Sasha's Lion (8 page)

“Sasha, I can’t protect you if you’re there. I like
knowing you’re here and safe.” Savron should have told her yes, but he was being
selfish.

Sasha’s shoulders sank. “Okay. Take me home. I’d
like to talk to Mum and have a night at home before I just spring it on her.”

“All right, go get dressed, and we’ll leave.” He
could give her one more night at her mother’s place. She got off, and he
followed to get ready and head over to his own family.

Chapter
Five

Sasha couldn’t believe what had happen last night
and what she’d been told today. She’d told Savron she would talk to her mum,
but she hadn’t had the chance. Or that’s what she told herself anyway. She lay
in bed trying to go to sleep and told herself she’d tell her tomorrow.

The alarm hadn’t gone off, so Sasha was running
late. She ran by her mum, who was rushing to get ready herself. Melody sat in
the kitchen table seat ready for school watching her and mum run around trying
to get ready.

“I’ll drop you two at school, Sasha, so message Mac.
I need to talk to both of you anyway.”

Sasha nodded not correcting her mum to tell her
Savron was coming to take her this morning. She got out her phone messaging Savron
not to come.

Twenty minutes later Sasha sat in the car with
Melody and her mum, and she chanted in her head.
Tell your mum. Tell her you’re moving out
.

Her mother cleared her throat drawing her attention.
“Girls, I have something to tell you.”

Oh
shit, does she know already?

“Steven has asked me to marry him. I said I needed
to check with my girls first.”

“Mum, congrats. I’m so happy for you.” Sasha knew
she couldn’t tell her mother about Savron now. She’d wait a while. Sasha would
tell her in a couple of days.

Melody was okay with her mum and Steve, so her
mother dropped them at school with a huge smile on her face.
As
Sasha got out her mum yelled, “Dinner tonight just us four to celebrate.”

Sasha came around the car to the driver’s side,
opened the door, and leaned in to hug her mum. “Sure, Mum. I love you. See you
tonight.”

Wolf whistles sounded behind them, and her mum let
her go. Sasha turned to see some of her
friends
cat-calling
and making rude gestures. Giggling at their stupidity she went over and joined
them. She told herself she’d figure something out with Savron.

****

Drama was her last thing. She strolled out of the
school with Jess, Travis, and
Zeck
, who Britney had
told her was one of the few humans at the school.

“You have to play the part, Sasha. You’re perfect.”
Zeck
stood before her and took her hands. “What are you
doing in these woods?”

Travis laughed. “You think you’ll get Prince Charming?”

Jess giggled at their antics, and
Zeck
winked at Sasha. “Of course, who else is more
charming? Plus it gives me a chance to dance with Sasha.”

Sasha laughed as
Zeck
grabbed her by the waist and did a very bad attempt at waltzing. “I’m not doing
it. I can’t sing, and –”

“Yummy.
Oooh
,
and he’s coming this way.” Jess interrupted her as she
drooled at whoever was behind her. “Wow, I think every Pride brother is hotter
than the next,” Jess whispered seconds before arms came around Sasha pulling
her from
Zeck
.

Savron turned her to face him. His head came down,
and he kissed her in a blatant kiss that showed her as his possession. His lips
left hers, and he muttered just loud enough for those close to them to hear.
“Hey, gorgeous, I missed you this morning.”

She pulled away and turned back to her friends and
told herself not to cave at his words, but to stay angry that he’d given in to
his jealousy. Jess looked at her with clear envy, and
Zeck
and Travis looked like someone had punched them in the guts.

“You
gonna
introduce me?”
Savron whispered.

“Jess,
Zeck
, Travis, this
is Savron.” She deliberately didn’t say anything else as Sasha knew from his
display they knew what Savron was to her.

All three stared at him for a moment. Jess was the
first to recover, and she took his outstretched hand and shook it.

“Nice to meet you, Savron.
Are
you related to Britney Pride?”

“Yeah, she’s my sister.” Savron dropped Jess’s hand
and turned to Travis and
Zeck
.

Travis shook his hand. “Sasha hasn’t mentioned you
before.”

“She’s probably had no need to.” Savron sounded
annoyed.

Great,
a pissing match.
Sasha watched as poor Travis tried to out-shake
Savron.

She groaned because she knew if she didn’t do
anything soon, something was going to be said that shouldn’t, or someone would
get hurt. She pulled on Savron’s arm. “Come on, let’s going. I want to get
something to eat before my dance lesson.”

Savron glared at the
Zeck
and Travis before he let go and put his arm around her waist.
“Nice to meet you.”

Sasha rolled her eyes at Savron’s lie. “I’ll see you
guys tomorrow.” Turning, they walked to Savron’s car.

She got in the car not saying a word. Savron got in
the driver’s side and started the car and drove out of the school.

 
“You want to
tell me why you have half the guys in love with you?”

“It’s the accent. And they’re not. You just think
that. I was never this popular in Australia.”

“They are. I can smell the lust coming off them.”

She shrugged, unsure of what he wanted her to say.

“Why did you introduce me as only Savron?”

This time she turned and gave him her best evil eye.
“I think from your display they got what you are to me.”

He had the sense to look sheepish. They sat quiet
for a moment.

“What did your mother say about you moving in with
me?”

“Argh, I couldn’t tell her right now.”

Savron didn’t say anything for a while. It wasn’t
until he drove into the mall car park, pulled into a spot and got out, opened
her door and caged her in and she turned to face him. The tips of his fingers
stroked her cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell her? I don’t want to sleep
without you again.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. “I
couldn’t do it when she said Steven had asked her to marry him, but she’d told
him to wait to see what her girls thought about it first. Mum also wanted to
have a dinner tonight to celebrate, just the four of us.”

