Chapter 6
Jackson
I watch my mate walk away and barely manage to stay in my seat.
“Well, that was a disaster.” I ignore Ransom and continue to watch her.
Her scent is still in my lungs, and I can’t catch a full breath.
My wolf growls low in my chest when she’s no longer in our line of sight.
My gaze shifts over to the one who dared touch her.
“Jackson, stop. You’re going to draw more attention. Well, more than we already have.”
I finally look across the table. There are so many things wrong in this moment that I can’t even articulate all of them; but I try anyway.
I mentally clock each item I need to deal with.
“The bruising.” Ransom nods. “The uncle. The guy who touched her.” My words are barely audible thanks to the very aggressive presence of my wolf.
I’m having a hard time controlling him at the moment.
He's always been strong and aggressive, which is how I found myself outside my pack in the first place.
“We’ll deal with all of it, but right now, you need to convince her you’re not a psychopath.” I scowl at him. “You chose to bring me with, remember? This is why, so I could help you not scare your mate away.”
My scowl deepens. “I didn’t choose to bring you; you came with despite me trying to leave you behind.”
He smirks. “Eh, same difference.” He glances over at the door my mate disappeared behind.
“Seriously, though, Jackson, you need to find a way to pull it back somehow. You’re scaring her and—” My wolf growls at that, and he gives me a look of exasperation.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” I want to argue with him, but I know he’s right.
I could smell my mate’s fear. He glances over and then back to me and then leans forward.
“And you don’t want that guy stepping in, thinking he’s protecting her. ”
“My mate doesn’t need protecting from me.” My words are gutteral, and Ransom shakes his head.
“This was a mistake. We need to get out of here before you cause a scene.”
“I’m not leaving her behind. Somebody hurt her, there’s a guy here touching her, the boss threatened her position, she’s got an uncle that—”
“She’s coming,” Ransom says under his breath.
I close my eyes for just a moment. I want nothing more than to grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and get her out of here, where I can make sure she’s protected.
I turn my gaze to her and allow myself to take her in for just a moment.
She’s gorgeous and honestly the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen.
She’s not super tall but not short either and has long light brown hair.
Her eyes meet mine, and I get a good look at her eyes.
At first, they look chocolate brown but then I notice that there’s a lightness to them.
I’d qualify them more as a warm amber. Where that came from I have no idea, but I can’t unsee it now.
She’s perfect, absolutely—a growl builds in my chest. The one who touched her follows her to our table.
“Be calm,” Ransom says quietly. “Let me handle him.”
I stand to my feet. Ransom groans, but I ignore him.
My mate pins those amber eyes on me and holds my gaze.
Pride that she’s not backing down fills me.
I’m taller than her by a good eight inches or so and have at least a good hundred pounds on her, and she’s not backing down.
“Is there a problem here?” The guy who touched her asks.
I stare him down. “You the boyfriend?”
“No,” my mate says at the same time, the guy says, “Yes.”
Her eyes widen, and she turns to him. He doesn’t look away from me, though.
If I were a nicer person, I would give him credit for that.
But I’m not. He’s obviously not in her life the way he seems to think he is.
“Get lost,” I growl at him and look down at my mate, not bothering to cast the guy another glance. “Who put those bruises there?”
Her eyes widen, and I study her face. I want to know what she’s thinking; I want to know what each expression on her gorgeous face means.
It bothers me that I don’t already know; it bothes me even more that this guy actually might.
I watch her take a deep breath. “Okay. Everybody needs to back up and chill out. I’m going to take you guys’ order because that’s what I’m supposed to do.
But if you cause any problems, I’m going to get Butch, and he’s going to—”
“Who the—”
Ransom cuts me off. “Jackson.”
I ignore him but try to be more gentle-ish. I’m not a gentle guy, never have been. But for this woman in front of me, I would definitely give it a good try. “Who’s Butch?” The words don’t come out nearly as soft as I intend them to. I watch her face carefully to pick up on anything she broadcasts.
“I’m Butch.” I curse at myself for not paying attention and lift my head, taking in the burly man standing behind my mate.
Relief flows through me when I see he’s clearly old enough to be her dad or even grandfather.
But there’s nothing friendly about the look he’s giving me or Ransom, for that matter. “You two; you’re out.”
My eyes narrow. “We’re not—”
“Yes, we are,” Ransom says, standing to his feet and throwing a twenty down for the coffees and waters.
We're leaving now before they call the police and you get arrested in front of your mate. I hear his voice in my head through our pack link, the pack I never wanted to have. I growl low in my chest, and my mate’s head snaps up.
“Do you need a water or something?” she snaps at me.
Jackson, you have to give on this. Let her go; we’ll try again. Right now, we need to diffuse this situation. Ransom puts his hand on my shoulder. “We’re leaving.”
