He whimpered and said he was sorry to Sol. Maeve didn’t let go right away, showing that nasty asshole who was in control, that she had won. I was bowled over. Eventually, when she did release him, he bolted to his, and aimed his rage at Maeve once again. Clearly, he hadn’t learned anything. But before he could do anything, TJ and Kai grabbed him. They were restraining him and threatening him with the police. I knew this was my perfect opportunity to get Maeve and Sol away from everyone else. I wanted the crowd to see that there was no more show for them to stare at.
“Sol.” Once we were away from everyone else, Maeve fell to her knees and stretched out her arms for Sol to run into. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, like he couldn’t quite trust himself, but eventually he let go of that fear and raced into his mother’s arms for comfort. That flooded me with relief because it meant he was finally feeling so much better. There was nothing better than a mother’s love. “Oh, Sol, I hope you are okay now.”
I stepped back a little and smiled to myself as I watched them bond. I was almost ready to back away because I didn’t want to intrude on anything private, when Maeve’s eyes lifted and met mine. The way my heart stopped beating forced me to remain right where I was. There was something about this beauty that really captivated me.
“Thank you so much, Matt,” she said to me kindly. “You don’t know how much I appreciate you. That was so nice of you.”
I shrugged, trying to act all blasé. “Hey, it was nothing. Anyone would have done it.”
“But you were the one who did.” She nodded as she noted that. “It was you, and I thank you for that.”
Warmth spread through my veins. “Well, it was a pleasure. I was more than happy to help. You have a really great kid there. Sol is incredible.”
Then her gaze travelled past me. I didn’t need to look to see who she was fixated on; I could sense TJ and Kai behind me. Hopefully that meant the giant asshole was being dealt with somewhere and wouldn’t be back to cause any more trouble.
“Oh, thank you to you guys as well,” Maeve declared. She shook their hands as they introduced themselves to her officially. “I need to find a way to repay you too, TJ and Kai.”
“No, you don’t need to do a thing,” I insisted, but I wasn’t alone. TJ and Kai were both declining her offer as well. I hoped that showed her we didn’t do it because we expected anything in return. We did it to help her son.
“Well, drinks are on the house next time you guys are at Pleasures.”
We all must have had the same looks on our faces because Maeve went on to clarify. “I own the bar, and I won’t take no for an answer. I can’t do much to say thank you, but I can do this. You will always find me there.”
The more I stood here with Maeve, the more impressive I found her. She really was something else. Fierce and fun, sexy and exciting, I was so incredibly intrigued by her it was ridiculous. I nodded because I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t need free drinks at Pleasures, but I did need to see her again. I couldn’t help myself. She was addictive, intoxicating, absolutely delicious.
“Well, see you then.” She waved at us and turned away. “Thanks again. I hope to see you in Pleasures soon because I definitely want to give you guys a free drink or two.”
Sol waved too, but seemed much more unsure than his mother. I cocked my head to one side as I watched them go, my heart pounding. I was so captivated that I almost didn’t notice a commotion occurring at Jason’s table. If my bear hadn’t been racing to the surface, I might have ignored it completely. But my bear sensed danger, and that couldn’t be ignored. Shit, what the hell was happening now? There wasn’t going to be any kind of break today, was there? Who the hell was causing problems now?
Chapter 5 Maeve
As if Ihadn’t been through enough with that horrible man and Sol’s shift, there was something else happening. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but it didn’t sound good. Yelling, growling, arguing of some kind. My thumping headache couldn’t take anymore. I tucked Sol tight against me and edged him away from the trouble. I knew Jason was the guy he really wanted to meet, but I hoped he would be satisfied with the special attention from Matt, TJ, and Kai. They would have to do for now.
“Hey, come with me.” Relief flooded me as the handsome cowboy with dark, brooding eyes and a sultry air about him took my hand and led me away from the shouting. It got louder as we moved, something was clearly escalating. Why couldn’t people just behave like they were supposed to? In Pleasures and in here. It was getting a bit ridiculous now. If this continued, the Astro Games were going to have to change. Was this once a century competition always like this?
“Mom,” Sol murmured as soon as we pushed through the doors to get out of the main hall. “I don’t feel good.”
“What?” That snapped me to attention. I thought Sol had recovered from his shift, but I didn’t know nearly enough about how it worked. I was aware that puberty was a hard time for bear shifters, but since I hadn’t been through it myself, I had absolutely no idea how intense it really was. I didn’t know what to do, and that terrified me more than anything. Sol needed me, and I didn’t have the tools to give him what he wanted. If only Pi was here…
I shook my head. I couldn’t get lost down that rabbit hole right now. Sol needed me. Pi wasn’t here, and there was nothing that could be done about that. It sucked, but that was life.
“Sol.” I bent down in front of him and studied him carefully. I wasn’t sure if he had hurt himself or not. There was too much chaos in there for me to really know for sure. “Oh my goodness, you’re burning hot, Sol.” My pulse began to pound as my nervous energy zigzagged through me. Something was wrong with my child. “And your eyes…” I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with his eyes exactly, only that they didn’t seem their normal color. What did it mean that they were more brown-orange than normal? Since I had absolutely no idea what was happening, I turned to the only person here who might understand because he had gone through all of this himself when he was younger. I stared at Kai with sheer panic in my gaze. I was so relieved when he didn’t seem anywhere near as stressed out as me.
Without skipping a beat, Kai kneeled down beside me and embraced Sol as if he were his own. I couldn’t hear what was being said between them because Kai was speaking so quietly, but I could sense that his words were comforting.
“There’s a medical tent near here,” I said, panic lacing my tone. “We should get Sol there in case it’s a fever.” While my son’s eyes had me on edge, it wasn’t enough to keep me from getting his temperature checked. Poor Sol was burning up.
When neither Sol nor Kai said anything, I said, “I think we need to get the help of a medical professional.”
I was just about to grab Kai’s shoulder, to yank him away from my son and force them to listen to me, but I didn’t get the chance to do so. Kai moved back on his own, and the transformation in Sol was mind blowing. His eyes were back to normal, he had a sweet smile on his face, and when I touched him, his temperature was completely normal. It was almost as if I had imagined what happened before.
“Are you okay?” I wrapped my arms around Sol and held him close to me. Even his heartbeat sounded much more normal now. I turned to Kai in confusion. “Is Sol alright?”
Kai grinned and rested a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “This is normal. In situations of danger, our bears always come to the surface, ready to burst through and protect ourselves and our loved ones. It can just be hard to get used to at first. He will be just fine.”
I turned back to Sol. “Areyou feeling okay, son?” I needed to hear it from his own mouth.
Sol shrugged off my hold, suddenly all nonchalant. “Yeah, all good. Can we go back and get Jason’s autograph?”