Savron sighed and brushed his lips over hers.
“Tomorrow you have to say something.” He helped her out of the car and held her
hand as they walked into the mall.

****

Savron had taken Sasha to get something to eat, and
they’d wandered around the mall to kill an hour before they left for her dance
practice. He’d dropped her off and left going straight his parents. He needed
to talk to his father.

His dad was in his office. Savron knocked and waited
for the okay.

“Hi, Savron, what can I do for you?”

“I, argh.
How
do you stop yourself from being jealous of every man who lusts over Mom?”

His dad pointed to the chair in front of him.
“Having trouble are you, son?”

He walked in and sat on the chair across from his
father. “Yes. I’m hoping it’ll get better when Sasha moves in, or when she
acknowledges me as her mate, as hers.”

“Sasha’s human. Give her some time to get used to
the whole idea.” His dad stood and came closer to him. “I’d like to tell you
that you’ll stop getting jealous over men lusting for your mate, or it will get
easier, but that would be a lie. Shifters are very possessive of their mates.
I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did to claim her.” He patted his knee.
“Savron, not only is Sasha beautiful, she’s a very social woman. She’s easy to
get on with, and she’s nice to everyone no matter if they’re human, shifter,
popular or not. Also, that accent is nice to listen to.”

“Thanks, Dad. I went to pick her up from school
today, and two boys were mooning over her.”

“Was she encouraging them?”

“No. But I may have overdone it.”

His dad raised his eyebrow at him.

“I, ah, hugged her and kissed her. Well to call it a
kiss…” He trailed off as his dad laughed.

“How did she react?”

“When we separated, her friends were staring wide-eyed
and shocked, but she only introduced me as Savron, not boyfriend, mate or—”

“Or what, son?”

“Fiancé, husband, anything.”
He
sighed. “She did say she didn’t think after the display we’d given them that
she needed to state what I am to her.”

“Sasha’s only young, and with her being human she wouldn’t
have said you’re her husband or fiancé as she doesn’t wear a ring. Human woman
are big on stuff like that, well, all woman actually. The only reason your
mother doesn’t wear hers all the time is because she’d lose it when she
shifted.”

“All right, I’ll get her a ring.”

His dad groaned. “I know the women you have been
seeing up until now seem uncomplicated, but that’s just because you haven’t
wanted anything from them before besides sex. Trust me on this, son. All women,
no matter their race, don’t just want you to get a ring and just give it. You
need to organize something special and ask them.”

Savron sank back into his chair and moaned at how
complicated his life had become since finding his mate.

****

Dinner last night with her mother had been nice. Her
mum had said she just wanted a small wedding, maybe something at one of the
small Vegas chapels with family and a couple of friends. They were going to tie
the knot around Christmas if they could book something decent this late.

Sasha offered to look after Melody while she went on
a honeymoon, but her mother had shocked her by saying she’d spoken to their
father and he was going to pay for flights for Melody and her to go and visit
him. Sasha was unsure how she felt about that. She loved her father, but since
he remarried he’d had hardly anything to do with them.

Savron picked her up from school, and this time
Sasha had waited for him not wanting a repeat of yesterday. He’d been quiet all
afternoon as they ate and watched a movie at his house. She noticed Savron
looked tired, and he’d only asked her once if she’d said anything to her mother
about them moving in together.

Sasha was starting to feel guilty again, and she
didn’t like the feeling. Sasha had said she would give them a chance, so she
would have to bite the bullet and tell her mother.

As Savron drove her home she studied him and could
see he was on edge. His lion eyes flashed, and his hair grew long and then
shorter like he was fighting to change, or give in to his animal. His jaw had
been moving in a grinding motion, and his gear changes were jerky.

When he kissed her good-bye, telling her he’d pick
her up tomorrow his kiss wasn’t as passionate as the last couple of times had
been. Sasha sat in her room and decided she would tell her mum tonight after
dance practice that she was moving in with Savron. Sasha had said she’d give
the mate thing and their relationship a go, and since she’d been told she
hadn’t really given it a chance. Decided, she rushed around happy with her
decision, packing her things.

She was now running late for dancing. She’d lost
track of time as she packed her things up ready to move. Sasha ran into the
dance hall, and Jason laughed as he watched her slip out of her
Ugg
boots and big jacket. She slipped into her ballroom
shoes.

“Waltz first. I need something slow to warm up.”

Jason’s arms came around her. “I’ll warm you.”

Sasha rolled her eyes and pushed out of his embrace
and moved into position as the music changed. “Come on, competition is only a
couple of weeks away.”

“I know. I heard some good news, too. It’s going to
be live.”

Sasha stumbled as he brought her in, fitting her
into position. “I’m not good enough to be filmed.”

“Sasha, they’re filming the whole event. It’s a huge
comp, and with all the interest in dancing lately this will pull in good
numbers and not cost them much to broadcast it.”

The rest of the night she fretted over how some of
her moves would go over.

When she got home, she found her mum sitting and
watching shows with Steven. “Hi, Mum. When you’re finished can you come into my
room? I want to talk.”

 
Her mum
smiled. “Sure, honey. This is almost finished. Give me fifteen minutes.”

Sasha went to her room dreading the conversation she
was about to have. Sasha just hoped that with her mum getting married and
settling down again with a man she loved she might not be too upset.