Page 24 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

My hands curl around the edge of the marble sink, and I press my lips together in determination.

I’m going to be fine.

I’ll weather this storm as I have the others before it.

Hearing one of the dogs barking from the other room, I wipe my hands on a towel and head to the source of the sound. One of the younger dogs, a six-month-old Labrador, is frantically digging at his cage and barking. Realizing he needs to go out, I grab a leash and open his cage. He bolts for the door that leads to the yard, but I grab him and secure the leash to his collar.

Once outside, I walk him over to one of the trees and let him do his business.

When he’s done, his head swivels to the side, and I see a streak move past. It takes me less than a second to process what it was, and my heart crawls into my throat in sheer panic.

“Mano!”

Damn it! I must have left the door open!

She’s not listening to me, already scrambling up the tree, eager to explore.

“Mano, no!” I have one hand on the leash, the puppy barking his head off, as my one-eyed adventurer contemplates the top of the fence.

I quickly begin tying the dog’s leash to the tree trunk when I see Mano jump. A strangled sound leaves my throat as she flies right over the wooden fence.

I don’t have time to waste.

While Mano is mostly an indoor cat, I take her out on walks, so much so that she isn’t scared of being outside. I’ve never let her out alone by herself. But since this isn’t the first time she’s outside, she won’t be scared. Her instinct won’t be to hide under a car. She’ll go exploring.

Securing the dog, I climb up the tree and jump. My reflexes are nimble, and I land on the edge of the fence. Slipping to the cement ground on the other side, I begin calling out, “Mano! Mano, come here!”

However, Mano doesn’t respond.

I’ve worked in this shelter long enough to know what happens to indoor cats who escape.

“Mano!” My voice breaks as I run down the street, tears burning my eyes, my heart thudding so hard against my rib cage that it feels like it will burst out of me.

“Mano, come back!” My face is wet as I stagger to a stop, looking up and down the street. I can’t see her anywhere. My body is heavy with fear and grief.

“What do I do?” The words are torn out of me in a broken sob. “Mano!”

But there’s no sign of her anywhere.

I’m not a crybaby, but I stand there, in the middle of the empty street, with tears streaming down my face. I feel as if my whole world has suddenly gone dark.

I can’t lose Mano. She’s my only family.

“Mano!” The sound is a wretched whimper. I don’t know which way to turn. Where do I begin looking?

“Charlotte.” A calm voice from behind me has me turning around, and I see Robert Montgomery standing there, his expression strange.

In his arms, he’s holding Mano.

Chapter 6

Robert Montgomery

Whatever little I managed to dig up on Charlotte Beaumont, I was able to verify. She did go to a local high school in Portland, but she enrolled when she was fifteen. She also never applied for college even though she had remarkable grades. Instead, she did odd jobs. It was almost as if she had no money and was trying to earn a living.

Very odd for a vampire. More so for a fifteen-year-old one.

Vampire clans take pride in their children. I found it puzzling that one of them had been struggling at such a young age and no one seemed to have intervened. I followed her trail all the way back to a women’s shelter. I couldn’t get a hold of the person who ran it during that time, but I did get confirmation from their records that a Charlotte lived with them for a while. The person couldn’t find much information on her, but she remembered Charlotte’s red hair and green eyes.

---