Page 16 of The Protector’s Heart

“Yeah. But so was Damien.”

“Oh, bullshit.”

“Diane! You never curse.”

“And you never used to look at your past with such rose-colored glasses. Damien was not a nice male, your aunt and I never thought so. He didn’t treat you like a queen; he treated you like you were his property, and he never once treated you like a wolf’s mate.”

“What?”

“He never marked you or brought you into his pack. You spent full moons waiting for him to come back. Don’t you remember crying to us about how you could smell the other women on him but he always said it was nothing? Come on, honey. I’m not saying he never cared for you, I’m just saying that he never treated you like he did. From what you’ve told me, Malachi is entirely different. Would Damien have slept on the couch for you? Gotten Jack before his crying woke you? Shoveled the damn walk, cleaned the snow off your car, or installed a security system? Get real, get a clue, and grab hold of that male before some other woman smarter than you digs her claws into him.”

She didn’t like the thought of that at all. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m scared he’s going to betray me. I feel like I can’t trust my own instincts because I was so wrong about Damien.”

“I can’t tell you what to do, honey, but I can tell that you already care about Malachi, and he clearly has feelings for you. He wants you safe even if it means he’s not the one keeping you safe, and he spent how long at your house tonight and didn’t even try to kiss you? Snatch him up, Nila, fast.”

Nila chuckled. “Thank you, Diane. I love you.”

“I love you too. Now get some sleep, and when you get up in the morning, grab that wolf of yours by the collar, give him the kissing of a lifetime, and tell him you’re ready to be his mate.”

“He didn’t ask me to be his mate,” she pointed out.

“Trust me. My first husband was a wolf, and when a wolf finds his real mate, he can’t help but want to be with her.”

Another point in favor of Malachi and against Damien, who only seemed to show up around the full moon to cause her trouble. Nila ended the call and lay back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. Diane was right. Malachi wasn’t acting anything like Damien, even back in the beginning when she’d thought Damien was treating her well.

Lifting her phone, she called Brynn. “Hi. Do you have a minute to talk?”

There was the muffled sound of Brynn telling Acksel to leave her boob alone, and then she said, “I’ve got plenty of time to chat. What’s up?”

“It’s about Malachi,” she said, wiggling against the cushions until she was comfortable, as she began to talk to her friend, who happened to be Malachi’s boss.

* * *

Malachi thought Brynn was acting weird as he drove her to work the next morning. She was grinning from ear to ear, but refused to say why. In fact, she hadn’t said a word the whole drive.

“What is up with you? Did you secretly kill Acksel in his sleep for snoring? I know you said you were going to do that once.”

“No.” She drawled the word out and then giggled.

“Brynn,” he sighed, “spit it out or stop giggling, you’re making me batty.”

“I can’t, Mal. But I had a great phone call last night and…it’s going to be a good day, I promise. In fact, I think I’ll stay in for lunch and you should find something to do with yourself. Get some fresh air.”

She giggled again and then coughed, trying to hide it.

He groaned. Mia and Brynn had spent the better part of their younger years driving him nuts, and Brynn apparently hadn’t grown out of it. Then again, neither had Mia.

He escorted Brynn into the office and then went to the room that housed the security system to review the overnight recordings. He paused when he entered the room and Nila was standing next to the chair.

He blinked in surprise.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

He noticed that her hair was down today. Usually she had it up and out of the way while she worked. He liked seeing her hair down.

“Hi, Nila.”

She cleared her throat and her cheeks pinked. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch with me today?”

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