Tyler's Surrender

Here Without You

I'm so sorry for not posting sooner, there's a lot going on and I haven't really been in the right place to write.
I hope you enjoy!

Jackson

Kira was staring at me under the thick veil of her dark lashes, an unsettling glitter in her jade eyes. She had been uncharacteristically quiet since our return from the Power ceremony earlier and I hadn't quite figured out why. Her thick nails had dug into the flesh of my bicep during the last portion of the ceremony, the sting alarming, but not enough to pull me from what I was looking at; or who.

He was beautiful in a way I didn't think men could be, with gleaming brown eyes and a hard face littered with thick facial hair that hadn't been tamed in only the Goddess knew how long. He was tall and thickly built, likely able to dwarf me when present. His shoulders and torso were sculpted, arms nearly as large as my thighs. I was shocked he hadn't broken through the flimsy cuffs donning his wrists. Something about him called out to me -- his presence had every cell in my body on high alert and aching for his touch. I was lost as to why I felt this way. I didn't even feel this way with my Mate, how could I feel this way with a stranger let alone another man.
Despite the unanswered questions, there was a nagging feeling in my gut that was telling me to find out. That something was clearly off -- and looking at the way Kira was seething in my direction, the open malice in her dark green eyes, I wondered if it wasn't her.

I remember meeting her for the first time, feeling the mating pull -- smelling her sweet earthy scent mixed with a hint of cloves, a touch of spearmint. And when it came time to face her, actually see her, being taken by the sheer beauty of her. Her red mane of curls that cradled her face, swaying in the cool autumn breeze, her jewel colored eyes smiling at me sweetly. Trace had stayed quite upon finding her, something i had never found peculiar until recently, but I figured it was out of awe. It hadn't  taken long before she was in my arms and then in my bed, marked and mated. Presenting her, my gift from the Goddess, to my parents was interesting to say the least. I watched as she shied away from my parents, dodging questions and giving vague answers that barely seemed to placate my curious mother. She had even gotten snappy once my mother asked to see her Mark. It was common for parents to want to see the proof of their child's blessing, normally once the Mark was revealed those present would begin to pray to the Goddess asking for a bountiful pairing and an obscene amount of children. Kira had refused much to our confusion. Still, I was totally taken, too taken to question anything when in all actuality I should've questioned everything.

To this day I still had no idea where she came from or if her parents were alive, hell, I barely knew her favorite color. It wasn't like I didn't want to know anything but every time I asked she would change the subject or distract me.

Which is how the child growing in her belly likely came to be.

On the subject of the child, my child, Trace and I both had a hard time accepting that we were going to be a father. Since meeting Kira I could count on both hands how many time we'd come together, the desire to Mate her was nowhere near as powerful as what my father had described. Even having my mother as a chosen Mate hadn't dulled the urge, apparently; it really wasn't something I wanted to hear about, but it was good to know that my parents love was still just as strong as it ever was.

My lack of desire for Kira was baffling. I'd even divulged all of this to the Pack Doctor and resident Healer for the older generations but he found thing wrong with me. But in the times that we had made love, I had never found my own pleasure inside of her, not that it seemed to matter at all.

It wasn't that I doubted that Kira was carrying, no, her body was ripening quickly and it was obvious that she was pregnant. No, she was having a child, but was it my child? And why did it not seem to bother me at the possibility of it not being mine?

Anxiety swirled tightly in my gut and I dared to look away from the daggers my Mate threw at me.

Why did it seem that everything was beginning to unravel?

Kira

Jackson was getting suspicious, she knew, and she realized with a sense of dread that she needed to do something quickly or everything was going to fall apart. She had worked too hard, too long, put too much into this for it to crumble at her feet. She was risking her life in order to pull this off and now, the life of the child growing in her belly.

It was a sobering though.

Her hand traveled to her stomach, blood red nails grasping tightly to the cloth of her shirt as she cupped the slight bump forming -- she was risking the life of an innocent child in her attempt to keep her little act going.
What was going to happen when Jackson realized that the baby wasn't his? It wouldn't take long, a few weeks at most.

Her fear wasn't Jackson finding out the truth of the child's father, rather, the effects. If this baby wasn't his, why had he not felt his Mate being unfaithful? But the truth -- it would end her life.

She was not Jackson's Mate and had  stolen the essence of his Mate in order to get where she was. She had posed here, doing another's bidding, and had taken from the pair the chance to be together. A grave sin against not only Jackson and his Pack, but also their divine Goddess.

Kira swallowed uneasily, narrowing her eyes in the direction of the man she knew was dissecting every bit of the relationship they had, and tried to formulate a plan.

With Tyler free, Nate dead and her child growing rapidly, she had very little time.