Page 8 of Shifter Mates for the Single Mom

“I think he guessed that I was starting to catch on to him, because he started escalating. One of my savings accounts got hacked and raided. I didn’t suspect him at the time, but then I remembered him sneaking onto my phone. When he did it, I thought it was to see if I was texting other guys, like we were both teenagers or something. But no, he was looking for information he could use to get into my accounts.”

I stared at my hands. “He and his mom were very against my opening an investigation. He tried to convince me that the police would be no help. I did it anyway.” They were nodding their approval. Somehow that made me blush. “That led to our first real argument.”

“How did you handle it?”

I let out a hollow laugh. “Not well. He’s… very frightening when he’s angry. Looking back now, I think that’s when the mask came off. I learned that night that he has no morals, none at all. The threats he made against me, my son… I went into this state of disbelief.”

I hesitated. There was a lot of tension in the room suddenly. Ulf and Nathan both looked like they were about to start growling, with Ulf partly baring one sharp-looking canine.

Something about that almost brought tears to my eyes. I had expected them to protect me because I was about to drop a small fortune for it. Even with Nathan, I hadn’t expected him to take my protection personally.

It made me want him even more.

“I filed a restraining order. He violated it. The police did nothing. I guess that’s kind of par for the course.” They were nodding. I forced a thin smile. I had grown up believing that cops were the good guys, but when I needed them, where were they?

“Once he realized that I had warned everyone in town, he got aggressive. Phone calls turned into visits. He liked to just show up in the middle of the night and bang on my patio door. I got tired of calling the police and having them not even show up for a good hour, so I hired security guys. They were to start on a Monday, so I took Aidan and left for the weekend. In the meantime, he broke in and stole things. My stereo system, my laptop, and a few other high-ticket things.”

“The police didn’t take you seriously throughout all of this?”

I shook my head. “The Sheriff’s Department probably hates me now because I confronted them on their inaction and threatened to go to the press. Truth is, they’re not used to anything worse than illegal hunting and drunks around here. They didn’t want to deal with it, I guess.”

“Cowards,” Ulf grunted. He looked over at Nathan. “Will they get in the way?”

“Possibly.” Nathan’s smile was forced as he looked at me. “Go on.”

“I filed another police report, replaced everything, changed the locks, and paid for my security team to bring in more backup. For a few months, things quieted down some. There were still nasty phone calls and messages, but he didn’t visit. I’m guessing he was lying low, because some of the artists sent investigators after him and his mom.”

“Do we know if the mom is a shifter too?” Jamie spoke up.

“Probably,” Nathan replied, keeping his eyes on me. “How many are there?”

“I don’t know if they are all shifters, but three. Matthias, his mom, and her giant bodyguard.”

“So, everything stayed relatively quiet until his latest attack?”

“Yeah. Not sure why. Maybe they were out of town or something. But yeah. Nothing else notable happened until yesterday.”

He frowned. “Odd. But despite his work as a con artist, we’re not exactly dealing with a rational person in Matthias. Men who terrorize women do not ‘lose control’. It’s all very deliberate. But just because they can act with organized intent doesn’t mean they’re not crazy to the bone underneath.”

I nodded, sitting back and closing my eyes briefly. “Anyway, you know the rest. Matthias murdered my entire security team. The cops just came to pick up the pieces and take statements. I knew at once that I had to call you.”

Nathan nodded and looked over at Jamie and Bela. “All right, guys, here’s the deal. I want to check on her entire security system and make upgrades by tonight if we have the gear. What we don’t have I want overnighted. We’ll take shifts watching the property in two-man teams. Jamie, Bela, when you’re not setting up or on watch, I need you gathering intel. Any questions?”

There were none. I watched Nathan and his Pack head outside to get started with their survey, then saw and worked on finishing my drink. After a few moments, Aidan looked up at me quietly. “Is the bad guy gonna come back?”

“He might,” I admitted. He probably would. “But now we have friends here to help us.”

“I still want a sword.” He lifted his chin obstinately.

“Too big for you. I already told you that.”

“A knife, then.”

I hesitated. No mom in her right mind would consider arming her kid in anything but the most insane circumstances, but the idea of Matthias or his people putting their hands on my baby boy made me rage inside. He’ll target Aidan to punish me. I already know that.

“I’ll make you a small knife,” I relented. “I don’t have enough silver to coat anything bigger.” I licked my lips. “But I don’t want you using it unless you absolutely have to, okay? It’s not a toy.”

This is crazy. The whole thing. Completely crazy. But as I thought it over, I realized that leaving my boy without a last resort with fucking Tiger shifters after us would be even crazier.

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