Page 25 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

He followed her in and she shut the door. Holly locked the deadbolt, then peeked through the front curtain, just in case. When that driver had told her a man was on her porch, she’d thought for sure Kyle had gotten to her place first. The relief she’d felt at knowing it wasn’t him was short-lived. She could’ve found a way to deal with Kyle. This was harder.

“Is someone following you?” Pierce asked.

“Probably not.” The chocolate-covered cherries had whetted her appetite, and she went to the fridge. There wasn’t much food there, and she hadn’t had much cause to cook since Kyle had insisted on going to so many restaurants during their investigation. She found a container of lunch meat and another of sliced cheese and put them out on the counter. Her bear rumbled with satisfaction, wanting all the proteins and fats. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” He slid onto the stool at the breakfast bar, facing her as she dug into her snack.

He was waiting for an explanation, and she had to give it to him. He deserved that much. She should’ve told him in the first place. It was too late for that now, and all she could do was move forward. “Do you remember that guy Kyle I introduced you to?”

The tendons in his neck visibly tightened. “Yes.”

Jealousy looked good on him, something she couldn’t help but notice even when she was emotionally exhausted and a bit embarrassed. “He’s an investigative reporter. He specializes in digging up dirt that others are trying hard to hide. From my experience as a writer, I know I can’t just turn off the process, and neither can he. He caught snippets of conversation that night at Selene’s, which made him suspicious. He decided to follow some guys as they left, and he saw.” Holly plucked another slice of cheese from the bag, knowing she didn’t have to tell him exactly what Kyle had seen.

He swiped a hand over his forehead. “What happened?”

“Nothing in that moment. I think it scared the shit out of him and he ran away, but then he decided he was going to find the truth behind it. He wants to dig into this and expose all shifters. He’s envisioning a nationwide headline with his name beneath it. And mine.” She swallowed a bit of nausea that rode up with her words.

Pierce stared at her in disbelief. “You’re doing this?”

“No.” How could he think that? Then again, she’d already lied to him. What evidence did he even have that she was a decent person? “When he asked me to work with him, I knew I had to say yes. It was the only way to know for certain what he was up to and how close he was getting to the truth. Although I hate to admit it, I know he’s good at his job, and I couldn’t risk leaving him to it. So I stayed, and I’ve basically been following along with him to keep track of what he’s doing.”

“You could’ve told me,” he replied thickly. “You’ve been in town, hanging out with him, and all this time, I thought you were gone.”

Holly knew she didn’t have to justify who she did or didn’t spend time with. She understood why he was upset, but he had to understand this from her side, too. “That was part of the risk. I was trying to keep everyone who shared this identity as far away from him as possible.”

“What about you?” Pierce challenged.

“I guess he had too much hubris to think he’d actually associate with one of us. I don’t have a good answer for that, but I know I’m right about everything else.” She relayed how Kyle had theorized about Pierce’s role in this whole scheme. “I think it was only because I finally made him realize I’m not interested in him. His ego was hurt, and he wanted someone else to blame besides himself.”

Pierce’s knuckles turned white where they gripped the countertop. “So he made a pass at you?”

“He’s been doing it for years, but I put him in his place.” She was confident in that. Kyle might have plenty of crazy things coming out of his mouth, but she’d bet her life savings he’d never hit on her again after she’d slammed him in the throat. “Anyway, that’s not really the point. The real problem at hand is that Kyle isn’t going to stop until he knows the truth. I thought he’d get bored and move on to something else, but he’s completely obsessed. He’s absolutely convinced there are shifters, and he knows they congregate at Selene’s. I don’t know how I can stop him now, but I’ve got to figure something out.”

Pierce’s lips twitched as he ran his tongue over his teeth. He straightened, staring at the kitchen wall. “I’ll take care of it.”

“What? No. Pierce, you can’t do that. Like I said a minute ago, he already thinks you’re a part of this. If you get involved, it’ll only confirm that for him.” Alarm bells clanged in her mind at the thought of Pierce putting himself directly in the line of fire, so to speak.

“I won’t do it alone. You didn’t have to either, Holly. You know as well as I do that we have to rely on our connections to each other to keep guys like Kyle from taking us down. I’ll contact my pack, and we’ll come up with something. Rex is good at this sort of thing, and that’s exactly why he’s Alpha.”

She opened her mouth, wanting to protest, but closed it again. He was absolutely right. If she’d been back home and had this sort of a problem, she would’ve gone to her Alpha, her cousin Dylan, and the rest of the Brigham clan. It was what she should’ve done in the first place, but at the time, it’d made more sense to ensure some distance between Kyle and his mark. “What can I do?”

“Just tell me what you know about Kyle’s plans.” He’d released his death grip from the counter and let out a deep breath.

Fate was cruel. It’d tied the two of them together, bonding them with a connection no one could break. Shifters waited for the right one to come along, and at forty-three, she’d certainly waited her fair share of time. In fact, she’d started to think she might never meet him. There he was, standing right in front of her, but the awkwardness and tension between them were so wrong. It shouldn’t feel this way. Holly recounted everything she knew about Kyle’s plans. “It seemed like he was really focused on Selene’s, and he’d also mentioned going back to Skinner Butte Park. That was where he saw the wolves before.”

“All right. I’ll take care of this.” Pierce turned toward the door.

“Pierce.” She followed him, not wanting him to go, yet knowing he should. “For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry this worked out the way it did.”

He hesitated with his hand on the knob. “Yeah, me too. Is there anything else I need to know?”

It felt like a jab, an unfair question that reminded her of her lie, but she couldn’t blame him. The trouble was, Holly thought there just might be something else she needed to say. She had to be completely sure before she did, though. “No. I don’t think so.”

“I’ll let you know what happens.” He opened the door and then looked back over his shoulder. “Lock this behind me.”

“I will.” She pushed the door in place and then flicked the deadbolt over with a heavy thunk, feeling like she was locking her mate out of her life instead of just protecting herself.

She’d wanted to keep him safe, and she hadn’t been able to. This whole trip had been terrible, and Holly knew things would never be the same again.

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