"You pray? Greta, you are a witch, and you hate me."
She gave him a rare, small smile. "Just take my kind words before I change my mind."
Zach shook his head, amused. "Thank you. I’ll see her tomorrow then." He turned to leave, but Greta reached out to stop him.
"Wait, Zach, hold on. There’s actually something I want to discuss with you." She fidgeted with her hands. "This isn’t about your relationship with Hayley. It’s something else that’s been bothering me."
He was taken aback by Greta's decision to confide in him about her problems. He couldn't imagine why she would involve him in them. But then, his wolf loved Hayley and Hayley loved her, so he guessed he had no other choice. "What is it?" Zach asked.
She looked around, and he followed her eyes, wondering what she was searching for. "Okay," Greta said, taking a deep breath. "So, you can’t tell anyone else about this, not even Hayley because she instructed me never to tell you. I’m only telling you because I see you care about her and she’s spending most of her time with you. I need you to protect her."
"I’ll always protect Hayley. I may not be the Alpha of the witches, but it is my duty to protect those that I can. Also, she is my mate. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?"
"Hayley has been getting threatening letters."
A cold shiver ran down his spine. "Threatening letters?"
Greta nodded. "When I returned from the supermarket, the night she had dinner over at your place, I found a letter waiting at the front door. When I opened it, it was the words of someone threatening her, telling her to leave town before it’s too late."
"What?"
"I showed Hayley this, but it turns out it wasn’t the first. She’s been getting them for a while, weeks maybe."
"Why would Hayley not tell me about this?” He didn’t think something like this should even be a secret. "She had threatened to call the black ops on me when I broke into her room, but she didn’t think it was necessary to report to the black ops that she was being threatened?"
"I don’t know. I’m just scared."
"Don’t worry about this. Hayley will be fine. I’ll find whoever is sending these letters and put them where they belong."
Greta nodded at him, feeling relieved. "I really appreciate it, Alpha, thank you. You know, I should really apologize. You seem like a..." She cleared her throat. "This is hard for me to say, and you should know that I have cursed you in the past, but I hated you back—" Greta shook her head. She let out a heavy sigh before she continued. "You are a good man, Zach. I can see that now. I still don’t understand why you rejected Hayley, but now that you chose to help her, I’m grateful."
"It’s nothing, Greta. I’m doing this for Hayley because I regret hurting her. I’ll do everything I have to, just to make it up to her."
"If it makes you feel any better, I think she really cares about you. She may be avoiding you right now, but if she didn’t like you, she would have made it clear to you directly and honestly."
Zach nodded at her. "Thank you, Greta. Now, if you will please excuse me, I will find out who is behind these letters."
"We have caught a suspect," Tolliver informed him on his drive back home. "We found him sneaking around. Residents say he showed up in town days before the attack and disappeared for a while. He was seen watching the black ops’ base from a distance. We suspect that he is planning another attack, and we’ve brought him in for questioning."
"Has he said anything?"
"No. Ryder is there questioning him, but he still refuses to speak. If he doesn’t cooperate, we will call in Selisa." Selisa was a witch whose main job in the black ops was to draw the truth out of people. No one knew exactly what she did, or how, but it was always successful. She’d lock herself in a room with the suspect, even if it took days, but when she emerged, she always had the answers. That’s why she was a great addition to the black ops.
"Good," he said. "I’ll stop by the station tomorrow to see the suspect. Have you got his background?"
"No. We couldn’t find anything on him, he has no records."
"That’s impossible. They must be wiped."
"He must be working for someone powerful if they can do that. Speaking of power, have you gotten any response from Bruce?"
"None at all. I was at his office earlier today, and he wasn’t there." Zach didn’t see the receptionist either, so heguessed she must have lost her job after he burst in. He regretted that his appearance had resulted in her losing her job, but he also knew that even if he hadn't shown up, Bruce would have found another reason to fire her. He was constantly changing staff. "I believe he was there, but his new secretary is one tough woman."
"Hey, are you okay?" Tolliver enquired. "You sound a bit troubled."
Zach hardened his stare. "I’m fine, don’t worry about it."
Chapter 13 - Hayley