Page 22 of Shifter Mate Magic
The man frowned. “I am Florinel Brooker, and a member of the Shifter Tribunal. Answer the question.” He oozed authority.
Jackie jutted her chin out. “No. It’s not germane.”
Trevor stood and drilled Brooker with a warning look. Brooker frowned and opened his mouth to speak.
Guivre’s voice interrupted. “Enough, Mr. Brooker.” A core of iron underpinned her golden-soft tone. “We invited you out of courtesy to your Tribunal. You have no jurisdiction in sanctuary decisions.”
Brooker’s expression stilled. After a moment, he gave a curt nod, then returned to his seat.
Trevor turned to catch Jackie’s eye. He nodded to tell her he’d always be there for her, then sat down again.
Guivre rose from her chair and crossed to Jackie. For the first time since they’d arrived, and all the events of the afternoon, Guivre’s expression bordered on sympathetic as she looked at Jackie. “We will not compel you to speak of how you became pregnant. However, if we grant you sanctuary, you may never be able to leave Kotoyeesinay again.”
Jackie flicked a glance toward Brooker, then back to Guivre. “If the Tribunal takes my child away, what will happen to her?”
Guivre rocked back on her heels, a shocked look on her face. “I was under the impression the Tribunal stopped that centuries ago.” Her lips thinned as she turned a frosty gaze on Brooker. “Am I wrong?”
Brooker shook his head, clearly appalled. “We don’t take away children.” He shot a narrow-eyed, speculative glance at Roehm.
Guivre turned back to Jackie. “The choice is yours.”
Jackie looked to Trevor. Damn, he wished they’d had more time to talk. He tried to convey without words that he would love her feline child as much as he already loved her. That was part of the magic of shifter mates.
Jackie closed her eyes for a long moment, then sighed and opened them. “The father of my child is a leopard shifter named Barry Williken. He claimed I was his mate.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “When I accidentally became pregnant, he sold me to an auction house in Las Vegas because I have shifter-mate potential. That’s why Roehm bought me for his pride. They were going to sell my baby, then force-change me so I could breed again.” She wiped away the tear that fell and caught Trevor’s gaze with her own. “Barry wasn’t my mate. I know that now, after having met Trevor.”
Trevor crossed to her and knelt by her side. He held his hand out to her in invitation. She put her hand in his, and he pulled it close, so he could rest his face against her palm. “I love you, Jacqueline Breton. And Princess, too.” His words boomed throughout the gym, but he didn’t care. He’d shout it from the mountaintops if he had to.
She smiled at him and used her thumb to brush the tear that fell down his cheek. “I love you, Trevor Hammond.” She put her hand on her stomach. “We love you.”
He kissed the back of her hand. “Marry me.”
She laughed, though it sounded wet from her tears. “Of course, I’ll marry you. I can’t tell a lie: You’re my mate.”
The tenuous bond between them strengthened and widened. She was without a doubt the most remarkable woman in the universe, and he hoped he could give her everything she deserved.
Noise impinged on the little world that held only him and the mate he would love the rest of his life. It sounded like… cheering?
He looked around and saw the people in the bleachers standing and clapping. Some whistled, and others stomped. He saw happy faces as wet with tears as his and his mate’s.
Closer movement drew his attention. Brooker dragged a struggling Roehm to Pendragor, who was still holding the ledger book, and demanded a truth spell so he could get details. A host of djinn guards surrounded Roehm’s pride, but only dimwitted Ruben tried to get past them, and nearly lost an ear for his trouble.
“Ow!” Jackie put her hand on her stomach.
Trevor gave her an alarmed look. He suddenly realized he didn’t know anything about pregnant women, or babies, or even how to change a diaper. Babies needed cribs. Leopards needed trees to climb. Houses needed beds and flowers and curtains...
Jackie took his face in her hands. “Don’t panic. I’m fine. That’s just Princess, giving me the elbow, letting me know she’s still here. We’ll figure this out together.”
“I don’t have anything to give you,” he admitted. “My parents’ clan kicked me out because I’m not like them. I only have my truck.”
“Silly bear.” She leaned over and kissed his nose. “As long as we have each other, everything else is gravy.”
The loudest, longest whistle Trevor ever heard in his life had everyone in the gym holding their hands over their ears or covering their heads with their paws. Even the wyvern tried to bury its head under its wing.
Guivre waved delicate fingers, and the noise stopped. “Thank you.”
The only sound in the room was the air conditioning as she glided to the table where the council sat and faced them. She spoke to them in a language Trevor didn’t recognize. After a moment, most of them nodded.
She turned to face Trevor and Jackie. “Full sanctuary is granted to Jacqueline Breton and her child.”
Pandemonium erupted in the room, making it impossible to talk. Trevor pumped fists into the air and roared his happiness, then folded Jackie in a tight embrace and kissed her soundly. She kissed him right back, then said something he couldn’t hear.
“I love you, too.” That was safe, right?
She laughed and pulled his head toward hers, so she could yell in his ear.
“I need to pee!”
He laughed as he scooped her up into his arms and started carrying her toward the double doors. If his mate needed a bathroom, that’s what she’d get. And anything else it was his power to give.