Everything is spiraling out of control, and I am seconds away from losing it.
And then a new voice chimes in. “Kayla, are you okay?” My head snaps towards the new voice.
A kid. I watch the change come over my mate.
Gone is the uncertain woman; in her place is a fighter.
Her eyes flash, and she lifts her chin. I can read defiance all over her face as she stares me down.
“I’m fine, Noah,” she says, still holding my gaze.
I don’t miss the way she moves, putting herself in front of the kid.
I take all this in instantly, my mind trying to compute what I’m seeing.
I try to make sense of the kid standing here, try to guess his age and figure out who he is to her.
In seconds I take in the worn clothing, pants on a day that should be for shorts on a kid this young, the shoes with holes, the thin bony shoulders.
My eyes run down my mate’s form, taking in the things I missed the first time.
She’s thin, too thin. Her shoes are flip flops, ones that look worn.
I can’t really see her shorts behind her apron, but her t-shirt is old, worn.
All this creates a picture, a picture that I’m not liking at all.
“They’re just leaving,” my mate says. There is no part of me that didn’t get the message loud and clear.
I watch as the idiot who touches what’s mine steps over to the kid and puts a hand on his shoulder; I watch as the kid flinches and pulls away.
And that gets my attention like nothing else could.
A deep visceral anger fills me, but I ruthlessly clamp it down and put my hands up. “We’re leaving.” My words are gruff, gruffer than I mean for them to be. I reach into my back pocket and pull out my wallet. The entire group tenses at the action. “Just paying,” I manage to say.
“Your friend already paid,” my mate says.
I pull a hundred out of my wallet and drop it on the table and turn back.
My mate’s eyes are wide, and for just a moment, there’s a vulnerability to her, a softness.
I realize in that moment that she’s young, younger than I first thought when she was snapping at me.
My eyes catch and hold hers, and I will myself to be gentle for her, something I’ve never been.
“Thank you for serving us. We really aren’t here to cause problems for you.
” It takes every ounce of control I have to walk past her.
I focus on putting one foot in front of the other, even though every step takes me further from my mate.
I keep an ironclad hold on my wolf, who’s practically snarling at me for leaving her behind.
“Wait,” I hear from behind me. I stop and turn around. My mate hurries over to me, her eyes searching mine. “What’s your name?”
Surprise fills me, and my wolf all but purrs his pleasure. “Jackson.” Again, it comes out rougher than I mean it to.
“Jackson.” The sound of my name on her tongue does something to me. I stand perfectly still, not wanting to do anything to ruin this moment.
She lifts her head, and those gorgeous amber eyes meet mine. She glances over her shoulder and then back at me. “You’re sure you’re not here for my uncle?”
“No.” My answer is swift, lest there be any doubt on her part.
“I have no idea who your uncle is or where he lives. If I did, he’d no longer be breathing.
” I realize a moment too late that’s probably not what I should have said.
Sure enough, her mouth drops open in shock.
But I meant the words and have no intention of apologizing for them.
And then because I’m already at it, I add, “Neither will the person be that did that to your arm when I find out who did it.” Ransom comes up behind my mate and shakes his head, shooting me another exasperated look.
The Butch guy starts my way, and I figure my time is up.
I need to get out of here before they call the police on me.
I fix my gaze on my mate once again. “Stay safe, Kayla.” Using her name for the first time seems to shake her.
I want to stay but know I can’t. I know I’m not really leaving, though; and that’s the only reason I’m able to turn and walk out the door with Ransom hot on my trail.
“Was the goal to make her think you were a psychopath? If so, congrats. Mission accomplished.”
I ignore him and keep walking. I head to the spot at the other end of the parking lot where I’ve basically spent every moment of every day, trying to run into my mate.
Today was the first day I finally succeeded, and that’s because I finally got inside and seated before anybody could warn her I was there.
I still feel good about that and good about finally meeting my mate.
She’s incredible; fate chose well for me.
The rest, though, I don’t feel good about at all. “That was a mess,” I growl.
“No kidding,” Ransom says dryly. We disappear into the dark corner near the trees, and I settle against a tree to keep a watch on the building currently holding my mate and her brother?
Son? The fact that I don’t know makes me frustrated.
I rub my chest, hoping to ease the ache of not being around my mate. “You okay?” Ransom finally asks.
I cross my arms over my chest and continue to stare through the window where I get glimpses of her every once in a long while. “What part of any of that was okay?” I return.
He sighs and leans against another tree. “Yeah, that was a mess. But at least you finally got to meet your mate.”
I don’t look over at him. “Yeah. My mate, who’s currently being abused, is on the run, is much younger than I thought, has either a brother or a son with her, and who’s currently possibly in a relationship with another guy. My mate, who I had to leave behind because I scared her.”
He sighs loudly. “Yeah, there is all that.”