Congratulations on your cub,” Liam said, business over. He stepped forward, ready to pull Spike into an embrace.

Spike didn’t want it. He’d withdrawn in a huge way since he’d turned around in the hospital room last night to see Jordan waiting for him. Right now Spike didn’t want to touch anyone except Jordan, his grandmother . . . and Myka.

Not mate-claimed, Liam had said, and Spike’s answer had come out instantly. Not yet.

Which meant that something in Spike wanted it to happen, sensed it would happen, was impatient for it to happen.

Not yet. But soon.

However, Spike denying his leader a congratulatory hug would scream to Liam that Spike was challenging him. Spike didn’t have time right now for the big hairy deal that would bring down on him.

Spike let his body go slack as Liam wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. Spike put his hands on Liam’s back, returning the embrace, but not as soothed as he usually was by his leader’s body heat.

Male Shifters hugged each other in a different way than they hugged females. Males didn’t hold back their strength from other males—the embrace contained a warning as much as acceptance.

Spike let his hands harden on Liam’s back, and Liam responded by pulling Spike even closer. Spike’s body read every muscle in Liam, and he knew Liam was reading him back.

Liam nuzzled Spike’s cheek, tilted Spike’s head forward and kissed the top of it, then released him.

“Come on,” Liam said. “Take me to meet your little one.”

Kim Fraser, Liam’s mate, greeted Myka with enthusiasm, gave her a big hug, and introduced her around.

“Don’t mind the touchy-feely,” Kim said. “You’ll get used to it. It’s a Shifter thing. Took me a while to learn, but I’m liking it now.”

Kim lifted her dark-haired baby from her outdoor playpen, and little Katriona regarded Myka and Jordan with great interest. Jordan, held by Ella, reached out and touched Katriona’s silky hair, and Katriona cooed and kicked her feet.

“A mate-claim in the making, are you thinking?” A man who resembled Liam, complete with dark hair and blue eyes, came to them. “A few decades from now . . . look out.”

He was Sean, Liam’s brother, and he had his mate with him, a slender Shifter called Andrea, who was very pregnant. About to drop, Sean said proudly, his Irish baritone as pronounced as his brother’s. Sean patted Jordan on the head, grinning when Jordan growled and took a swing at him.

Myka also met Connor, Liam and Sean’s nephew. Connor was twenty-one but still considered a cub. It was Connor who suggested Myka stay for lunch, and he started getting the grill ready so Sean could make his famous cheeseburgers with sautéed mushrooms and onions.

Apparently, cooking out was a common thing for Shifters, as well as inviting any friends who happened to be passing. Myka had to take a step back from the huge Ronan, who arrived with a teenaged Shifter girl and a little boy with white hair. His adopted kids, Ronan said. Ronan was a Kodiak bear, but the girl with variegated hair—Cherie—was a grizzly, the boy Olaf a polar bear cub.

Myka watched Ronan’s family as she sat down with Kim, Myka still wary of men who fostered kids. But Cherie started a spirited gossip session with Connor, and Olaf helped Sean prep the grill. Olaf was a little quieter than the others, but he grinned with Sean, relaxed and happy.

By the time Liam and Spike arrived together—walking side-by-side, Myka noted, neither letting the other get in front—the burgers were nearing completion.

A growl from Jordan made Myka look around. Jordan stood in the middle of the backyard, which was part of an unfenced green space that ran behind all the houses. Facing him was a tiny polar bear, and Jordan was snarling like crazy as he flung off the last of his clothes, already shifting and ready to attack.

Myka sprang to her feet, but the others didn’t look alarmed. Olaf, the nine-year-old boy, had turned into an adorable polar bear cub. Jordan was the only one who obviously didn’t find him adorable. Olaf watched in mild curiosity as the small jaguar kicked off the last of his clothes and launched himself at Olaf’s head.

Olaf reached out a big, black-padded paw and whacked Jordan aside. Jordan did a somersault in mid-air—exactly as the full-grown Spike had done at the fight club—and charged Olaf again, coming up under the bear’s throat.

Olaf blinked in surprise then howled as Jordan latched his teeth into Olaf’s fur. Olaf’s howl turned to rumbling snarls as he batted at Jordan with his paws, trying to dislodge him.

The family stopped laughing. Liam, Spike, and Ronan moved forward at the same time, their expressions grim. Jordan hung on, and blood started spotting Olaf’s white neck.

Ronan went for Olaf, and Spike went for Jordan. Jordan writhed and fought as Spike pulled him of Olaf. Jordan’s oversized feel flailed as he tried to scratch and bite his father, the jaguar cub yowling and snarling all the while.

Finally Spike leaned down to Jordan and made an animal sound—one loud beat. Jordan swung his head around in surprise, then coiled his tail around Spike’s arm and subsided.

Olaf was already quiet under Ronan’s big arm, his dark eyes wide. Fortunately, Jordan hadn’t hurt him much, only a surface wound, which had already stopped bleeding.

Everyone went back to what they’d been doing, but Myka sensed a change. The Shifters weren’t alarmed exactly—they behaved more as if they were filing away information for use at a later date. The conversations began again, Sean announced the burgers were done, and everyone ate.

Jordan was asleep again, in his wildcat form, when Spike carried him home. Liam gave Spike a look before they went, which Spike acknowledged with a nod.

“Something happened,” Myka said once she, Ella, and Spike with Jordan were down the block. “When Jordan and Olaf started to fight—something made everyone stop. And not just because Olaf was bleeding.”

Spike hefted Jordan higher on his shoulder. “Jordan showed dominant behavior.”

“What does that mean? Is it a problem?”

Ella answered. “Our family isn’t supposed to be very dominant. There’s only Spike and me left. But Jordan’s behavior showed that maybe we aren’t as far down the food chain as everyone thinks. Jordan’s acting on instinct, because he doesn’t know any better, but it shows that Spike has been holding himself back all these years.”

“When Jordan gets a little older, he’ll seriously start fighting,” Spike said. He sounded as though he didn’t know what to make of that—be proud? Or worried?

Ella chuckled. “Welcome to my world. Bringing up a warrior Shifter on my own was no picnic, especially in the wild.”